The Trade Desk (TTD Quick QuoteTTD - Free Report) continues to capitalize on the evolution of connected TV (CTV) advertising, as streaming platforms are creating new opportunities for advertisers to reach audiences beyond traditional television. Recently, it expanded its presence in the CTV advertising market with the launch of Skydance Pause Ads in Italy. 

The new advertising format is available on HBO Max and discovery+, allowing brands to engage viewers through premium streaming content without disrupting their viewing experience, with advertisers and agencies able to access the inventory through TTD’s platform using Programmatic Guaranteed to secure inventory and agree on campaign terms in advance. For The Trade Desk, this expansion provides an opportunity to increase advertiser access to premium streaming inventory in another European market.

CTV remains an important opportunity for digital advertising because consumers are increasingly watching content through Internet-connected televisions and streaming services. Pause ads add another format to The Trade Desk's CTV offering. The company has also been working to integrate pause ads into its Kokai advertising platform, allowing buyers to manage campaigns through familiar programmatic workflows. This could make the format easier to test and scale across participating publishers.

TTD’s CTV Momentum Signals Upbeat Potential

On its last earnings call, management presented CTV as a large, growing core channel, with strong international momentum and further upside tied to improved measurement and outcome-based buying. CTV remained a key growth driver for The Trade Desk, posting double-digit growth, with video accounting for a low-50% share of total business. CTV revenue grew more than 50% year over year in both EMEA and APAC, reflecting the success of investments in markets traditionally dominated by mobile.

The company continues to view CTV as a major long-term growth opportunity, supported by partnerships with leading media owners, including Disney, Netflix, NBCUniversal, Fox and Paramount. Its independent, AI-driven platform helps advertisers select premium inventory aligned with business outcomes, while its new measurement framework aims to better demonstrate CTV’s incremental impact and address concerns about its effectiveness. Despite cyclical pressure from some large advertisers, management sees CTV, along with audio, retail media and data partnerships, as key growth opportunities.

In August, TTD further strengthened its CTV advertising proposition through a new partnership with Gracenote, Nielsen’s content intelligence business. The collaboration brings Gracenote’s program-level content metadata, identifiers and standardized taxonomy directly into TTD’s demand-side platform (DSP), potentially giving advertisers much greater precision and transparency when buying CTV inventory.

However, The Trade Desk competes with major digital advertising platforms and other programmatic providers like PubMatic, Inc. (PUBM Quick QuotePUBM - Free Report) , Magnite, Inc. (MGNI Quick QuoteMGNI - Free Report) and AppLovin (APP Quick QuoteAPP - Free Report) . Expanding its CTV inventory is strategically useful, but sustained growth also depends on competitive pricing, effective technology, and advertiser retention.

How Do TTD’s Peers Compare in the CTV Opportunity?

AppLovin provides AI-powered advertising solutions that help businesses acquire, monetize and grow audiences. The company generates revenue primarily from AppLovin Ads, where advertiser fees are dynamically priced against campaign return goals. Its platform also includes MAX for in-app monetization, Adjust for measurement and attribution and Wurl for CTV distribution and advertising. Wurl distributes streaming video and supports CTV monetization through usage- and CPM-based revenue. It continues to invest in Axon, data center capacity, advertising formats and customer acquisition while expanding into e-commerce and CTV.

AppLovin views CTV as a long-term growth opportunity but is prioritizing expansion into non-gaming mobile apps and the open web first. While its consumer and e-commerce video ads could translate well to TV, advertisers are still generating strong returns on mobile and have room to increase spending there. Expanding into CTV too soon could shift existing budgets away from mobile rather than generate incremental revenue. AppLovin plans to pursue CTV when advertiser budgets and its consumer business scale sufficiently to support profitable expansion. Wurl remains relevant to this opportunity, but management has not outlined a new launch, timeline or monetization plan, making CTV a future growth lever rather than a near-term priority.

Magnite’s CTV business remained its primary growth engine in the second quarter, with contribution ex-TAC rising 36% year over year to $97 million, accounting for 51% of the total. Growth was driven by broader programmatic adoption, international expansion and strong demand from major partners, including Disney/ESPN, Netflix, Roku, Vizio, Walmart and Warner Bros. Discovery. Magnite expects CTV contribution ex-TAC to reach $98–$100 million in the third quarter and aims to sustain roughly 25% annual growth over several years.

Its SpringServe platform is strengthening its position in CTV monetization, with Samsung selecting it for smart-TV home-screen inventory, while its Walmart Connect partnership combines first-party commerce data with premium CTV advertising and closed-loop measurement. Although the managed-services business has weighed on reported growth, management cited stable core CTV take rates and expects this drag to ease in early 2027. Expanding live sports streaming and programmatic adoption offer further growth opportunities, though tougher comparisons and macroeconomic uncertainty remain risks.

CTV was a key growth driver for PubMatic in the second quarter, contributing about 20% of total revenue, with global CTV revenue rising 13% year over year and Americas revenue growing 25%. Growth was supported by new advertisers, premium inventory and live sports, while CTV, mobile app and emerging revenue streams together accounted for roughly 60% of revenue and grew nearly 40%.

Performance-focused campaigns are gaining traction, with Smadex increasing its PubMatic spending more than 10-fold year over year, 75% of which went to CTV. Supply partnerships with Channel 4 and Sony Pictures Entertainment are expanding premium inventory access, while live-sports marketplace activity more than doubled. By combining AI-driven buying, audience targeting and cross-device measurement, PubMatic aims to make premium CTV more measurable and performance-oriented, positioning itself to benefit from rising streaming consumption and broader programmatic adoption.