# Programmatic and display advertising for enterprise buyers: what AI models recommend, October 2026

Gane Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "programmatic advertising platform" and as "demand-side platform for display ads", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of an enterprise B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/marketing/programmatic-and-display-advertising/2026-10/enterprise

This is the permanent record of the October 2026 Edition, published October 1, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/marketing/programmatic-and-display-advertising/enterprise/index.md

**Standing:** The Trade Desk leads with 39% of first choices; verdict contested. 51 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [The Trade Desk](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/the-trade-desk/index.md) | 39% | 14% | 69 |
| 2 | [Demandbase Advertising](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/demandbase-advertising/index.md) | 25% | 0% | 26 |
| 3 | [Google Display & Video 360](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/google-display-video-360/index.md) | 10% | 19% | 47 |
| 4 | [StackAdapt](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/stackadapt/index.md) | 6% | 15% | 33 |
| 5 | [Amazon DSP](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/amazon-dsp/index.md) | 4% | 22% | 41 |
| 6 | [6sense](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/6sense/index.md) | 4% | 0% | 11 |
| 8 | [Adobe Advertising](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/adobe-advertising/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 17 |
| 9 | [DV360](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/dv360/index.md) | 2% | 18% | 11 |
| 12 | [Basis](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/basis/index.md) | 0% | 0% | 10 |
| 31 | [Microsoft Invest](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/microsoft-invest/index.md) | 0% | 31% | 13 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 63 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: The Trade Desk; alternatives 6sense, Demandbase Advertising, Google Display & Video 360, StackAdapt
- GPT-5.4 mini: The Trade Desk; alternatives Google Display & Video 360
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: 6sense, Demandbase Advertising; alternatives Google Display & Video 360, Madison Logic, The Trade Desk
- Perplexity Sonar: Demandbase Advertising; alternatives 6sense, DV360, The Trade Desk
- Grok 4.20: LinkedIn Campaign Manager, The Trade Desk; alternatives Demandbase Advertising, Google Display & Video 360, StackAdapt
- Mistral Small: Demandbase Advertising; alternatives The Trade Desk
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Demandbase Advertising, The Trade Desk; alternatives 6sense, Google Display & Video 360, StackAdapt
- Llama 4 Maverick: The Trade Desk; alternatives Demandbase Advertising
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Demandbase Advertising, The Trade Desk
- Kimi K2: Demandbase Advertising, The Trade Desk; alternatives 6sense, Microsoft Advertising
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: The Trade Desk; alternatives 6sense, Amazon DSP, Demandbase Advertising, Google Display & Video 360
- MiniMax M2.5: The Trade Desk; alternatives Amazon DSP, StackAdapt
- GPT-6 Luna: Demandbase Advertising; alternatives StackAdapt, The Trade Desk
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Demandbase Advertising; alternatives Google Display & Video 360, The Trade Desk

## Sources the answers cite

78 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- improvado.io: 52 answers, 67 citations
- demandbase.com: 42 answers, 63 citations
- admanage.ai: 33 answers, 33 citations
- heysid.com: 32 answers, 33 citations
- syntermedia.ai: 30 answers, 41 citations
- madgicx.com: 29 answers, 45 citations
- pipeline.zoominfo.com: 24 answers, 43 citations
- aidigital.com: 24 answers, 29 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://improvado.io/blog/top-programmatic-platforms (47 answers)
- https://demandbase.com/blog/programmatic-advertising-platforms (38 answers)
- https://admanage.ai/blog/programmatic-advertising-platforms (33 answers)
- https://heysid.com/resources/best-programmatic-advertising-platforms-for-b2b (32 answers)
- https://madgicx.com/blog/ad-tech-platform-for-programmatic-advertising (26 answers)
- https://syntermedia.ai/blog/best-programmatic-advertising-platforms-b2b (21 answers)
- https://aidigital.com/blog/programmatic-advertising-platforms (19 answers)
- https://pipeline.zoominfo.com/marketing/best-demand-side-platforms (19 answers)
- https://directiveconsulting.com/blog/the-top-5-programmatic-platforms-leading-the-way-in-2026 (18 answers)
- https://syntermedia.ai/blog/best-programmatic-advertising-platforms (18 answers)

## Warned against

- The Trade Desk: 10 of 69 labels negative. "audit failures, improperly applied fees, clients being auto-enrolled in tools they never approved, and supply chain costs that cannot be independently validated" (Mistral Small, negative prompt)
- Amazon DSP: 9 of 41 labels negative. "reports indicate that Amazon\u2019s DSP continues to transact on "Made-for-Advertising" (MFA) websites, which are designed solely to drain ad budgets" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt)
- Google Display & Video 360: 9 of 47 labels negative. "Google Display & Video 360 (DV360): concentration and lock-in risk. I wouldn't automatically exclude it, but I'd avoid making it your *only* buying or measurement route." (GPT-6 Luna, negative prompt)
- Meta Ads: 5 of 5 labels negative. "While Google, Meta (Facebook), and Amazon offer massive reach and robust self-serve tools, recent investigations have revealed significant brand safety and transparency risks." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: The Trade Desk at 42%.

- Demandbase Advertising: 17% to 24%, +7. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 2 of 60, unchanged.
- Google Display & Video 360: 4% to 9%, +5. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 6 → 3 of 60.
- StackAdapt: 9% to 4%, −5. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 3 → 4 of 60.
- Amazon DSP: 7% to 2%, −5. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 5 → 7 of 60.
- Adobe Advertising: 7% to 2%, −5. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 4 → 8 of 60.
- The Trade Desk: 43% to 42%, −1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 1 of 60, unchanged.
- 6sense: 4% to 4%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 7 → 5 of 60.
- DV360: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 9 of 60, unchanged.
- Microsoft Invest: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 95 → 29 of 60.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, October 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/gtm.