Last week’s Amazon-Netflix partnership represents a convergence between commerce media and streaming TV that promises to blur the lines between brand-building and performance marketing while raising fundamental questions about which budgets, which teams, and which strategies will control advertising's future.

“I think the surprise was that it was two major, high-profile names,” Jamie Finstein, vice president, media center, at the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), said of the move.

Commerce media’s premium transformation

The partnership will give advertisers in 11 countries, including the US, the ability to purchase ad inventory on Netflix through Amazon’s demand-side platform (DSP). It offers easier access to premium inventory, backed by Amazon’s shopper data and automation.

The deal signals how far commerce media has evolved.

“This speaks to the caliber of inventory you can tap into through commerce media,” said EMARKETER analyst Max Willens. “There was a question when off-site started becoming more of the focus [in commerce media], would it just be a bunch of banners? And developments like these really do say that, no, it’s actually inventory in some of the most premium environments that we have.”

Premium CTV inventory comes at a price, he warned: “You have to be realistic about how expensive it is to really leverage the targeting and the environment to the fullest.”

For advertisers, the shift raises questions about ad buying.

“CTV wanted really badly to replicate the model that presided over linear, where the business was dominated by direct sales and upfront spending,” said Willens. “Instead, it is turning much more into something where there’s lots of supply in very sought-after spaces that can be tapped into from lots of different angles. And this is a very prominent example of that, where you have highly premium inventory now available via one of the largest DSPs in the world.”

The result is an increasingly integrated landscape where traditional channel boundaries are dissolving.

“Commerce media is the glue between channels that have long existed as very siloed, unconnected from one another,” said Collin Colburn, vice president, commerce, at the IAB. “It's almost like retail media has now become the force function in our industry.”

Convergence of commerce and entertainment

As commerce media expands into premium video environments, the traditional boundaries between brand-building and performance marketing continue to blur.

“I think [the Amazon-Netflix partnership] does speak to the promise that advertising can directly and cleanly drive sales or drive actions or drive conversions,” Willens said. “Deals like these speak to how ubiquitous and visible that offering could one day be.”

For Netflix, the deal solves near-term scale challenges. For Amazon, it reinforces its role not just as a retail media powerhouse but as a central player in premium video advertising.

“Amazon is not a company that rests on its laurels,” Willens said. “They’re going to keep their foot all the way down on the gas pedal. If you’re a commerce media network trying to gain share, seeing stuff like this must be at least a little dismaying.”

This is more than an inventory deal—it’s a signal that retail media’s future lies in premium entertainment environments.

Democratizing TV advertising

The partnership could also make premium streaming more accessible for smaller brands.

“It’s more of an access issue,” Willens explained. “The spend and technical know-how needed to get a seat on Amazon and start buying inventory on Prime Video or Netflix is so much lower than the way things were once upon a time.”

That democratization could bring new advertisers—including non-endemic ones to Amazon—into Netflix’s ecosystem while making it harder for smaller retail media networks to keep pace.

Making a deal

“I have been surprised by how quickly Netflix has given up on the idea of being very exclusive,” said Willens. “I remember when they wanted $70 CPMs for their inventory, and now, you can just buy it on Amazon for, I presume, quite a lot less.”

For Amazon, the deal strengthens its position in premium video.

“It’s just more supply,” Willens said. “They want to be able to offer more scale at a better price than most anybody else. Tapping into Netflix is just one more way to build on the supply side of that offering.”

Even if Netflix ads will be priced at the higher end, Willens noted that this inventory represents an “immensely important strategic component” for Amazon’s ad business.

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