Video advertising · November 2026 Edition
TikTok Ads vs The Trade Desk
Zero of fourteen models named TikTok Ads first on the direct prompt; zero named The Trade Desk. Both were named by all fourteen models and TikTok Ads carries 38 labels and The Trade Desk 31, so the shares are not directly comparable.
By TikTok, Ireland, founded 2016. Named in eight categories this edition.
By Trade Desk, Ventura, United States, founded 2009. Named in ten categories this edition.
First-choice share12%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate18%29%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#4#8A position in a field of 13; printed, not drawn.
Labels3831A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, TikTok Ads reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.LinkedIn Video Ads was named alongside these two in thirteen of the fourteen direct answers. LinkedIn Video Ads vs TikTok Ads · LinkedIn Video Ads vs The Trade Desk · StackAdapt vs TikTok Ads
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the video advertising page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
TikTok AdsFirst choices, of fourteen modelsThe Trade Desk
Direct001 against TikTok Ads · 4 against The Trade Desk
Paraphrase015 against The Trade Desk
Comparative00
Budget-constrained601 against TikTok Ads
Scale-constrained00
Negative015 against TikTok Ads
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where TikTok Ads and The Trade Desk stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | ||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | | |||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | ||
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | | ||
| Grok 4.20 | | | | | | |
| Mistral Small | | | | | ||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | ||
| Llama 4 Maverick | | | ||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | | ||
| Kimi K2 | | | | | ||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | |||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | | | |
| GPT-6 Luna | | | ||||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | |
TikTok Ads The Trade Desk first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, TikTok Ads on the left and The Trade Desk on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where TikTok Ads and The Trade Desk stood in it.
Neither was the first choice, one was named
1 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Qwen 3.7 FlashLinkedIn Video Ads, YouTube Ads alternatives: Demandbase CTV, Google Display, Meta Ads, StackAdapt, The Trade Desk
Neither was named
13 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5LinkedIn Video Ads, StackAdapt alternatives: Vibe.co, Vidyard, Wistia
GPT-5.4 miniLinkedIn Video Ads alternatives: YouTube Ads
Gemini 3.5 FlashLinkedIn Video Ads alternatives: MNTN, Meta Ads, YouTube Ads
Perplexity SonarStackAdapt alternatives: Demandbase CTV, LinkedIn Video Ads, Vibe.co, YouTube Ads
Grok 4.20LinkedIn Video Ads alternatives: YouTube Ads
Mistral SmallLinkedIn Video Ads, YouTube Ads alternatives: Demandbase CTV
DeepSeek V4 FlashLinkedIn Video Ads alternatives: Demandbase CTV, StackAdapt, YouTube Ads
Llama 4 MaverickStackAdapt
Kimi K2LinkedIn Video Ads alternatives: StackAdapt, Vibe.co, YouTube Ads
GLM 4.7 FlashXLinkedIn Video Ads alternatives: Demandbase CTV, Spotify Ads, StackAdapt, YouTube Ads
MiniMax M2.5LinkedIn Video Ads alternatives: Demandbase CTV, YouTube Ads
GPT-6 LunaLinkedIn Video Ads alternatives: YouTube Ads
Muse Glimmer 30BLinkedIn Video Ads, StackAdapt alternatives: YouTube Ads
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
TikTok Ads leads by seven points.
TikTok Ads7%#5 of 9The Trade Desk0%#9 of 9Mid-marketThe figures above
TikTok Ads leads by ten points.
TikTok Ads12%#4 of 13The Trade Desk2%#8 of 13Enterprise
The order flips: The Trade Desk leads at enterprise.
The Trade Desk17%#2 of 11TikTok Ads0%#11 of 11What the models said about TikTok Ads
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of five in this category shown.
“Many enterprise buyers tend to avoid or heavily restrict TikTok for sensitive brand categories due to concerns about brand safety” Mistral Small · negative prompt · hard negative
“TikTok Ads has emerged as one of the most budget-friendly options, with some sources suggesting daily budgets as low as $20-30 can work for testing.” MiniMax M2.5 · budget prompt · first choice
“TikTok is often the best video advertising platform for companies with limited budgets” Grok 4.20 · budget prompt · first choice
“The best video advertising platform for a company with a limited budget is TikTok.” Llama 4 Maverick · budget prompt · first choice
What the models said about The Trade Desk
No label in this category carried a quote.
Also compared
LinkedIn Video Ads vs TikTok AdsLinkedIn Video Ads vs The Trade DeskStackAdapt vs TikTok AdsStackAdapt vs The Trade DeskYouTube Ads vs TikTok AdsYouTube Ads vs The Trade DeskTikTok Ads vs Meta AdsTikTok Ads vs Demandbase CTVTikTok Ads vs Vibe.coMeta Ads vs The Trade DeskDemandbase CTV vs The Trade DeskVibe.co vs The Trade DeskAll twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full video ads standing
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.