Trade Desk Makes Peace With Publicis Over Ad-Tech Fees – Retail Says This May Be A Turning Point

According to a report by Ad Age, Publicis has resumed recommending the ad technology company’s services to its clients.

• The dispute began in March, when a third-party audit by Publicis found Trade Desk to be in breach of a service agreement.
• Omnicom also followed suit and launched its own third-party audit to evaluate its agreement with the company.
• The company has seen a wave of exodus of several key talents over the span of a year.

Shares of The Trade Desk Inc. (TTD) surged on Friday after a media report said the company has buried the hatchet with French PR services giant Publicis, one of its biggest customers, over ad-tech fees.

At the time of writing, TTD stock was up more than 5% and was among the top ten trending tickers on Stocktwits.

The Dispute Settlement

According to a report by Ad Age, Publicis has resumed recommending the ad technology company’s services to its clients, resolving the issue that first made headlines earlier this year.

“Publicis and The Trade Desk were able to address previous differences as identified in the [Publicis] audit and can now recommend TTD to our clients along with other DSP partners,” according to a joint statement that was seen by Ad Age. “Publicis and The Trade Desk are now focused on moving forward and continue to maintain a mutual commitment to delivering measurable outcomes for advertisers.”

The dispute began in March when a third-party audit by Publicis found Trade Desk in breach of a service agreement, alleging that the company improperly applied demand-side platform fees and pulled its clients into certain features without their consent, thereby charging them more. A week after that, Omnicom launched its own third-party audit to evaluate its agreement with the company.

A Sign Of Relief

The news is being viewed as a sign of relief as the company tries to shrug off the negative market sentiment following a wave of exodus of several key talent over the span of a year. An Adweek report from this week said that frustration among departing executives has centered on the company’s rising take rate and internal leadership decisions under CEO Jeff Green.

Nevertheless, the company has been filling positions with strong hires, including a CFO, a CMO, and a slate of new board members.

What Do Retail Traders Think About TTD?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment about the TTD stock turned ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish’ over the past 24 hours amid ‘extremely high’ message volumes.

One user on the platform cheered the Publicis-related news, saying “the runway to major execution advancement is in place.”

View this Stocktwits post

Another user said, “Maybe this marks the turning point of the narrative for TTD.”

View this Stocktwits post

TTD stock has fallen nearly 48% so far this year and 72% over the past 12 months, underperforming the benchmark S&P index.

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