CMO TLDR: Netflix, OpenAI Double Down on Ads
Netflix Earnings
Netflix Ad Revenue Set to Double as Streaming Giant Eyes $3 Billion in 2026
Netflix delivered another strong quarter with revenue hitting $12.1 billion in Q4 2025, up 18% year-over-year, while its advertising business more than doubled to surpass $1.5 billion for the full year. The company expects ad revenue to roughly double again in 2026 to approximately $3 billion as it continues building out its ad tech stack and expanding fill rates across its 12 ad markets. The streaming service is also sharpening its focus on premium CPMs and interactive ad formats, including new modular video ads rolling out globally by Q2, as it works to close the revenue gap between ad-supported and ad-free tiers.
Billion-Dollar AI Bets
OpenAI Targets "Low Billions" in Ad Revenue as ChatGPT Goes Commercial
OpenAI is bringing advertising to ChatGPT's free and $8-per-month Go tiers in the coming weeks, with a person close to the company telling the Financial Times it expects to generate "low billions" of dollars in ad revenue this year as it seeks to fund $1.4 trillion in computing commitments over the next decade. The ads will appear at the bottom of ChatGPT responses and leverage the chatbot's growing "memory" feature to deliver hyper-personalized marketing messages, though OpenAI insists answers will remain independent and users can opt out of personalization. The move follows Google's recent launch of personalized AI advertising and marks a significant pivot for OpenAI, which had previously resisted ads over concerns they could undermine trust in its responses.
WPP's AI Platform Hits 85,000 Users as Agencies Race to Cut Costs
WPP's AI-powered operating system has seen adoption surge to 85,000 of its 108,000 employees using it monthly, up from 30,000 in February 2024, as the advertising giant bets technology can help reverse a decline in organic revenue growth. Chief Technology Officer Stephan Pretorius says the platform, which uses models from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, saves creative teams roughly 90 days of work annually, though the broader ad industry is still struggling to monetize AI investments with costs up 83% in 2025. The push comes as major agencies shed thousands of jobs, with WPP warning that firms refusing to embrace AI will lose business to competitors.
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Meta will start showing ads on Threads to all 400 million users globally next week, following tests in the U.S. and Japan, a move Wall Street expects to become a significant revenue driver as the platform continues gaining ground against Elon Musk's X.
Hershey is launching its first major brand campaign since 2018 with a 20% budget increase to capitalize on a packed 2026 calendar, including Olympic sponsorships, America's 250th anniversary, and a company co-produced Hollywood film, as the chocolate giant shifts toward interconnected earned, owned, and paid media strategies that recognize advertising contributes only about 20% to business growth.
Amazon Publisher Services launched its Prebid adapter in open beta, letting publishers run Amazon ad demand alongside other sources in unified auctions instead of juggling separate systems, a shift that could boost revenue while marking a rare embrace of open standards over Big Tech's typical walled garden approach.
Pinterest hired former Amazon global marketing VP Claudine Cheever as CMO and created a new chief business officer role for DoorDash and Spotify veteran Lee Brown as the social platform pushes deeper into e-commerce under CEO Bill Ready, who joined from Google in 2022 with plans to transform Pinterest's inspiration boards into shopping destinations.
WPP Media won SC Johnson's $210 million North America media account from Omnicom Media, capturing nearly two-thirds of the household products giant's $320 million global media spending while Omnicom retains the international business.
YouTube officially rolled out shoppable ads with QR codes across its TV app for all Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns, a move that's already doubled conversions and pushed TV impressions from under 0.5% to 1.5% of total ad delivery as Google capitalizes on viewers increasingly watching YouTube on their living room screens.