March 17, 2026  |  SIGN UP

Ronan Shields
SENIOR REPORTER, AD TECH

The Trade Desk remains financially strong, but its once-unquestioned dominance as the independent demand-side platform of choice on Madison Avenue is eroding as rivals mature and buyers diversify spend.

Agencies are increasingly testing alternatives such as Amazon DSP, retail media networks, and direct deals, citing clearer measurement and stronger outcomes.

While The Trade Desk argues its independence and performance still deliver superior results, competitors have closed the capability gap that once underpinned its position.

Internally, shifts such as broader feature access, looser commercial terms, and account restructures are interpreted both as customer alignment and as signs of pressure. Frictions with partners, including pricing disputes and account instability, have nudged some buyers to expand beyond a single DSP.

Longer term, advances in AI and API-driven buying threaten to commoditize programmatic execution, lowering switching costs and weakening platform lock-in. The central question is whether The Trade Desk’s moat remains durable as structural dynamics shift.

ADVERTISEMENT

THE PROGRAMMATIC MARKETER

The Trade Desk remains the dominant DSP but its advertisers are starting to shop around

The Trade Desk built its dominance by being the obvious choice. It's still the obvious choice. Just not as obviously as it used to be.

GENERATIVE AI

OpenAI is building the ad tech stack it's currently borrowing

OpenAI may be cosying up to ad tech vendors to get its ads business off the ground, but they're already a means to an end – the real goal is for OpenAI to own the stack itself.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM AMAZON ADS

The challenge of measuring brand-building impact

According to Boston Consulting Group research, 46% of B2C marketing leaders are balancing their efforts between short-term revenue and long-term growth. And while brand advertising drives sales, the gap between an upper-funnel awareness campaign and final purchase makes accurate measurement through traditional means difficult.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Ad Tech Briefing: The industry is rethinking its foundations as a new world order is established

News flash: The ad industry is entering a period of profound transition as artificial intelligence reshapes how media is created, distributed, and monetized — the problem is, it's not really clear how that's going to play out.

A MESSAGE FROM VIASAT ADS

Why marketers can’t count out the value of the in-flight audience

The in-flight audience offers the advantages of OOH and digital, delivering messages directly to a captive audience of real people who have time on their hands. It’s a digital channel, so marketers can accurately track performance — and bots can’t access these in-flight portals, so every click, view and impression is legitimate.

See how it works

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Ad Tech Briefing: Embattled, embittered and determined

Ad tech executives were keen to quell fears about their companies' prospects amid the ongoing AI disruption, as Wall Street analysts peppered them with questions about declining revenue returns.

STRATEGIZING FOR THE FUTURE

Yahoo pauses IAB membership amid a series of quiet cost-saving measures

While Yahoo is a far cry from its peak during the dot-com bubble, its audience size, brand value, and underlying technology continue to attract advertiser interest.    

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM SEEDTAG

Neuro-contextual AI matches creative to cognition

Consumers have always responded to advertising that felt timely, relevant and emotionally aligned. Neuro-contextual AI allows advertisers to analyze the “why” and the “how” — the motivations and emotions that shape real engagement.

A MESSAGE FROM DIGIDAY

How are publishers making money right now?

Digiday Research is surveying publishing leaders to understand how revenue is shifting across advertising, events, subscription