Singapore – The Trade Desk has denied that it had failed a third-party audit by global advertising giant Publicis following media reports noting that the advertising company advised clients to avoid using said demand-side platform (DSP).
In a statement to MARKETECH APAC, a spokesperson for The Trade Desk has confirmed floating questions regarding Publicis’ leaked memo, but stressed that they have not failed it.
“In this case, the request included asks for data that would violate customer and partner confidentiality agreements. We look forward to working with Publicis to provide workable alternatives to this particular request, including information at an even more granular level than requested,” the spokesperson said.
They also added that as a platform that strives to be ‘transparent’ in the industry, their reporting and billing processes are supported by an independent SOC 1 compliance.
Moreover, they also stated that they are committed to providing the ‘highest level of industry transparency and strong controls’ in how they report and bill.
“When we provide contractual audit rights, we stand by those rights, based on customary accounting procedures, such as with big 4 accounting firms. In this case we have proposed a range of options to Publicis,” the spokesperson added.
The Trade Desk’s statements follow multiple media reports saying that Publicis told clients allegedly that an audit found that The Trade Desk applied its DSP fee to additional charges billed to Publicis and some of its clients for tools they were automatically enrolled in, without evidence that these purchases had been authorised.
The memo also stated that The Trade Desk did not provide sufficient information for auditors to verify whether media and data costs were billed at cost, without any markup, in accordance with the agreement.
It should be noted that The Trade Desk and Publicis have formed a partnership back in April 2021, where it saw interoperability between Epsilon CORE ID and Unified ID 2.0, enabling clients to engage with consumers on an individual level across all channels.
In a subsequent post on LinkedIn following the reports, The Trade Desk founder and CEO Jeff Green remarked how it seemed that there are those who want to wave the flag of transparency publicly, but run from it in practice as they arbitrage in the inefficiencies of programmatic.
“It bothers me when leaders of non-transparent business models are critical of those of us who are setting the bar—especially when they advocate for moving dollars to more opaque platforms and transaction methods,” he said.
Recent developments have also put pressure on The Trade Desk’s OpenPath offering, after major holding companies Dentsu and WPP reportedly pulled back from the direct-to-publisher buying solution. OpenPath, which was designed to give advertisers more efficient and transparent access to publisher inventory, has instead faced scrutiny over fee visibility and clarity around ad placements.
