Exclusive: The Trade Desk is building a CTV operating system called Ventura
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The Trade Desk, one of the largest publicly traded advertising technology companies globally, is building a connected television operating system, CEO and founder Jeff Green told Axios in an interview.
Why it matters: Existing OS providers, like Roku, Amazon's Fire TV and Google's Android TV, have a conflict of interest because they own content, Green said.
What they're saying: Green believes that conflict of interest has muddled the advertising ecosystem for everyone.
- "We're looking at a concentration around a handful of players that lack objectivity," Green said. "We think we're in a unique position to make the ecosystem better."
Catch up quick: Founded in 2009 and taken public in 2016, The Trade Desk has been one of the few advertising technology companies to break through on Wall Street, in part because of the simplicity of its business.
- The company operates one of the largest demand-side platforms (DSP) globally, but it doesn't own any content, nor does it operate a supply-side platform (SSP).
- (A DSP is a software tool that allows advertisers to buy automated digital advertising from multiple publishers in real time. An SSP is a software tool that helps publishers sell ad space across various platforms.)
- The Trade Desk's main competitor is Google, which operates a DSP, an SSP, and has its own content. Green has been an outspoken critic of Google, citing conflicts of interest, even before the Justice Department sued the tech giant for antitrust around its ad dominance.
State of play: Ventura, a nod to the company's headquarters in Ventura, California, will be rolled out to the market in the second half of 2025, Green said. The company has been working to build the system quietly for three years.
- While some OS developers, such as Google, Amazon and Roku, have also developed their own hardware devices to service their operating systems, Green said The Trade Desk has "no intention of getting into the hardware business."
- Rather, it will partner with other hardware companies, such as smart TV manufacturers, as well as various television distributors, such as airlines, hotel chains, and gaming companies, to bring its OS to their devices.
- Green believes hardware companies will be excited about the opportunity to partner because, in a competitive streaming environment, more hardware companies will need to build advertising businesses to scale.
Of note: The Trade Desk's privacy framework, called Unified ID 2.0, will be part of Ventura, Green said.
- The Trade Desk incubated Unified ID 2.0, a cookie-less ad-targeting framework, several years ago as an alternative to internet tracking cookies. It's since been adopted by hundreds of publishers.
Between the lines: Asked why The Trade Desk didn't form a joint venture with another company or invest in a different company to build a new OS, Green said he believed the market would be more likely to adopt a solution from The Trade Desk, because of its resources and reputation.
- Green has denied reports that an OS effort would be competitive to Roku, with which it has a strong advertising partnership. Instead, he believes, Roku's ad business will also benefit from a stronger ad ecosystem.
Follow the money: Because The Trade Desk's goal is ultimately to improve a murky marketplace, Green said he isn't looking to make money from the OS directly.
- Ventura will be successful if it drives more pricing transparency and stronger measurement for the CTV advertising ecosystem writ large, he said.
- "Ultimately, the measure of success will be, do we have an ad auction that is so transparent that we can predict outcomes?"
- The Trade Desk will benefit financially from a more transparent ecosystem because it lacks a conflict of interest, Green said.
Zoom out: Green ultimately hopes that Ventura will force other companies to be more transparent about how they prioritize their content through their operating systems.
- Consumers, he said, will also benefit from a more transparent marketplace, because their content discovery experiences on streaming won't be muddled with recommendations to the content owned by their operating system providers. Publishers will benefit from that dynamic too.
The big picture: CTV is the fastest-growing advertising channel in the U.S. It's projected to total $38.3 billion in 2024, per GroupM's latest forecast. By 2029, CTV is expected to overtake linear television in ad sales.
- Even amid a slower advertising market, The Trade Desk's stock is trading at all-time highs. CTV and video advertising represent nearly 50% of The Trade Desk's business. The rest comes from ads served across various platforms, like mobile, desktop and consoles.
What to watch: The Trade Desk hasn't announced any manufacturing or distribution partners, but publishers are lauding the effort, and some manufacturers say they've started to explore a Ventura partnership.
- "At Sonos, we are committed to providing our customers with the very best home entertainment experience. We are excited to explore the integration of premium audio and video with The Trade Desk and the Ventura OS," Sonos CEO Patrick Spence said.
- "The Trade Desk has been a great partner and real innovator in the programmatic space, and we are excited to see them bring their approach to the OS marketplace. Both broadcasters and consumers will undoubtedly benefit," said John Halley, president of Paramount Advertising.
