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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 love The Trade Desk for its innovative tools and comprehensive features, simplifying programmatic advertising effectively. (30 mentions)
Users appreciate the ease of use of The Trade Desk, praising its intuitive interface and reliable support. (25 mentions)
Users commend the quick and supportive customer service of The Trade Desk, enhancing their overall experience significantly. (21 mentions)
Users value the effective audience targeting of The Trade Desk, simplifying ad campaigns and improving client results. (19 mentions)
Users value the exceptional performance results of The Trade Desk, praising its versatility and effective campaign management. (18 mentions)
Users commend Campaign Management for its transparency, control, and support, enhancing their advertising efficiency and success. (17 mentions)
Users appreciate the quick and helpful customer support from The Trade Desk, enhancing their overall experience. (15 mentions)
Users find customer support and account management of The Trade Desk to be exceptionally helpful and responsive. (13 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 overwhelming, especially for beginners and small advertisers. (18 mentions)
Users find the pricing model complex, making it less accessible for smaller advertisers and newcomers to the platform. (10 mentions)
The Trade Desk presents a steep learning curve, making it challenging for beginners to navigate effectively. (9 mentions)
Users find the platform complex and overwhelming, particularly new users lacking proper training and support. (8 mentions)
Users find the poor usability of The Trade Desk challenging, often struggling with navigation and slow reporting features. (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 a long learning curve with The Trade Desk, making initial navigation challenging for newcomers. (5 mentions)
Users experience slow report loading times, making fast campaign performance analysis challenging and frustrating. (5 mentions)

Top Pros or Advantages of The Trade Desk

1. Features
Users love The Trade Desk for its innovative tools and comprehensive features, simplifying programmatic advertising effectively.
See 30 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Quick and Efficient"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

Have been using trade desk since a very long time and a the best platform so far. It has helped in taking campaigns live on a short notice with so man

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

2. Ease of Use
Users appreciate the ease of use of The Trade Desk, praising its intuitive interface and reliable support.
See 25 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Quick and Efficient"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

Have been using trade desk since a very long time and a the best platform so far. It has helped in taking campaigns live on a short notice with so man

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

3. Customer Support
Users commend the quick and supportive customer service of The Trade Desk, enhancing their overall experience significantly.
See 21 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Lauren W.
LW

Lauren W.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"An excellent DSP"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

I like how versatile the Trade Desk is. There is so much you can do and manipulate within the DSP to help manage and improve the performance of campai

Samuel H.
SH

Samuel H.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Those serious about programmatic"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

During my time (agency side) I felt that other DSP’s had a very linear approach to how campaigns were implemented and monitored. The Trade desk offer

4. Audience Targeting
Users value the effective audience targeting of The Trade Desk, simplifying ad campaigns and improving client results.
See 19 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Quick and Efficient"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

Have been using trade desk since a very long time and a the best platform so far. It has helped in taking campaigns live on a short notice with so man

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

5. Performance Results
Users value the exceptional performance results of The Trade Desk, praising its versatility and effective campaign management.
See 18 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Lauren W.
LW

Lauren W.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"An excellent DSP"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

I like how versatile the Trade Desk is. There is so much you can do and manipulate within the DSP to help manage and improve the performance of campai

Verified User
U

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Trade Desk is always on the forefront of integrations, capabilities, and functionality."

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

They consistently are updating and adding new features to the platform and the capabilities are a lot more than I've seen on other platforms.

6. Campaign Management
Users commend Campaign Management for its transparency, control, and support, enhancing their advertising efficiency and success.
See 17 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Quick and Efficient"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

Have been using trade desk since a very long time and a the best platform so far. It has helped in taking campaigns live on a short notice with so man

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

7. Team Helpfulness
Users appreciate the quick and helpful customer support from The Trade Desk, enhancing their overall experience.
See 15 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Lauren W.
LW

Lauren W.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"An excellent DSP"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

I like how versatile the Trade Desk is. There is so much you can do and manipulate within the DSP to help manage and improve the performance of campai

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 like about The Trade Desk?

Their products are typically pretty effective, and our internal business clients typically are pleased with the services they receive from this group.

8. Helpful
Users find customer support and account management of The Trade Desk to be exceptionally helpful and responsive.
See 13 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Lauren W.
LW

Lauren W.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"An excellent DSP"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

I like how versatile the Trade Desk is. There is so much you can do and manipulate within the DSP to help manage and improve the performance of campai

Verified User
U

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

3.5/5

"Advanced features but is not very user friendly and is not intuitive"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

The campaign insights tab is very helpful

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
U

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"The Trade Desk - Review"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

It helps in advanced targeting and provides real time insights.

Verified User
U

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

3.5/5

"Advanced features but is not very user friendly and is not intuitive"

What do you like about The Trade Desk?

The campaign insights tab is very helpful

Top Cons or Disadvantages of The Trade Desk

1. Learning Curve
Users find the steep learning curve of The Trade Desk overwhelming, especially for beginners and small advertisers.
See 18 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

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

2. Expensive
Users find the pricing model complex, making it less accessible for smaller advertisers and newcomers to the platform.
See 10 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
U

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"The Trade Desk - Review"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

The price structure is a bit complex to understand.

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

3. Learning Difficulty
The Trade Desk presents a steep learning curve, making it challenging for beginners to navigate effectively.
See 9 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

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

4. Complexity
Users find the platform complex and overwhelming, particularly new users lacking proper training and support.
See 8 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

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,

5. Poor Usability
Users find the poor usability of The Trade Desk challenging, often struggling with navigation and slow reporting features.
See 8 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Lauren W.
LW

Lauren W.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"An excellent DSP"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

Kokai has been a little difficult to navigate. The programmatic table, while visually it looks appealing, it can often be difficult to find what I'm l

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

6. 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

Anthony  S.
AS

Anthony S.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Optimization on TTD"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

When I need to generate a report, the process can be quite time-consuming, often taking between 7 to 10 minutes. I would like to have the ability to g

Verified User
C

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Intuitive DSP"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

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

7. 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

Naimur R.
NR

Naimur R.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.5/5

"Best DSP in Programmatic Advertising industry"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

New users may find the platform complex and overwhelming without proper training or onboarding. Unless you're a large client, you may get limited or s

JE

Jack E.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

3.5/5

"Solid Platform with Room for Improvement in Reporting and Transparency"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

What I find challenging about The Trade Desk is that reports can be slow to load, which makes it harder to quickly analyze campaign performance when I

8. Poor Customer Support
Users experience a long learning curve with The Trade Desk, making initial navigation challenging for newcomers.
See 5 mentions

See Related User Reviews

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

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

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

See Related User Reviews

JE

Jack E.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

3.5/5

"Solid Platform with Room for Improvement in Reporting and Transparency"

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

What I find challenging about The Trade Desk is that reports can be slow to load, which makes it harder to quickly analyze campaign performance when I

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,

The Trade Desk Reviews (141)

Reviews

The Trade Desk Reviews (141)

4.4
141 reviews
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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.

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.

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.

Brinda M.
BM
Senior Programmatic Manager
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
"Outstanding Support from Account Managers"
What do you like best about The Trade Desk?

I like the service provided by the account managers. They go above and beyond to help optimize and troubleshoot campaigns. They are very proactive in finding campaign solutions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about The Trade Desk?

I don't like the new update with kokai. I find Solimar more user friendly. Kokai makes the user experience very confusing and I don't see the benefit. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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