2024 Advertiser release notes

These release notes list all new features and updates that have been made to the Platform API in 2024. For announcements of new features and updates to the platform user interface (UI), see Knowledge Portal Release Notes. See also Upcoming changes and schedules.

November 27, 2024

Geofence targeting update

What you need to know and do
Change summary	Starting December 1, 2024, Nevada will join Connecticut, Washington, and New York, as the list of US states that require a minimum radius of 3,000 feet (914 meters) per point in a geofence segment. To comply with local laws, existing geofence segments that contain points in Nevada with a radius of less than 914 meters will have their points be deleted.
Action required	If you have any geofence targeting points in Nevada with a radius of less than 914 meters, you must create a new geofence segment with your previous points that complies with this change by December 1, 2024. Third-party geofence data providers are advised to update their points to comply with the policy changes.

November 20, 2024

Auto-reservation for ad group budgets

What you need to know and do
Change summary	Budgets allocated to ad groups using the `minimumSpendInAdvertiserCurrency` property are now automatically reserved, regardless of whether the ad groups are active or enabled to spend (`isEnabled` property). For more details and FAQs, see Budget allocation.
Action required	No action is required.

November 13, 2024

Audience Excluder upgraded to Prism

What you need to know and do

What you need to know and do
Change summary	The Audience Excluder has been renamed to Prism and enhanced to focus on the most valuable impressions by excluding irrelevant user-based and non-user-based signals that are unlikely to benefit a campaign. To ensure exclusions happen without compromising campaign delivery, it now works in real time with the pacing algorithm, which eliminates the previous four-day refresh cycle. Here's what it means for your campaigns: At the advertiser and ad group levels in REST API, Prism settings are controlled by the existing `AudienceExcluderEnabled` property. Its use remains unchanged. In GraphQL API, Prism is controlled by the new `prism` property, currently available only at the advertiser level. By default, Prism is disabled. However, any existing ad groups that have Audience Excluder enabled will have Prism automatically turned on. You can turn Prism on for all ad groups at the advertiser level unless you are advertising in the following IAB categories: Personal Finance, Careers, Real Estate. For details, see Prism.
Action required	No action is required.

Change summary

The Audience Excluder has been renamed to Prism and enhanced to focus on the most valuable impressions by excluding irrelevant user-based and non-user-based signals that are unlikely to benefit a campaign. To ensure exclusions happen without compromising campaign delivery, it now works in real time with the pacing algorithm, which eliminates the previous four-day refresh cycle. Here's what it means for your campaigns:

At the advertiser and ad group levels in REST API, Prism settings are controlled by the existing AudienceExcluderEnabled property. Its use remains unchanged.
In GraphQL API, Prism is controlled by the new prism property, currently available only at the advertiser level.
By default, Prism is disabled. However, any existing ad groups that have Audience Excluder enabled will have Prism automatically turned on.
You can turn Prism on for all ad groups at the advertiser level unless you are advertising in the following IAB categories: Personal Finance, Careers, Real Estate.

For details, see Prism.

Action required

No action is required.

Advertiser settings: AudienceBoosterEnabled property updated

What you need to know and do
Change summary	The `AdvertiserAudienceSettings.AudienceBoosterEnabled` property, which allows you to configure ad group data settings at the advertiser level, is now disregarded in advertiser workflows and will be fully deprecated in Q2 2025.
Action required	To enable the platform to add highly relevant segments to your audience when there is confidence they will improve your targeting and boost performance, continue using the `RTBAttributes.AudienceTargeting.AudienceBoosterEnabled` property in the ad group workflows. Remove the deprecated `AdvertiserAudienceSettings.AudienceBoosterEnabled` property from your advertiser workflows by Q2 2025.

October 29, 2024

Third-party data ID validation for bidding eligibility

What you need to know and do
Change summary	Starting October 29, 2024, all third-party data IDs in segments are validated to check if they are biddable. Data group workflows will fail when non-biddable third-party data IDs are included in the `ThirdPartyDataIds` array.
Action required	Start using the POST /v3/dmp/thirdparty/advertiser endpoint to check if segments are buyable beforehand, then remove all third-party data IDs that are not listed from your POST and PUT data group workflows.

October 1, 2024

Ad group channel selection updates

What you need to know and do

What you need to know and do
Change summary	Starting October 1, 2024, the `ChannelId` property is required for all ad group workflows in Kokai, with the following supported values: `Display`, `Video`, `Audio`, `NativeDisplay`, `NativeVideo`, `TV`, and `OutOfHome`. In Kokai, the ad group channel will be used to inform bidding behavior and provide recommendations and insights. For example, if you choose `Display`, we'll buy only display content for that ad group. If you choose `TV` for an ad group targeting display inventory, we won't bid. Here's what it means for your integration: The ad group creative type must match the channel. You cannot update the ad group channel after the flight starts. Any deprecated values (`Other`, `Mixed`, `Native`, `TVPersonal`) included in create and update requests will result in a 400 (Bad Request) error. If a Solimar ad group with its channel set to `Mixed` is upgraded to Kokai, channel filtering is now ignored. `Mixed` is no longer be accepted as a `ChannelId` property value when cloning campaigns. For details, see Channels.
Action required	Update all your ad group workflows to include the required `ChannelId` property and its updated values by October 1, 2024. When cloning campaigns, update any ad groups with the `ChannelId` property set to `Mixed` to the appropriate value supported in Kokai.

Change summary

Starting October 1, 2024, the ChannelId property is required for all ad group workflows in Kokai, with the following supported values: Display, Video, Audio, NativeDisplay, NativeVideo, TV, and OutOfHome. In Kokai, the ad group channel will be used to inform bidding behavior and provide recommendations and insights. For example, if you choose Display, we'll buy only display content for that ad group. If you choose TV for an ad group targeting display inventory, we won't bid. Here's what it means for your integration:

The ad group creative type must match the channel.
You cannot update the ad group channel after the flight starts.
Any deprecated values (Other, Mixed, Native, TVPersonal) included in create and update requests will result in a 400 (Bad Request) error.
If a Solimar ad group with its channel set to Mixed is upgraded to Kokai, channel filtering is now ignored.
Mixed is no longer be accepted as a ChannelId property value when cloning campaigns.

For details, see Channels.

Action required

Update all your ad group workflows to include the required ChannelId property and its updated values by October 1, 2024.
When cloning campaigns, update any ad groups with the ChannelId property set to Mixed to the appropriate value supported in Kokai.

September 30, 2024

Video playback type value update

What you need to know and do
Change summary	Starting September 30, 2024, we'll no longer accept the `InBanner`, `InArticle`, `InFeed`, and `Outstream` values in the `VideoPlaybackType` property in the ad group endpoints and will return a 400 (Bad Request) error.
Action required	Update all your ad group workflows to use the new `AccompanyingContent` and `Standalone` values in the `VideoPlaybackType` property by September 30, 2024.

To align with the evolving landscape of video content and provide much-needed clarity for both the sell side and buy side, the IAB Tech Lab is planning to deprecate the video.placement field. Instead, it will use only the video.plcmt field, which better differentiates between in-stream and out-stream inventory and reflects more accurately the different levels of user engagement provided by various video placements. For details, see March 2023 Update To OpenRTB Is Now Ready For Implementation!

NOTE: Any existing targeting settings with the video playback types will be updated using the bid list endpoints.

RetentionEnabled property deprecation

What you need to know and do

What you need to know and do
Change summary	Starting September 30, 2024, the `RetentionEnabled` field will be removed from the POST /v3/crmdata/{segmentType}/segment/{advertiserId}/{crmDataId} and POST /v3/crmdata/segment/{advertiserId}/{crmDataId} endpoints. By default, all targeting segments will retain hashed email addresses and phone numbers for 90 days to refresh UIDs daily. NOTE: Update (March 2025): The retention period is now 180 days. This release note reflects the policy at the time of release.
Action required	Update your workflows to remove the deprecated field by September 30, 2024.

Change summary

Starting September 30, 2024, the RetentionEnabled field will be removed from the POST /v3/crmdata/{segmentType}/segment/{advertiserId}/{crmDataId} and POST /v3/crmdata/segment/{advertiserId}/{crmDataId} endpoints. By default, all targeting segments will retain hashed email addresses and phone numbers for 90 days to refresh UIDs daily.
NOTE: Update (March 2025): The retention period is now 180 days. This release note reflects the policy at the time of release.

Action required

Update your workflows to remove the deprecated field by September 30, 2024.

Grapeshot and Moat deprecation by Oracle

What you need to know and do
Change summary	As Oracle Advertising is sunsetting their pre- and post-bid products, Grapeshot and Moat, any targeting strategies that depend on these Oracle products will not function after September 30, 2024. All workflows using Moat Reporting will be automatically migrated to our new white-labeled product unless you choose to opt out.
Action required	Choose an alternative product as soon as possible. For Grapeshot standard and custom contextual categories, we recommend considering The Trade Desk Contextual categories. For other Oracle features—such as Grapeshot Content Affinity, Grapeshot Predicts, Moat Viewability, Grapeshot Language, Grapeshot Brand Safety, and Moat Invalid Traffic—contact your Account Manager for guidance on alternative solutions. If you prefer to use an alternate provider for Moat Reporting, request the necessary form from your Account Manager and opt out of the default migration by September 23, 2024. Be sure to update your advertiser or partner settings with the new provider by September 30, 2024.

What you need to know and do

Change summary

As Oracle Advertising is sunsetting their pre- and post-bid products, Grapeshot and Moat, any targeting strategies that depend on these Oracle products will not function after September 30, 2024. All workflows using Moat Reporting will be automatically migrated to our new white-labeled product unless you choose to opt out.

Action required

Choose an alternative product as soon as possible.

For Grapeshot standard and custom contextual categories, we recommend considering The Trade Desk Contextual categories.
For other Oracle features—such as Grapeshot Content Affinity, Grapeshot Predicts, Moat Viewability, Grapeshot Language, Grapeshot Brand Safety, and Moat Invalid Traffic—contact your Account Manager for guidance on alternative solutions.
If you prefer to use an alternate provider for Moat Reporting, request the necessary form from your Account Manager and opt out of the default migration by September 23, 2024. Be sure to update your advertiser or partner settings with the new provider by September 30, 2024.

Household graph selection changes

What you need to know and do
Change summary	We are removing Adbrain Household as a selection for our API users. Starting September 30, 2024, we'll automatically redirect all API calls with Adbrain Household (Cross-Device Vendor ID `8`) to Identity Alliance Household (Cross-Device Vendor ID `11`).
Action required	Update all your campaigns and ad group workflows currently leveraging Adbrain Household (Cross-Device Vendor ID `8`) to use the Identity Alliance Household Graph (Cross-Device Vendor ID `11`).

August 14, 2024

Koa v3.5 and Koa Optimizations for Kokai

We are excited to announce the release of Koa v3.5, featuring enhanced Koa Optimizations that leverages advanced machine-learning algorithms to offer you greater confidence, control, and flexibility in managing your ad groups.

Here's a quick overview of the key Koa v3.5 features:

Dimension-Level Granularity: In Kokai, Koa Optimizations is off by default. By turning on Koa Optimizations for specific bid dimensions, you can now ensure your budget is allocated to the highest-performing impressions available.
Seamless Integration: With Koa v3.5, you can easily manage optimizations using the new KoaDimensions object, which simplifies the integration process and enhances your overall experience.
Backward Compatibility: For backward compatibility, all responses include the Koa v3 (Solimar) properties.

The following table lists the properties that are intended to be used only for the respective experience (Solimar or Kokai).

Solimar (Koa v3) Properties	Kokai (Koa v3.5) Properties
`IsEnabled` `OptionalDimensions` `IsBiddingUpEnabled`	`KoaDimensions` `KoaOptimizationsMinorVersion`

IMPORTANT: You must use only the new Koa v3.5 properties to manage Koa Optimizations in Kokai. Using the old Koa v3 properties can lead to a more complex integration and a degraded user experience.

For details, see Koa Optimizations.

New GraphQL mutation: Create campaign

We've added a new option for creating campaigns using GraphQL API. With the createCampaign mutation, you can create a single campaign in a single call.

For details, see Create campaigns.

August 12, 2024

GraphQL Schema Explorer

To provide deeper insight into the structure of The Trade Desk GraphQL schema, we've launched the GraphQL Schema Explorer. It's an interactive tool for building and testing queries and mutations. Feel free to experiment and explore!

August 8, 2024

Additional ad group property deprecations in Kokai

The following ad group RTBAttributes properties for performance-enhancing features have been deprecated in Kokai:

AudienceTargeting.AudienceRetargetingEnabled
AudienceTargeting.AudienceRetargetingSettings
AudienceTargeting.TargetDemographicSettings
AudienceTargeting.TargetDemographicSettingsEnabled
AudienceTargeting.TargetInterestSettings
AudienceTargeting.TargetInterestSettingsEnabled
ContractTargeting.UseContractFloorPriceAsBaseBid (the Help me reach floor price feature in the UI)

This change applies only to Kokai ad groups; Solimar ad groups retain these properties.

August 02, 2024

Oracle cross-device vendor removal

Starting August 02, 2024, Oracle is no longer a cross-device graph vendor.

The removal applies to the following in The Trade Desk platform:

Feature	Vendor Name	Vendor ID	Impact	Action required
Cross-Device	`Oracle Cross Device`	`2`	Ad group workflows using Oracle as the Cross-Device vendor in the `RTBAttributes.AudienceTargeting.CrossDeviceVendorListForAudience` property will no longer function.	To continue using cross-device graphs, update your Cross-Device settings with an alternative vendor.

June 4, 2024

Property deprecation in Kokai: Campaign objective

The Objective property in the campaign endpoints which used to define a high-level objective for a campaign (awareness, consideration, conversion), has been deprecated and replaced by the FunnelLocation property in the ad group endpoints. This change applies only to Kokai campaigns; Solimar campaigns retain the property.

What you need to know and do
Change summary	Solimar campaigns are not affected. In Kokai, if an ad group has no funnel location specified, it is automatically assigned based on the campaign's primary goal. The campaign's objective is ignored.
Action required	For all ad groups, set the `FunnelLocation` value to the high-level objective that you want to assign to the ad group. For details, see Funnel location.

May 28, 2024

Kokai (open beta): The new platform experience at The Trade Desk

Kokai is our new approach to digital advertising innovation that incorporates major advances in distributed artificial intelligence (AI), measurement, partner integrations, and a revolutionary, intuitive user experience. With these innovations, Kokai ensures that marketers at all levels can easily benefit from the full power and sophistication of programmatic advertising.

The following sections outline feature updates and recommended actions:

Updates
Recommended actions
Coming soon

See also Budget allocation updates and Campaign upgrade to Kokai.

Updates

IMPORTANT: Most of the listed updates are driven by and apply to "Kokai campaigns"—campaigns created in Kokai or upgraded to leverage Kokai enhancements. Before making calls, be sure to use the GET /v3/campaign/{campaignId} endpoint to look up the version of the campaign. All Kokai campaigns are indicated by the Version property value set to Kokai. See also Recommended actions.

The following table outlines the key new features, updates, and functionalities in Kokai.

Feature	Description	API Usage Notes	Further Reference
Campaign workflows	You can use the REST API or GraphQL API to create, clone, and manage campaigns, including managing campaigns and their flights in bulk. With the GraphQL API, you can now clone multiple campaigns at once, make multiple copies of each campaign, and set new properties as needed.	Additive, non-breaking change, with more cloning options and bulk operations, with a new `Version` property set to `Kokai` in both APIs.	Upgrade Solimar campaigns to Kokai Campaigns Clone campaigns
Seeds	Seeds are at the core of Kokai. By creating a seed representing your ideal customer and attaching it to your campaigns, you unlock relevance—our metric gauging alignment between your campaign targeting and your seed. The higher the relevance, the more the audience you are targeting shares traits and behaviors with your seed. Seeds power various parts of the buying experience, including Koa, lookalike modeling, segment recommendations, automated targeting strategies, measuring relevant reach, and fractional pricing.	Non-breaking change. As a new entity, seeds are created and managed in GraphQL, with a new optional `SeedId` property added to REST campaign endpoints.	Seeds
Budget Allocation	You can automatically optimize your budget by allocating it to ad groups that demonstrate optimal relevance and better value. We recommend using fluid, value-driven budgets and implementing other elements of your IO and strategy. For example, you can set your base and max bids and specify bid factors, thus, gaining control over placements and pricing and allow our tools to make sure you're getting the best value and relevance.	Breaking change. You must use the GraphQL API to manage Kokai-budgeted campaigns. UPDATE: Starting April, 4, 2025, budget allocation is no longer a breaking change in Kokai. For details, see Release notes.	Budget allocation updates
Funnel location	This is a new foundational component for each ad group that helps you measure performance across a campaign and across the advertiser at each level of the funnel. The goal is to help you set campaigns up for success with a full-funnel approach to drive greater performance and conversion rates.	Non-breaking change, with a new `FunnelLocation` property.	Ad groups
More control over inventory quality and delivery at scale	We have introduced Sellers and Publishers 500+, a new inventory buying option that represents the easiest and most efficient way to buy the best of the open internet. Comprised of high-quality inventory from the top 500+ inventory properties across the open internet, the SP500+ eliminates unnecessary complexity and fragmentation while enforcing the highest inventory standards. Each seller and publisher was included because they have a proven track record of providing quality inventory that delivers performance for advertisers.	Non-breaking change, with the new `MarketType` property that you can set to `MARKETPLACE` at the ad group level.	Sellers and Publishers 500+ marketplace
Bulk operations	With the GraphQL API, you can now export, create, or update multiple ad groups, campaigns, campaign sets, and campaign flights with a single request without throttling.	Additive, non-breaking change.	GraphQL API bulk operations
Custom queries	The GraphQL API enables you to construct and execute queries by specifying fields across multiple entities. This flexibility empowers you to precisely define the data structure you need, ensuring that you only retrieve the desired information.	Additive, non-breaking change.	GraphQL API queries Examples: Advertiser Campaign Ad group
My Reports	We have introduced new templates and improved reporting to reduce the time it takes to generate reports. In addition, you can now generate these reports from specific tiles in the UI.	Non-breaking change.	N/A
Key metric metadata	We've introduced a number of new optional properties, such as `projectedSpend`, `relevance`, and `confidence`, that you can use in your queries to understand the potential implications of your decisions.	Additive, non-breaking change.	Query examples: Campaign Ad group

For more details and FAQs, see Introducing Kokai and the respective pages listed in the preceding table.

Recommended actions

Here's what you need to know and do to get started with Kokai:

Updates to campaign and ad group budgets include breaking changes. For more information, see Budget allocation updates.
All other updates are backward compatible, contain no breaking changes, and serve as enhancements that enable you to take advantage of Kokai without making immediate updates to your current workflows.
To ensure your workflows are running smoothly before implementing any changes in production, be sure to test and verify your workflows in our new Partner Sandbox at https://ext-api.sb.thetradedesk.com/v3.
- This sandbox has the same data and users as our production environment and is wiped clean weekly. This allows you to experiment freely, knowing that your production data will be fully restored the following week.
- To access this sandbox environment, you can use your production Public API keys.
- No need to change anything in your code except the URL to test everything.
To check if a campaign can take advantage of the Kokai enhancements and to update your workflow accordingly, use the GET /v3/campaign/{campaignId} look up the Version property of the campaign. All campaigns created in or upgraded to Kokai are indicated by the Version property set to Kokai.

Coming soon

This is our Open Beta release of Kokai. Stay tuned for more updates and documentation for Koa Optimizations, publisher lists, and other features!

May 15, 2024

Live events

To help optimize spending for campaigns with budgets dedicated to live sports and other events, we've launched a new pacing model. For details, see Live event campaigns.

April 2, 2024

GraphQL API (alpha)

Introducing a new paradigm of sending and receiving data in Kokai—GraphQL API. Follow object relationships, request explicit fields, perform bulk operations, and reduce round trips to the network with the new API. GraphQL offers you a single endpoint to call for all data needed in one request.

NOTE: GraphQL API is currently in its early-access alpha release with limited features. It's not a replacement for our REST API but rather an augmentative feature within the Platform API infrastructure.

For details, see Platform API: REST and GraphQL.

March 19, 2024

Industry category taxonomy migration update

As we continue our migration of industry categories from IAB 1.0 Content Taxonomy to IAB 2.2 Content Taxonomy, starting March 19, 2024, all responses to the following calls will automatically return a list of category mappings in the AdvertiserCategory and AdGroupCategory properties, respectively.

POST, PUT, and GET advertiser endpoints
POST, PUT, and GET ad group endpoints
Advertiser and ad group overview and bulk-editing endpoints

For details, see New properties in advertiser and ad group endpoint and Update advertiser and ad group workflows.

March 18, 2024

Video playback type value update

As a result, we'll be deprecating the InBanner, InArticle, InFeed, and Outstream values in the VideoPlaybackType property in the ad group, and replace them with the new AccompanyingContent and Standalone values.

Here's what you need to know and do going forward.

What you need to know and do
Change summary	Starting September 30, 2024, we'll no longer accept the `InBanner`, `InArticle`, `InFeed`, and `Outstream` values in the `VideoPlaybackType` property and will return a 400 (Bad Request) error.
Action required	Update all your ad group workflows to use the new `AccompanyingContent` and `Standalone` values in the `VideoPlaybackType` property by September 30, 2024.

NOTE: Any existing targeting settings with the video playback types will be updated using the bid list endpoints.

March 5, 2024

Industry category taxonomy migration deadline update

The deadline announced in the 2023 Release Notes for the migration of industry categories from IAB 1.0 Content Taxonomy to IAB 2.2 Content Taxonomy has been extended to July 1, 2024, when advertiser entities will be required to declare IAB 2.2 category taxonomy IDs instead of the legacy 1.0 taxonomy IDs. For details on the new endpoints, properties, and required actions, see Industry category taxonomy migration.

February 5, 2024

Deprecated creative auditor IDs

Creative approvals are no longer submitted to the following creative auditors:

Microsoft
BrightRoll
Right Media

The CreativeAuditStatuses property in the creative endpoints no longer returns creative auditor IDs for these providers.

January 15, 2024

Unassociated bid list retention policy update

To optimize and recycle storage for new bid lists, the system now permanently deletes all unused, unassociated bid lists that meet our purging criteria on a monthly basis. For details on the purging criteria, cadence, and required actions, see Unassociated Bid List Retention Policy Update.