Getting started for audience data providers

NOTE: This guide is intended for third-party providers that are interested in selling their ID-based data to The Trade Desk advertisers. If you are interested in uploading first-party data on behalf of an advertiser (as an external data provider), see Getting started for Customer Data Platforms.

The following table lists what you need to know before you can onboard your data:

Topic	Notes
Access	You must complete our data partnership questionnaire and meet with your assigned Data Partnership Manager. To get started, contact us at The Trade Desk website. You must complete initial setup to have your provider ID, and brand ID, which are required for using the Data API.
Taxonomy design	To make your third-party data available for purchase in The Trade Desk platform, you must first organize your data segments into a taxonomy and then upload your data to a data management platform (DMP). To learn more about how the segments progress through the marketplace, including earning a payout, see Understanding the data segment funnel. IMPORTANT: Be sure to familiarize yourself with taxonomy types and terminology, data rate concepts, and how they affect your taxonomy design. You don't have to complete your taxonomy design before sending segment data, but you must have it ready before you start creating data elements for your segments. If you build a custom taxonomy, keep in mind that certain rate levels require that you provide a partner or advertiser ID.
Data upload and integration	The Trade Desk allows data to come only through one integration pipe. If you currently send data through a data onboarder and want to go direct, contact your Data Partner Manager. You can upload your third-party data yourself or use one of our integrated external providers. You can upload different types of third-party data and IDs to the platform. To upload personally identifiable information (PII), such as email addresses and phone numbers, you must first convert them to Unified IDs (UIDs) using the UID2 API. If you do not have UIDs and want to work with a third party, ask your Data Partnership Manager about our preferred partners.
Data availability	You can make your third-party data available to all buyers in the platform or only to certain buyers that you specify. The taxonomy type that you choose (syndicated or custom) determines which buyers can use your data to build their audiences. You can use the Segments Dashboard to create, update, and manage your data offerings without relying on a Technical Account Manager.

Initial setup

If you are new to The Trade Desk platform, to begin your data integration, you must complete the following tasks:

Confirm that you will adhere to our privacy policies.
Confirm that you have the correct ID types to onboard. For details, see Workflow diagram and step 3 in Process overview.
Confirm you can integrate to all required APIs. For details, see Process overview. Be sure to inquire if any of the APIs you'll be using or their respective documentation require access permissions.
Complete the data partnership questionnaire.
Set up your provider account and brands. For details, see the sections that follow.

About brands

A brand is a child object of a provider that connects their segments to a specific name, logo, and set of rates. Here's what you need to know about data provider brands:

Most providers have one brand that is the same as the provider that is sending data.
If needed, you can create different segments represented by different brands.
In the data management platform (DMP), buyers can filter data only by brand, not by provider. For example, an identical segment associated with two brands will appear twice in the DMP with each brand’s specific name, logo, and rate.
If you want to set up more than one provider account or brand, you must provide the required setup information for each account and brand.

Information you need to provide

To get started with a third-party data integration, be sure to provide the following information to your Technical Account Manager.

IMPORTANT: If you want to set up more than one provider account or brand, be sure to provide the required information for each account and brand. This requirement does not apply to the cookie mapping redirect URL.

Information	Description	Notes
Third-party data provider name	The name to be used in the system to identify your provider account.	For each provider account.
Contact email address for API login	An email address for receiving production alerts.	Required for each provider to set up an API account.
Brand name	The name to be displayed for the brand in the DMP.	For each brand.
Brand logo image	An SVG or PNG file with the brand logo, 128 x 128 pixels.	For each brand.
Redirect URL (if you plan to onboard cookies)	The URL of your cookie mapping pixel for the match tag to issue a 302 redirect to, which includes our unique user ID and a unique key/value pair of the provider's choice.	The same URL regardless of the number of providers or brands.

Information you need to receive

After your account is set up, your Technical Account Manager will provide you with the following information.

Information	Description
Provider ID	The ID you will use in API requests to identify your company's brands, segments, and data.
Brand ID	The ID used in conjunction with the provider ID to identify the brand's segments and data.
Match tag and `TTD_PID` (if you plan to onboard cookies and provided a redirect URL)	The Trade Desk cookie map match tag URL and the internal partner ID assigned to you for new cookie mapping requests.

Workflow diagram

The following diagram illustrates the process outlined in the next section, which also includes links to the respective data onboarding guides and provides additional guidance on the decisions you might need to make along the way.

Process overview

The following table outlines the process step by step and provides links to detailed onboarding guides, while the diagram in the preceding section illustrates the decision-making workflow.

Step		Description	Onboarding Guide	Notes
1		Decide if you want to build to the APIs on your own or use a third-party onboarder.	N/A	If you choose to use an integrated external provider, skip the rest of the steps and continue working with the provider of your choice by following their integration instructions. To integrate your external provider with The Trade Desk, refer them to Getting started for Customer Data Platforms. If you prefer to create data segments and assign rates to them in our platform yourself, complete step 6 after your data is onboarded.
2		Design your data taxonomy.	Third-party data taxonomy design	You can do it at any time before creating data elements in step 5.
3		Identify the types of data and IDs you want to onboard: Email addresses Phone numbers (APAC only) UID2s EUIDs (Europe and the UK only) Cookies Device IDs (DAIDs) RampIDs (formerly known as IDLs) IP addresses	N/A	For a quick overview of UID2 and EUID, see Unified IDs. Otherwise, see the UID2 documentation or the EUID documentation.
4		Complete the following sub-steps that correspond to the type of data you plan to onboard.	N/A	None
	a	If you don't already have UIDs and plan to onboard email addresses or phone numbers, use the UID2 API to convert them to UID2s. Then skip to step 5b.	UID2 Overview for Data Providers	If you cannot use the UID2 API and need a third party to convert your PII to UID, ask your Data Partnership Manager about our preferred partners. Otherwise, be sure to skip to step 5b next.
	b	If you plan to onboard cookies, work with your Technical Account Manager to set up cookie mapping. Then skip to step 5b.	Cookie mapping	Be sure to skip to step 5b next.
	c	If you plan to onboard IP addresses, contact your Technical Account Manager for the approval to use the POST /data/thirdpartyipaddress endpoint and continue to step 5a.	N/A	You must have approval to use this endpoint.
5		Complete the following sub-steps that correspond to the type of data you plan to onboard.	N/A	None
	a	If you plan to onboard IP addresses, use the POST /data/thirdpartyipaddress endpoint. For all other data types, skip to step 5b.	Third-party IP address data integration	To access the IP address endpoints, contact your Technical Account Manager for the appropriate permissions.
	b	For all data types, except IP addresses, send your third-party segments using the POST /data/thirdparty endpoint, or use the Data API SDK if you want to integrate through a maintained client library instead of calling the endpoint directly.	Third-party audience data integration	The integration guide details all steps related to creating and testing your data segments. The Data SDK wraps retries, handshake, and error handling for you.
6		If you want to expand audience reach and improve targeting, create expanded audience segments using cross-device expansion, lookalike modeling, or both.	Third-party data audience expansion	At least one existing audience segment is required to create an expanded audience segment. IMPORTANT: You must agree to additional contractual terms to use this option.
7		Create data elements and assign rates using the Taxonomy and Rate Platform APIs.	Third-party audience data segments and rates	The integration guide details all steps related to specifying eligible buyers for your data and assigning data rates. IMPORTANT: Be sure to have your data taxonomy design ready before you begin this step. For details, see step 1.

IMPORTANT: The Taxonomy and Rate APIs and the Data API use different authentication methods. For details, see Foundations and Making Data API calls, respectively.