Global adtech platform The Trade Desk has announced the launch of Deal Desk, a new component of its Kokai platform that aims to bring greater visibility and accountability to private marketplace (PMP) deals – direct, pre-negotiated programmatic deals between advertisers and publishers or aggregators.
The AI-powered tool introduces a Deal Quality Score, giving advertisers insight into how each deal performs in terms of value, pacing and inventory quality. It also highlights premium alternatives across open marketplaces when deals underdeliver.
Advertisers can now assess whether their deals are contributing to campaign goals or if better options exist elsewhere, while publishers can view the same score and receive recommendations to help improve performance. The tool also automates deal activation and introduces built-in mechanisms for expansion or cancellation when delivery issues arise.
“The Trade Desk is committed to improving the supply chain for digital advertising on the open internet, and improving deal performance is a vital element of this work,” said Will Doherty, SVP, Inventory Development, The Trade Desk. “Deals have not kept pace with advances in AI and transparency that savvy media buyers and sellers have come to expect. Deal Desk represents a long overdue innovation for our industry and will help advance the strategic relationships between advertisers and their premium publisher partners.”
While PMPs still account for a large share of programmatic spend, many lack visibility into performance metrics — a gap Deal Desk aims to fill. The platform also supports advertisers shifting towards biddable activation, where deals are made available in real-time auctions rather than fixed contracts.
Initial publishers who have adopted Deal Desk for their private marketplace deals include industry leaders such as Disney.
