“Lurker” here but figured I’d provide some clarity as I work in the industry and have experience with both companies (more recently with Roku than TTD). This is probably way more info than needed so feel free to stop reading after the next paragraph unless you’re really interested in these two stocks.
You will not be able to buy this ad unit on Roku through TTD. The Shopify integration is only possible because Roku has 1st Party data with email & payment info, which TTD does not have and Roku would never share. Roku has had an integration with Walmart eCommerce for some time and I’m sure they would love to work something out with Amazon if it weren’t for Fire TV still existing. TTD may figure out a tech solution for embedding a purchase experience within an ad unit on CTV, but it wouldn’t be as simple. This type of thing already exists within social ad units and others, but it’s not much different than clicking/tapping out to a website due to the payment info constraints.
Roku’s play is premium CTV with innovative ad units and pristine 1st party data vs. 3rd party data targeting which is far from perfect (that’s a rabbit hole I won’t go down). They are a TV OS which gives them a nearly infinite canvas to monetize, they have The Roku Channel as a sort of middle-ground to capture cord cutters and subscription-fatigued people at once, and they also have their OneView DSP to provide added scale off-platform. It’s pretty compelling in an optimistic environment. But it is in a weird “untrusted” middle ground between old-school media (which many large brands still very much believe in) and pure-play programmatic digital media (like TTD, which most brands believe in and some ONLY believe in), which has affected their growth quite a bit, obviously, through the downturn. (I don’t really read too much into all the smart-home products btw, they seem to be more market tests than a big bet).
TTD is essentially an efficiency play, which is why they have been resilient in the face of the recession fear that is causing advertising & media budgets to get slashed. So while they don’t have access to the type of “premium ad units” that Roku can offer, CMOs see more targeted reach per dollar from TTD and move money there while they reduce budgets overall. It’s kind like IOT, except importantly, it’s not outcomes-based. The media still has to perform, and that is never remotely guaranteed. With the transition to CTV on one side and the efficiency story on the other, it’s hard to see any scenario where it isn’t growing, for years and years to come.
That being said, as recession fear abates, I would expect TTD growth to remain more consistent rather than accelerate greatly, and Roku will see a bigger rebound in terms of topline growth. Of course I can’t predict the future, but optimism typically leads marketing execs to want to invest in the future and new, bigger bets, which should lend more to premium vs. efficient.
P.S. both stocks on my watch list but my portfolio is concentrated on other sectors. I find sometimes my “insider” experiences cloud my judgement.