Tag: The Trade Desk

Singapore – Global adtech company The Trade Desk has fell short of its expectations for the fourth quarter of 2024, following a recent reorganisation in the company to accelerate opportunities across CTV, retail media, identity, supply chain optimisation, and audio advertising.

In the company’s latest report for its fiscal year 2024, it reported $2.4b in revenue for 2024, reflecting 26% year-over-year growth, and a record $12b in ad spend on its platform. Despite strong overall performance, the company acknowledged falling short of its own expectations in Q4.

“At the same time, we achieved significant profitability and cash flow. While we are proud of these accomplishments, we are disappointed that we fell short of our own expectations in the fourth quarter,” said Jeff Green, founder and CEO of The Trade Desk.

Jeff also noted that as advertisers move toward premium, scalable channels over user-generated content, the company sees significant opportunities ahead. Looking to 2025 and beyond, The Trade Desk aims to help clients leverage data-driven advertising to boost growth and brand loyalty.

Throughout the year, The Trade Desk continued to expand its market share, and advanced industry-wide adoption of Unified ID 2.0, securing partnerships with iHeartMedia and major supply-side platforms like FreeWheel, Index Exchange, Magnite, and PubMatic to enhance ad targeting while prioritizing user privacy. 

Additionally, The Trade Desk introduced ‘Ventura,’ a new streaming TV operating system, designed to improve user experience, ad efficiency, and content accessibility. To further strengthen its platform, the company also announced the acquisition of Sincera, a digital advertising data company, which is expected to close in Q1 2025. 

Looking ahead, The Trade Desk remains focused on CTV, retail media, identity solutions, and supply chain optimisation, alongside innovations like Kokai and the Ventura OS, to help advertisers maximise the benefits of data-driven advertising on premium digital channels.

Following this, law firm Block & Leviton is investigating The Trade Desk for potential securities law violations after the company’s stock dropped over 30% following its Q4 and full-year 2024 financial results. The firm is exploring whether legal action can be taken to recover losses for investors who purchased The Trade Desk stock and saw its value decline.

Moreover, investors who have lost money are encouraged to contact Block & Leviton to learn about potential recovery options. Additionally, the firm is seeking whistleblowers with non-public information about The Trade Desk who may qualify for SEC whistleblower rewards.

California, USA – The Trade Desk has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Sincera, a digital advertising data company known for delivering objective and actionable insights to the advertising ecosystem.

Sincera has been a trusted partner of The Trade Desk in recent years, providing advertisers with tools to assess the quality of data from publishers and content providers. By enabling more accurate valuation of ad impressions, Sincera’s objective insights have become essential for optimising campaign investments as digital advertising channels and data sources continue to expand.

With this acquisition, Sincera’s tools will integrate into The Trade Desk’s platform, giving advertisers clearer insights into their purchases. It will also help publishers optimise data signals to boost advertising demand and fill rates, highlighting which signals are most valued by advertisers.

“In recent years, the digital advertising landscape has expanded rapidly with the emergence of new channels such as streaming TV, digital audio, and retail media. Sincera has done an amazing job of serving this expanding ecosystem with the right data that can improve performance for all participants in the ad tech supply chain,” Jeff Green, founder and CEO of The Trade Desk, said. 

“With this acquisition, we will scale the impact of Sincera in a way that will upgrade programmatic performance for everyone, and especially the quality of data signals that advertisers get from publishers,” Green added. 

As part of the acquisition, Sincera co-founder and CEO Mike O’Sullivan will report directly to Jeff Green. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to finalise in the first quarter of 2025.

Commenting on the acquisition, O’Sullivan said, “Sincera has become the go-to resource for advertisers and publishers looking for objective data on advertising value. We have retained that objectivity by ensuring our focus on being an expert data company, rather than a data provider.”

“We’re excited to bring our perspective and insights to The Trade Desk. We have a shared belief that trust and growth in the programmatic ecosystem will be fuelled by a transparent and fair marketplace based on objective data,” he added. 

United States – Spotify has been reported to launch its own ad exchange, known internally as Spotify Ad Exchange or SAX, as first reported by Axios. For this, the popular audio streaming service has tapped The Trade Desk as its first demand-side platform (DSP) partner.

According to media reports, this ad exchange will allow Spotify to capture more ad revenue from small and medium-sized businesses and make it easier for existing clients, including big brands, to spend more efficiently with the platform.

It will also allow Spotify to compete against bigger platforms like Meta and Google for ad dollars.

Moreover, it has been reported that Spotify began testing its SSP plugin with The Trade Desk last week. For now, the partnership is focused on connecting The Trade Desk’s North American advertising clients to Spotify’s video ad inventory. Audio ad inventory will soon follow.

A Spotify spokesperson has confirmed it was testing its new SSP with The Trade Desk, stating, “We routinely conduct pilots before launching products for our users, creators and advertisers.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for The Trade Desk commented, “We are excited to extend our partnership with Spotify on this pilot to help advertisers have direct access to high-quality inventory with as much signal and transparency as possible.”

USA – Nexxen, a global, flexible advertising technology platform with deep expertise in data and advanced TV, has announced a strategic data partnership with The Trade Desk. This collaboration grants The Trade Desk’s advertisers exclusive access to Nexxen’s automatic content recognition (ACR) data segments, empowering them with enhanced targeting capabilities across multiple platforms.

ACR data, often confined within and fragmented across walled gardens, addresses key challenges in CTV, such as advertising oversaturation and fragmented targeting. Nexxen’s ACR data segments enable advertisers to extend their reach to TV-viewing audiences, control ad frequency, and engage in competitive conquesting effectively.

The integration of Nexxen’s ACR data into The Trade Desk’s platform will provide clients with advanced cross-channel and cross-device targeting capabilities, enabling more efficient media investments across the premium, open internet.

Nexxen’s ACR data segments, covering both linear and streaming TV, will now be available on The Trade Desk’s platform as its first self-service TV data provider in the U.K., Canada, the U.S., and Australia. These segments, categorised by genre, networks, programs, and brand-level ad exposure, deliver a more comprehensive and holistic view of TV-viewing data.

Karim Rayes, chief product officer at Nexxen, said, “We’ve long understood and appreciated the ways in which ACR data can empower advertisers to better understand their audiences’ TV viewership patterns and inform their cross-platform investments. Ultimately, we want to ensure these advertisers have access to the richest, most relevant data available and the flexibility to activate that data across the premium, open internet—which is exactly what this partnership with The Trade Desk brings to market.” 

Josif Zanich, managing director for JAPAC at Nexxen, added, “Historically, advertisers across Australia have struggled to tap into the breadth of ACR data programmatically, challenged by limited choice and variety. Our strategic partnership with The Trade Desk is changing that narrative, enabling more advertisers to reach the right audiences, particularly across CTV.”

Meanwhile, Ben Sylvan, VP of data partnerships at The Trade Desk, commented, “Brands need to think about TV media buying in a holistic manner that combines both their linear and CTV plans. Nexxen’s ACR data can empower advertisers to better understand their audience across platforms and devices, so they can aim to efficiently invest their media budgets to provide consumers with a premium ad experience.”

Isabella Spragg, director of data partnerships for ANZ at The Trade Desk, also shared, “Broadcast TV is fragmenting faster than expected, making it harder to manage campaigns across both linear and digital channels. We’re thrilled to welcome Nexxen to our ACR audience marketplace. This partnership will offer unparalleled scale and reliability in cross-screen strategies, especially as marketers face growing pressure to justify their investment decisions.”

Generative AI (GenAI) is creating new possibilities in digital marketing. However, to truly benefit from this technology, marketers need a well-crafted strategy and careful execution. This article offers practical advice for marketers looking to leverage GenAI based on insights from industry experts.

In celebration of AI Appreciation Day, we spoke with marketing and AI experts on what this day signifies and the shifts marketers need to be across over the coming year.

Balancing Innovation, Risk, and Feasibility

Jennifer Fleck, Senior Principal at Slalom Consulting, highlights the challenge of scaling GenAI initiatives:

“Experiments are easy, but scale is hard. Most of the GenAI we see happening at enterprise organizations right now is an ambitious idea that stays in POC purgatory. Selecting use cases that balance innovation, risk, and feasibility and an understanding that AI at scale requires people, process, data, and technology foundations is paramount to success.”

Fleck also suggests focusing on three key areas where GenAI can drive value:

“At Slalom, we see GenAI driving value in three key areas: productivity (doing what you already do but better and faster (doing what you already do in a fundamentally different way), and disruption (changing the essence of your business.).

By considering these areas, marketers can identify the most impactful applications of GenAI for their organizations.

Leveraging AI as a Co-Pilot

Natalie Kansteiner, Director of Data Partnerships at The Trade Desk, recommends using AI as a powerful assistant in digital advertising:

“At The Trade Desk, we see AI as a powerful co-pilot in digital advertising, transforming complex tasks into streamlined processes. To start, focus on leveraging AI for data analysis and audience segmentation. Use AI tools, like Koa AI, to extract insights from vast datasets, ensuring precise targeting and higher engagement rates. Employ real-time optimization to refine campaigns as they run, boosting performance and cost efficiency. 

Additionally, leveraging generative AI for creative content generation, while keeping human oversight to ensure brand alignment, can be highly effective. By combining AI’s analytical power with strategic human input, marketers can create more data-driven and impactful advertising campaigns.”

Kansteiner’s advice underscores the importance of using AI to enhance various aspects of digital marketing while maintaining human oversight for strategic decisions and brand consistency.

Being Prepared to Pivot

Jay Pattisall, VP and Principal Analyst at Forrester and Lisa Gately, Principal Analyst at Forrester, emphasizes in their report “Advance GenAI Marketing From Pilot Projects To Proficiency” the importance of adaptability in the rapidly changing world of AI:

“Be prepared to pivot given the rate of change in the AI world. GenAI adoption involves managing persistent change and turning setbacks into successes. Promote and reward adaptability within the marketing organization as your pilot projects reveal what’s viable and the best uses. Encourage marketers to share what they’ve learned, including areas that aren’t the best use cases. Your team will thrive as a result.”

This advice highlights the need for flexibility and a culture of continuous learning when implementing GenAI in marketing strategies.

Starting Small and Measure

Joyce Gordon, Head of Generative AI at Amperity, emphasizes the importance of starting with small, measurable use cases. She advises:

“My advice to brands and organizations when rolling out AI: start small. I recommend starting with a small use case that’s highly measurable and one that doesn’t require major change. One place where marketers have seen a lot of success is just with subject line optimization or optimizing the body of emails or paid media ads. Since you can have a human in the loop here, it’s a great opportunity to experiment with creating different segmentation strategies and different messages. And it’s also really easy to measure and determine if those approaches are working or not.”

This approach allows for experimentation without major disruptions and provides clear metrics to evaluate success. Marketers can gain valuable insights and experience with GenAI by starting small before scaling up to more complex applications.

Reverse Engineering for Success

Mike Edmonds, Sr. Director of AI Strategy, Global Retail and Consumer Goods, Microsoft advises: “Work backwards from the unmet needs and opportunities that your customers and employees face. The features and capabilities of generative AI are incredible – and with the exponential pace of change and advancements, the capabilities to come will be even more impressive. Brands and businesses that harness these powerful capabilities to unlock productivity, unleash creativity, and augment human potential will have the biggest impact. The Copilot metaphor at Microsoft not only references our technology stack, but also inspires brands and businesses to explore how every person and organization on the planet can achieve more in the era of AI transformation.”

Integrating Human Input with AI Capabilities

While AI offers powerful analytical capabilities, strategic human input remains crucial. Marketers should strive to find the right balance between AI-driven insights and human creativity and judgment. This integration allows for the best of both worlds: the data-processing power and pattern recognition of AI combined with the nuanced understanding and creative thinking of humans.

By maintaining this balance, marketers can ensure that AI-generated content and strategies align with brand values and resonate with target audiences. Human oversight also helps to catch and correct any potential biases or errors in AI-generated outputs, ensuring the highest quality of marketing materials and strategies.

As GenAI continues to change the marketing landscape, those who implement it thoughtfully and strategically will have the greatest success. Start small with measurable outcomes, balance innovation with feasibility, and use AI as a co-pilot while staying adaptable. By viewing AI as a tool to enhance, not replace, human marketers, you can drive more efficient, effective, and impactful campaigns. This approach leads to new levels of creativity and performance in marketing efforts.

Singapore – The phase-out of third-party cookies by Google is hitting yet another roadblock, as the tech giant announced that the move will most likely be delayed until early 2025. This is the latest cookie deprecation delay from Google, with the phase-out initially intended to roll out back in 2022.

In a blog post in Google’s The Privacy Sandbox page, it stated that they recognise that there are ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators and developers and that they will continue to engage closely with the entire ecosystem.

“It’s also critical that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has sufficient time to review all evidence including results from industry tests, which the CMA has asked market participants to provide by the end of June. Given both of these significant considerations, we will not complete third-party cookie deprecation during the second half of Q4,” Google stated.

The first delay on the Google third-party cookie phase-outs happened by late 2023, then again to late 2024, and now to early 2025.

In light of yet another year of delay of third-party cookie phaseout, MARKETECH APAC reached out to multiple industry leaders in the region to learn more about what does this delay means for the future of a privacy-centric advertising strategy for marketers moving forward, and how brands should continue in their efforts to utilise first-party or zero-party data strategies for their marketing initiatives moving forward.

Genelle Hung, Country Manager for SEA at PubMatic

Adapting advertising technology for a more privacy-centric future is paramount and is an effort worth taking the time to get right. Google’s new timeline does not change our commitment to creating a vibrant ecosystem around Privacy Sandbox as well as other addressability innovation areas like alternative IDs, contextual signals and commerce media. At PubMatic, we are not taking our foot off the gas. We are continuing to test and innovate around Privacy Sandbox initiatives so we can best prepare our publishers and media buyers for an inevitable cookieless future.

Nishanth Raju, Managing Director for Asia at Lotame

Deja vu, Google. It’s really no great surprise that Google has pushed back the third-party cookie deadline again. It’s in an impossible polyamorous relationship where none of its partners (legislators, regulators, industry execs) are satisfied by its commitment. The message for brands and agencies is crystal clear. Do not slow down on divesting your advertising from cookies, as they will be retired at some point. It’s a matter of who controls your fate. Give into waiting on Google, and you’re unfortunately wasting precious time building a solid portfolio of options, whether it’s identity frameworks or data collaboration. 

Dan Richardson, Director of Data & Insights for AUSEA at Yahoo

Google’s new timeline helps the industry continue to test and adapt. Beyond even cookies, non-addressable inventory will only increase and the industry should act now to prepare for these changes. Either way, Yahoo is ready to support advertisers today, with solutions for addressable and non-addressable environments, as well as testing in the Privacy Sandbox.

Gary Cheung, General Manager at NP Digital Hong Kong & Taiwan

From our point of view, the delay comes to no surprise, but the deprecation of cookies will happen eventually, and marketers and advertisers need to prepare for it. This further delay will allow marketers additional time to prepare for the loss of third-party cookies and how we should adopt a first-party-driven data strategy to drive accurate and impactful marketing. 

It is crucial for marketeers and brands to focus towards in maximising the acquisition of 1st-party data. This includes different types of data such as CRM, loyalty data, as well as online behavioural data gathered from digital assets like websites, apps, and media data such as clicks and views.

Bharat Khatri, Chief Digital Officer, Omnicom Media Group Asia Pacific

The cookieless future is not the whole story but one part of where we are headed in a privacy-first world. Effective advertising is powered by a wide variety of signals not just cookies. These traditional signals are bound to deprecate next year or soon due to high privacy concerns.

But there is a bigger issue — our industry is so focused on these declining traditional signals that they are not considering new developments like Google PAIR and The Trade Desk’s Unified ID 2.0. Privacy centricity is the now and the future for our industry. 

Nonetheless, this news does not slow down the comprehensive approach we are taking to help clients stay ahead of the curve. OMG is taking a privacy by design approach with clients and accelerating towards privacy-safe future signals to continue our commitment towards responsible advertising.

Fai-keung Ng, Director of Data Partnerships at The Trade Desk

This is a quintessential illustration of why tethering the future of your business to a highly uncertain solution is not advisable. Advertisers ought to persist in their first-party data building endeavours, while publishers must prioritise expanding their base of authenticated users, regardless of Google’s cookie deprecation decision.

It is worth noting that this third-party deprecation delay by Google doesn’t comes as a surprise for many of the industry leaders in Asia-Pacific, as many are optimistic in the alternative strategies they use for a privacy-centric advertising era ahead. Moreover, utilising first-party and zero-party data using various advertising strategies are becoming more and more commonly applied across the industry, with some saying as well that this delay will not slow down their approach for responsible advertising, as they aim to guide their clients to stay ahead of the curve. From a general perspective, this new delay from Google is another indication for many industry leaders to continue evolving towards a future where understanding of users’ privacy is at the heart of their responsible advertising mantra online.

Singapore – foodpanda has announced today a strategic partnership with The Trade Desk that will enable brands to better reach their target audience and measure the success of digital advertising campaigns on the open internet. 

The collaboration will span seven markets, namely Hong Kong, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.

The partnership features multiple retail media solutions powered by The Trade Desk’s programmatic advertising platform and foodpanda’s first-party retail data. This enables brands to engage with foodpanda customers on the open internet via The Trade Desk’s platform across channels such as OTT, music streaming, mobile apps, gaming, and websites, expanding their reach beyond foodpanda’s integrated advertising solution, panda ads. All data is pseudonymised, ensuring that customer identities remain anonymous.

Additionally, it allows brands to measure the impact of their ad campaigns on conversions. With these insights, brands can aim to optimise their ads in real-time, through ways that were previously not possible, helping them make informed decisions that could help boost their performance objectives.

Wen Zhe Lim, director of solutions, advertising and partnerships at foodpanda, said, “We are on a mission to grow foodpanda into the retail media network of choice. Our partnership with The Trade Desk is perfect for the era of consent-based advertising, where first-party data is key for targeted, personalised marketing. Leveraging the rapid growth of quick commerce, we help brands reach millions of tech-savvy customers, connecting them in ways that were not possible before.”

Meanwhile, Chris Mooney, general manager of data partnerships for APAC at The Trade Desk, commented, “Retail data is reshaping the landscape of marketing, and our partnership with foodpanda represents the incredible opportunity brands have to improve the effectiveness of their advertising spend through the adoption of data-driven strategies on the open internet. Retail data provides brands better targeting and performance measurement, enabling them to understand how their advertising dollars impact actual sales. We are thrilled to join forces with a company that is pioneering new approaches to digital advertising.”

During its beta phase in 2023, the solutions helped Unilever’s Knorr reach new customers and drive conversions for their new product line on foodpanda in Taiwan. To achieve this, Knorr leveraged TTD’s platform and used foodpanda’s retail data to target foodpanda subscribers.

Sharon Liu, marketing manager of nutrition at Unilever Taiwan, said, “Partnering with The Trade Desk and foodpanda played a crucial role in the success of our recent campaign for Knorr, enabling us to reach new audience segments on the open internet. We were extremely pleased with the significant increases in add-to-cart rates, conversions, and new buyers the campaign delivered.”

New Zealand – MarketMedia, The Warehouse Group’s retail media network, is teaming up with The Trade Desk to provide a retail media advertising approach suited to New Zealand brands.

More than 70 new partners and channels for programmatic display, programmatic digital out-of-home, connected TV (CTV), audio channels, and more can be added to MarketMedia’s client and brand campaigns. This allows for improved targeting of audiences with the intention of making a purchase on the open internet.

With the help of The Warehouse Group’s first-party data audiences, which number over 4.5 million, and MarketMedia’s self-service platform Zitcha, the alliance provides local companies with a wide range of advertising inventory alternatives through The Trade Desk.

Speaking about the partnership, Blaine Hudson, head of product, platforms, and data at MarketMedia, said, “MarketMedia will now be the only retail media network in New Zealand that lets advertisers buy across 80+ on and off-site channels easily within a single self-service platform. By integrating The Trade Desk to the MarketMedia platform we can offer never-before seen solutions that aims to expand our client’s capabilities.”

He added, “With access to The Trade Desk’s inventory and our first-party data, plus closed-loop reporting through Zitcha, we’re helping transform advertising possibilities in New Zealand.”

Meanwhile, James Bayes, VP Australia and New Zealand, The Trade Desk, said, “Retail media is making brands rethink the way they activate their media investments. Our partnership with The Warehouse Group and MarketMedia can help advertisers reach The Warehouse Group’s customers across the open internet and close the loop between advertising activity and real-world sales.”

“With leaders like The Warehouse Group, we’re driving the industry forward and helping advertisers across New Zealand work towards tangible performance improvements that translate to real business results,” Bayes added. 

Singapore – Food and grocery retailer FairPrice Group (FPG) has announced an industry partnership with adtech The Trade Desk to provide brands on The Trade Desk’s platform with insights on the impact of their digital advertising campaigns across offline and online sales channels.

In addition, such brands will be able to reach FPG’s customers on the open internet, beyond FairPrice’s owned media platforms. The partnership marks the first time that FairPrice Group’s pseudonymised sales conversion data will be available within a programmatic media buying platform.

The new partnership allows brands to reach an engaged customer base of more than 2 million NTUC Union and Link Members, including over 700,000 FairPrice app users. Brands and media agencies will be able to directly measure how digital ad campaigns are driving both in-store and online sales within FairPrice stores.

Furthermore, brands can make near real-time enhancements to their ad campaigns that can be optimised in a way that was not previously possible. Furthermore, the partnership makes it easier for brands to reach and engage with relevant FairPrice consumers across the open internet, in the fastest-growing digital channels, such as over-the-top (OTT), music streaming, mobile apps, gaming, and websites.

Alvin Neo, chief customer and marketing officer at FairPrice Group said, “Through this partnership, FairPrice Group aims to help brands unlock meaningful opportunities to better connect with our customers. As we enter the era of consent-based marketing, we look forward to working with The Trade Desk to harness the power of retail data to gain better insights to reach and serve consumers in relevant and beneficial​ ​ways.”

Meanwhile, Mitch Waters, senior vice president for ANZ, Southeast Asia and India at The Trade Desk, commented, “Given the complexity of the modern consumer, brands will need to take an omnichannel approach that supports a true shopping experience and navigates the path to purchase with consumers. By integrating FairPrice Group’s retail data available for the first time with The Trade Desk platform, we are helping brands reach FairPrice customers across the open internet, and closing the loop between advertising activity and in-store and online action.”

Singapore – Out-of-home (OOH) media company Asiaray and independent programmatic digital out-of-home (pDOOH) adtech company Hivestack has launched a pDOOH campaign for mobile on-demand services platform Gojek alongside Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) rail network via The Trade Desk’s demand side platform (DSP).

The campaign is launched on the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL). To launch the pDOOH campaign, Asiaray used proximity geofencing to activate Gojek’s ‘GOTOMALLS’ campaign on DOOH screens along the TEL line.

In the coming months, Asiaray will expand its digital inventory to additional TEL stations including digital floor, wall and ceiling mounted screens. This premium inventory is on for approximately 16 hours a day and is available for advertisers to reach their audiences with precise targeting during their daily travel.

Vincent Lam, chairman and executive director at Asiaray, said, “We are glad to have partnered with Hivestack again to support Gojek on the ‘GOTOMALLS’ campaign. This is another implementation of Asiaray’s unique ‘Outdoor and Online (O&O)’ new media strategy to provide our hallmark DOOH+ solution delivering fruitful results to both our customers and partners.” 

He added, “Looking ahead, Asiaray will continue to build on TEL’s role of ‘National Gateway’ with innovative advertising solutions that will brighten the passengers’ journey, and thus creating better values for advertisers as well as the brands.”

Meanwhile, Matt Bushby, managing director at Hivestack ANZ and SEA, commented, “We are thrilled to have launched the first ever programmatic DOOH campaign along Singapore’s latest Thomson East-Coast Line (TEL) following the announcement of our partnership with Asiaray in March. It’s an exciting time in Singapore as the streets are busy again and audiences are on the move, posing an unmissable opportunity for brands, agencies and omnichannel DSPs to activate DOOH with precision and scale.”