Description
The Trade Desk (TTD) is a global technology company that markets a software platform used by digital ad buyers to purchase data-driven digital advertising campaigns across various ad formats and devices.
Founded and headquartered in Ventura, California, TTD is the largest independent demand-side platform (DSP) providing real-time ad pricing and placement for advertisers at agencies and brands. The company’s self-service software platform includes integrations with data, inventory, and publisher partners; enterprise APIs facilitate custom development on the platform.
History
The Trade Desk was co-founded in 2009 by Jeff Green, the company's chairman and CEO, and David R. "Dave" Pickles, its chief technology officer (CTO). The partners had met at Microsoft, where Pickles worked, after it acquired Green’s real-time, online auction advertising company, AdECN, in 2007.
In 2012, the company was included as an alpha partner in Facebook’s launch of the real-time bidding (RTB) advertising platform, Facebook Exchange.
In 2015, The Trade Desk was named among the top 10 of America’s Most Promising Companies by Forbes; Green and Pickles were also named Ernst & Young Entrepreneurs of The Year 2015 in the Greater Los Angeles region.
In 2017, The Trade Desk became one of the originators of the OpenRTB SupplyChain, which provides transparency in programmatic buying, enabling buyers to see all selling or reselling parties to a bid request.
In 2018, The Trade Desk launched new AI tools: Koa, an AI forecast engine; Megagon user interface; and The Trade Desk Planner, for mapping strategies. That year, the company also introduced its proprietary unified ID solution, as a free universal cookie identification service. In 2018, The Trade Desk was also ranked #2 among the 100 Best Medium Workplaces 2018 by Fortune.
In September 2019, The Trade Desk launched an advertising campaign, “Media for Humankind,” to position itself as a “more transparent digital advertising” alternative to Google and Facebook.
