The Trade Desk Launches “Unbreak The Internet” Campaign Attacking Google

Programmatic firm The Trade Desk has launched “Unbreak The Internet,” an ad campaign taking shots at Google and other big tech platforms’ domination of the internet via their walled gardens.

The campaign was produced in-house by The Trade Desk and calls for a more open and transparent advertising approach on the open internet.

Naturally, the campaign will be run programmatically through The Trade Desk’s platform and includes a series of short video ads run across connected TV (CTV) and online video advertising (OLV), complemented by audio, digital out-of-home, display, and paid social executions in Australia, Singapore, the U.S. and Canada.

The irony of the campaign running on YouTube has clearly been lost on The Trade Desk.

“Advertising is more than just a commercial break — it’s fundamental to the way the internet is funded. It helps publishers generate revenue for the companies that produce the content we love, whether that’s high-quality journalism, music streaming, podcasts, TV, films, radio or mobile apps. These businesses often rely on advertising to make their content free for consumers,” said James Bayes, ANZ general manager at The Trade Desk.

“If brands continue to invest the vast majority of their ad budgets in walled gardens such as Google, they inadvertently reduce the amount of money that the internet needs to produce high-quality content.”

The Trade Desk said that while the average consumer “may not understand the implications that come with Google’s hold over the internet” the campaign explains that “Google makes money on both the buy and sell sides of an advertising transaction. It is in Google’s best interest to push more ad dollars to the ad inventory they own, such as YouTube — rather than the ads that are best for advertisers.”

According to the ACCC, in Australia alone, for every $100 spent on digital advertising, $49 ends up in Google’s pocket, The Trade Desk added.

The campaign argued that the solution to Google’s dominance is advertising on the open internet, which comprises fast-growing ad channels like streaming TV, music apps, news websites, blogs and gaming.

“Brands often assume that people spend their online time on social media, but that’s no longer true. The majority of the time spent online by Aussies is now on the open internet,” added Bayes.

“That’s great news for publishers and advertisers. For publishers, the more time spent on their sites than on social media, the more advertising revenue they’ll attract. And for advertisers, the open internet provides a more effective way to deliver relevant ads through data-driven advertising, while offering more transparent access to omnichannel campaign performance. This level of openness and transparency helps advertisers make more informed decisions to drive better-performing campaigns. It’s a win–win for everybody.”

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