The Trade Desk, known for its demand-side platform, announced a major upgrade to its programmatic platform.
After a multi-year investment in AI and removed Google Open Bidding from the DSP in 2022, the new AI platform Kokai was announced on June 8th.
What’s new at Kokai?
Jeff Green, founder and CEO of The Trade Desk, noted that the AI platform would include:
- Advanced measurement. When audience data is enabled, additional retail metrics are available from Albertsons Media Collective, Walgreens Advertising Group, and others.
- Collaborative Innovation. This includes benchmarks such as the Retail Sales Index and the TV Quality Index to measure cross-platform experiences and efficiency.
- A new user interface. The Programmatic Table System, a design based on the periodic table, will appear in the coming months.
Photo credits: Kokai.splashthat.com, YouTube.com, June 2023In addition, Kokai has a new partner portal. The portal makes it easy for partners such as retailers, broadcasters, publishers, data providers and others to integrate their capabilities with advertisers.
The Trade Desk DSP Advantage
So why pay attention to The Trade Desk now?
Part of what makes Kokai unique is how advanced the algorithm learning is. It currently accesses over 13 million ad impressions per second. It also captures first party data from customers or brands to make the most informed media buying decisions possible.
Partnerships with nearly 80% of the largest US retailers give The Trade Desk a competitive advantage over other DSPs.
The new Quality Reach Index metric helps marketers using upper-funnel campaigns reach the most relevant customers, which has been difficult for advertisers in the past.
By providing a Quality Reach Index benchmark, advertisers can better quantify top-of-funnel (TOF) success, which could further increase marketing investments.
Finally, Kokai’s upgrade includes top-notch AI optimization features that other DSPs don’t offer.
With improved performance predictions, marketers can understand how to prioritize ad spend per channel without relying on cookies or device IDs.
Summary
Kokai and its corresponding AI solutions are currently part of the existing platform and are currently in either alpha or beta testing.
The platform upgrade gives more advertisers in the programmatic ecosystem the tools to evolve and innovate.
The trade desk plans to expand its offerings even more over the next 12 months to break down the walls of big tech dominators.
View the full product launch announcement here.
Featured image: Tada Images/Shutterstock