Small business▼−2Since September 2026: 4% → 2%, −2 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
2%from 4% in September 2026
Inside the floor by 9 pointsRank 8 → 17 of 69
9 categories · RankedThe Trade Desk
350Judge labels
43First choices
112Negative labels
14 / 14Models named it
9Categories
October 2026 Edition. Every number here is derived from the raw labels under vendor table v2026-10-05.2, every buyer segment counted.
Best standing
39% in Programmatic for enterprise buyers
Rank 2 of 92 in the mid-market standingcriticized challenger
3 of 14 models made it the first choice on the direct prompt; 41% of its 59 labels there were negative.
What the models named instead of The Trade Desk →By buyer segmentStrongest at enterprise.
Small business18 of 71
2%55 labels
criticized challenger
Mid-market2 of 92
10%59 labels
criticized challenger
Enterprise1 of 64
39%69 labels
endorsed leader
In programmatic · each standing computed within its segment · bars are 0 to 100 · the accent bar is the product's own best reading
Standing by category
Every category where a model named The Trade Desk for a mid-market B2B company. Share is first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts; rank is within every product named in that category.
| Category | Function | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Quadrant | Since September 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Programmatic and display advertising | Marketing | 10% | 2 of 92 | 41% | 59 | criticized challenger | ▲+1Since September 2026: 11% → 12%, +1 point. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. |
| Audio and podcast advertising | Marketing | 2% | 15 of 101 | 40% | 10 | criticized challenger | |
| Video advertising | Marketing | 0% | 16 of 114 | 27% | 22 | criticized challenger | =heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. |
| Native and content advertising | Marketing | 0% | 84 of 86 | 75% | 4 | under 10 labels · led by StackAdapt at 41% | =heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. |
| Retail media platforms | Marketing | 0% | 41 of 121 | 25% | 4 | under 10 labels · led by Amazon Ads at 33% | |
| Mobile apps | Marketing | 0% | 105 of 117 | 50% | 2 | under 10 labels · led by Customer.io at 17% | newNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now. |
| Data clean rooms | GTM data and infrastructure | 0% | 56 of 100 | 0% | 1 | under 10 labels · led by Snowflake Data Clean Rooms at 19% | |
| Retail, proximity and IoT marketing | Marketing | 0% | 101 of 130 | 0% | 1 | under 10 labels · led by Foursquare Proximity at 15% | =heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. |
| Search and social advertising platforms | Marketing | 0% | 101 of 113 | 100% | 1 | under 10 labels · led by Google Ads at 13% | =heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. |
Movement
Since September 2026, The Trade Desk held within the floor in all nine categories: no change cleared 11 points.
Best category · Programmatic · by segment
Mid-market▲+1Since September 2026: 11% → 12%, +1 point. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
12%from 11% in September 2026
Inside the floor by 10 pointsRank 3 → 2 of 86
Enterprise▼−1Since September 2026: 43% → 42%, −1 point. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
42%from 43% in September 2026
Inside the floor by 10 pointsRank 1 of 60, unchanged
All categories · Mid-market
| Category | September 2026 | Now | Change | Reading | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audio advertising | 0% | 2% | newNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 2% now. | New this edition | Rank 15 of 101, unchanged |
| Programmatic | 11% | 12% | ▲+1Since September 2026: 11% → 12%, +1 point. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. | Within noise | Rank 3 → 2 of 92 |
| Video ads | 0% | 0% | =heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. | Within noise | Rank 19 → 16 of 114 |
| Native ads | 0% | 0% | =heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. | Within noise | Rank 55 → 84 of 86 |
| Retail media | 0% | 0% | newNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now. | New this edition | Rank 41 of 121, unchanged |
| Mobile apps | 0% | 0% | newNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now. | New this edition | Rank 105 of 117, unchanged |
| Data clean rooms | 0% | 0% | newNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now. | New this edition | Rank 56 of 100, unchanged |
| Proximity | 0% | 0% | =heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. | Within noise | Rank 125 → 101 of 130 |
| Paid ads | 0% | 0% | =heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. | Within noise | Rank 100 → 101 of 113 |
Shares here are read over the models both editions asked, so they can differ by a point or two from the standing above, which counts every model in this edition.
The floor is 11 points of share, measured: how far the models move a leader on their own when the same questions are asked twice with nothing changed. A larger change is movement; a smaller one is noise, and both are shown. Movement is read over the twelve models both editions asked; GPT-6 Luna, Muse Glimmer 30B joined this edition and are in the standing but not yet in the comparison. How the floor is measured · The editions
By model
How each model treated The Trade Desk across every prompt where it was named for a mid-market B2B company. Fourteen models, six prompts per category.ShowHide
By model
How each model treated The Trade Desk across every prompt where it was named for a mid-market B2B company. Fourteen models, six prompts per category.
ShowHide| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Negative | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 11 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| Grok 4.20 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 13 |
| Mistral Small | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 12 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| Kimi K2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 12 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
By framing
Which of the six questions produced the naming. By model says how often; this says asked what. The first-choice count on the right carries the marks of the models that produced it.
FramingLabels by classFirst choices
Direct76 labels19
Paraphrase73 labels11
Comparative71 labels35not counted in share
Budget-constrained44 labels9
Scale-constrained36 labels4
Negative50 labels8not counted in share
First choiceAlternativeMentionNegative350 labels in all, every segment counted; 43 of the 86 first choices count toward share, since the comparative and negative framings do not. The bar is one segment per label class, to scale within the framing.
What the models said for it
Verbatim evidence the judge attached to positive labels.
“If you need open-web reach and CTV without being locked into a single vendor, The Trade Desk is a strong independent option.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · Programmatic · comparative prompt · first choice
“generally considered to offer better safety controls, more transparency, and stronger fraud prevention mechanisms” MiniMax M2.5 · Programmatic · negative prompt · first choice
“Prioritize platforms like Google DV360, The Trade Desk, MediaMath, or Amazon DSP, but test via demos or pilots.” Grok 4.20 · Programmatic · scale prompt · first choice
“### 1. The Best All-Rounder: The Trade Desk (TTD) This is the world’s leading Demand Side Platform (DSP).” Qwen 3.7 Flash · Programmatic · direct prompt · first choice
And against it
Verbatim evidence attached to negative labels. A warning on a product with few labels is a warning; on a product with many, it is one voice among them.
“Enterprise DSPs like The Trade Desk ($50K+/month) ... aren't practical for small budgets” Grok 4.20 · Programmatic · budget prompt · hard negative
“$20K–$50K/month minimum, better for large-scale consumer campaigns” Kimi K2 · Programmatic · paraphrase prompt · hard negative
“mid-market companies usually cannot afford the $25,000–$50,000 monthly minimums required for a direct seat on enterprise demand-side platforms (DSPs) like *The Trade Desk*” Gemini 3.5 Flash · Programmatic · direct prompt · soft negative
“The Trade Desk — Major agency group (Publicis) advised clients to move away due to concerns about *undisclosed fees* and *limited transparency*” Kimi K2 · Programmatic · negative prompt · soft negative
Named alongside
The products named in the same answers as The Trade Desk, over the 350 answers that named it. Took the first choice instead counts the answers where the other product was the first choice and The Trade Desk was named but was not.ShowHide
Named alongside
The products named in the same answers as The Trade Desk, over the 350 answers that named it. Took the first choice instead counts the answers where the other product was the first choice and The Trade Desk was named but was not.
ShowHideProductSame answerTook the first choice insteadHead to head
A head-to-head page exists where both products are among a category's top eight. The other rows are the same fact without a page behind them, so they link to the product instead.
What carried it into the answer
The sites and pages cited by the answers that named The Trade Desk. A fact about retrieval, not a lever on the model.
Citations exist only for the models that return a source list, five of the fourteen in this edition, so these counts come from 326 of the 350 answers that named The Trade Desk and are not a share of its labels.
Domains cited
improvado.io142
demandbase.com136
madgicx.com118
heysid.com113
aidigital.com89
vibe.co89
pipeline.zoominfo.com84
g2.com82
admanage.ai79
guideflow.com77
1,009 of the 1,009 domain citations in answers naming The Trade Desk came from somebody else's page.
Pages cited
Pages are listed as the models cited them.
Search and answers
thetradedesk.com is not in Google's top ten for any of the category's searches. In the answers, The Trade Desk takes 10% of first choices and StackAdapt takes 48%.ShowHide
Search and answers
thetradedesk.com is not in Google's top ten for any of the category's searches. In the answers, The Trade Desk takes 10% of first choices and StackAdapt takes 48%.
ShowHideIn search
Google, US estimatesPosition for “programmatic advertising platform”
–
not in the top ten
Position for “best programmatic advertising platform”
–
not in the top ten
- Searches for its name, Google
- 27,100 a month (“the trade desk”)
- AI search demand for its name, est.
- 1,140 a month
- Organic visits to its site
- about 68,569 a month
- Searches its site ranks for
- 2,602 · 432 in the top three
- Sites linking to it
- 11,512
- Paid Google search
- 7 searches its ads show for, about 259 clicks and $8,113 a month (estimate)
In answers
This editionShare of first choices
10%
rank 2 of 92 in programmatic
Segment leader
48%
StackAdapt
- First choices
- 43 across its categories
- Named in
- 350 answers
- Its own site cited
- in 326 of the answers that named it
Search figures are US estimates from DataForSEO, read September 28, 2026; AI search demand is its modeled, directional estimate, not a count of queries to any assistant. The answers are this edition's. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
What it publishes
ShowHide
What it publishes
ShowHideAddresses on thetradedesk.com
1,022
subdomains included
Content
767
counted in the table below
Documentation
0
Product · Integration
0 · 0
| Kind | Pages | Last 90 days | 2025-10 to 2026-09 | Latest | Categories named |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blog | 335 | 1 | 2026-09-09 | CRM | |
| News or press | 243 | 8 | 2026-09-06 | CDP | |
| Case study | 163 | 0 | 2023-22-05 | CRM | |
| Glossary or explainer | 8 | 0 | 2023-07-11 | ||
| Webinar or virtual event | 7 | 0 | 2025-17-11 | ||
| Conference or event | 4 | 3 | 2026-22-07 | ||
| Template or tool | 3 | 0 | 2026-04-02 | ||
| Comparison | 2 | 0 | 2022-11-05 | ||
| Report or ebook | 1 | undated | |||
| Podcast or video | 1 | undated |
Most recent
- 2026-22-07The trade desk announces date of second quarter 2026 financial results and conference call conference or event
- 2026-22-04The trade desk announces date of first quarter 2026 financial results and conference call conference or event
- 2026-11-03Matthew henick at ctv world summit why tv os neutrality is the strategy for ventura conference or event
- 2026-09-09Instant intelligence nearly half of halloween shoppers start planning before october blog
- 2026-09-06Ventura tv os featured in tvrevs the tv os wars the battle for the living room news or press
- 2026-09-06The trade desk appoints david haddad to board of directors news or press
How it is countedHide how it is counted
Every page thetradedesk.com exposes, subdomains included. Kind is read from the address and title. The last 90 days, the latest date and the twelve months count pages by when they were published, from the site's feeds, a date in the address, or the page's own publication date, read from up to a hundred of its most recently changed pages; a page that says only when it last changed is counted in its kind but not in when, so the recent counts are a floor, and a kind none of whose pages gives a publication date reads undated. An event counts as online when its address or title says so (webinar, on demand, virtual or online summit); a conference, summit, trade show, expo or roadshow that does not say so is counted as a conference or event, which on a vendor's site is mostly in person. Read September 29, 2026.
Names read as The Trade Desk
What the judge wrote, as written, with how often. The vendor table decides that these count as The Trade Desk; a claim can dispute any of them.
The Trade Desk (TTD) 6Trade Desk 2The Trade Desk + Triton Digital 1The Trade Desk / Viant 1
Follow The Trade Desk
An email the morning each edition publishes: where this product moved, where it held, and by how much against the noise floor. One address, confirmed by a click; a stop link in every email.
Already following? Everything you follow, with a stop for each.
The company
Trade Desk is the company behind The Trade Desk.ShowHide
The company
Trade Desk is the company behind The Trade Desk.
ShowHideOn record
Wikidata- Website
- thetradedesk.com
- Headquarters
- Ventura, United States
- Founded
- 2009
- Ownership
- Public, TTD on Nasdaq
Fetched September 14, 2026. These describe the company, not the product's standing, and a claimed page can dispute any of them. · Wikidata · LinkedIn · Crunchbase
In its own words
Stated by the vendor, not checked- Positioning
- An objectively better way to advertise
- For
- advertisers
- Customers named
- Disney+ FranceSpotifyShokzJack Daniel’sTripadvisorGeneral MillsSuzukiVileda
- Not stated on the pages read
- Price, starting price, free plan or trial, integrations, certifications, hosting
What The Trade Desk's own pages state, read September 28, 2026: thetradedesk.com, thetradedesk.com/trust, thetradedesk.com/case-studies, thetradedesk.com/resources/partners. A claimed page can correct any of them.
Is this your product?
Claim this page
Claiming is free and changes nothing in the data. A claimed page shows a verified contact who is told when each edition publishes and when The Trade Desk's standing changes by more than the noise floor; the right to propose corrections to the vendor table, meaning names the judge wrote that should or should not read as The Trade Desk, applied by version and listed in the change log; and a one-line description supplied by the vendor and marked as such.
What a new claim receivesHide what a new claim receives
A new claim receives the current edition's vendor brief for The Trade Desk by email, built from the raw record of the edition. It shows:
- where The Trade Desk is named, by buyer and by framing, and which cells hold its first choices;
- the claims the models make when they name it, ranked, with the strongest and the weakest quoted;
- its vocabulary against the segment leader's, and the pages the models cited;
- who was chosen in the answers that did not name The Trade Desk, and every reason the record gives;
- a battlecard for each top rival: the head-to-head split, why they win, and the reservation quoted against them;
- one page of published figures cleared to show a buyer.
Badges
Wins only: a badge exists where The Trade Desk is ranked in a category's top three this edition. Three sizes, one file each, light and dark; the code is under each.ShowHide
Badges
Wins only: a badge exists where The Trade Desk is ranked in a category's top three this edition. Three sizes, one file each, light and dark; the code is under each.
ShowHideThe Trade Desk is among the products AI models recommend first in Programmatic and display advertising this edition. Each badge says so in the buyer's words, names the edition, and links to the standing. The next edition issues a new badge; this one stays true as a record of October 2026.
Wide · 320 × 104 Website, beside other badges
Square · 240 × 240 LinkedIn, slides
Compact · 200 × 56 Email signature, footer
Badges read on light and dark pages. Alt text carries the claim, the category, the edition and the index, so it stays a citation where the image does not load.