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G2 recognized The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk

By The Trade Desk

4.4 out of 5 stars

How would you rate your experience with The Trade Desk?

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The Trade Desk Pros and Cons: Top Advantages and Disadvantages

Quick AI Summary Based on G2 Reviews

Generated from real user reviews

Users value the advanced and reliable platform of The Trade Desk, benefiting from actionable insights and excellent support. (32 mentions)
Users appreciate the ease of use of The Trade Desk, benefiting from user-friendly navigation and excellent support. (24 mentions)
Users value the knowledgeable and responsive customer support at The Trade Desk, enhancing their overall experience. (23 mentions)
Users value the advanced audience targeting capabilities of The Trade Desk, enhancing campaign effectiveness and client satisfaction. (20 mentions)
Users value the effective campaign management tools of The Trade Desk, enhancing their advertising results and client satisfaction. (18 mentions)
Users praise the impressive performance results of The Trade Desk, noting its versatility and effective campaign management. (18 mentions)
Users appreciate the quick and helpful customer support from The Trade Desk, enhancing their overall experience. (17 mentions)
Users find customer support and account management of The Trade Desk to be exceptionally helpful and responsive. (15 mentions)
Users value the advanced targeting and real-time insights provided by The Trade Desk for better campaign performance. (13 mentions)
Users find the steep learning curve of The Trade Desk challenging, especially for complex campaign management. (19 mentions)
Users find the high costs of The Trade Desk to be a significant barrier, especially for small businesses. (11 mentions)
Users find the learning difficulty of The Trade Desk challenging, particularly for newcomers to programmatic advertising. (10 mentions)
Users find the complexity of The Trade Desk's reporting section and interface detracts from their overall experience. (9 mentions)
Users find the training difficulty of The Trade Desk steep, particularly for those new to programmatic advertising. (9 mentions)
Users struggle with poor usability in The Trade Desk, finding navigation difficult and reporting sluggish during campaign management. (8 mentions)
Users experience slow performance with reporting, finding it often glitchy and impractical for timely campaign management. (7 mentions)
Users report performance issues with slow reporting and campaign building, affecting their overall experience with The Trade Desk. (6 mentions)
Users experience slow report loading times, making fast campaign performance analysis challenging and frustrating. (5 mentions)
Users experience a long learning curve with The Trade Desk, making initial navigation challenging for newcomers. (4 mentions)

Top Pros or Advantages of The Trade Desk

1. Features
Users value the advanced and reliable platform of The Trade Desk, benefiting from actionable insights and excellent support.
See 32 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Trade Desk - An Exceptional Platform and Support Team"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

The platform itself is advanced and reliable. It provides users with actionable insights at their fingertips. The tools in the platform can benefit an

James S.
JS

James S.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Best DSP, but sometimes over does it"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

TTD in terms of DSP’s is by far the most advanced and technical one out there. When comparing it to the likes of DV360 and Amazon the platform has a l

2. Ease of Use
Users appreciate the ease of use of The Trade Desk, benefiting from user-friendly navigation and excellent support.
See 24 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Trade Desk - An Exceptional Platform and Support Team"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

The platform itself is advanced and reliable. It provides users with actionable insights at their fingertips. The tools in the platform can benefit an

Verified User
U

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Overall great experience"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

The one on one support. If we ever have questions or concerns the TTD team is there to answer or help out. Set up is pretty easy and navigation is as

3. Customer Support
Users value the knowledgeable and responsive customer support at The Trade Desk, enhancing their overall experience.
See 23 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
U

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Overall great experience"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

The one on one support. If we ever have questions or concerns the TTD team is there to answer or help out. Set up is pretty easy and navigation is as

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Work with Trade Desk across multiple retail clients"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

The team we work with at TTD is super helpful in terms of strategic recommendations and the actual platform is easy to user/user friendly. I also like

4. Audience Targeting
Users value the advanced audience targeting capabilities of The Trade Desk, enhancing campaign effectiveness and client satisfaction.
See 20 mentions

See Related User Reviews

AG

Ayushi g.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"Amazing Platform"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

I like best about The Trade Desk is its AI driven Kokai platform, which transforms programmatic advertising by making it both powerful and intuitive.

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"The best platform support!"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

With the transition to Kokai, TTD has allowed advertisers even more control to target their ideal customers.

5. Campaign Management
Users value the effective campaign management tools of The Trade Desk, enhancing their advertising results and client satisfaction.
See 18 mentions

See Related User Reviews

AG

Ayushi g.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"Amazing Platform"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

I like best about The Trade Desk is its AI driven Kokai platform, which transforms programmatic advertising by making it both powerful and intuitive.

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"A good DSP"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

The Trade Desk is simple to use and it gets complex when it comes into the greater tasks. I have contacted their customer support a couple of times an

6. Performance Results
Users praise the impressive performance results of The Trade Desk, noting its versatility and effective campaign management.
See 18 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Trade Desk - An Exceptional Platform and Support Team"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

The platform itself is advanced and reliable. It provides users with actionable insights at their fingertips. The tools in the platform can benefit an

James S.
JS

James S.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Best DSP, but sometimes over does it"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

TTD in terms of DSP’s is by far the most advanced and technical one out there. When comparing it to the likes of DV360 and Amazon the platform has a l

7. Team Helpfulness
Users appreciate the quick and helpful customer support from The Trade Desk, enhancing their overall experience.
See 17 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Trade Desk - An Exceptional Platform and Support Team"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

The platform itself is advanced and reliable. It provides users with actionable insights at their fingertips. The tools in the platform can benefit an

Verified User
A

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Active agency user"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

The forefront of innovation, unmatched service and a wide range of products and features. Always approachable and on hand to support the agency and c

8. Helpful
Users find customer support and account management of The Trade Desk to be exceptionally helpful and responsive.
See 15 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Trade Desk - An Exceptional Platform and Support Team"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

The platform itself is advanced and reliable. It provides users with actionable insights at their fingertips. The tools in the platform can benefit an

SK

Shiraz K.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

3.0/5

"Good product"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

The UI is nice. Exchanges ate good and serves quality impressions. Results can be varied but they provide exceptional troubleshooting and service as r

9. Insights
Users value the advanced targeting and real-time insights provided by The Trade Desk for better campaign performance.
See 13 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Trade Desk - An Exceptional Platform and Support Team"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

The platform itself is advanced and reliable. It provides users with actionable insights at their fingertips. The tools in the platform can benefit an

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Senior Account Manager"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

TTD offers endless access to audience segments and the ability to track beyond what typical walled gardens like Google or Meta offer. The lift tests a

Top Cons or Disadvantages of The Trade Desk

1. Learning Curve
Users find the steep learning curve of The Trade Desk challenging, especially for complex campaign management.
See 19 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Suraj P.
SP

Suraj P.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Effective DSP Partnership for SSP Campaign Execution"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

While The Trade Desk is a powerful platform, the learning curve can be steep for new users, especially when managing more complex campaign setups. Fro

Verified User
U

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"TTD is a powerful product with a phenomenal team"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

Some TTD features require advanced knowledge to properly utilize. However, TTD does do a great job at simplying and educating.

2. Expensive
Users find the high costs of The Trade Desk to be a significant barrier, especially for small businesses.
See 11 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
A

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Active agency user"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

Whilst they would say it is ‘value for money’ I would say the cost of The Trade Desk comes as a premium. Recently the sales pitch has come more compl

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"The best platform support!"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

While not privy to the fee structure, the cost of the media buys in the platform may be more in some cases may be a drawback.

3. Learning Difficulty
Users find the learning difficulty of The Trade Desk challenging, particularly for newcomers to programmatic advertising.
See 10 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Suraj P.
SP

Suraj P.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Effective DSP Partnership for SSP Campaign Execution"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

While The Trade Desk is a powerful platform, the learning curve can be steep for new users, especially when managing more complex campaign setups. Fro

Verified User
U

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"TTD is a powerful product with a phenomenal team"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

Some TTD features require advanced knowledge to properly utilize. However, TTD does do a great job at simplying and educating.

4. Complexity
Users find the complexity of The Trade Desk's reporting section and interface detracts from their overall experience.
See 9 mentions

See Related User Reviews

AG

Ayushi g.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"Amazing Platform"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

Slow Reporting Reports can load slowly, which frustrates users needing quick campaign insights during critical moments. ome users find the interface,

Verified User
A

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Active agency user"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

Whilst they would say it is ‘value for money’ I would say the cost of The Trade Desk comes as a premium. Recently the sales pitch has come more compl

5. Training Difficulty
Users find the training difficulty of The Trade Desk steep, particularly for those new to programmatic advertising.
See 9 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
U

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"TTD is a powerful product with a phenomenal team"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

Some TTD features require advanced knowledge to properly utilize. However, TTD does do a great job at simplying and educating.

Princess A.
PA

Princess A.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

3.5/5

"Powerful Programmatic Advertising Platform with Robust Tools"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

While the platform is robust, it has a steep learning curve for beginners. Some advanced features can be overwhelming without proper training. Additio

6. Poor Usability
Users struggle with poor usability in The Trade Desk, finding navigation difficult and reporting sluggish during campaign management.
See 8 mentions

See Related User Reviews

AG

Ayushi g.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"Amazing Platform"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

Slow Reporting Reports can load slowly, which frustrates users needing quick campaign insights during critical moments. ome users find the interface,

Suraj P.
SP

Suraj P.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Effective DSP Partnership for SSP Campaign Execution"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

While The Trade Desk is a powerful platform, the learning curve can be steep for new users, especially when managing more complex campaign setups. Fro

7. Slow Performance
Users experience slow performance with reporting, finding it often glitchy and impractical for timely campaign management.
See 7 mentions

See Related User Reviews

AG

Ayushi g.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"Amazing Platform"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

Slow Reporting Reports can load slowly, which frustrates users needing quick campaign insights during critical moments. ome users find the interface,

Verified User
C

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Intuitive DSP"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

What I believe that is one of the least TTD capabilities is performance

8. Performance Issues
Users report performance issues with slow reporting and campaign building, affecting their overall experience with The Trade Desk.
See 6 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Tae K.
TK

Tae K.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

3.5/5

"Trade Desk is one of the top DSPs for executing omnichannel brand campaigns."

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

Trade Desk falls short when it comes to AI-driven bid strategies. In multiple performance campaign tests comparing Trade Desk, Amazon, and DV360, we f

Verified User
C

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Intuitive DSP"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

What I believe that is one of the least TTD capabilities is performance

9. Reporting Issues
Users experience slow report loading times, making fast campaign performance analysis challenging and frustrating.
See 5 mentions

See Related User Reviews

AG

Ayushi g.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"Amazing Platform"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

Slow Reporting Reports can load slowly, which frustrates users needing quick campaign insights during critical moments. ome users find the interface,

Verified User
E

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

3.5/5

"Product and support teams are strong, but UI could use some improvement"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

- Self-service reporting is really slow and glitchy to the point of being impractical to use - Focus always seems to be on selling us new features an

10. Poor Customer Support
Users experience a long learning curve with The Trade Desk, making initial navigation challenging for newcomers.
See 4 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
U

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

3.5/5

"Kokai UI needs alteration but generally a good platform"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

Support teams/agency support teams seem to be a bit thin on numbers and a bit inexperienced generally. I think if they had more staff it would be a be

Verified User
I

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

1.5/5

"Very difficult to do business with on contracting. Their favorite word is no."

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

Their contracting department and general customer service in that department. They will go out of their way to make a small issue a big one and are in

The Trade Desk Reviews (141)

Reviews

The Trade Desk Reviews (141)

4.4
141 reviews
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Nabin K.
NK
Activation Executive
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
"Trade Desk provide us more premium inventory and the interface is customer focused."
What do you like best about The Trade Desk?

My overall experience has been very customer-focused. I am able to set up various Display and Video campaigns efficiently and optimize them to achieve the overall campaign goals. Additionally, the Trade Desk representatives are always very responsive. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

In some cases, the data fees end up being higher than the total media cost, which is frustrating. For my campaign, I used display ads with Experian data and a custom audience, but the technology fees turned out to be extremely high. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

James S.
JS
Programmatic Account Manager
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
"Best DSP, but sometimes over does it"
What do you like best about The Trade Desk?

TTD in terms of DSP’s is by far the most advanced and technical one out there. When comparing it to the likes of DV360 and Amazon the platform has a lot more capabilities and is a more streamlined platform when comped to Amazon which mirrors a similar set up Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

There’s two parts of the TTD that can be annoying the first is reporting, any metric you want to pull requires a separate report and what it is named is a mystery. It would be helpful if what the metrics named were universal. The other thing is TTDs constant need to update the platform although this is good once you get use to one system there is a new one you need to learn, I think it would be better if they refined the current one rather than making new ones. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

DM A.
DA
Digital Marketing Manager
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Powerful Platform for Programmatic Advertising"
What do you like best about The Trade Desk?

I really like how much control and transparency The Trade Desk gives me when running ad campaigns. The real-time reporting is super helpful — I can track performance, adjust budgets, and tweak targeting on the fly. It also has a huge range of audience targeting options, and the data integrations make it easy to reach the right users. Overall, it feels like a very powerful and flexible platform once you get the hang of it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

The biggest downside for me was the initial learning curve the platform can feel a bit overwhelming when you're just starting out. There are a lot of features and settings, and it takes some time to fully understand how everything works together. Also, the user interface isn’t the most intuitive, especially compared to some newer tools. It’s powerful, but not always beginner-friendly. A bit more in-platform guidance or tutorials would definitely help. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

AG
Account Manager
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Amazing Platform"
What do you like best about The Trade Desk?

I like best about The Trade Desk is its AI driven Kokai platform, which transforms programmatic advertising by making it both powerful and intuitive. Kokai’s advanced AI, built on the foundation of Koa, optimizes campaigns in real-time across channels like display, video, CTV, and audio, delivering impressive results like 43% lower cost per unique reach and up to 84% lower cost per acquisition for brands like Sky. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

Slow Reporting Reports can load slowly, which frustrates users needing quick campaign insights during critical moments.

ome users find the interface, especially the Kokai platform, tricky to navigate, requiring switching between systems like Solimar for certain tasks, which feels inefficient. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

RS
Business Head
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Great platform Awesome Features"
What do you like best about The Trade Desk?

I have been using The Trade Desk for a while now, and I have to say, it’s one of the most powerful and intuitive platforms I have come across for managing ad campaigns. As someone who’s worked with multiple DSPs, The Trade Desk really stands out for its flexibility and transparency. The interface is clean and user-friendly, which makes navigating through campaign setups and optimisations a breeze, even for someone juggling multiple clients or projects. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

The Trade Desk can be a beast to learn for newbies, and the costs hit hard for smaller budgets. Support can be slow when you are in a pinch, and some integrations with smaller ad exchanges feel clunky, causing frustrating glitches. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Marketing and Advertising
AM
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
"Activating CTV on on TTD"
What do you like best about The Trade Desk?

Just using TTD to host all the deals we host on a monthly basis, helps to save time but also going back to the client with a wider option plan, as we know we can host it there Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

I've been working with TTD for now close to 3 years, the only issues I had is when activating PMP deals, but now, only activating PG deals on a monthly basis, I have no issues Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Tae K.
TK
Programmatic Director
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
"Trade Desk is one of the top DSPs for executing omnichannel brand campaigns."
What do you like best about The Trade Desk?

I'm impressed with Trade Desk's Frequency Group Goal, Quality Score, and TV Quality Index features. I also like TTD customer service because when I reach out to TTD account manager, they will always respond to me within 5 hours. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

Trade Desk falls short when it comes to AI-driven bid strategies. In multiple performance campaign tests comparing Trade Desk, Amazon, and DV360, we found that Trade Desk struggled to match the conversion optimization capabilities of the other DSPs. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Princess A.
PA
Search Engine Optimization Specialist
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Powerful Programmatic Advertising Platform with Robust Tools"
What do you like best about The Trade Desk?

The Trade Desk offers a user-friendly interface and powerful targeting capabilities that make it easy to run highly effective programmatic campaigns. The platform provides access to a wide range of inventory, advanced audience segmentation, and detailed reporting tools. I also appreciate the transparency in costs and performance metrics, which helps in making data-driven decisions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

While the platform is robust, it has a steep learning curve for beginners. Some advanced features can be overwhelming without proper training. Additionally, the pricing model and minimum spend may not be ideal for small advertisers, making it more suited for medium to large-scale campaigns. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Md Sabbir R.
MR
CEO
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Powerful Targeting with a Learning Curve"
What do you like best about The Trade Desk?

I appreciate The Trade Desk's ability to optimize targeting to reach the right audience efficiently. Its real-time reporting and precise targeting options significantly enhance campaign performance. I find the integration with Google Analytics seamless for tracking purposes, and targeting optimizations deliver consistent results. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

I found the setup process to be a bit tricky initially, with many options to align, which made it overwhelming at first. While the tutorials and conducting a small test eventually helped me get the hang of it, the experience could be more beginner-friendly. Specifically, I'd appreciate preset templates and clear targeting guides to simplify the process for new users. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Deyanet M.
DM
Marketing And Public Relations Specialist
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
"My experience with The Trade Desk"
What do you like best about The Trade Desk?

What I like best about The Trade Desk is its cutting-edge programmatic advertising technology that empowers advertisers to reach the right audience efficiently across multiple channels while prioritizing data privacy and measurable results. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

One potential downside of The Trade Desk is that its platform can be complex for beginners, requiring a steep learning curve to fully utilize its advanced programmatic tools and analytics. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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