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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Netflix’s ad-supported plan reached 40 million global monthly active users in May 2024, according to the company. That was a major early milestone for Netflix’s advertising business—but it did not mean Netflix had 40 million paying subscribers on the ad tier.
The announcement referred to users active during a month, was made during Netflix’s Upfront presentation for advertisers, and has since been overtaken by larger audience figures calculated under a different methodology.
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What Netflix actually announced
On May 15, 2024, Netflix said its ad-supported plan had reached 40 million global monthly active users. A year earlier, Netflix had reported 5 million monthly active users for the plan.
Netflix also said that more than 40% of sign-ups in countries where the ad-supported plan was available were choosing that option. Both figures came from Netflix’s second annual Upfront presentation, an event designed to sell advertising to brands and agencies.
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That context matters. The milestone was a meaningful signal of adoption and advertiser interest, but it was a company-reported advertising metric—not an independently audited count of paying households.
Does 40 million users mean 40 million subscribers?
No. A subscriber or paid membership represents a billing relationship with Netflix. A monthly active-user figure describes accounts, members, profiles, or users active during a particular month, depending on the company’s methodology.
Netflix did not disclose how many paid memberships or households were represented by the 40 million figure. It also did not say how many were new customers, customers who had moved from an ad-free plan, people using bundled access, or additional viewers within existing households.
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Why the milestone mattered
The number gave advertisers evidence that Netflix’s ad business was becoming large enough to consider alongside traditional television and other streaming platforms. A substantial audience can help Netflix sell more inventory, negotiate with agencies, and attract demand from major brands.
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The ad tier also gave Netflix a cheaper entry point for price-sensitive customers. That can help the company acquire or retain households that might otherwise cancel, while creating an additional source of revenue beyond subscription fees.
However, the sign-up statistic should not be confused with the plan’s total share of Netflix’s membership. More than 40% of new sign-ups in eligible countries chose the ad tier; that does not mean 40% of all Netflix customers used it.
Netflix’s advertising strategy
In 2024, Netflix said it planned to build its own advertising-technology platform rather than rely entirely on its partnership with Microsoft. The company described plans for new buying options, audience insights, measurement tools, and a platform launch by the end of 2025.
The strategy included standard video advertising, pause ads, programmatic buying, measurement partnerships, and the use of Netflix’s first-party audience data. Netflix’s premium programming was another selling point for advertisers seeking entertainment and brand-safe viewing environments.
By the second quarter of 2025, Netflix said its proprietary Netflix Ads Suite had been rolled out across all of its ad-supported markets. The company described capabilities including targeting, first-party data matching, measurement, programmatic buying, and additional ad formats. Its materials referenced relationships involving LiveRamp, Amazon DSP, Google Display & Video 360, The Trade Desk, and Yahoo DSP.
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For advertisers, Netflix Ads is an enterprise media-buying product rather than a simple self-serve advertising service. Campaigns may be purchased directly through Netflix, through an agency, or programmatically through a demand-side platform. Buyers need to compare reach, frequency, targeting, measurement, geography, formats, minimum commitments, and incremental reach against other media.
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| Date | Metric | Reported figure |
|---|---|---|
| May 2023 | Global monthly active users | 5 million |
| May 15, 2024 | Global monthly active users | 40 million |
| Nov. 12, 2024 | Global monthly active users | 70 million |
| May 14, 2025 | Global monthly active users | More than 94 million |
| November 2025 | Global Monthly Active Viewers | More than 190 million |
| May 13, 2026 | Global Monthly Active Viewers | More than 250 million |
Netflix reported 70 million monthly active users in November 2024 and more than 94 million in May 2025.
In late 2025, Netflix changed from monthly active users to Monthly Active Viewers, or MAVs. Netflix said an MAV represents a member who watched at least one minute of ads during the month, multiplied by the company’s estimate of the average number of people in that household.
That methodology is intended to estimate people actually watching rather than simply member accounts or profiles. It also means the later figures are not directly comparable with the original 40 million. One household can contain several viewers, and a household-adjusted viewer figure can be substantially larger than the number of paid memberships.
Netflix reported more than 190 million MAVs in November 2025 and more than 250 million global MAVs in May 2026. It should not be described as a straightforward increase from 40 million users without clearly marking the change in methodology.
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Where was Netflix’s ad plan available?
When Netflix reported 70 million monthly active users in November 2024, it described the advertising business as operating across 12 countries: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, and South Korea.
That means the 40 million figure was global across the markets where the ad plan was available—not global across every country in which Netflix operated. Adoption, pricing, ad loads, licensing restrictions, and available content could differ by market.
Netflix said in May 2026 that the ad plan would expand to 15 additional countries beginning in 2027: Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Indonesia, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Thailand.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Does the growth prove the ad tier is financially successful?
It proves that Netflix’s reported advertising audience grew quickly and that the plan had become strategically important. It does not, by itself, prove the plan’s profitability or show that each ad-tier household generates more revenue than an ad-free customer.
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Netflix’s fourth-quarter 2025 shareholder letter said advertising revenue exceeded $1.5 billion in 2025 and grew by more than 2.5 times compared with 2024. The company forecast that 2026 advertising revenue would roughly double from 2025. That is company guidance, not a realized result, and advertising remained only one part of Netflix’s broader business.
Most importantly, Netflix has not publicly disclosed enough information in the cited announcements to calculate the combined subscription-and-advertising revenue per average ad-tier household.
What the 40 million figure did—and did not—show
What it showed
- Netflix had built a sizable early audience for a relatively new ad-supported plan.
- The plan was attracting a significant share of new sign-ups in eligible countries.
- Netflix had a credible reason to court large advertisers and invest in its own ad-tech infrastructure.
- The company was pursuing a lower-priced subscription option alongside a second monetization stream.
What it did not show
- That Netflix had 40 million paying ad-tier households.
- That 40% of Netflix’s total customer base used the ad plan.
- That all 40 million users watched frequently or saw the same advertising inventory.
- That advertising was more profitable than subscription revenue.
- That the later 190 million or 250 million MAV figures were directly comparable.
The bottom line for subscribers and investors
Netflix’s ad tier reaching 40 million monthly active users was a genuine and important May 2024 milestone. For subscribers, it showed that Netflix’s lower-priced option had gained meaningful traction. For advertisers, it signaled a growing global streaming audience.
But the precise wording matters: 40 million monthly active users was not 40 million subscribers. The current picture is larger, yet Netflix’s later Monthly Active Viewer figures use a broader, household-adjusted methodology. The safest interpretation is that Netflix’s advertising business expanded substantially—not that the company disclosed a precise number of paying ad-tier households or proved a specific profit contribution.
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