Amazon’s new partnership with Netflix isn't about winning another ad slot. It’s about taking control of the stage that the entire show runs on. The company is moving from platform rivalries to building the infrastructure that powers the ad world, aiming to earn a share of every transaction, whether it happens on Amazon.com or not.
Jessica Wright, CEO at AO2 Management, a consultancy for Amazon sellers, has spent her career inside the engine room of e-commerce. She sees the Netflix deal as proof of a bigger shift, where Amazon is no longer just chasing ad dollars. It's reshaping how advertising itself operates by turning its data, trust, and checkout power into the rails that other platforms now rely on.
"Amazon's strategy is to get a cut of every possible outlet. On the commerce side, they've leaned into the supply chain so that from factory to door, they get a piece of it. The same is now true for advertising. Even if an ad sends traffic to a competitor's site, they'll take a small cut, because it's a transaction they wouldn't have had a piece of otherwise," Wright says.
Back to the future: The infrastructure play isn't limited to the digital world. Wright points to a counterintuitive move into a legacy market, showing that Amazon’s goal is to own the pipes of all advertising, digital and linear alike. "Amazon is now exploring partnerships with local cable outlets, which might seem backwards when everything is moving to streaming," Wright says. "But people are still spending on local TV, and Amazon wants to figure out how to capture a piece of that budget too."
Chanel-ing trust: But for this infrastructure play to work, Amazon first had to solve a core trust problem on its own platform. For years, Wright explains, the platform was fragmented, with a core group of sellers remaining skeptical of Amazon’s motives. The solution was a deliberate pivot from focusing on "sellers" to courting and protecting "brands," making the platform a safe haven for higher-end names. "The marketplace had become so deteriorated with resellers and knockoffs that Amazon had to really reinvest in showing brands it was a safe place to build another outlet, almost another website for their brand."
Winning brand trust is step one. Step two is giving them better tools. Many early adopters of Amazon's DSP were hesitant to invest heavily because the data was too top-of-funnel. A turning point, according to Wright, was the evolution of Amazon Marketing Cloud. Its "five-year lookback window" gives brands the deep, unified data they needed, allowing them to connect media exposure with long-term shopping habits and bridge the gap between brand storytelling and performance precision.
The frictionless funnel: With a growing number of brands won over by this combination of trust and data, Amazon is now positioned to reshape the streaming industry. The company's edge isn't just about common tools like QR codes, it's about infusing the experience with trust and convenience. "People trust Amazon. If I'm watching Amazon Prime and an ad with a QR code pops up, I have the ability to check out right there. All of my Amazon information is stored in a seamless checkout. That's where they're different and that's where they're making a difference," says Wright.
The Netflix deal is the real test of Amazon’s model, a chance to prove its frictionless checkout can live beyond its own walls. Many expect the unBoxed conference to reveal when it will go live. Turning competitors into collaborators is quickly becoming Amazon’s signature move, with the "Buy with Prime" partnership attracting big names like Shopify, Walmart, and Adidas.
If you can't beat 'em...: "Amazon and Shopify were huge enemies. Amazon was making 'Buy with Prime' available on Shopify before Shopify sanctioned it, and then they agreed to be partners. I think Amazon has a unique opportunity to broker those relationships because of who Amazon is," Wright explains.
A final point from Wright puts the scale of this opportunity into perspective: the market itself is growing. With this recent Netflix deal, Amazon is positioned to capture a larger share of an exponentially growing market. "I thought people who chose the ad-supported plan would eventually get annoyed and upgrade, but projections show the opposite. That subscriber base is going to grow significantly, so the opportunity for streaming ads is going to get bigger and bigger over time instead of plateauing," Wright concludes.
