Netflix partners with Microsoft for its ad-supported plan

Netflix has announced a partnership with Microsoft, where the Redmond technology giant will serve as a global advertising technology and sales partner for the streaming service’s upcoming ad-supported subscription plan.

In a blog post, Netflix said that Microsoft has the ability to support all their advertising needs and the two will work together to build a new ad-supported offering, adding that Microsoft gives them the ability to innovate over time on both the technology and sales side, as well as strong privacy protections for our members.

Netflix recently announced that it was looking to add a cheaper ad-supported option to its subscription plans, following an unprecedented exit of nearly 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter. CEO Reed Hastings has said that he doesn’t want to offer advertising on the service, and saw no problems with password sharing.

Mikhail Parakhin, President of web experiences at Microsoft said that they were, “thrilled to be named Netflix's technology and sales partner” and were excited, “to offer new premium value to our ecosystem of marketers and partners while helping Netflix deliver more choice to their customers.”