The Trade Desk builds first-party data platform to prep for end of cookies

The Trade Desk, facing an evolving ad tech landscape, announced moves to grow an alternative ecosystem of ad tech companies to challenge behemoths like Facebook and Google. On Tuesday, The Trade Desk outlined its new strategy, announcing that it created a venture capital arm called TD7 to help finance the next-generation of ad tech companies. Also, in a first for The Trade Desk, it is developing a new platform for brands to upload their first-party consumer data right into its ad system, which is another nod to the changing demands of the digital advertising landscape, where first-party data is key. The company would not reveal all the details of its ad tech startup investment plans, but said TD7 was making investments to keep its existing advertising products competitive while also working on an alternative system of targeting ads as the industry confronts the eventual loss of the third-party cookie. "We want to see more smart ad tech people succeed in small and disciplined companies because that will help the whole industry innovate and grow,” said Jeff Green, co-founder and CEO of The Trade Desk, in a statement. The Trade Desk says TD7 made an initial investment in Chalice, an ad tech startup that specializes in ad algorithms. The Trade Desk also declined to reveal the value of TD7’s assets under management or whether TD7 would have any investment targets or goals. Meanwhile, The Trade Desk also announced a new platform called Solimar, which is meant to help spur adoption of the company's ad-tracking replacement known as Unified ID 2.0. Solimar lets companies upload their first-party data directly into The Trade Desk’s system, where the data is converted into a format that is compatible with Unified ID 2.0, which if successful would help brands target ads across the web. Previously, data needed to be connected through an external data management platform like those provided by Oracle or Salesforce. “For the first time, we’re allowing advertisers to literally just upload a [spreadsheet] file directly into the platform,” says Amber Browne, vice president of global client development at The Trade Desk. The new feature is aimed at marketers with valuable customer information built up over years or decades of loyalty, information that brands may be hesitant about sharing. There are competing identity alternatives, like those offered by InfoSum or Google, that process data without the need to transfer or upload the original user data. The Trade Desk says it will address the concerns brands may have in a later announcement, and that its focus is to help publishers, brands and advertisers feel comfortable about transacting their data securely. The Trade Desk says that uploaded information will be converted into an advertising-friendly identity and then discarded, and all that’s left would be anonymized identities. The latest updates from The Trade Desk could help build support for its advertising offering that can identify audiences and serve them targeted ads, which is becoming increasingly difficult as players such as Apple and Google adopt privacy and data restrictions. Apple especially has been tearing down the old ways of conducting online ad campaigns by limiting how much data ad tech companies and brands can track from iPhones. Apple and Google are both limiting the utility of cookies, too, which have been one of the main ways of tracking online consumers for the purposes of targeting ads to them and measuring those ad campaigns. There are still many open questions about how successful companies like The Trade Desk can be adapting to the new advertising landscape, and whether brands and publishers will gravitate to the products being developed such as Unified ID 2.0, and now Solimar. In fact, last month, Google said it would extend support for third-party cookies until late 2023. That announcement dampened urgency for finding cookie replacements among some brands and advertisers, since cookies will continue to function for another two years. The Trade Desk says its products like Unified ID 2.0 will incorporate privacy-safe technology, and that it is willing to work with other companies to create the advertising identifiers of the future. “Brands are as eager as ever to get their heads wrapped around what the future looks like and making sure they’re best set up for success moving forward,” says Browne. “We’re going to help them do that.”

The Trade Desk builds first-party data platform to prep for end of cookies

Featured Stories