Global advertising technology leader The Trade Desk (Nasdaq: TTD) today announced the appointment of Willard (Bill) Simmons, Ph.D., as Vice President of Product. In his role, Simmons will be a key member of the company’s technology leadership team, responsible for driving new innovations and data science applications across The Trade Desk’s media buying platform.

Simmons brings more than 14 years of advertising technology leadership experience to The Trade Desk. He was the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Dataxu, an early ad tech pioneer that developed new approaches in the application of data science and machine learning for digital advertising decisioning at scale. While at Dataxu, Simmons also founded the OpenRTB consortium to standardize real-time bidding protocols industrywide. Dataxu was acquired by Roku in 2019, and Simmons became the Vice President of Product Management of Roku’s ad platform. Prior to founding Dataxu, Simmons was a doctoral research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Simmons has also held engineering positions at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems (formerly known as TRW) and Lockheed Martin Astronautics.

“Bill is one of the founders of our industry, and he’s a visionary in the application of advanced data science to help advertisers drive as much value as possible from every campaign dollar,” said Jeff Green, co-founder and CEO, The Trade Desk. “As more advertisers embrace data-driven advertising, especially in the fast-growing world of connected TV, Bill will bring vital expertise and experience to help The Trade Desk continue to drive value for our clients.”

“I share Jeff and The Trade Desk’s perspective on the value and opportunities of the open internet for advertisers worldwide,” said Simmons. “Having stepped away from the industry for a year, it was important to me to come back with a company that understands the power of data-driven decisioning, and how it can help advertisers drive growth for their businesses while building consumer loyalty and trust.”

Simmons received a Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT. He also holds a master’s degree in aerospace engineering sciences from the University of Colorado Boulder and a master’s degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University.

About The Trade Desk

The Trade Desk™ is a technology company that empowers buyers of advertising. Through its self-service, cloud-based platform, ad buyers can create, manage, and optimize digital advertising campaigns across ad formats and devices. Integrations with major data, inventory, and publisher partners ensure maximum reach and decisioning capabilities, and enterprise APIs enable custom development on top of the platform. Headquartered in Ventura, CA, The Trade Desk has offices across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. To learn more, visit thetradedesk.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

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