# The Trade Desk and Criteo

> A comparison of The Trade Desk and Criteo through the least glamorous but most revealing lens: how each company gets paid. The Trade Desk primarily charges advertising clients a platform fee tied to spend and presents itself as an independent buyer-side platform. Criteo operates both demand-side products for advertisers and supply-side monetization products for retailers and media owners, collecting negotiated fees from both roles in retail media. That two-sided design can produce useful scale and closed-loop measurement, but it also creates a structural incentive tension that buyers should examine through reporting, auction rules, inventory access and contract terms. The distinction is about business architecture, not proof of misconduct.

## Achievements

- The Trade Desk reported $13.39 billion in gross spend, $2.90 billion in revenue and $443.3 million in net income for 2025.
- Criteo built retail media products that connect brands and agencies with retailer inventory and product-level closed-loop measurement.
- Criteo stated that its commerce data gave it exposure to approximately $1 trillion in online sales in 2025.
- The Trade Desk integrated more than 370 third-party data vendors into its platform by the end of 2025.

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — The companies filed 2025 annual reports detailing their latest business models and results.
- **2025-12** — The Trade Desk closed 2025 with $13.39 billion in gross spend and $2.90 billion in revenue.
- **2025-12** — Criteo reported that its platform combined demand-side solutions with supply-side Commerce Yield and Commerce Grid products.

## Links

- Website: https://www.thetradedesk.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-trade-desk/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/TheTradeDesk
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTradeDesk
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetradedesk/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTradeDesk/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/adtech-rivalry-hiding-fee-model
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-17
