> ## 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. # Total Spend, The Trade Desk > Total Spend 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 > Gross media spend on The Trade Desk (TTD), the leading independent enterprise programmatic DSP. Sums spend across all campaigns. **TTD is the enterprise gold standard for programmatic**: deepest CTV inventory deals, most sophisticated audience tooling (Unified ID 2.0, Kokai/Koa AI bidder), strongest measurement infrastructure. If you're running enterprise programmatic in 2026 and you're not on TTD or DV360, you're an outlier. | | | | -------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **What it counts** | Gross spend in account currency from TTD's API at advertiser level, summed across campaigns. Includes TTD platform fee. | | **Cost basis** | Mostly **CPM** (display, video, CTV, audio, DOOH); **CPC** for some display. **dCPM (dynamic CPM)** is TTD's auto-bidder default. | | **Currency** | Account currency, single per advertiser; multi-currency advertisers run separate advertisers under one parent account. | | **Conversion attribution** | Click-through and view-through; click default 30 days, view default 1, 30 days configurable. Cross-device attribution via Unified ID 2.0 / The Trade Desk Identity Alliance. | | **Attribution window** | 30/1 default; 30/7 for CTV-heavy. TTD has the most flexible attribution window configuration of any DSP; per-campaign customisation is straightforward. | | **Bot / invalid traffic** | Pre-bid IVT filtering via IAS, DoubleVerify, MOAT (now Oracle Advertising); MRC-accredited. **TTD's IVT filtering is the strictest in market**; expect 1, 3% lower spend than peer DSPs on same inventory because TTD blocks more pre-bid. | | **Time window** | `T/7D/30D vsP`. Real-time updates with up to 30-minute ingest lag (fastest of the major DSPs). | | **Alert trigger** | `spike >2σ vs 30D baseline`. Causes ranked: (a) Koa exiting learning phase, (b) PMP deal kicking in (TTD has the most PMP inventory access of any DSP), (c) seasonal CTV CPM rise (sports finals, awards), (d) cross-device retargeting expansion via Unified ID. | | **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 A US enterprise homeware brand running TTD as the primary programmatic DSP alongside DV360 and Google Ads. The 30-day window is 02 Apr 26 to 01 May 26. | Campaign | Channel | Spend (\$) | Impressions | CPM (\$) | | -------------------------------------- | --------------- | ------------- | ----------- | ---------- | | Display Prospecting (Koa) | Display | 28,200 | 7.4M | 3.81 | | CTV Premium PMP, Disney+/Hulu | CTV | 42,800 | 1.2M | 35.67 | | CTV Open Exchange | CTV | 18,400 | 1.4M | 13.14 | | Video Pre-roll (YouTube via TTD) | Video | 16,200 | 1.8M | 9.00 | | DOOH (digital out-of-home) | DOOH | 8,400 | 2.4M | 3.50 | | Audio (Spotify, Pandora) | Audio | 4,200 | 1.1M | 3.82 | | Retargeting (cross-device via UID 2.0) | Display + Video | 9,800 | 2.6M | 3.77 | | **Total (this card)** | | **\$128,000** | **17.9M** | **\$7.15** | What's interesting: 1. **CTV is 48% of spend at $61,200** split across premium PMP (Disney+/Hulu at $35.67 CPM) and open exchange ($13.14 CPM). The PMP premium reflects direct deals with major streamers, the kind of inventory access TTD has that StackAdapt/MediaMath cannot reliably match in 2026. **Premium CTV at $35 CPM is fair enterprise pricing**; open exchange at \$13 CPM is mid-market quality. 2. \*\*DOOH at $8,400 is differentiated.** Digital out-of-home (billboards, transit, retail-environment screens) is a TTD strength via direct partnerships with Lamar, Clear Channel, JCDecaux. **No peer DSP has comparable DOOH inventory access.** $3.50 CPM is the right number for awareness-quality outdoor. 3. **Display at \$3.81 CPM** is healthy mid-market rate; Koa is finding brand-safe inventory at the efficient frontier. 4. **Cross-device retargeting via Unified ID 2.0 (\$9,800)** is the platform's quiet differentiator. Same user followed across web, mobile app, CTV, audio without third-party cookies. The retargeting CPM is low because UID 2.0 enables tighter audience match; **it's not cheaper inventory, it's better inventory**. 5. **The 30-day prior was \$108,000 spend**; up 19% this window. Cause: Koa exited learning phase on the Display Prospecting campaign on 09 Apr 26 plus NBA playoffs CTV CPM lift. Both healthy. 6. **Compare to MediaMath (if running parallel during migration)**: TTD typically delivers 5, 15% better CPC on equivalent display inventory and 10, 25% better CTV view-through attribution clarity due to UID 2.0 cross-device match. Quick sanity tests: * Spend up + impressions up + CPM stable = healthy scaling. * Spend up + CPM up = bidding into more expensive inventory; check Koa exploration mode. * Spend up sharply + CTV CPM spike = seasonal premium (sports, awards, holidays); decide whether to throttle or accept. * Spend down + impressions down sharply = inventory partner pulled back OR Koa bid below floor; rare on TTD given inventory access. * DOOH spend rising = check if seasonal campaigns (transit, retail) align with intent. ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together | Card | Why pair it with Total Spend | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [TTD Total Revenue](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/the-trade-desk/total-revenue) | Numerator pair for ROAS. | | [TTD ROAS](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/the-trade-desk/roas) | Headline efficiency reading. | | [TTD Spend by Campaign](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/the-trade-desk/spend-by-campaign) | Channel breakdown across CTV, display, video, audio, DOOH. | | [TTD Spend vs Budget](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/the-trade-desk/spend-vs-budget) | Pacing check; CTV-driven ramp is the main alert source. | | [TTD CPC Trend](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/the-trade-desk/cpc-trend) | Inventory pricing pressure tracker. | | [StackAdapt Total Spend](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/stackadapt/total-spend) | Mid-market peer; benchmark only. | | [MediaMath Total Spend](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/mediamath/total-spend) | Legacy enterprise peer; relevant during migration. | | [Google Ads Total Spend](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/google-ads/total-spend) | Different ecosystem. | | [GA4 Sessions by Source](/nerve-centre/google_analytics/ga_sessions_by_source) | Independent reach check; TTD clicks should map to GA4 `utm_source=ttd` sessions. | | [Shopify Total Revenue](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/total-revenue) | Truth side. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look in The Trade Desk:** [TTD Platform → Reports → Performance → Spend column](https://desk.thetradedesk.com/) at advertiser level for the same date range. Should match this card to within sub-percent rounding once ingest catches up (allow 30, 60 minutes for "today"). Other TTD views that look similar: * **Reports → Channel Breakdown**: spend per channel (display, native, CTV, etc.). Sum matches account spend. * **Reports → Inventory**: spend per supply path. Same total. * **Working Media**: spend net of TTD fee. **NOT** what this card uses; this card uses gross. **Why our number may legitimately differ from TTD UI:** | Reason | Direction | Why | | ------------------------ | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Time zone** | Boundary days off | Advertiser TZ vs UTC. Marginal at 30D. | | **Real-time ingest lag** | Card slightly low for "today" | TTD updates billable spend every 15, 30 minutes; intra-day catches up quickly. | | **IVT post-correction** | Card ≤ TTD initial by 0, 3% | TTD's pre-bid IVT is already strict; post-bid corrections are smaller than peer DSPs. | | **Fee inclusion** | Both gross | This card uses gross (incl. TTD fee). Working Media is a separate UI toggle. | | **PMP deal accounting** | None | TTD bills PMPs consistently with open exchange in the same Spend column. | **Cross-connector reconciliation:** | Card | Expected relationship | What causes legitimate divergence | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [`stackadapt.sta_total_spend`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/stackadapt/total-spend) | Independent. Many enterprises run TTD primary + StackAdapt for specific channels (audio, native). | Different segment focus; TTD is enterprise, StackAdapt is mid-market. | | [`mediamath.med_total_spend`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/mediamath/total-spend) | Independent; relevant during migration. | TTD has more reliable real-time reporting. | | [`google_ads.gads_total_spend`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/google-ads/total-spend) | Different ecosystem; benchmark only. | Search vs programmatic. | | [`google_analytics.ga_sessions_by_source`](/nerve-centre/google_analytics/ga_sessions_by_source) | Sessions tagged `utm_source=ttd` ÷ TTD clicks ≈ 0.88, 0.96 | TTD reach is high-quality; GA4 reconciliation is tighter than peer DSPs. CTV impressions have no GA4 equivalent. | | [`shopify.total_revenue`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/total-revenue) | TTD-driven Shopify revenue is a subset; cross-device attribution via UID 2.0 makes it harder to UTM-tag. | Multi-touch and cross-device reality means UTM-truth understates TTD's contribution more than other DSPs. | ## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **My TTD spend just spiked, what happened?** Standard DSP causes: (1) Koa exited learning phase; (2) PMP deal kicked in; (3) seasonal CTV CPM rise; (4) cross-device retargeting expansion via UID 2.0; (5) DOOH campaign launch. **TTD-specific**: Kokai (TTD's next-gen platform launched 2024) sometimes ramps spend faster than legacy Koa during initial campaign-graduation; if you've recently migrated a campaign to Kokai, expect a 20, 40% volume bump in the first 14 days. **TTD vs DV360, when do I pick which?** Both are enterprise-grade. **Pick TTD if**: independent (non-Google-tied) ecosystem matters strategically, you need cross-device retargeting via UID 2.0, you want premium CTV inventory deals, or you run DOOH. **Pick DV360 if**: deeply integrated with the Google ecosystem (GA4, Google Ads, YouTube native), prefer Google's audience tooling, or your agency standardises on Google stack. Most enterprise advertisers run both for inventory diversification. **TTD vs MediaMath, why is everyone migrating?** MediaMath's Jun 23 Chapter 11 left the platform with reduced engineering investment, slower reporting, and inventory partner attrition. TTD has the opposite trajectory: heavy investment, fast reporting, and growing inventory access. The migration math is now simple for most advertisers; **the few who remain on MediaMath have specific PMP deals or operational reasons**, not platform-quality reasons. **Why is CTV CPM so much higher on TTD than StackAdapt?** TTD has direct PMP deals with Disney+/Hulu, NBC, Paramount+, etc., giving access to premium CTV inventory at $30, 45 CPM. StackAdapt routes through SSPs (Magnite, Pubmatic) for CTV at $10, 20 CPM, which is lower-quality inventory at the same impression count. **The CPM premium reflects real inventory quality difference**, not platform overhead. **My CTV campaign reports zero clicks, is something broken?** No. Same as on every DSP, CTV impressions can't generate clicks. UID 2.0 cross-device attribution lets TTD measure CTV-driven web/mobile conversions more reliably than peer DSPs, but the click events themselves still don't exist. **What does Kokai/Koa actually do?** Koa is TTD's machine-learning bidder (launched 2018); Kokai is the 2024 next-gen platform that includes Koa plus an upgraded measurement and attribution layer. **In practice**: real-time bid optimisation across user, context, recency, audience-match signals, comparable to BidCore (StackAdapt) and Brain (MediaMath) in principle, with TTD's edge being data quality (UID 2.0 cross-device match) and inventory quality (more PMPs). **Why does my GA4 show fewer TTD sessions than TTD reports clicks?** Standard DSP-GA4 gap: ad-blocker leakage, bounces, ITP. TTD typically reconciles 88, 96% of clicks to GA4 sessions, tighter than StackAdapt or MediaMath because UID 2.0 reduces some of the cross-device attribution friction. Below 85% reconciliation suggests broken UTM tagging. **Can I trust the "today" spend?** More than on peer DSPs. TTD's real-time reporting is fastest in market (15, 30 min lag); "today" is reasonably reliable. Still, use 7-day rolling for the actionable read. **What's the platform fee?** TTD charges a percentage of working media; varies 15, 25% by volume tier. Enterprise direct customers (>\$1M/month) negotiate down to 12, 18%. Fee included in this card's gross spend. **Should I use Unified ID 2.0?** Yes if you can. UID 2.0 enables cross-device attribution without third-party cookies; for retargeting and CTV measurement specifically, it's the strongest available substitute for the deprecated cookie ecosystem. Implementation is non-trivial (requires email-hash exchange via UID 2.0 framework) but the measurement uplift is material. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *Total Spend* 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.