TransUnion reduced its advertising costs by about $11.0 million in the first nine months of 2026, running fewer promotional campaigns for the consumer business that sells credit reports, scores and identity protection directly to the public, according to the quarterly report the credit bureau filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on October 27, 2026. About $6.0 million of the reduction came in the third quarter alone.

Less promotion did not stop the consumer unit from shrinking. Consumer Interactive revenue fell 3.0% to $140.3 million in the three months to September 30, "due primarily to a decrease in demand for paid credit products," according to the 10-Q. The part of TransUnion that sells data to other companies' marketing departments moved the other way. Emerging Verticals, the US client group that includes media companies, retailers, insurers and telecoms operators and that lists marketing solutions among its products, grew 6.3% to $351.0 million, or 5.6% on an organic constant currency basis, according to TransUnion's earnings release published the same day.

Both moves sit inside a quarter driven by mortgages and Mexico. Total revenue rose 12.2% to $1,312.5 million, or 7.6% on an organic constant currency basis, and net income attributable to TransUnion reached $156.2 million, up from $96.6 million. Lending revenue grew 10.8%, mostly on price increases in mortgage credit reports that include higher FICO royalties. Neither the 10-Q nor the release reports a separate revenue figure for marketing solutions, and the TruAudience brand, under which PPC Land has covered TransUnion's advertising products, appears in neither document.

In Short

TransUnion, the credit report company, spent about $11 million less on its own ads this year and still sold fewer paid credit reports and monitoring plans to the public. Separately, the part of the business that sells data to advertisers, insurers, shops and media firms grew about 6%, which matters because that data feeds ad tools many marketers already use. The company does not say how much of that money comes from advertising products specifically, so their exact performance stays hidden inside a much bigger group.

Two kinds of advertising exposure

TransUnion touches advertising in two ways, and the quarterly report treats them separately. It is an advertiser itself, mainly through Consumer Interactive, the direct-to-consumer business. And it is a supplier of marketing data, through products sold to lenders, retailers, media companies and others.

The first shows up in costs. Selling, general and administrative expenses include "advertising and facilities expenses," according to the 10-Q, and the segment note says other segment items include "litigation, facilities costs, marketing and advertising, professional services," among other costs. The filing does not report the total advertising budget, only the change.

The second shows up in revenue, though never as a line of its own. Financial Services, which serves banks, card issuers, mortgage and auto lenders and fintechs, sells "credit reporting, credit marketing, analytics and consulting," according to the segment note, along with identity verification and debt recovery. The filing places those products across "every aspect of the lending lifecycle; customer acquisition and engagement, fraud and ID management, retention and recovery." Emerging Verticals sells "onboarding and transaction processing products, scoring and analytic products, marketing solutions," as well as fraud and identity management and customer retention products, into eight verticals: "Insurance, Technology, Retail and E-Commerce, Telecommunications, Media, Tenant & Employment Screening, Collections, and Public Sector."

Where the advertising cut landed

The reduction in advertising was one of two offsets that kept selling, general and administrative costs from rising faster. Those costs increased $15.8 million in the third quarter, to $346.6 million, according to the 10-Q. Legal and regulatory expenses added about $15.0 million and labor-related costs about $10.0 million. Against that, costs for the operating model optimization program fell about $6.0 million because the program finished in 2025, and advertising fell about $6.0 million "due to a reduction in promotional campaigns in our Consumer Interactive business in U.S. Markets."

Over nine months the pattern was similar but larger. Selling, general and administrative costs rose $99.6 million to $1,022.2 million. Legal and regulatory expenses accounted for about $73.0 million of the increase, a figure inflated by comparison with the first quarter of 2025, when TransUnion released a $56.0 million accrual. Advertising was about $11.0 million lower.

What replaced the promotion? The 10-Q points to two sources that partly offset the revenue decline: "higher indirect channel breach revenue and offers revenue from our new direct-to-consumer platform." Breach revenue refers to the data breach response services Consumer Interactive sells to businesses through indirect channels. The filing does not name the new platform, describe the offers it carries or give a figure for that revenue.

Consumer Interactive has a regulatory history tied to its marketing. In June 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sent TransUnion a letter alleging that the company had failed to comply with a January 2017 consent order and "further alleging additional violations related to Consumer Interactive's marketing practices," according to the 10-Q. That dispute ended in a lawsuit, which was dismissed in March 2025. Its details appear further below.

Where the marketing data business sits

TransUnion describes its data infrastructure in terms that will be familiar to buyers of identity resolution services. "We use our OneTru solution enablement platform to centralize data management, identity resolution, artificial intelligence ("AI") powered analytics, enabling more persistent identity resolution with sharper, more contextualized insights," according to the 10-Q. Those insights feed "solutions to solve customers' needs, including credit risk, marketing and fraud mitigation." The company also lists marketing, alongside fraud mitigation, as an area where it has deepened its "solution suites."

The technology underneath has a Neustar lineage. TransUnion acquired Neustar in December 2021. According to the earnings release, the company then used "Neustar's capabilities to enhance and complement our cloud-based technology" under Project Rise, and in November 2023 announced plans "to further leverage Neustar's technology" to build "a single global platform for fulfillment of our product lines." The 10-Q says TransUnion incurred $373.4 million of pre-tax expenses on that technology investment and an operating model program from the fourth quarter of 2023 through the end of 2025, when both were completed.

Neustar also supplied the marketing business. When TransUnion and Viant said advertisers could match and reach 95% of US adults in January 2025, PPC Land noted that TruAudience incorporates the former Neustar marketing solutions. The executive running that business, Brian Silver, holds the title of EVP of Global Marketing Solutions, which appeared in October when TransUnion and Fiserv tied in-store card payments to a single shopper profile.

Insurance, not media, led the non-lending group

Emerging Verticals added $20.9 million of revenue in the third quarter. TransUnion's explanation in the 10-Q names only one vertical: the increase was "due primarily to an increase in Insurance from volume increases, and in most other verticals from volume increases across online and batch services, new business wins and pricing increases, and revenue from our recent acquisitions." Media is not singled out, and the phrase "most other verticals" implies that at least one of the eight did not grow.

Chief executive Chris Cartwright made the same point in the release. "U.S. Markets revenue grew by 7 percent, led by U.S. Financial Services and Insurance," he said.

US vertical Q3 2026 Q3 2025 Change Organic CC 9M 2026 9M 2025 Change
Financial Services $485.5m $438.0m +10.8% +10.8% $1,482.3m $1,261.5m +17.5%
Emerging Verticals $351.0m $330.1m +6.3% +5.6% $1,039.5m $968.6m +7.3%
Consumer Interactive $140.3m $144.8m -3.0% -3.0% $422.8m $429.8m -1.6%
Total U.S. Markets $976.8m $912.8m +7.0% +6.8% $2,944.6m $2,659.9m +10.7%

Acquisitions contributed 0.7 percentage points of the Emerging Verticals growth in the quarter, according to the release, which defines inorganic growth as the first twelve months of activity from recent deals, naming Trans Union de Mexico, the mobile division of RealNetworks and Monevo. Mexico sits in International, and Monevo's first twelve months ended in March 2026, which points to RealNetworks as the source of that contribution. By PPC Land's calculation it amounts to roughly $2.3 million of revenue in the quarter. TransUnion does not state which segment the RealNetworks business joined.

The mix is drifting toward lending. Emerging Verticals made up 35.9% of U.S. Markets gross revenue in the third quarter, down from 36.2% a year earlier, and 35.3% over nine months, down from 36.4%, by PPC Land's calculation. Over nine months, Financial Services grew by $220.8 million and Emerging Verticals by $70.9 million.

FICO royalties squeeze the US margin

Much of the lending growth is a pass-through. A majority of Financial Services growth "comes from our Mortgage line of business, due primarily to increases in price, including from FICO mortgage royalties," according to the 10-Q. Auto grew on price and volume; Card and Banking and Consumer Lending on volume.

Those royalties also sit on the cost side. Product and fulfillment expenses "principally include data acquisition and royalty fees, mailing and postage, and call center support costs," according to the segment note. In the third quarter, U.S. Markets product and fulfillment costs rose 16.2% to $244.8 million from $210.6 million; over nine months they rose 29.0% to $758.7 million. U.S. Markets Adjusted EBITDA rose just 0.7% to $353.3 million, and the segment margin fell 230 basis points to 36.2%, "due primarily to FICO mortgage royalties growing at a higher rate than revenue and higher legal and regulatory expenses," according to the filing.

Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA reached $465 million, up 9%, with a margin of 35.4% against 36.3% a year earlier, according to the release. The release's guidance notes put the FICO mortgage royalty benefit to revenue growth at about 3 percentage points for the full year. Among the risks TransUnion lists in the 10-Q is "uncertainty related to Fair Isaac Corporation's ("FICO") new Mortgage Direct License Program."

Operating income rose 28.7% to $267.2 million. A year earlier, TransUnion had excluded $22.1 million of accelerated technology investment and $11.5 million of operating model optimization costs from Adjusted EBITDA; both programs ended in 2025. Diluted earnings per share rose to $0.81 from $0.49.

Mexico and a mobile purchase

International revenue grew 30.4% to $339.0 million, and 10.4% on an organic constant currency basis. Latin America revenue nearly tripled to $98.7 million after TransUnion bought about 68% of Trans Union de Mexico on March 2, 2026, for $659.6 million in cash, raising its stake to about 94%. Remeasuring the earlier 26% holding produced a non-taxable gain of $225.5 million. The 10-Q describes the target as the largest consumer credit bureau in Mexico; of $585.9 million in identifiable intangible assets, $463.5 million was assigned to database and credit files.

The smaller deal is closer to marketing technology, at least in description. On April 1, 2026, TransUnion bought the mobile division of RealNetworks LLC for an estimated $25.8 million "to augment our communications solutions capabilities," according to the 10-Q. The purchase created $12.2 million of preliminary goodwill and $8.3 million of intangible assets, mainly developed technology. Telecommunications is one of the Emerging Verticals, though the filing does not describe what the communications solutions are or which customers buy them.

TransUnion's accrual for legal and regulatory matters rose to $96.4 million on September 30, 2026, from $62.2 million at the end of 2025, an increase of 55.0%. The company is routinely named in lawsuits alleging violations of "federal or state credit reporting, consumer protection or privacy laws," according to the 10-Q. It does not itemise the increase.

The CFPB marketing-practices case closed on paper last year. The bureau sued TransUnion entities and former Consumer Interactive president John Danaher in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on April 12, 2022. The parties filed a joint stipulation to dismiss with prejudice on February 28, 2025, and the court dismissed the case on March 21, 2025. TransUnion then released its $56.0 million accrual, "as the dismissal has rendered a loss no longer probable."

A second matter is paused, not closed. A March 2024 letter alleged that Trans Union LLC breached the Fair Credit Reporting Act's reinvestigation and accuracy requirements and the Consumer Financial Protection Act's ban on unfair, deceptive and abusive practices in handling consumer disputes. On July 12, 2024, the CFPB's Enforcement Division said it had authority to seek injunctive relief and civil money penalties. TransUnion says its ability to change dispute processes "is dependent on the participation of other consumer reporting agencies, data furnishers and industry participants." Then: "Given changes in CFPB leadership, our engagement with the agency on this matter has paused." The company cannot say when, or whether, talks will resume, and cannot rule out a lawsuit.

That pause matches what PPC Land has reported since early 2025, when the CFPB halted supervision and examination work at its headquarters on February 3. The bureau's retreat also reached the boundary that matters most to a credit bureau selling marketing data. The Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970 separated files used for credit, insurance and employment decisions from marketing files. In December 2024 the CFPB proposed treating many data broker businesses as consumer reporting agencies under that law, then withdrew the proposal on May 15, 2025.

The risks TransUnion lists

The quarterly report adds no new risk factor text. Part II refers readers back to the 2025 annual report filed on February 27, 2026. Its list of forward-looking risk factors, however, includes several that bear directly on a data business sold to marketers:

  • "our ability to maintain our access to data sources"
  • "government regulation and changes in the regulatory environment"
  • "our approach to the use of artificial intelligence"
  • "the increased availability of free or inexpensive consumer information"
  • "our ability to effectively develop and maintain strategic alliances and joint ventures"

The macroeconomic section adds context for lenders and the advertisers who market credit. According to the 10-Q, the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate by 25 basis points in September 2026, its first increase after six cuts totalling 175 basis points between September 2024 and December 2025, and the 10-year Treasury rate stands at its highest level since 2002. TransUnion expects 30-year mortgage rates to "remain elevated and constrain housing activity for the foreseeable future."

Identity data under pressure elsewhere

The filing arrived eight days after Apple's browser engine moved against part of the identity market. PPC Land reported on October 19 that Safari 27 blocks identity firms that turn email addresses into tracking IDs, applying a domain-level block to third-party identity resolution providers. WebKit named no company, and the domains reported in connection with the block belonged to Unified ID 2.0, ID5, LiveRamp, Permutive and Audigent. TransUnion was not among them.

TransUnion's newest advertising product relies on payment data rather than browser signals. The Fiserv tie-up announced on October 21 links card purchases, including tap-to-pay and mobile wallets, to a pseudonymised profile, with Red Lobster as the first named merchant. It disclosed no match rate, pricing or consent mechanism.

Others in the market have moved in different directions. Experian bought Audigent on December 4, 2024, adding a publisher-side activation platform. ID5 went the other way this month and sold the TrueData audience business it had bought 11 months earlier, keeping the identity graph. Regulators have long questioned anonymisation claims: in July 2024, the FTC warned that hashed data is not anonymous.

The TruAudience deals PPC Land has tracked

In January 2024, NielsenIQ and TransUnion linked purchase data with TransUnion's identity graph to build open-web targeting segments for consumer goods brands. The Viant agreement followed a year later. In July 2026, TransUnion joined Klaviyo and LiveRamp as an audience partner in Universal Ads' Business Partners Program, a piece that also recorded TransUnion becoming, on May 21, 2026, the sole media transaction attribution provider named in a Google partnership covering YouTube. In August, a TransUnion survey of 100 senior US marketing and technology leaders found that only 53% reported meaningful ROI from AI.

The quarterly report mentions none of these partnerships. Its only forward-looking contract figure is the remaining performance obligation: about $1,190.0 million on long-term non-cancelable contracts, excluding variable amounts, with about 40% expected to be recognised in the twelve months to September 30, 2027. It is not split by vertical.

Guidance, cash and buybacks

TransUnion guided fourth-quarter revenue to $1,264 million to $1,294 million, according to the release, growth of 8% to 10% as reported but only 3% to 6% on an organic constant currency basis. For 2026 as a whole it expects $5,131 million to $5,162 million, up 12% to 13%, or 8% to 9% organically. Acquisitions are expected to add about 4 points to full-year growth. "We are maintaining the high-end of 2026 guidance for revenue and raising guidance for Adjusted Diluted EPS, balancing business momentum against rising interest rates and overall market uncertainty," Cartwright said.

Net cash from operating activities reached $888.6 million in the first nine months, up from $668.1 million, and capital expenditures fell to $201.3 million from $229.3 million. TransUnion drew $520.0 million on its revolving credit facility to help fund the Mexico deal; total debt stood at $5,456.6 million and the leverage ratio at 2.5 times.

On October 26, 2026, the board raised the share repurchase authorization by $1.0 billion to $2.0 billion in aggregate and lifted the quarterly dividend to $0.135 per share from $0.125, payable on November 25, according to the release. TransUnion repurchased 1.6 million shares in the third quarter under the plan at an average of $80.26, and expects to buy back up to $500 million of stock in 2026.

Why the numbers matter for marketers

Two things stand out for the advertising market. TransUnion is spending less to advertise its own consumer products, and that business is still losing paid customers while it shifts toward breach services and offers revenue. And the client group that houses its marketing data business is growing at around 6%, led by insurance, while the company's overall growth comes from mortgage pricing and an acquisition in Mexico.

For the advertisers, retail media networks and TV platforms that use TransUnion's identity data through partners such as Viant, Universal Ads or Google's YouTube measurement, the filing offers little direct visibility. Marketing solutions has no revenue line, Media is one vertical among eight, and the explanation for Emerging Verticals growth names insurance alone. What the filing does make clear is the regulatory frame: the data broker rule that would have pulled more marketing data under the Fair Credit Reporting Act is gone, the CFPB's dispute-handling matter is paused rather than closed, and TransUnion's own list of risks now includes access to data sources and its approach to artificial intelligence.

Fourth-quarter guidance points to slower organic growth of 3% to 6%. Whether marketing solutions holds up better or worse than that is not something the company has chosen to disclose.

Timeline

Summary

Who: TransUnion, the Chicago-based credit bureau that also sells identity and marketing data to advertisers, ad platforms, insurers and retailers, led by president and chief executive Chris Cartwright.

What: TransUnion's third-quarter 10-Q shows advertising costs about $6.0 million lower in the quarter and about $11.0 million lower over nine months, after fewer promotional campaigns for Consumer Interactive, whose revenue still fell 3.0% to $140.3 million. Emerging Verticals, the US client group that includes Media and lists marketing solutions among its products, grew 6.3% to $351.0 million, or 5.6% organically, led by insurance. Total revenue rose 12.2% to $1,312.5 million, with FICO mortgage royalties lifting lending revenue and squeezing the US margin.

When: The results cover the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026. TransUnion published its earnings release and filed the 10-Q on October 27, 2026.

Where: The 10-Q was filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The advertising cut and the Emerging Verticals figures relate to TransUnion's U.S. Markets segment; International results cover Canada, Latin America, the United Kingdom, Africa, India and Asia Pacific.

Why: The filing is the only regular public view of the business behind TruAudience, whose identity data reaches ad platforms such as Viant, Universal Ads and Google's YouTube measurement. TransUnion does not report marketing solutions revenue separately, and the quarter arrived as browsers block email-based identity firms, as the CFPB's dispute-handling matter remains paused, and as the company lists access to data sources and its use of artificial intelligence among its risks.