Gracenote Brings Show-Level Content Intelligence to The Trade Desk
The integration will enable advertisers to use Gracenote’s content IDs, metadata, and standardised taxonomy in The Trade Desk to move beyond genre and set more precise curation and targeting criteria.
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Gracenote, Nielsen’s content intelligence business, and The Trade Desk, a global advertising technology company, announced a new partnership that brings content-level precision to programmatic connected TV (CTV) buying. The collaboration marks Gracenote’s first integration with a demand-side platform, giving advertisers greater control over content-based planning and targeting, as well as direct access to programme-level reporting within The Trade Desk.
Programmatic CTV buyers often lack consistent, detailed information about the programming associated with available inventory. Content signals can vary across publishers and supply paths, limiting advertisers to broad categories for targeting and leaving them with little visibility into where their ads appeared.
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Gracenote’s 2026 CTV advertising study underscores the disconnect and demand for better programme-level intelligence. Amongst 500 media planners, TV buyers, and programmatic traders surveyed at US agencies and brands, 91% of programmatic traders said the lack of show-level data limits CTV advertising, whilst 95% of media planners said show-level reporting would be valuable.
The integration will enable advertisers to use Gracenote’s content IDs, metadata, and standardised taxonomy in The Trade Desk to move beyond genre and set more precise curation and targeting criteria. They can combine this intelligence with other platform signals and activate campaigns across eligible inventory from connected supply partners, extending coverage outside Gracenote’s direct SSP integrations. Advertisers can also see the programmes in which their ads appeared, providing a stronger foundation for future planning and optimisation.
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“Whilst programmatic CTV has scaled significantly, it has remained tethered to a playbook built around user behaviour 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.”
“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 partnership represents a strategic expansion of Gracenote’s advertising business, building on the company’s established work with publishers and SSPs to bring show-level content intelligence into the demand-side workflow. Bringing these signals directly into The Trade Desk connects CTV inventory enrichment and packaging with campaign planning, activation, and optimisation.
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