Direct Access Data Match Delivers the Goods

CTV advertising buyers face a battery of channels and a dizzying array of suppliers that complicate their efforts to achieve cost efficiencies and satisfy their carbon reduction objectives. Reducing that buy-side complexity is one of the key reasons we launched our supply-path optimization (SPO) solution, Direct Access, for CTV ad buyers in early 2023.

Direct Access enables ad buyers to connect directly with more than 16 CTV publishers and two streaming audio, cutting out the middleman for more competitive rates. The Viant program encompasses over 75% of the addressable US CTV market. Since we launched the program, we’ve looked for ways to expand and refine the offering. 

We’re introducing Direct Access Data Match to strengthen our platform addressability and SPO offerings. The program is a one-stop shop for easy addressability at scale across premium CTV content using the Viant Household ID™ solution. We facilitate privacy-minded data matches with large premium publishers to enable broader target audience reach, better frequency controls and increased measured conversions for improved campaign performance. 

Gaining Transparency with Data Match

The advertising industry is shifting away from direct, managed-service insertion orders in favor of programmatic implementation and campaign execution. Premium publishers are also moving, restraining reliance on Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs) and broadening their direct relationships with Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs). Direct Access creates market efficiencies by removing extraneous fees and cutting out non-value-added resellers who complicate the supply chain. 

With this program, advertisers with first-party data can utilize the Viant DSP to match directly with publishers’ audiences, improving targeting and performance. Clean rooms powered by Snowflake, GBQ and others, directly integrated with the DSP, allow data matching according to privacy standards. 

Direct Access is flexible for buyers and publishers. Direct Publisher ad stacks can be complex and unique, and Direct Access allows for integrations with ad servers, header layers, client devices and more.

Pairing Direct Access inventory with Viant’s people-based Household ID™ solution empowers multiple signals to help advertisers reach homes and distinct users far more effectively than graphs powered by one or few signals. Unlike other solutions, we focus on indexing the Provided ID (PPID) to the Viant Household ID (HHID). In this regard, we provide greater transparency from direct premium publisher relationships.  

Last year, we joined the Prebid.org community to facilitate buyers’ and sellers’ transacting in a fully programmatic ecosystem. Prebid.org is an industry-wide initiative that drives standardized, transparent technology standards for advertising. 

Other publishers are in the works. We aim to onboard and activate multiple premium publisher first-party data sets. We’re also working to support other publishers’ custom requirements to extend the value and impact of the Direct Access Data Match program. Ultimately, we want to help advertisers and publishers align more closely on inventory and data, optimizing the supply path and improving the CTV ad buying experience.