Overview
The Trade Desk Connector supports two delivery models. They differ in who holds the data afterward, whether TTD meters its usage, and how much setup is required before the first delivery.First-party (1P)
Narrative pushes the audience into an advertiser’s existing TTD seat, where it appears as though the advertiser uploaded it themselves — named segment, all identifiers. From that point the advertiser can use it however they like, and you have no further control over it. The advertiser has to supply their Advertiser ID and secret key before the connection can be built. Delivery is advertiser-level only; partner seats are not supported. Setup is light in return: no taxonomy, no vetting, no pricing. The connection settings are just the advertisers, the segment name, and the membership duration. First-party is the better fit when you are delivering to one known counterparty and don’t need to monetize or measure downstream usage.Third-party (3P)
Narrative is the onboarder of record and the data is listed in TTD’s marketplace. Your taxonomy has to be vetted and approved by TTD before anything can activate, and that initial approval carries real lead time — plan for several weeks. Every audience is attached to an element in the taxonomy, and the element is where access and price are set: which advertisers and which partners (two distinct levels in TTD) can buy it, and at what rate. The rate can be $0. By default the audience is visible to everyone. TTD meters usage on these segments, reports on it, and pays out to Narrative, who pays the data owner. Third-party is the better fit when you want to sell or syndicate broadly and need usage reporting and revenue.Requirements
Credentials
Supported identifiers
Your data must include at least one of these identifier types, mapped to the corresponding Rosetta Stone attribute:
The connector also accepts the generic
unique_id and mobile_id_unique_identifier attributes when their type resolves to one of the identifiers above.
Hashed identifiers must use SHA256. See Hashing PII for Upload for formatting requirements.
The connector automatically generates UID2 tokens from hashed email addresses. You don’t need to provide UID2 directly.
Delivery interfaces
A dataset connects to one connector interface, not to the connector as a whole. The Trade Desk Connector exposes four, selected by thetype field inside the quick_settings object you supply when you create the connection.
All four carry a maximum refresh window of 90 days, which caps how stale the source dataset may become between deliveries.
For new third-party integrations, prefer
third_party_v2. It separates commercial terms from delivery — the connection points at an approved taxonomy element and the element holds the rate card — which means the taxonomy has to exist before the connection can be created.Connection settings
The settings you supply asquick_settings when creating a connection. The interface’s JSON Schema is authoritative; retrieve it with List app interfaces.
Always send the data-type field for the interface you are targeting. It is what identifies the settings object, and the legacy third_party interface has no data-type field of its own.
First-party
Third-party
Every field is optional.Third-party v2
Opt-out
Installation
1
Navigate to the connector
In Narrative, open Objects in the navigation rail, select Installed Apps, then choose Trade Desk Connector.
2
Add your Brand ID
In the Settings tab, enter your TTD Brand ID.
3
Configure delivery mode
Choose between first-party (1P) or third-party (3P) delivery based on your use case.
Taxonomy management
Taxonomy management applies to third-party delivery only. First-party delivery does not use a taxonomy — you name the segment directly in the connection settings.
Creating a taxonomy
1
Open Taxonomy Management
Click on the Taxonomy Management tab.
2
Create root folder
Click Create Manually and enter a name for your root folder (top-level category).
3
Add structure
Use the + icon to add folders (for organization) or datasets (for audiences).
4
Configure pricing
Set rate cards on folders and datasets specifying Percent of media cost rate and CPM rate.
Taxonomy fields
Rate cards are set at one of three scopes. A system rate is the default every buyer sees. An advertiser rate overrides it for one TTD advertiser, and a partner rate overrides it for one TTD partner. Each rate carries a CPM rate and a percent-of-media-cost rate. Elements without their own rate card inherit from their parent.
Syncing your taxonomy
After configuring your taxonomy:- Click Actions in the top right corner
- Select Sync taxonomy
- Monitor the sync status for each segment
Element status and approval
Every taxonomy element carries two independent states. Sync status tracks the element’s lifecycle in Narrative:
Compliance status tracks TTD’s review of the element:
An element must be approved before it is sellable. Narrative re-checks compliance status against TTD every 30 minutes, so a change on TTD’s side can take up to half an hour to appear.
Initial taxonomy approval can take several weeks. Build that lead time into any third-party launch plan.
Audience membership duration
Membership duration is how long a delivered identifier remains active in the destination audience before the destination platform expires it. It is distinct from the dataset’s retention policy (which governs data stored in Narrative) and the interface’s refresh window (which governs how stale the source dataset may get).
The Trade Desk requires a TTL on every record it receives, so the connector always sends one. Because the TTL rides on each delivered record, every delivery renews the clock: an identifier expires the configured number of minutes after the last delivery that included it. To keep members from lapsing between deliveries, the connection’s refresh cadence should be shorter than the configured duration.
Related content
Data Activation Overview
Understand how connectors deliver data
Structuring Audiences
Organize datasets for delivery
UID2
Learn about the UID2 identifier