Disney Ramps Up Streaming Ad Capabilities With Expanded In-House Offering Linked To Google And The Trade Desk

Dade Hayes
·2 min read

In the first expansion of the Disney Real-Time Ad Exchange, the media company is rolling out a more advanced offering for streaming advertisers featuring tech platforms run by Google and The Trade Desk.

Dubbed DRAX Direct, the initiative aims to streamline the process of buying ads on Disney+ and Hulu for brands of any size.

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The move comes in advance of the upfront season and as an integration of Disney+ and Hulu into a single interface prepares to come out of beta testing.

“Disney’s goal is to empower advertisers to transact with the freedom and flexibility that best suits their business needs,” said Jamie Power, SVP, Addressable Sales, Disney Advertising. “Years ago, we committed to a vision and strategy of delivering 50% of our advertising in an addressable and automated way. Owning our own technology stack allows us to build a direct path between our premium inventory and the leading media buying platforms in the industry, simplifying the way ads are bought and sold on Disney, while delivering greater effectiveness for our clients.”

DRAX Direct enables greater control and flexibility for advertisers by bringing Disney’s proprietary technology stack together with two of the largest buy-side technology platforms in the industry, setting the stage for a simpler, streamlined approach to addressable buying across Disney’s streaming portfolio, including Hulu and Disney+.

Disney’s Real-Time Ad Exchange launched as part of Disney’s advertising technology platform in March 2021.

“For over a decade, Google and Disney have collaborated on industry-leading ad innovations that drive results for customers. We are excited to expand on this relationship to bring Display & Video 360 demand to DRAX, providing our advertisers with a new way to directly purchase Disney’s high-quality CTV inventory and reach their audience with privacy-forward solutions,” said Stephen Yap, Managing Director Americas, Google Marketing Platform.

A custom integration between DRAX and The Trade Desk’s OpenPath technology is able to meet growing demand in streaming by offering direct access to more addressable premium content with better precision and transparency, Disney said in an announcement.

“Expanding our partnership with Disney Advertising underscores a shared vision to maximize the value of relevant advertising, especially at a moment when the industry needs it the most,” said Will Doherty, VP, Inventory Development, The Trade Desk. “We set up the building blocks when we forged our collaboration to create a new identity fabric for the open internet through Unified ID 2.0 interoperability with Disney’s Audience Graph. We’re continuing to innovate together by creating a custom integration between our OpenPath technology and DRAX in service of advertisers and to help drive transparency in digital media buying, as we navigate an increasingly complicated digital landscape.”

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