Viant challenges The Trade Desk with free direct CTV publisher path

The launch of VPS reflects the aggressive push for supply path optimization (SPO) as DSPs seek to consolidate control over high-value CTV inventory. By eliminating SSP fees and offering free technical integrations, Viant is positioning itself as the more margin-friendly alternative to TTD for publishers facing revenue pressure. Simultaneously, the exodus from TAG by industry heavyweights signals a preference for the more rigorous Media Rating Council (MRC) standards over legacy self-regulation. For the broader ecosystem, these moves represent a structural shift toward transparency through direct pipelines and audited compliance rather than broad industry checkboxes. Watch for major SSPs to respond with new value-add analytics to justify their position in the stack.

Viant’s strategic pivot follows a strong Q1 2026 performance where the company reported $88.5 million in revenue—a 25% year-over-year increase—driven largely by record spending in the CTV segment, which now accounts for over 50% of total advertiser spend on the platform. Per Investing.com (May 2026), this growth was further bolstered by the May 1st acquisition of TVision, enabling the integration of proprietary viewer attention metrics directly into its AI-powered platform. These moves collectively aim to provide a 'cookie-free' identity layer using Viant's Household ID, which reached a 95% match rate following a 2025 partnership with TransUnion.

The push toward direct paths comes as The Trade Desk faces intensifying scrutiny from major agency holding companies. Per ExchangeWire (April 2026), Publicis, WPP, and Dentsu have expressed concerns regarding TTD’s fee transparency and certain automated features in its Kokai platform. This pushback has already impacted market share; per Decrypt (April 2026), ChatGPT’s share of global generative AI web traffic fell to 53.7% as enterprises shifted budgets toward Anthropic’s Claude Code. With both OpenAI and Anthropic filing confidential IPOs in June 2026 at valuations near $900 billion, a token price war is viewed as a critical lever for defending developer market share ahead of their public debuts.