"Amazon reported 23% YOY ad revenue growth in Q4 2025, outpacing CTV market growth by 10%. This divergence doesn't just come down to Amazon's size, its first-party data advantage or that it has its own retail media and CTV inventory to sell. Competition between the two companies has also exposed flaws in The Trade Desk's margin-based revenue model."
"TTD's legacy model thrived when platform fees could be buried in CPMs. For much of programmatic's history, reconciliation from UI to invoice hasn't always been obvious. Activating features within a DSP often created incremental fees without clear disclosure. Regulators and sophisticated buyers now call some of these practices "junk fees" and "dark patterns.""
"TTD locked in this algorithmic bias with the launch of its AI-driven Performance Mode, which activates OpenPath prioritization and Predictive Clearing by default. Buyers can adjust custom settings using the platform's Control Mode, but, if they do, they must pay additional fees to access Performance Mode deal bundles."
The CTV advertising market is experiencing significant growth, projected to reach $51 billion by 2029, yet Amazon is pulling ahead of competitors like The Trade Desk. Amazon achieved 23% year-over-year ad revenue growth in Q4 2025, substantially outpacing overall CTV market growth. This divergence stems from multiple factors: Amazon's DSP improvements, deeper partnerships with platforms like Roku and Disney, and access to first-party audience data across Prime Video, Fire TV, and live sports. Meanwhile, The Trade Desk faces growing criticism over its margin-based revenue model, where platform fees were historically embedded in CPMs without clear transparency. Regulators and sophisticated buyers now challenge these practices as "junk fees" and "dark patterns." The Trade Desk's Performance Mode algorithm defaults to prioritizing its OpenPath direct connections, requiring additional fees for alternative settings, raising concerns about algorithmic bias and buyer autonomy.
#ctv-advertising-market-growth #amazon-vs-the-trade-desk-competition #dsp-transparency-and-pricing-models #algorithmic-bias-in-programmatic-advertising #first-party-data-advantages
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