Ties between The Trade Desk and key media agencies are weakening
By Sam Bradley • March 7, 2025 •
Ivy Liu
The Substitute Desk (TTD) and media agencies are drifting apart — a wide awake uncoupling that crept in slowly however is now intelligent hasty.
Companies assert their spending isn’t hiking admire it dilapidated to, whereas The Substitute Desk is busy chasing pronounce affords with advertisers. It’s now not a beefy on breakup yet, however both facets are clearly eyeing other alternatives.
One retaining company media buyer, who exchanged anonymity for candor, told Digiday that rising shopper funding in CTV — and the a large selection of DSPs that would possibly perhaps per chance per chance be dilapidated to web page such use — supposed their agency used to be turning into much less reliant on The Substitute Desk over time.
“We’ve had — now we possess got — a massive relationship with TTD. I magnificent mediate that the dominance of the inventory that they signify is much less and now not more essential,” mentioned the shopper.
That sentiment has easiest grown louder over the previous two years as media agencies possess taken extra administration over programmatic ad shopping. Once mutter material to let ad tech avid gamers admire The Substitute Desk take care of it, agencies were pushed by advertisers to step up, constructing out their comprise tech and services and products to optimize ad shopping. Naturally, that shift pulled them far from The Substitute Desk and nearer to the opposite energy avid gamers in the public sale: present-aspect platforms, which preserve the guidelines and tech agencies must stable the ideal ad impressions.
Apart from, there’s concerns amongst some media traders over rising data charges and dwindling transparency all the intention by the ideas its merchandise work. “This stuff add as much as the point where it would possibly perhaps per chance probably per chance per chance be extra worth efficient to scamper [a campaign] by a walled backyard or one more platform,” mentioned Jonathan D’Souza-Rauto, biddable product lead at agency Kepler.
In flip these frustrations are beginning to have an effect on where advertisers decide to use their dollars. Indeed, media agency pros assert their dependence on it is slipping as shopper investments bend toward channels that The Substitute Desk doesn’t dominate in, particularly CTV where, no topic its abilities, there’s competition.
Viant, as an instance, seen total revenues elevated 30% in 2024. Per co-founder and COO Chris Vanderhook, that used to be attributable to a “extensive tailwind” from CTV quiz.
It’s a idea now not lost on the professionals at Amazon Commercials, who’re utilizing the promise of CTV marketing powered by its rich data as a hook to convince extra advertisers to make exhaust of its comprise DSP. Thus far, it appears to be like to be to be working. The company raked in $17.3 billion in ad income final quarter, a 17% upward push driven by its DSP’s growth. As Digiday beforehand reported, it’s beginning to encroach upon established ad tech avid gamers and, in time, is expected to beget severe competition for The Substitute Desk.
“Amazon’s DSP has near a long methodology, and plenty of that has to abolish with… their market dominance, their data, their commerce solution, their proprietary inventory,” mentioned one nameless buyer. “They are coming for The Substitute Desk.”
These tensions are mounting as The Substitute Desk’s grip on ad dollars faces tension from three facets: a fragmented CTV market, the leisurely death of third-event cookies that gasoline its audience concentrated on and the looming possibility that their disappearance would possibly perhaps per chance well dent its shopping effectivity in key areas.
After the agency’s contemporary earnings introduced The Substitute Desk its first income droop away out in 33 straight quarters, chief exec Jeff Inexperienced told analysts that the corporate had overhauled its shopper-facing teams as portion of a 15-point thought to secure momentum. That integrated layoffs (it’s unclear how many precisely) and a reorientation of some teams spherical customers and commercial verticals; the corporate’s jobs board in the in the meantime involves numerous openings for director and supervisor positions excited by managing stamp relationships.
Apart from, Inexperienced mentioned TTD planned to pursue extra joint commercial plans (JBPs) — pronounce preparations struck with enormous advertisers.
A Substitute Desk spokesperson referred Digiday to remarks Inexperienced made all the intention by TTD’s most modern earnings call in a inquire of for comment — all the intention by which, Inexperienced claimed that TTD’s stamp pronounce relationships were rising 50% faster than other ingredients of the commercial.
This now not so refined push to cozy as much as agency customers straight would possibly perhaps per chance well overview admire a menace, however it’s arguably the least critical ingredient at play.
The Substitute Desk’s pursuit of extra high advertiser partnerships isn’t expected to be a danger, given customers will still generally ask agencies to abolish and bid on investments. “JBPs are seemingly to be now not a menace to the methodology agencies work,” mentioned one buyer, who requested to live nameless, citing endured present relationships with The Substitute Desk.
Even contemporary structural shake-u.s.within the corporate’s agency group of workers aren’t seen as one thing that would possibly perhaps escalate tensions with agencies — on the very least no bigger than they already are. In actuality The Substitute Desk’s day-to-day relationship with agencies appears to be like to be to still be rather wholesome, especially those outdoor the holdco teams, in step with 5 traders that spoke with Digiday.
As an illustration, at indie store Wpromote, head of media funding Deanna Mulkeen described TTD’s DSP as “a severe portion of our media mix … No one is highly best, however I mediate The Substitute Desk has been if reality be told powerful for us.”
And for many advertisers, that’s unlikely to replace anytime soon.
Per Ryan Eusanio, svp, video and programmatic at Omnicom Media Community, most customers will assemble the most of just a few DSPs in step with their media wants. An advertiser focusing on YouTube would possibly perhaps per chance well adopt DV360 as a “predominant” platform and exhaust one more as its “secondary”, he mentioned.
“A quantity of our customers exhaust [The Trade Desk] as a predominant DSP. They’ve been one more chief in the CTV dwelling for a extraordinarily very long time, [and] we’ve constructed plenty of co-developed capabilities with them,” he outlined.
The true inquire of, even supposing, is how far that collaboration with agencies will droop.
The Substitute Desk stays the preeminent gateway to the start web for many. But when growth is on the line, partnerships generally hang a wait on seat.
https://digiday.com/?p=571065
