Key Takeaways TTD's shares fell 26.7% in the past month, reflecting investor concerns.The Trade Desk faces macro ad-spend pressure, higher costs and intensifying competition. Kokai, OpenPath, and CTV growth remain key long-term drivers despite near-term volatility.The Trade Desk (TTD) , a prominent name in the digital ad tech space, has gotten off to a rough start in 2026. TTD has seen its stock price collapse 26.7% over the past month, an uncomfortable drawdown for a company viewed as one of ad tech’s lead ...

随着全球DSP市场规模预计以22.5%的年复合增长率持续扩张，程序化广告已成为品牌国际化的必经之路。站在这个技术与策略不断革新的十字路口，品 牌如何构建自己的全球影响力？ 01 出海市场现状与DSP的关键价值 根据恒州诚思调研数据，2024年全球DSP广告投放平台市场规模已接近2245.5亿元，并预计在未来几年保持22.5%的复合年增长率。这表明在全球数字化 转型加速的背景下，品牌出海已不再局限于少数头部企业，更多企业正在将目光投向国际市场。 在这一趋势中，需求方平台的作用不可忽视。对于计划国际化的品牌而言，DSP不仅是技术工具，更是连接全球媒体资源和消费者的关键桥梁。在2025年 的数字广告生态中，程序化广告已占据近90%的数字显示广告份额。 DSP的核心价值在于其提供的一站式程序化购买能力，将品牌与全球多个广告交易所和优质媒体资源高效连接。相比传统手动广告投放，DSP系统能以每 秒处理数百万次竞价决策的速度，实现广告投放的规模化、精准化和效率化。 02 品牌出海的实施路径：四大关键阶段 03 主流DSP平台的核心能力对比 在众多DSP平台中，不同平台根据其技术能力、资源覆盖和适用场景各有侧重。 The T ...

Core Viewpoint - The Trade Desk has launched a new advertising bidding environment called OpenAds, which has gained widespread support from multiple publishing partners, aiming to provide a more direct, credible, and transparent bidding option for publishers and sellers [1] Group 1: Industry Demand - As more advertisers fully adopt programmatic advertising, they are raising their expectations regarding bidding mechanisms, with a growing focus on transparency, visibility, and high-quality signals during the bidding process [1] Group 2: OpenAds Features - OpenAds is designed to meet industry demands by creating a highly credible and transparent bidding environment, promoting a healthier supply chain operation within the advertising technology ecosystem [1] - The initiative aims to benefit all participants in the ecosystem [1]

Core Viewpoint - The Trade Desk has launched a new advertising bidding environment called OpenAds, which has received broad support from multiple publisher partners, aiming to provide a more direct, credible, and transparent bidding option for publishers and sellers [1][2] Group 1: OpenAds Overview - OpenAds is designed to meet the increasing demands of advertisers for transparency, visibility, and high-quality signals in the bidding process [1] - The initial partners supporting OpenAds include prominent publishers such as AccuWeather, The Arena Group, BuzzFeed, The Guardian, Hearst Magazines, Hearst TV, Newsweek, People Inc, and Ziff Davis [1] Group 2: Industry Impact - The introduction of OpenAds represents a significant step for the industry in creating a clean and transparent digital advertising supply chain, starting from the bidding mechanism itself [2] - The innovation is expected to benefit both advertisers and publishers by providing clearer insights into the media resources purchased and the audiences reached with optimal signal support [2]

Core Viewpoint - The Trade Desk (TTD) has experienced a significant decline of 68.1% over the past year, contrasting sharply with the 58.5% growth in the Zacks Internet Services industry and gains of 25.9% and 19.5% in the Zacks Computer & Technology sector and S&P 500 composite, respectively [1][6][23] Company Performance - TTD's stock performance has lagged behind its peers, attributed to company-specific challenges such as rising costs, slowing revenue growth, macroeconomic volatility, and increased competition from major players like Amazon and independent ad-tech firms [5][6][23] - Despite the decline, TTD maintains a strong cash position of $1.4 billion with no debt, and has initiated a $500 million stock buyback program, indicating financial stability [6][17][18] Long-Term Growth Potential - TTD is positioned to benefit from the shift towards an open internet, where it serves as a buyer's platform, contrasting with walled-garden platforms that monetize their own content [7][8] - The transition to biddable connected TV (CTV) is gaining momentum, with expectations that it will become the default buying model, offering advertisers greater flexibility and control [8] - The rise of retail media networks is favorable for TTD, as retailers increasingly partner with the company to leverage retail data for precise targeting and attribution [9] Competitive Advantages - TTD's AI platforms, such as Kokai, enhance its competitive edge, with 85% of clients using it as their default experience, leading to improved performance metrics [12][14] - Initiatives like OpenPath and OpenAds strengthen TTD's ecosystem by improving transparency and efficiency in the advertising supply chain [15] Market Opportunities - Approximately 60% of TTD's total addressable market lies outside the United States, with international business currently representing about 13% of total revenues, indicating significant growth potential [16] - TTD's valuation is competitive, trading at a price/book multiple of 7.19X compared to the industry's 7.8X, suggesting potential for upside as the market stabilizes [19][22] Investment Outlook - TTD is currently rated as a Zacks Rank 2 (Buy), with the recent slump viewed as a reset in expectations rather than a fundamental issue with the business model, positioning it as a potential buying opportunity for investors [23][24]

Core Insights - The Trade Desk, Inc. has launched OpenAds, a new auction environment aimed at providing publishers and sellers with a transparent and high-integrity alternative for programmatic advertising, supported by major publishing partners [1][9] Group 1: OpenAds Initiative - OpenAds is designed to enhance transparency, visibility, and signal in programmatic advertising, addressing advertiser concerns by delivering a cleaner auction framework [2] - The initiative reflects a shift towards cleaner auction mechanics, enabling advertisers to better understand their purchases and audience reach [3] - Key elements of OpenAds will be open-sourced, allowing for industry review and participation from other buyers and DSPs [4] Group 2: Complementary Tools - OpenAds complements Trade Desk's existing initiatives like OpenPath and PubDesk, which aim to improve efficiency and trust between buyers and sellers [5] - These tools are focused on aligning incentives around quality rather than volume, enhancing the overall media supply chain dynamics [5] Group 3: Future Development - The company anticipates that OpenAds will continue to develop actively and expand through 2026, with plans for additional publisher integrations [6] - Management believes that a healthier auction environment will improve outcomes for both advertisers and publishers, reinforcing the competitiveness of the open Internet [6] Group 4: Competitive Landscape - Amazon's advertising business is rapidly expanding, leveraging consumer data and partnerships to enhance its advertising reach, including collaborations with platforms like Netflix and Spotify [7] - PubMatic has launched AgenticOS, an AI-powered system for programmatic advertising, and is focusing on diversifying its DSP mix to reduce reliance on legacy buyers [8][10]

Core Insights - The Trade Desk's Connected TV (CTV) business is its largest and fastest-growing channel, accounting for approximately half of its revenues in Q3 [1] - The Trade Desk positions itself as a buyer's platform for the open internet, contrasting with walled-garden platforms like Meta and Google [1] - The transition towards biddable CTV is gaining momentum, with expectations that it will become the default buying model in the future [2] Company Strategy - The Trade Desk's strategy focuses on the open internet, where price discovery and competition thrive, despite advertisers allocating less budget to this area compared to consumer online time [1] - Technology investments, particularly in the AI-powered DSP experience Kokai, are central to its growth strategy, with 85% of clients using Kokai as their default experience [3] - Supply-side initiatives like OpenPath and OpenAds enhance the ecosystem by connecting advertisers directly to publishers, improving transparency and efficiency [4] Competitive Landscape - Amazon's expanding DSP business poses significant competition to The Trade Desk, alongside independent ad-tech companies like Magnite and PubMatic [5] - PubMatic's CTV revenues increased nearly 50% year over year in Q3 2025, driven by higher premium supply and the growth of small and mid-market advertisers [6] - Magnite's CTV business is also thriving, with live sports and partnerships with major publishers contributing to its growth [9][10] Financial Performance - The Trade Desk's shares have gained 1% in the past month, outperforming the Internet – Services industry's rise of 0.8% [11] - The forward price/earnings ratio for The Trade Desk is 18.88X, lower than the industry average of 28.67X [12] - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for The Trade Desk's earnings for 2025 has been revised upwards over the past 60 days [13]

Core Insights - The Trade Desk, Inc. (TTD) is positioning OpenPath as a transformative force in the digital advertising supply chain, focusing on transparency, efficiency, and advertiser-centric innovation [1] - OpenPath aims to create a cleaner, more direct connection between advertisers and premium publishers, addressing inefficiencies in the digital ad market [1] Group 1: OpenPath Functionality and Impact - OpenPath serves as a direct integration between TTD's demand-side platform and trusted publisher inventory sources, establishing "clean pipes" for supply [2] - This integration allows advertisers to understand their purchases clearly, while publishers gain insights into inventory valuation, leading to improved price discovery and reduced transaction friction [2] - The rapid adoption of OpenPath is evident, with significant benefits reported by publishers like Hearst, including a fourfold improvement in ad fill rates and a 23% revenue increase [3] Group 2: Addressing Industry Challenges - OpenPath tackles the challenge of auction integrity weakened by inventory duplication and obfuscation, ensuring fair evaluation and pricing of inventory [4] - TTD emphasizes that a healthy auction should be unbiased, serving as a trusted referee for efficient and competitive markets [4] Group 3: Strategic Alignment - OpenPath aligns with TTD's strategy to strengthen the open Internet, contrasting with major technology platforms that monetize owned inventory [5] - It represents a structural upgrade to the digital advertising supply chain, promoting objectivity, competition, and transparency [5] Group 4: Competitive Landscape - Competitors like PubMatic are leveraging CTV, AI-driven automation, and sell-side data intelligence to drive growth amid macro pressures [6] - Amazon.com, Inc. reported strong momentum with $17.6 billion in quarterly revenues, up 22% year over year, driven by demand across its advertising portfolio [7]

Core Insights - The merger of Omnicom and IPG has created the largest advertising group globally, signaling a shift in the advertising landscape as major players reassess their relationships with demand-side platforms (DSPs) [1] - Omnicom's recent budget reallocation from The Trade Desk (TTD) to Amazon DSP highlights the competitive dynamics between traditional DSPs and integrated platforms like Amazon, which leverage their broader business models to offer lower fees [1][5] - The advertising industry is undergoing a transformation where data ownership and fee transparency are becoming critical factors in determining the success of DSPs [10][11] Group 1: Merger and Market Dynamics - The merger between Omnicom and IPG positions the new entity as a dominant force in the advertising sector, with a revenue level of approximately $25 billion [4] - Omnicom's strategic shift to allocate a significant portion of its programmatic budget to Amazon DSP indicates a growing preference for platforms that can offer lower fees and integrated data solutions [5][15] - The competitive landscape is evolving, with traditional DSPs like TTD facing challenges in maintaining their fee structures against low-cost alternatives like Amazon [7][16] Group 2: Fee Structures and Data Utilization - The Trade Desk operates on a model that charges a technology fee of 12%–20%, while Amazon's fee structure is significantly lower at 1%–2%, creating a stark contrast in profitability for advertisers [2][10] - The transparency of fee structures is increasing, as Amazon's clear pricing model forces other DSPs to disclose their rates, impacting the overall market dynamics [10] - Data integration is becoming a key differentiator, with Amazon leveraging its vast data ecosystem to create a closed-loop advertising solution that is difficult for traditional DSPs to compete against [11][12] Group 3: Future Implications for DSPs - The ongoing competition between DSPs is not just about functionality but also about the underlying data ecosystems they represent, which will shape future advertising strategies [15][17] - The question of whether advertisers are willing to pay a premium for neutrality in DSP services is becoming increasingly relevant, as integrated platforms offer compelling alternatives [16][17] - Omnicom's budget shift serves as a precursor to broader industry trends, prompting all stakeholders to reconsider their strategies in light of evolving market conditions [18]

Core Insights - AppLovin (APP) and The Trade Desk (TTD) both reported Q3 2025 earnings that exceeded estimates, but their market reactions diverged significantly, with APP's stock surging 71% over the past year while TTD's stock fell 68% from its highs [1] AppLovin (APP) - AppLovin's revenue increased by 68% year-over-year to $1.41 billion, surpassing the estimate of $1.34 billion [2][4] - The company reported a net income of $836 million, reflecting a 92% increase from the previous year, and achieved an operating margin of 76.8% [2][4] - Operating cash flow reached $1.05 billion, up 91% year-over-year, indicating strong cash generation capabilities [4][7] - AppLovin's business model leverages its AXON 2.0 AI engine, providing end-to-end AI solutions for mobile app developers, which contributes to its high operating margin [5] The Trade Desk (TTD) - The Trade Desk's revenue grew by 18% to $739 million, slightly exceeding the estimate of $719 million [3][4] - Operating income rose by 49% to $161 million, but net income growth of 23% lagged behind revenue growth, indicating potential margin pressures [3][4] - Operating cash flow declined by 18% year-over-year to $225 million, and the company's cash position decreased by 47% to $653 million [3][4][7] - TTD's strategy focuses on a self-service programmatic advertising platform for the open internet, which results in a different cost structure reflected in its 21.8% operating margin [6]