Starting in November, buyers in The Trade Desk’s Kokai platform will be able to point first-party customer lists and third-party audience segments at Netflix’s ad inventory. Netflix and The Trade Desk made the call on October 20, 2026, the same day Netflix trimmed its 2026 advertising revenue forecast. The update also includes a new Netflix Pixel, an expanded Conversion API and a measurement change in Yahoo DSP.
What actually changes in Kokai
The core unlock is data portability. Trade Desk buyers get two levers: onboard their own first-party audiences, or activate segments from The Trade Desk’s data marketplace, which holds more than 4 million segments from over 300 providers across commerce, behavioral, demographic and geographic data.
The Trade Desk said that, starting in November, advertisers can use both first- and third-party data to target audiences on Netflix through Kokai. Netflix’s own post timed it as “starting next month.”
Nicolle Pangis, Netflix’s VP of UCAN advertising, framed the wider update as “building with our advertising partners, not around them.”
Why this matters for performance teams
Amazon DSP and Yahoo DSP buyers have been able to bring outside audience data to Netflix since spring. Trade Desk buyers, who gained broad marketplace access in July, were limited to Netflix’s own targeting. The November change closes that gap.
In practice, your existing customer segments, purchase-based audiences and suppression lists can now travel into premium CTV. That makes Netflix feel more like the rest of your programmatic plan.
For The Trade Desk, there is also a platform angle: after slowing growth and Safari’s block of identity domains, CTV supply such as Netflix is a place where its data marketplace can work without browser constraints.
The measurement catch
Yahoo DSP buyers now get single publisher attribution inside the DSP. For The Trade Desk, in-DSP reach, frequency and attribution measurement is still “coming soon” with no launch date.
That means a Kokai buyer can target Netflix with outside data from November, but cannot yet see Netflix-specific outcomes next to the rest of the campaign without exporting reports. Build that delay into your budget plan.
Netflix is also expanding its Conversion API to accept more than 20 lower-funnel conversion events and rolling out the new Netflix Pixel. Combined with conversion-based audiences, that should eventually let advertisers feed outcomes back into targeting.
What to do before November
- Ask for matched reach on Netflix, not just the 4M+ marketplace total.
- Test one high-value first-party segment before broad third-party buys.
- Clarify data fees and any restricted categories on Netflix inventory.
- Keep a control group ready for later lift measurement.
Netflix’s own results, including 2.7% signup lift and 2.9% trial lift in one delivery-app case, are directional but lack published method. Treat them as context until you run your own test.
The addition of 4M+ segments from more than 300 providers was announced the same day Netflix lowered its 2026 ad revenue expectation to about $2.7 billion from roughly $3 billion, citing slower partner integrations. This Kokai move is one of those integrations finally landing.
Source: PPC Land
