Gracenote and The Trade Desk sharpen CTV targeting

The partnership addresses a gap in programmatic CTV, where inconsistent content information across publishers and supply paths can leave advertisers reliant on broad genre categories

Gracenote and The Trade Desk are partnering to bring program-level content intelligence into programmatic connected TV buying, giving advertisers more precise targeting, planning and reporting capabilities.

The integration marks Gracenote’s first with a demand-side platform and will allow advertisers to use its content IDs, metadata and standardized taxonomy within The Trade Desk. Buyers will also gain visibility into the programs where their ads appeared.

Gracenote adds program-level precision to CTV

The partnership addresses a gap in programmatic CTV, where inconsistent content information across publishers and supply paths can leave advertisers reliant on broad genre categories and with limited visibility into ad placement.

Gracenote’s 2026 CTV advertising study found that 91 percent of programmatic traders surveyed said the lack of show-level data limits CTV advertising. Among media planners, 95 percent said show-level reporting would be valuable.

Bill Michels, chief product officer, Gracenote: “While programmatic CTV has scaled significantly, it has remained tethered to a playbook built around user behavior and developed for web and mobile,” said Bill Michels, chief product officer at Gracenote. “That data remains critical, but content intelligence deserves a more prominent role in establishing targeting criteria and driving performance. With Gracenote’s persistent identifiers and rich content taxonomy, we are bringing this scale to The Trade Desk, providing customers with greater control before campaigns run and clearer accountability after.”

Show-level data aims to improve CTV targeting

Advertisers can combine Gracenote’s content intelligence with other signals available through The Trade Desk to create more specific curation and targeting criteria. Campaigns can then run across eligible inventory from connected supply partners beyond Gracenote’s direct supply-side platform integrations.

Jay Goebel, vice president of data partnerships, The Trade Desk: “Advertisers increasingly expect the same precision and transparency in CTV as they do across the rest of their digital media buying,” said Jay Goebel, vice president of data partnerships at The Trade Desk. “By bringing Gracenote’s programming intelligence into The Trade Desk, advertisers can combine show-level context with the other signals available on our platform to make more informed buying decisions and gain greater visibility into where their ads appear. This integration gives advertisers another way to apply the data that matters to them, with greater choice and control across their CTV campaigns.”

The integration expands Gracenote’s advertising business from its work with publishers and SSPs into the demand-side workflow. It connects content enrichment and inventory packaging with campaign planning, activation and optimization.

www.gracenote.com

www.thetradedesk.com

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