"Viant reported Q1 2026 earnings on Monday, with its DSP revenue growing by 18% to $50.3 million. The company's total net loss in the quarter shrank from $3.3 million a year ago to $2.2 million. Viant prefers a metric for net income that excludes some costs, such as stock-based compensation, and which would count the company as earning $5.5 million in profit."
"For example, Viant COO Chris Vanderhook declared that, based on what the company is seeing in market, "advertisers and agencies have finally drawn a line in the sand with regards to the self-attributing tactics of walled gardens and the general lack of transparency provided by our competitors." It is quite a bold claim, considering the vast ad revenue growth and ostensible market share gains made by the walled garden platforms."
"Vanderhook cited recent flagship clients Molson Coors and WHOOP, a wearable product for health and fitness. WHOOP in particular is a neat example, as he explained. The company has an antagonistic relationship with the walled gardens. That's because Apple, Amazon and Google compete with WHOOP - they each have wearable health-tracking devices, the Apple Watch, Amazon Bee and Google's Fitbit."
""We hear these horror stories firsthand from advertisers leaving their platform," he said. Advertisers claim the Amazon DSP diverted spend increasingly to"
DSP revenue increased 18% to $50.3 million in Q1 2026. Total net loss decreased from $3.3 million a year earlier to $2.2 million. Viant prefers a net income metric that excludes certain costs such as stock-based compensation, which would show $5.5 million in profit. Executives and investors focused more on market and transparency issues than on SEC-tracked financial details. The COO said advertisers and agencies drew a line against self-attributing tactics and lack of transparency from competitors. The company cited flagship clients including Molson Coors and WHOOP, where competition from Apple, Amazon, and Google wearable ecosystems creates an antagonistic relationship. Amazon was described as the worst offender, with advertisers reporting spend diversion after leaving the platform.
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