The Big Story Will The Trade Desk Right-Size Its Margins?
Mar 5, 2026
Sarah Caputo, founder of Fraction Method and former agency and brand executive, brings programmatic ad and pricing expertise. She explores tensions around The Trade Desk’s fees and transparency. Topics include layered and predictive clearing charges, how OpenPath affects agencies and publishers, and ways the company could simplify pricing and restore buyer trust.
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Trade Desk Lost Its Pure Agency Ally
- The Trade Desk began as an agnostic, high-service DSP that agencies willingly paid a premium for due to superior service and independence.
- Sarah Caputo argues that competing outside that lane eroded trust and created tension with agencies as Trade Desk pursued new revenue sources.
Audit Found 55% Effective Take Rate
- Sarah Caputo recounts auditing a campaign where layered fees resulted in the DSP earning $1M/month and a 55% effective charge on the campaign budget.
- The contract used a "platform fee" charged on top of purchased data and included predictive clearing markups that weren't disclosed in the MSA.
Trade Desk Lacks Walled Garden Growth Knobs
- Sarah Sluis notes Trade Desk lacks the "knobs" of big walled gardens, so growth requires higher ad prices or new revenue levers rather than new user bases.
- The Trade Desk must extract margin through products since it can't expand audience the way Meta or Google did.