LinkedIn partners with The Trade Desk for CTV ad buying

LinkedIn has made The Trade Desk its first programmatic partner for CTV inventory, enabling agency buyers to access LinkedIn's professional audience data for streaming TV campaigns outside of LinkedIn's own platform. The announcement is part of a broader B2B video push that also includes enhanced BrandLink capabilities and a new Top Voices 360 creator sponsorship program.

The CTV partnership, powered by Microsoft Monetize, is the most significant of the three announcements for the advertising industry. The Trade Desk manages a substantial share of global programmatic spend, and its integration means LinkedIn's 1 billion member professional data becomes immediately available to agency buyers already working within TTD's platform. Advertisers who buy CTV through The Trade Desk can now retarget those viewers on LinkedIn, creating a closed-loop funnel from streaming exposure to professional content engagement.

The Trade Desk CTV partnership: what changes for buyers

LinkedIn's CTV inventory is now available through two routes: self-serve through Campaign Manager, or programmatically through The Trade Desk. For agencies already operating at scale in TTD, LinkedIn CTV becomes a line item in their existing buying workflow rather than a separate platform requiring a new vendor relationship.

The targeting layer is the differentiator. LinkedIn CTV campaigns can be targeted using professional attributes: job title, seniority, company size, and industry. No other CTV platform offers that combination of professional first-party data at scale. For B2B brands running account-based marketing, it removes the targeting gap that has made TV advertising historically inefficient for reaching specific professional audiences.

The cross-channel retargeting capability is new for LinkedIn. A user who sees a brand's CTV ad can be followed back into LinkedIn's feed, extending the campaign into a channel where those users are actively engaging with professional content.

Expanding creator and video tools for B2B campaigns

LinkedIn has updated its creator-focused tools. The compmnay says it is s expanding how brands sponsor creator content with a more integrated Top Voices 360 offering. The Top Voices 360 is a new creator sponsorship program that lets brands partner directly with LinkedIn editorial creators, including Meghana Dhar, Ramit Sethi, Steven Bartlett, and Corporate Natalie, to produce co-branded posts, editorial shows, and live event partnerships. Stripe-powered creator payouts streamline the transaction side for both parties.

The platform also updated BrandLink to support pre-roll video ads on live events hosted by global publishers. These publishers include Axel Springer, The CEO Magazine, NYSE, Reuters Japan, TIME, and Times Network, in addition to more than 40 other outlets. BrandLink campaigns can now be set up through a self-serve option in Campaign Manager for selected advertisers. Creator payments are now processed through Stripe, which the company claims simplifies transactions.

Why this matters for B2B advertisers

LinkedIn is now the only platform where a B2B brand can run creator sponsorships, pre-roll video alongside Bloomberg and Reuters content, live event integrations, and programmatic CTV ads using the same professional audience data. Meta has creator tools but not LinkedIn's professional targeting precision. YouTube has CTV scale but is not built for B2B purchase-decision targeting.

U.S. CTV ad spend is forecast to grow 14% in 2026 to over $37 billion. The Trade Desk partnership positions LinkedIn to capture a share of that growth specifically from B2B advertisers, a segment that has historically underinvested in TV relative to its overall marketing share. For agencies building connected TV strategies for enterprise clients, the LinkedIn-TTD integration offers a high-precision targeting option that was not previously available in programmatic TV buying.