Updated
Updated · Digiday · Aug 7
The Trade Desk Misses Q2 by $36 Million, Bets on New Measurement and Audience Unlimited
Updated
Updated · Digiday · Aug 7

The Trade Desk Misses Q2 by $36 Million, Bets on New Measurement and Audience Unlimited

1 articles · Updated · Digiday · Aug 7

Summary

  • $715.1 million in Q2 revenue left The Trade Desk $36 million below forecasts, after advertisers favored cheaper buys over value-based decisioning, CEO Jeff Green said.
  • A new measurement framework in alpha is central to the recovery plan, aiming to assign value across the full customer journey and counter reliance on last-click and last-view metrics.
  • Audience Unlimited, still in open beta, pairs audience targeting with built-in outcome tracking under a flat subscription model; Green said one global advertiser cut cost per unique household and data CPM by more than 25%.
  • 217 joint business plans were in place in Q2, up 38% year over year, and revenue under those plans grew six times faster than the rest of the business.
  • Revenue still rose only 3% from a year earlier, and the stock fell after hours, extending a decline of more than half this year as Amazon and Google intensify pressure in programmatic and CTV.

Insights

Will the shift to a flat-fee subscription model for audience targeting cannibalize The Trade Desk's existing revenue or spark a growth revival?
Can The Trade Desk's new AI-driven measurement tools truly convince advertisers to abandon cheaper ad buys for premium open-internet inventory?