Viant Agency
Viant is a people-based DSP — it targets real people across their devices, not anonymous cookies. That identity-based approach gives more accurate, durable targeting, and it holds up as the cookie fades, which is exactly where targeting is headed.
Targeting real people, not cookies
Viant is a people-based demand-side platform — a DSP that targets real people across their devices, rather than targeting anonymous cookies. The distinction is fundamental: instead of treating each cookie or device as a separate, anonymous target, a people-based approach ties targeting to actual people, recognizing the same person across the different devices they use. Viant's people-based identity approach is built to target real individuals as the unit, which is a more accurate and more durable basis for targeting than the cookie-based approach much of programmatic has relied on. Being a Viant agency means managing that platform for a D2C brand to run programmatic with people-based, identity-driven targeting.
The reason people-based targeting is significant is that it's both more accurate and more durable than cookie-based targeting, and durability has become crucial as the cookie fades. Cookie-based targeting has two problems: it's fragmented, treating the same person's different devices as separate anonymous targets so you can't coherently reach a real individual across their devices, and it's tied to third-party cookies that are being phased out, making it increasingly unreliable. People-based targeting addresses both: by tying targeting to real people across their devices, it reaches actual individuals coherently rather than fragmented cookies, and because it's built on identity rather than third-party cookies, it holds up as the cookie disappears. This is exactly where targeting is headed — away from anonymous cookies and toward real people — which makes a people-based DSP well-positioned for the shift.
We manage Viant for D2C brands to run programmatic with its people-based, identity-driven targeting and turn it into outcomes. The aim is to use Viant's approach of targeting real people across devices for more accurate, durable reach, managed toward real results. Because people-based targeting is more accurate and more durable than cookie-based targeting, and holds up as the cookie fades, and Viant's people-based DSP, managed with discipline, is a route to programmatic that targets real people coherently and stays effective through the shift away from cookies.
What Viant's people-based approach offers
How we manage Viant for you
Target real people
We use Viant's people-based approach to target real people, the more accurate basis than anonymous cookies.
Reach across devices
We use the cross-device recognition to reach real individuals coherently across their devices, not fragmented cookies.
Build on identity
We target on Viant's identity-based foundation, more durable than third-party cookies as they're phased out.
Lean on the durability
We use the cookie-resilience of people-based targeting, since it holds up as the cookie fades, where targeting is headed.
Manage to outcomes
We manage toward real results, so the people-based targeting produces outcomes rather than just accurate impressions.
Cookies are fragmented and fading
Cookie-based targeting, which much of programmatic has relied on, has two fundamental weaknesses that people-based targeting is built to address, and both have become more pressing over time. The first is fragmentation: a cookie identifies a browser or device, not a person, so the same individual using a phone, a laptop, and a tablet appears as three separate anonymous cookies. This means cookie-based targeting can't coherently reach a real person across their devices — it reaches fragments, treating one individual as several disconnected targets, which is both inaccurate and inefficient. The second weakness is impermanence: cookie-based targeting depends heavily on third-party cookies, which are being phased out, making the whole approach increasingly unreliable as its foundation disappears.
People-based targeting, which is Viant's approach, addresses both weaknesses by changing the unit of targeting from the cookie to the person. By tying targeting to real people and recognizing the same individual across their different devices, it reaches actual people coherently rather than fragmented cookies — which is both more accurate, because you're reaching a real person rather than disconnected device-fragments, and more useful, because you can coherently reach and understand an individual across their whole device usage. And because people-based targeting is built on identity rather than third-party cookies, it doesn't collapse as the cookie fades; it holds up through the shift away from third-party tracking, since it never depended on the cookie in the first place. People-based targeting is more accurate today and more durable tomorrow.
This durability matters enormously because of where targeting is unmistakably headed: away from anonymous cookies and toward real people. As third-party cookies disappear, the approaches that depended on them are degrading, and the approaches built on real-people identity are becoming the durable foundation for targeting. A people-based DSP like Viant is well-positioned for exactly this shift — it targets the way targeting is moving toward, on real people and identity rather than fading cookies. We manage Viant for D2C brands to capture that — running people-based targeting that reaches real individuals accurately and holds up as the cookie fades, managed toward real outcomes. Because cookies are both fragmented and fading, and people-based targeting on real individuals is more accurate now and more durable through the shift, which is exactly what makes Viant's approach valuable as targeting moves from cookies to people.
Target people, not fading cookies
We manage Viant to use its people-based approach, because targeting real people is both more accurate than targeting anonymous cookies and more durable as the cookie fades. We target real individuals across their devices rather than reaching the fragmented, disconnected cookies that cookie-based targeting uses, so the brand reaches actual people coherently. The point of a people-based DSP is that it targets the right unit — the person, not the cookie — and we manage Viant to use that for more accurate reach than the device-fragments cookie-based targeting is stuck with.
We lean on the durability of people-based targeting, because it's built on identity rather than the disappearing third-party cookie, and that's where targeting is headed. As cookies are phased out, the approaches that depended on them degrade while identity-based, people-based targeting holds up — so we use Viant's cookie-resilient foundation deliberately, positioning the brand's targeting for the shift away from cookies rather than tying it to a foundation that's disappearing. The durability isn't a side benefit; it's increasingly the main reason people-based targeting matters as the cookie fades.
And we manage the people-based targeting toward outcomes, because more accurate, durable targeting still has to perform. Reaching real people coherently is valuable, but the spend has to be held accountable to results, or it becomes accurately-targeted impressions that don't convert. So we manage Viant toward real outcomes, optimizing based on what works. The result is a Viant program that uses people-based targeting to reach real individuals accurately and durably — aligned with targeting's shift from cookies to people — and managed with the discipline to turn that targeting into outcomes rather than just accurate reach.
Frequently Asked Questions
Viant is a people-based demand-side platform — a DSP that targets real people across their devices, rather than targeting anonymous cookies. Instead of treating each cookie or device as a separate anonymous target, a people-based approach ties targeting to actual people, recognizing the same person across the different devices they use. Viant's people-based identity approach targets real individuals as the unit, which is a more accurate and more durable basis for targeting than the cookie-based approach much of programmatic has relied on. As a Viant agency, we manage it for D2C brands to run people-based programmatic.
It's targeting real people rather than anonymous cookies — tying targeting to actual individuals and recognizing the same person across their different devices, rather than treating each device or cookie as a separate target. A cookie identifies a browser or device, not a person, so cookie-based targeting fragments one individual into multiple anonymous targets. People-based targeting reaches the real person coherently across their devices. It's more accurate, because you're reaching an actual individual rather than disconnected fragments, and more durable, because it's built on identity rather than the third-party cookies that are being phased out.
Because it addresses two fundamental weaknesses of cookies. First, fragmentation: a cookie identifies a device, not a person, so the same individual on a phone, laptop, and tablet appears as three separate anonymous cookies, and cookie-based targeting can't coherently reach a real person across devices. Second, impermanence: cookie-based targeting depends on third-party cookies that are being phased out. People-based targeting reaches real individuals coherently across devices (more accurate) and is built on identity rather than cookies (more durable as cookies fade). It's better both today and through the shift away from cookies.
By not depending on the cookie in the first place. People-based targeting is built on real-people identity rather than third-party cookies, so it doesn't collapse as cookies are phased out — it holds up through the shift away from third-party tracking. This is increasingly the main reason people-based targeting matters: as cookies disappear, the approaches that depended on them degrade, while identity-based, people-based targeting remains durable. A people-based DSP like Viant is positioned for where targeting is headed — toward real people and identity rather than the fading cookie.
It means recognizing the same real person across the different devices they use — phone, laptop, tablet — so the brand reaches an individual coherently rather than reaching their devices as separate anonymous targets. Cookie-based targeting fragments one person into multiple device-cookies; people-based, cross-device targeting reunites them into the real individual. This is both more accurate, since you're reaching a person rather than fragments, and more useful, since you can coherently reach and understand someone across their whole device usage. Cross-device recognition is central to what makes people-based targeting more accurate than cookie-based.
No — people-based targeting is more accurate and durable, but the spend still has to be managed toward outcomes. Reaching real people coherently is valuable, but it has to be bought well and held accountable to results, or it becomes accurately-targeted impressions that don't convert. We manage Viant to capture both — using its people-based approach for accurate, durable targeting, and managing the spend toward real outcomes. The people-based targeting is the advantage; disciplined management toward results is what turns it into performance rather than just accurate reach that doesn't deliver.
It can be a strong fit for D2C brands that want targeting aligned with where the industry is headed — toward real people and identity rather than fading cookies. Its people-based approach gives more accurate, durable targeting that holds up as third-party cookies disappear, which matters as the privacy landscape shifts. The value depends on using the people-based targeting well and managing toward outcomes, which is what we do — using Viant's approach to reach real individuals accurately and durably and holding the spend accountable to real results for D2C brands navigating the move away from cookies.
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150+ D2C brands scaled. $500 Mn+ in tracked revenue. Since 2004.