The Trade Desk Still Rules—But CTV Buyers Are Window-Shopping
Advertisers are continuing to rely on The Trade Desk as a leading demand-side platform (DSP) while also evaluating alternative buying options. The article notes that Amazon and Google are actively courting media buyers, contributing to increased consideration of competing ad-tech platforms.
Key Takeaways
- The Trade Desk remains the dominant DSP for many advertisers, but multi-DSP evaluation is increasing.
- Amazon and Google are stepping up efforts to win agency and brand budgets, raising competitive pressure.
- Advertisers are exploring alternate buying options to hedge platform risk and improve leverage in negotiations.
- Expect more parallel testing and split budgets as buyers compare performance, measurement, and access to inventory.
Why It Matters
For streaming, this is the next phase of CTV monetization: buyers want reach and transparency, but they also want the deterministic identity, commerce signals, and closed-loop measurement that Amazon and Google can bundle. The “DSP of record” is turning into a portfolio decision, not a religion. That means streamers should prepare for more fragmented demand paths, different measurement requirements by platform, and tougher questions about where incremental lift really comes from. The emerging meme: CTV buying is becoming less ‘one pipe’ and more ‘multi-cloud.’
Read full article at digiday.com