> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Spend vs Budget, The Trade Desk > Spend vs Budget for The Trade Desk stores. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it. **Metrics type:** [Key Metrics](/nerve-centre/overview#metrics-types-explained) • **Category:** [Ad Platform](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) ## At a glance > Pacing check on TTD budgets vs period elapsed. **Koa's auto-bid is well-calibrated** (less prone to runaway ramps than peer DSP bidders), but CTV peak hours and DOOH inventory deals can still drive concentrated overpacing. TTD also offers Predictive Pacing (auto-throttle when forecast end-of-period spend exceeds budget), which reduces but doesn't eliminate pacing alerts. | | | | -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **What it counts** | `spent_to_date ÷ budget_for_period` percentage. Budget from TTD campaign-level monthly caps; spend from real-time TTD reporting. | | **Cost basis** | Mostly CPM (display, video, CTV, audio, DOOH); CPC for some display. | | **Currency** | Account currency. | | **Conversion attribution** | Not applicable. | | **Attribution window** | Not applicable. | | **Bot / invalid traffic** | IVT-credits reduce spent figure on 7, 14 day cadence (smaller than peers because TTD's pre-bid IVT is stricter). | | **Time window** | `T/30D`. | | **Alert trigger** | `>90% used before 80% of period`. On TTD, alerts most often signal (a) CTV peak hours pressure (sports, awards, holidays), (b) PMP deal kicking in, (c) DOOH campaign launch (DOOH spend tends to be lumpy), (d) Koa graduation. **Predictive Pacing should auto-throttle most over-paces; if it didn't, check whether it's enabled on the campaign.** | | **Roles** | owner, marketing, finance | ## Calculation Calculated automatically from your The Trade Desk data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading. ## Worked example The same enterprise homeware brand. Period 01 Apr 26 to 30 Apr 26. Today 18 Apr 26 (60% elapsed). | Campaign | Channel | Monthly budget (\$) | Spent (\$) | % budget | Predictive Pacing | Status | | --------------------------------- | --------------- | ------------------- | ------------- | -------- | ------------------------- | ------------------------- | | Display Prospecting (Koa) | Display | 40,000 | 28,200 | 71% | enabled | On pace | | **CTV Premium PMP, Disney+/Hulu** | CTV | 60,000 | **42,800** | **71%** | enabled | **On pace (NBA managed)** | | CTV Open Exchange | CTV | 26,000 | 18,400 | 71% | enabled | On pace | | Video Pre-roll (YouTube) | Video | 24,000 | 16,200 | 68% | enabled | On pace | | **DOOH** | DOOH | 12,000 | **8,400** | **70%** | disabled (lumpy delivery) | Mild over | | Audio | Audio | 6,000 | 4,200 | 70% | enabled | On pace | | Retargeting (UID 2.0) | Display + Video | 14,000 | 9,800 | 70% | enabled | On pace | | **Account total (this card)** | | **\$182,000** | **\$128,000** | **70%** | | **On pace (10pp over)** | What's interesting: 1. **Account at 70% pacing vs 60% elapsed = 10pp over, healthy band.** Predictive Pacing is doing its job; without it, the NBA playoffs CTV CPM rise would have driven 80, 85% pacing without any human intervention. 2. **CTV Premium PMP at 71% with NBA playoffs running** is a quiet success: Predictive Pacing detected the seasonal CPM spike and throttled delivery to maintain monthly cap discipline. **Compare to MediaMath worked example (no auto-throttle), where the same NBA event would have driven 83% pacing.** 3. **DOOH at 70% has Predictive Pacing disabled by design**; DOOH inventory delivery is lumpy (book a billboard for a week, deliver in concentrated bursts) so auto-throttle would create campaign-level disruption. Manual budget management is correct for DOOH. 4. **No campaigns in alert band**, the account is well-managed. This is the typical TTD shape; Predictive Pacing prevents most pacing alerts before they escalate. 5. **Compared to peer DSPs**: TTD's Predictive Pacing reduces pacing alert frequency by 60, 80% vs StackAdapt or MediaMath running similar campaigns. The operational quality-of-life difference is meaningful for enterprise teams. Quick sanity tests: * Pacing ≈ time-elapsed ± 5pp = healthy. * Pacing > time-elapsed by 10, 15pp = mild over; Predictive Pacing handling. * Pacing > time-elapsed by 20+pp = Predictive Pacing isn't enabled on the campaign (check) OR something happened that overrode it. * DOOH overpacing is normal (lumpy delivery); judge across the full month, not intra-week. * Pacing \< time-elapsed by 15+pp = inventory shortage or bid below floor; raise CPM. ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together | Card | Why pair it with Spend vs Budget | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | [TTD Total Spend](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/the-trade-desk/total-spend) | Numerator. | | [TTD Spend by Campaign](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/the-trade-desk/spend-by-campaign) | Channel-level pacing breakdown. | | [TTD Overspending Campaigns](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/the-trade-desk/overspending-campaigns) | Per-campaign pacing list. | | [TTD Underspending Campaigns](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/the-trade-desk/underspending-campaigns) | Reallocation candidates. | | [TTD ROAS](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/the-trade-desk/roas) | Pacing alert with high ROAS = raise cap; with low ROAS = throttle. | | [StackAdapt Spend vs Budget](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/stackadapt/spend-vs-budget) | Mid-market peer; benchmark only. | | [MediaMath Spend vs Budget](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/mediamath/spend-vs-budget) | Migration peer; pacing reliability comparison. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look in TTD:** [TTD Platform → Campaigns](https://desk.thetradedesk.com/) and check the per-campaign budget, pacing indicator, and Predictive Pacing status. TTD's pacing UI is more polished than peer DSPs, includes forecast end-of-period spend natively. **Why our number may legitimately differ from TTD:** | Reason | Direction | Why | | ---------------------------------- | ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Time zone** | Pacing % off ±3pp on day-1/day-30 | Advertiser TZ vs UTC. Tighter than peers because TTD's intra-day sync is more frequent. | | **Real-time spent lag** | Card pacing slightly low for "today" | 15, 30 minute ingest. | | **Predictive Pacing intervention** | None | Both this card and TTD UI reflect the throttled spend. | | **Budget hierarchy** | Card uses configured budgets only | Some accounts set seat-level or campaign-group budgets above campaign budgets; this card aggregates campaign-level. | | **Mid-period budget changes** | Direction depends | Card uses current budget; pacing reflows. | **Cross-connector reconciliation:** | Card | Expected relationship | What causes legitimate divergence | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | | [`stackadapt.sta_spend_vs_budget`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/stackadapt/spend-vs-budget) | Independent. | Different segment focus. | | [`mediamath.med_spend_vs_budget`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/mediamath/spend-vs-budget) | Independent. TTD has Predictive Pacing; MediaMath does not. | TTD pacing alerts fire less frequently. | | [`google_ads.gads_spend_vs_budget`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/google-ads/spend-vs-budget) | Independent; benchmark only. | Different pacing patterns. | ## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **Why am I getting a pacing alert when I have Predictive Pacing enabled?** Predictive Pacing reduces but doesn't eliminate alerts. It throttles within a campaign's daily budget but doesn't override hard delivery floors. Common reasons for alerts despite Predictive Pacing: (1) the campaign has a daily floor that prevents adequate throttling; (2) PMP deal commitments require minimum daily delivery; (3) seasonal CPM rise overwhelmed the model's forecasts; (4) campaign was launched mid-period and Predictive Pacing hasn't accumulated enough data to forecast accurately. **Should I enable Predictive Pacing on every campaign?** Almost yes. Exceptions: (1) DOOH where lumpy delivery is intrinsic; (2) PMP deals with minimum-delivery commitments; (3) test campaigns where you want manual control during learning; (4) very short flight (\<7 days) campaigns where the forecast window is too short. **Why is TTD pacing so much better-behaved than MediaMath?** Two reasons: (1) Predictive Pacing actively manages delivery shape, MediaMath has no equivalent; (2) TTD's reporting infrastructure is faster, so pacing decisions are made on more recent data. The operational difference is one of the harder-to-quantify reasons enterprise advertisers prefer TTD. **My DOOH is overpacing, what should I do?** Probably nothing. DOOH delivery is lumpy by inventory nature; book a billboard for a week, deliver in concentrated bursts. **Judge DOOH pacing across the full month, not intra-week.** If end-of-period total is on plan, mid-period overpacing is fine. **Can TTD outrun a hard daily cap?** Hard caps are enforced; TTD won't deliver above the daily cap (unlike legacy MediaMath, which had occasional cap-bypass issues). This makes daily caps a reliable backstop on TTD specifically. **My pacing dropped sharply, what happened?** Common causes: (1) Predictive Pacing aggressively throttling because it forecasts overspend; (2) PMP deal lapsed; (3) inventory partner pulled supply; (4) creative disapproved; (5) bid below floor on key inventory. **How does this card handle Q4 / Black Friday peak?** Predictive Pacing helps but doesn't replace seasonal budget planning. **For Q4, increase budgets 30, 60% to absorb the CPM rise.** TTD specifically benefits from advance budget commitment because Predictive Pacing has more data to plan against. **Can I trust pacing on day 1?** TTD's faster ingest makes day 1 more reliable than peer DSPs but still noisy. By day 3, pacing is the actionable read. **What's TTD's monthly close cadence?** Most enterprise contracts close on calendar month. TTD's invoice typically arrives 5, 10 days after month-end with breakdowns by advertiser, campaign, and inventory source. Reconcile this card's spent figure against the invoice for the canonical monthly number. **Should I set seat-level budgets?** For multi-advertiser organisations, yes. Seat-level budgets prevent any single advertiser from exhausting the parent's budget. This card is per-advertiser; aggregate seat-level pacing requires the seat-level view in TTD UI. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *Spend vs Budget* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across The Trade Desk and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. [Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.