The Trade Desk's 2025 Q2 Earnings Call: Navigating Contradictions in AI, Ad Strategies, and Market Dynamics

AI capabilities and performance improvements, Amazon's advertising strategy and competition, ad spend dynamics and market uncertainty, advertiser sentiment and market positioning, impact of AI and Kokai on performance are the key contradictions discussed in The Trade Desk's latest 2025Q2 earnings call



Revenue Growth and Kokai Platform Impact:
- The Trade Desk reported revenue growth of 19% in Q2 2025 compared to Q2 2024.
- The growth was driven by the adoption of Kokai, the company's most significant platform upgrade, with 70% of spend running through it, leading to significant performance improvements.

CTV and Retail Media Expansion:
- CTV and retail media channels fueled growth, with CTV alone representing 40% of The Trade Desk's business.
- The expansion in these areas is attributed to the shift towards decision channels for buying TV and the increasing adoption of retail media across various regions.

AI Integration and Performance Enhancement:
- The integration of AI into Kokai led to 20-point improvements in key KPIs for campaigns running on the platform.
- This performance enhancement is driven by AI innovations in forecasting, campaign optimization, and supply path optimization.

Operational Efficiency and Supply Chain Enhancements:
- The Trade Desk is enhancing its supply chain efficiency through OpenPath, allowing direct integration with publishers and clearer visibility into ad impression values.
- This initiative is aimed at improving the quality of the supply chain and increasing transparency for both clients and publishers.