The Trade Desk CEO unveils OpenAds to combat supply chain manipulation

The Trade Desk announced OpenAds on October 2, 2025, as a direct response to programmatic advertising infrastructure changes that eliminated buyers' ability to identify duplicate bid requests across supply-side platforms. CEO Jeff Green outlined the initiative during an appearance on the AdTech AdTalk podcast, describing the platform as necessary to preserve fair auction mechanics after Prebid.org disabled cross-exchange transaction ID functionality in late August 2025.

Green characterized the move as addressing what he termed a "duplicate, obfuscate, and sometimes lie" strategy that has dominated supply-side operations. According to Green, "This product will be known as OpenAds." The platform represents a comprehensive response combining forked Prebid code with new auction mechanics designed to maintain transparency despite industry fragmentation.

Technical implementation and forked codebase

The announcement detailed two distinct implementation paths for OpenAds. The first targets large sellers and publishers through a server-to-server enterprise solution. The second offers a simplified implementation for smaller publishers, requiring only tags on pages or in content management systems. Green stated the company plans to make OpenAds available to all OpenPath enterprise partners in October, with the simplified version following in subsequent months.

The Trade Desk has branched Prebid's codebase to create what Green described as "an upgraded auction" that reflects Prebid's mechanics prior to the transaction ID modifications. "Going forward, we'll maintain this branch of Prebid and we will consider merging future changes from the main or other Prebid branches," Green stated during the podcast recorded October 2. This approach allows The Trade Desk to preserve the original transaction ID functionality while evaluating future Prebid developments independently.

The company reported that transaction ID coverage reached 59% of browser-based ads on the open internet before the Prebid changes. Coverage was higher on connected TV and audio inventory where The Trade Desk maintains significant market share. The company's Q2 2025 results showed 19% revenue growth, though shares declined 27% following the August earnings announcement.

Historical context and Google's monopoly

Green provided extensive historical context for the announcement, tracing programmatic advertising's evolution from Google's acquisition of DoubleClick. According to Green, "Google had a monopoly that centered around doubleclick or what I still refer to as DFP, which is the way that publishers optimize yield." The system was "really built around priority" rather than optimizing what publishers care about most: "the blend of CPM and fill."

Courts ruled Google operated a monopoly in this space, Green noted. "I didn't used to be able to say that I wasn't the model," he stated, referencing the legal determination. This monopoly structure prevented the market from evolving in a healthy way, Green argued. The system forced many supply-side platforms into what he characterized as manipulation tactics because "that was all there was left to do" under Google's dominance.

Green distinguished between exchanges and supply-side platforms, defining exchanges as entities that "run a fair auction for very low rates like the NASDAQ" rather than participating as buyers or sellers. "One is more of a referee facilitating a healthy transaction, not the participant in that transaction," he explained. However, he acknowledged that "there really are no exchanges" in programmatic advertising, describing it as "a marketing term that became bastardized by Google."

OpenPath growth and publisher adoption

OpenPath, The Trade Desk's direct publisher integration system, has expanded substantially in 2025. According to Green, "OpenPath volume has grown many hundreds of percentage points this year alone." Publishers adopting OpenPath have demonstrated significant revenue improvements, with The New York Post reporting a 97% boost in programmatic display revenue and Hearst Newspapers achieving a 4x improvement in fill rates.

Green addressed skepticism about The Trade Desk's motivations, acknowledging publishers' reluctance based on previous industry experiences. "There's a lot of conversations and really where the rubber is going to meet the road is in automated transactions that take place millions of times a second," he stated. The company's approach centers on letting results speak rather than requiring advance commitments. "There will be some publishers that don't believe us and will miss out for a while and then they will and there will be some publishers that believe us and they will make more money," Green explained.

The platform builds on years of supply chain optimization work, including partnerships with major media companies. Spotify began testing OpenPath in October 2024, initially focusing on video inventory before expanding to audio advertising. Green concluded his statement with a reference to Tennyson: "Back to innovating — to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

Transaction ID controversy origins

The transaction ID controversy originated from Prebid's implementation of bidder-specific identifiers on August 27, 2025. The changes ensured each bidder receives different transaction identifiers even when participating in identical auction opportunities, eliminating the cross-exchange visibility that OpenRTB specifications originally intended to provide. The IAB Technology Laboratory declared the implementation "materially violates the OpenRTB specification" the same day.

Transaction IDs previously enabled demand-side platforms to identify when multiple bid requests represented the same advertising opportunity. Michael Sullivan from The Trade Desk described finding "on one path, one supply path from one SSP on one device. So like one Roku device in a household in a single day, we received 1.7 million bid requests." The math reveals significant auction duplication: "If you were to watch all of those 30 second ads back to back, it would be 14,000 hours of content."

Green characterized the modification as harmful to premium publishers. "This isn't about TTD. This is about publishers having the option to describe their quality content well and, in doing so, having the best chance of attracting the demand that their quality content warrants." He argued the changes benefit publishers and supply-side platforms that deploy duplication and obfuscation strategies while harming those focused on supply chain quality.

Publisher yield management and SSP business models

Green challenged conventional understanding of yield management in programmatic advertising. "I've been conducting a survey over the last 10 years where one of my favorite questions to ask publishers is if I go in to DFP and rearrange your waterfall from P7 to P1, from P6 to P2, and I just jumble it all up, what happens to your yield?" According to Green, "The most common answer by even the biggest publishers on the internet is I have no idea."

The CEO outlined how SSP business models shifted after market backlash against fixed fees. "There was a moment where Rubicon introduced a buyer's fee as they were representing sellers where there was a percentage a fixed percentage and the market crucified them," Green stated. Subsequently, most SSPs moved to variable take rate models "where sometimes they make a penny sometimes they make 50%."

Green compared the current model to house flipping rather than real estate representation. "They are not like real estate agents for the seller, if you will, where you make 4% on the sale of the home. You are flipping houses. You buy the house and you flip it for as much as you possibly can." This structure creates problems because "the sell side is not a thing. It's not a monolith. It's not a single thing."

Competition and market efficiency

Adam Heimlich, CEO of Chalice and host of the podcast, questioned why The Trade Desk proceeded without industry coalition support. Green responded that "there is no one that is trying to create that fair auction without sort of being in the game." He noted that even exchanges focused on high-volume, low-margin business "still has to some extent be in the yield game and be both an exchange and an SSP."

Green emphasized that demand-side platforms can use OpenAds. "Yes, other people can bid into it," he confirmed. The company's business model centers on decisioning rather than auction facilitation. "Where we compete is not by being the best NASDAQ or the best auction facilitator. We just need the NASDAQ to exist so that we can do our thing," Green stated, using financial market analogies. "If Goldman finally found themselves in a world where there was no NASDAQ, they would have the need to make certain that existed."

Publishers will not need to remove existing auction technologies to implement OpenAds. "We don't think you have to take anything off of a page. We think you can add something," Green stated. This positions OpenAds as complementary to existing implementations including Amazon's Transparent Ad Marketplace and Prebid, rather than a replacement.

Agency relationships and supply chain efficiency

Green addressed tensions around agency incentive structures and principal-based buying. "There are times that agencies are looking at this saying I haven't made any money in all of this. And at times they're making really high margins on a small amount of inventory or a small amount of transactions to compensate for the many that they don't make anything on." He characterized this approach as risky because clients can eliminate those high-margin arrangements, destroying the revenue model.

The CEO advocated for agencies to "make a little bit of money or a small percentage on everything instead of a large margin on few things." Green stated that "too much has been lost by distraction chasing short-term gains" and agencies pursuing long-term strategies can succeed. "Many buyers need agencies more than ever because the ecosystem is more complicated. There is more to choose from. There is more supply than demand. It is the greatest buyers market in the history of the internet right now."

Green acknowledged that "in every agency especially the hold co there are some people thinking long term and some people thinking short term and we need the competition internally to net out on the right end in order for them to have a bright future." This internal competition within holding companies shapes how agencies respond to efficiency initiatives.

Open internet versus walled gardens

The CEO framed OpenAds within broader competition between the open internet and walled gardens. "To me that's inevitable. It's just whether or not we benefit from it or somebody else innovates us into oblivion," Green stated regarding market efficiency. "If we innovate and race towards that efficiency, that is how we move the markets, we get there faster and we win."

Green outlined systemic pressures on the supply chain. "Right now there is pressure there's unprecedented levels of pressure on the entire supply chain. And before anybody panics that is a good thing that will make the market better and healthier." He argued that without efficiency improvements, "walled Gardens will continue to do well despite their very high margins despite the lack of premium in much of their content."

The Trade Desk operates as an independent demand-side platform serving advertisers and agencies purchasing digital advertising programmatically. The company processed $12 billion in gross spend through its platform in fiscal year 2024 while maintaining customer retention rates exceeding 95%. Connected TV represents the company's fastest-growing channel, with video including CTV accounting for nearly 50% of total platform spend.

Green emphasized that efficiency benefits all participants who add value. "Everything that sits between advertiser and publisher adds more value than it extracts," he stated as the standard for sustainable business models. The developments signal continuing consolidation in programmatic advertising infrastructure, with direct publisher relationships appearing increasingly favored over complex supply chains involving multiple intermediaries.

Industry response and open source commitment

The company will open source the underlying OpenAds auction code, allowing industry participants to inspect the auction mechanics directly. This transparency measure addresses concerns about The Trade Desk's intentions, though Green acknowledged that "this is an existential threat" for companies whose strategies rely on opacity.

Green addressed comparisons to Google's monopoly directly. "Whenever those conspiracy theories come up," he stated, noting Google's market capitalization is "a hundred times bigger than ours. We don't have a space program. We don't lay fiber in the Pacific Ocean." He argued The Trade Desk's strategy differs fundamentally: "Google already tested the put the thumb on our scale and create a corrupt auction. So after decades of winning and having a winning hand, they cheated and got caught. And now they have to blow it up. So unless we're stupid, we wouldn't replicate that."

The CEO outlined his vision for digital advertising's future. "The best days of the open internet are ahead of it. We have to go pursue this efficiency in order for that to be realized." Green argued that efficiency improvements benefit journalism, sports, audio, and CTV content creation. "As we keep talking about a brighter open internet, one where CTV thrives, one where audio thrives, one where sports thrives, one where even journalism thrives, requires the efficiencies that we're talking about."

Whether OpenAds gains widespread adoption depends on publisher willingness to adopt yet another platform amid an already fragmented ecosystem. The programmatic advertising market continues expanding, with 72% of marketers planning to increase programmatic investment in 2025 according to Comscore's State of Programmatic Report. However, transparency concerns persist despite this growth, creating the market conditions that motivated The Trade Desk's intervention.

Timeline

• January 2025: The Trade Desk acquires Sincera, expanding data quality analysis capabilities for publishers and advertisers
• January 29, 2025: IAB Tech Lab announces 2025 technical standards roadmap with 31 new specifications planned
• May 13, 2025: The Trade Desk launches OpenSincera as free platform providing advertising metadata and quality metrics to entire industry
• August 27, 2025: Prebid.org disables cross-exchange transaction ID functionality, eliminating buyers' ability to identify duplicate bid requests
• August 27, 2025: IAB Tech Lab declares Prebid changes violate OpenRTB specification, escalating industry tensions
• September 18, 2025: Raptive proposes encrypted transaction IDs as compromise solution balancing publisher privacy and buyer transparency
• October 2, 2025: The Trade Desk announces OpenAds platform and forked Prebid codebase
• October 2, 2025: AudienceProject announces Trade Desk integration for cross-media measurement in Q4 roadmap
• October 14, 2024: Sovrn eliminates SSP revenue share, offering flat-fee pricing model helping publishers save 48% on ad tech fees

Summary

Who: The Trade Desk, an independent demand-side platform led by CEO Jeff Green, announced OpenAds affecting publishers, advertisers, supply-side platforms, and agencies across the programmatic advertising ecosystem. The company processed $12 billion in gross spend through its platform in fiscal year 2024 while maintaining customer retention rates exceeding 95%.

What: OpenAds is a new auction platform combining forked Prebid code with enterprise and simplified publisher implementations designed to maintain transaction transparency after Prebid.org disabled cross-exchange transaction ID functionality. The platform includes two versions: a server-to-server enterprise solution for large publishers and a simplified tag-based implementation for smaller publishers.

When: The announcement occurred on October 2, 2025, during the AdTech AdTalk podcast, with OpenPath enterprise partners receiving access in October and simplified version following in subsequent months. The announcement came five weeks after Prebid implemented bidder-specific transaction identifiers on August 27, 2025.

Where: The platform affects the global programmatic advertising ecosystem, with particular impact on browser-based advertising where transaction ID coverage reached 59% before the Prebid changes, plus higher coverage on connected TV and audio inventory where The Trade Desk maintains significant market share.

Why: The Trade Desk created OpenAds to preserve fair auction mechanics and combat what CEO Jeff Green characterized as "duplicate, obfuscate, and sometimes lie" strategies that emerged from supply-side platforms operating under constraints created by Google's historical monopoly in publisher ad serving technology. Green argued the initiative strengthens the open internet's ability to compete against walled gardens by improving supply chain efficiency and transparency for premium publishers.