TTD unveils Kokai platform enhancements for faster campaign management

The Trade Desk announced on September 18, 2025, a comprehensive set of platform enhancements for its Kokai programmatic advertising system, introducing simplified navigation workflows, accelerated campaign creation tools, and expanded quality assurance capabilities designed to address ongoing user adoption challenges.

The latest updates focus on reducing operational friction through streamlined interface design and improved campaign management efficiency. According to the company's announcement, these enhancements provide "time-savings and enhanced flexibility" while creating "more space for strategy" within the platform's workflow architecture.

Navigation and workflow improvements

The enhanced navigation system introduces Libraries functionality on the platform's left-hand interface, enabling traders to create and upload campaign components including audiences, creatives, campaign seeds, and targeting lists encompassing geography, contextual data, and publisher parameters. This centralized approach consolidates previously scattered workflow elements into a unified management interface.

Campaign and advertiser homepages receive significant prominence within the updated platform experience, providing enhanced filtering capabilities and campaign identification tools. The redesigned interface enables traders to apply bulk editing functions across multiple ad groups through improved campaign filtering mechanisms that operate from the advertiser level downward.

Report access receives streamlined implementation through one-click navigation from advertiser, campaign, and ad group interfaces. This represents a significant improvement over previous multi-step reporting workflows that required navigation through multiple interface layers.

Campaign creation and management enhancements

The platform introduces omnichannel campaign building functionality through single-screen interfaces, enabling traders to apply shared and unique settings across multiple campaigns with reduced click requirements. This enhancement addresses feedback regarding the complexity of managing cross-channel advertising operations within the Kokai environment.

Quality assurance workflows receive dedicated interface improvements through direct homepage access to campaign and ad group settings. These QA views function as centralized navigation hubs for accessing various campaign configuration options, addressing previous concerns about scattered setting management across the platform.

Enhanced pacing metrics provide improved visibility into campaign performance through new daily spend indicators and forecasted spend percentages displayed within advertiser and campaign homepage interfaces. The system identifies campaigns requiring attention through automated alerting mechanisms integrated into the main dashboard experience.

Data insights and performance monitoring

The updated platform includes customizable lookback periods and key performance indicator filters within improved table interfaces. Traders can adjust analytical timeframes according to specific campaign requirements while accessing comprehensive performance data across all available metrics.

The system introduces Programmatic Table functionality designed to assess ad group setting impacts on campaign scale. This feature enables traders to identify limiting factors affecting campaign performance and implement corrective measures to restore optimal pacing metrics.

Enhanced measurement capabilities include expanded forecasting tools and budget optimization functions integrated throughout the campaign management workflow. These improvements address longstanding concerns about visibility into campaign performance drivers and optimization opportunities.

Industry context and platform transition challenges

The September 18 enhancements arrive amid continued challenges in Kokai platform adoption across The Trade Desk's client base. Industry feedback suggests that bulk upload functionality has been reduced with the Kokai transition, with features like fold placement optimization for viewability and engagement "no longer able to be updated via bulk upload."

The platform updates coincide with The Trade Desk's decision to partially eliminate the periodic table interface from advertiser and campaign views following sustained criticism from programmatic advertising professionals. The color-coded visualization system that displays campaign information in blocks resembling the chemical periodic table will remain available only at the ad group level under the redesigned interface.

According to trader feedback compiled by The Trade Desk, campaign management efficiency represents a critical factor in platform adoption rates. Kayla Forsyth, Trading Specialist at The Trade Desk, emphasized that "when you're managing dozens of campaigns, every click really does count" in terms of operational efficiency and trader productivity.

The platform enhancements support The Trade Desk's broader strategy of complete client migration from its previous Solimar platform to Kokai by the end of 2025. The company reported that over 70% of client spend now flows through Kokai as of the second quarter of 2025, representing significant progress despite extended migration timelines beyond original projections.

Technical implementation and trader perspectives

The workflow improvements target specific operational pain points identified through trader feedback and platform usage analytics. Joseph Flack, Programmatic Technical Director at Dentsu, recommended that global clients "try to consolidate as much as possible so that we let the platform work hard for us" when managing complex omnichannel campaigns with extensive targeting and audience requirements.

Digital Media Manager Ben Malfati from Menulog highlighted the importance of data integration in achieving improved campaign outcomes, noting that proper utilization of platform views "helps give us a better assumption of where we're putting our media budget and that gives us peace of mind."

The enhanced filtering and bulk editing capabilities address operational challenges faced by enterprise-level advertising operations managing extensive campaign portfolios across multiple channels and geographic markets. These improvements align with industry demands for increased operational efficiency amid growing campaign complexity and data volume requirements.

Competitive positioning and market impact

The platform enhancements strengthen The Trade Desk's competitive position against integrated advertising platforms offered by major technology companies. The company's independent status distinguishes it from competitors integrated within larger technology ecosystems, attracting advertisers seeking alternatives to platforms from major technology companies.

For the marketing community, these updates demonstrate The Trade Desk's commitment to addressing user experience concerns while maintaining its technological advancement trajectory. The company continues developing new products despite Kokai implementation challenges, including "Ventura," a streaming TV operating system announced in November 2024.

The timing of these enhancements aligns with The Trade Desk's broader organizational transformation following its December 2024 restructuring, described by CEO Jeff Green as "the largest reorganization in company history." The restructuring included streamlining client-facing teams and reorganizing engineering operations into 100 scrum teams.

Platform architecture and AI integration

The September enhancements build upon Kokai's distributed artificial intelligence framework, which processes more than 13 million advertising impressions every second with deep learning algorithms integrated across all aspects of digital media buying. The platform's AI capabilities include predictive clearing for optimal bidding, impression scoring based on advertiser relevance, and improved measurement and forecasting functions.

These workflow improvements complement existing Kokai features including the Partner Portal for streamlined integrations with thousands of partners through standardized adapters. The portal supports integrations for OpenPath, Unified ID 2.0, retail onboarding, measurement, third-party audience data, and contextual targeting across the programmatic advertising ecosystem.

The enhanced campaign management tools integrate with Kokai's measurement indices including the Retail Sales Index for measuring online and offline retail sales against advertising spend, the TV Quality Index for assessing viewer experiences across streaming platforms, and the Quality Reach Index for expanding customer bases through relevant profile targeting.

Future development and industry implications

The platform enhancements represent ongoing commitment to addressing trader experience concerns while maintaining technological innovation leadership within the programmatic advertising sector. According to The Trade Desk's internal analysis, these improvements target operational efficiency gains that translate directly into improved campaign performance and trader productivity metrics.

The enhanced workflow capabilities support The Trade Desk's strategy of attracting enterprise-level advertising operations through improved operational efficiency and comprehensive campaign management tools. This approach addresses market demands for platforms capable of managing complex, multi-channel advertising operations at scale.

Future platform development will likely focus on continued workflow optimization and AI-powered automation features based on trader feedback and operational analytics. The company's emphasis on trader experience improvements reflects broader industry trends toward operational efficiency and user-centric platform design within programmatic advertising technology.

Timeline

• June 6, 2023: The Trade Desk launches Kokai platform with distributed AI capabilities
• December 2024: The Trade Desk implements largest reorganization in company history
• February 12, 2025: Company reports first earnings miss with Q4 revenue of $741 million
• March 16, 2025: Kokai platform faces challenges amid executive departure
• April 29, 2025: The Trade Desk integrates Bunny Studio for audio ad creation
• June 9, 2025: Trade Desk launches Deal Desk to manage advertising deals
• July 18, 2025: The Trade Desk joins S&P 500 following strong programmatic growth
• August 7, 2025: Trade Desk reports strong Q2 growth as new CFO steps in
• September 17, 2025: The Trade Desk announces partial sunset of periodic table interface
• September 18, 2025: The Trade Desk announces latest Kokai platform enhancements

Summary

Who: The Trade Desk, an independent programmatic advertising platform serving enterprise advertisers and agencies, announced platform enhancements targeting trader efficiency and campaign management workflows.

What: Comprehensive Kokai platform updates including simplified navigation through Libraries functionality, enhanced campaign creation tools with omnichannel capabilities, improved quality assurance workflows, customizable reporting interfaces, and advanced pacing metrics for campaign optimization.

When: The enhancements were announced on September 18, 2025, representing the latest updates to The Trade Desk's Kokai platform that launched in June 2023.

Where: The updates apply globally across The Trade Desk's programmatic advertising platform, affecting traders and advertisers managing campaigns through the Kokai interface worldwide.

Why: The enhancements address ongoing user adoption challenges and operational friction within the Kokai platform while supporting The Trade Desk's goal of complete client migration from its previous Solimar platform by the end of 2025 amid competitive pressure and user experience concerns.