Amazon Marketing Cloud vs The Trade Desk
Amazon Marketing Cloud
advertising.amazon.comThe Trade Desk
thetradedesk.comSide by side
| Figure | Amazon Marketing Cloud | The Trade Desk |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 0 |
| Spec score · Demand Side Platform | 8.6 (#1) | 6.9 (#8) |
| Spec score · Cross-Channel Advertising Software | 8.6 (#2) | 6.9 (#8) |
| Spec score · Display Advertising Software | 8.6 (#2) | 6.9 (#9) |
| Founded | 2019 | The Trade Desk was co-founded in 2009. |
| Measurement | AMC measures customer journeys across Amazon Ads media and channels, including advertising impact at online and offline Amazon stores and advertiser-owned sites. | The platform measures marketing impact from awareness to conversion and offers a marketplace of measurement partners. |
| Privacy | AMC accepts pseudonymized inputs and provides only aggregated, anonymous outputs; advertiser-uploaded signals stay in the dedicated instance and cannot be exported or accessed by Amazon. | The company says its privacy program is designed to align with evolving global privacy laws and industry expectations. |
| Product | Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) is a secure, privacy-safe, cloud-based clean room for analytics and audience building across pseudonymized Amazon Ads signals and advertiser inputs. | The Trade Desk is a demand-side platform for planning, executing, and measuring data-driven programmatic advertising campaigns. |
| What it does | Amazon Marketing Cloud is a cloud clean room for analyzing pseudonymized Amazon Ads and advertiser signals and building audiences. | The Trade Desk is a demand-side platform that helps advertisers reach audiences, buy digital advertising, and measure campaign impact. |
Plans
Amazon Marketing Cloud
- Amazon Marketing CloudFree
- Amazon Marketing Cloud accessFree
- Paid Features (beta)Priced on request
In their own words
Amazon Marketing Cloud
Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) is a cloud-based clean room for analytics and audience building across pseudonymized Amazon Ads signals and advertiser inputs. Built on AWS Clean Rooms, it brings together signals from Amazon properties, advertisers, and onboarded third-party providers for flexible querying. Advertisers can form audiences from engagement records, conversion events, and segments, then activate them for sponsored, video, and display ads. AMC can also measure customer journeys across Amazon Ads media and channels, including advertising impact at Amazon stores and advertiser-owned sites. Users can generate insights and visualizations without SQL using curated templates and Ads Agent assistance; SQL analysis is also supported. Ads Data Manager and related tools connect signals, while APIs support reporting, audience management, and first-party signal onboarding. Outputs are aggregated and anonymous, and advertiser-uploaded signals remain in a dedicated instance that Amazon cannot access or export. AMC provides 25 months of ad traffic signals and hundreds of campaign fields. It is available at no cost to eligible advertisers through web and API access.
The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk is a demand-side platform for planning, executing and measuring data-driven programmatic advertising campaigns. Its self-serve experience lets advertisers use first- and third-party data and the platform's identity framework to identify and reach audiences. Campaigns can run across audio, connected TV, digital out-of-home, mobile, display, native and video. The company says its AI analyzes up to 15 million ad opportunities each second to help optimize campaigns in real time. Measurement spans marketing impact from awareness to conversion, with a marketplace of measurement partners. A partner directory lists data and inventory providers and can be filtered by partner type and region. The company says advertisers can select marketplace solutions and control campaign data and ad placement. It presents the platform for data-driven marketers and offers tailored solutions for advertisers, publishers and partners. Prospective customers are asked to contact the company to discuss access and suitable solutions; pricing is on request. The platform is available through web and API. The company says its security program protects the confidentiality, integrity and availability of its products and services, and that it undergoes independent third-party audits.