The Trade Desk operates a demand-side platform (DSP) that lets advertising agencies and brands buy digital ads programmatically across the open internet, including connected TV (CTV), mobile, display, and audio channels. Clients access the platform through a self-service interface and use it to plan, execute, and optimize ad campaigns. The Trade Desk charges clients a take rate — a percentage of total ad spend run through the platform — so revenue grows as clients spend more, as The Trade Desk wins a larger share of client budgets, and as new clients are added. The platform connects to over 430 ad exchanges, publishers, and supply-side platforms, and integrates with more than 370 third-party data vendors. Client retention has exceeded 95% for over a decade. About half of total spend flows through joint business plans (JBPs) — multi-year partnerships with major brands and agencies — which grow faster than the rest of the business. Video, including CTV, is the largest channel at roughly half of spend, and CTV is the central strategic priority, driven by the shift from linear TV to streaming. The Trade Desk's current platform, Kokai, uses distributed AI across campaign functions, from impression valuation to identity management. Key products include UID2, an open-source identity framework now widely adopted across CTV and audio, and OpenPath, a direct publisher integration that bypasses intermediaries. The Trade Desk owns no media inventory, which it argues makes it uniquely objective relative to competitors like Google and Amazon that direct spend toward their own platforms. Growth priorities include expanding client budgets via JBPs, CTV leadership, retail media data partnerships, and international expansion.