This is what Netflix said, on Wednesday during its Upfronts presentation: The company is introducing an in-house advertising technology platform, just happens to be 18 months after entering the ads business. This puts Netflix in a fray with other industry heavyweights that also have ad servers, including Google, Amazon, and Comcast.

The announcement marked an important shake-up in the advertising approach of the giant streaming company. At one point, the firm has collaborated with Microsoft for creating its ad tech so it could rapidly enter the advertising space and catch up fast with competitors like Hulu. This latter firm had held its own ad server ten years ago.

Being poised to take full control of its advertising future as it launches its in-house ad tech, Netflix is indeed the perfect company for such a strategic move. Its 270 million subscribers are bound to be connected to the targeted and personalized advertisement experience created by the company through this strategic move.

Bringing our ad tech in-house will allow us to power the ads plan with the same level of excellence that's made Netflix the leader in streaming technology today," said Amy Reinhard, Netflix's president of advertising. "We're being incredibly strategic about how we present ads because we want our members to have a phenomenal experience.". It conducts deep consumer research so we are ahead of competitors and bring opportunities that make sense for the members as well as for the brands.

Netflix did not indicate how its in-house solution would alter the way ads are delivered, but it probably will shift away from the usual generic ads. According to the Financial Times, the platform intends to experiment with "episodic" campaigns-a set of ads that tell a story rather than presenting similar ads repeatedly.

In its press conference, Netflix also said it will grow its buying power this summer and add its first set of trading desks: The Trade Desk, Google's Display & Video 360, and Magnite. Of special interest to those following this space is that Disney+, the company's largest competitor, has a similar ad deal with The Trade Desk.

Another of Netflix's triumphs is that the company boasts of 40 million global monthly active users selecting the ad-supported tier. Six months after rollout, the ad tier managed around 5 million users.