The Trade Desk (TTD) has launched a new AI-powered third-party solution that utilizes a data ranking system to give advertisers a new way of reaching their target audience.
Called Audience Unlimited, the new feature will “score” various data segments across thousands of curated segments culled from hundreds of third-party data providers. Advertisers can then add the relevant data sources to their campaigns.
The Trade Desk notes that while third-party data allows for “greater precision” in reaching target audiences, many advertisers don’t use it because of costs, which can eat up as much as 20% of their ad budget.
It’s also difficult for brands to decide which data sources will be most effective for a given campaign. The company sees Audience Unlimited as a way for advertisers to overcome these two challenges
The solution will be offered through The Trade Desk’s proprietary media-buying platform, Kokai. It will also be launching Koa Adaptive Trading Modes, which will give advertisers the ability to tailor Kokai based on individual campaign strategies.
One mode will be controlled by an AI agent so that Koa serves as a “a full co-pilot”, but working within the guardrails and strategy set by the advertiser – while the other one will be manually controlled.
“Brands that leverage third-party data to optimize their campaigns consistently see significantly improved performance,” Samantha Jacobsen, chief strategy officer of The Trade Desk, said in a statement. “However, the complexity of the data marketplace to date has made the deployment of data somewhat anemic.”
The Trade Desk will be able to lower costs for advertisers by securing bulk pricing for data through Audience Unlimited, Jacobsen noted.
The Trade Desk’s stock rose over 3% on Thursday, but has plummeted 56.7% for the year.
Digital ad market competition is heating up
Stifel analysts, led by Mark Kelley, reiterated their Buy rating and maintained a $90 price target for TTD shares, calling Audience Unlimited a “meaningful AI-driven platform expansion.”
Although Google (GOOG) is seen as the undisputed Goliath of the digital advertising space, AdWeek recently reported that The Trade Desk is actually facing increased competition from Yahoo, which could strike some as a surprising threat to its business model.
But reporter Trishla Ostwal spoke to four ad buyers with major brands who told her they recently switched their spend from The Trade Desk and Google DV360 to Yahoo’s demand-side platform (DSP) because of “cheaper fees and clearer reporting.”
These ad buyers have increasing concerns over the “take rates and hidden fees” with The Trade Desk and Google, Ostwal reported.
“There’s been some movement from spend moving away from The Trade Desk to Yahoo among smaller clients who want really high-touch service,” according to one executive at an agency holding company who spoke to AdWeek.
But the competition isn’t just coming from Yahoo and Google. Guggenheim analysts, led by Michael Morris, wrote in a client note that The Trade Desk is also facing pressure from Amazon (AMZN).
“We expect the narrative that Amazon is taking share of DSP dollars will remain a headwind to sentiment until The Trade Desk can reaccelerate revenue growth, which we forecast will begin in 2Q26E,” Morris wrote.
He added that in the near-term, Guggenheim views “increased Kokai adoption as key to sentiment, which would signal product success and drive internal efficiencies," but Morris is deeming 2025 as “a transition year” for the The Trade Desk.
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