We believe Chat with Data makes our data platform more accessible for even the most novice data analysts and business people. And more importantly, it means a programmatic trader with no background in data science or engineering can simply and efficiently unlock critical insights from their data in real time ultimately driving a higher return on ad spend as they execute their campaigns. 7 out of our top 10 spending customers rely on the Viant Data Platform and now Chat with Data will democratize access to the Viant Data Platform to marketers of all sizes and provide them with a competitive advantage in data. The Viant Data Platform is further differentiated by integrations with dozens of industry-leading data providers as well as the top clean room such as Snowflake.
These data and clean room integrations, combined with our new Chat with Data product, unlock the value of first-party data using simple natural language access while providing the required data privacy and protection. The Viant Data Platform and Chat with Data are unrivaled and provide for a winning combination. The AI-enabled tools that we are rolling out are designed to allow marketers and their agencies of any size to deliver high-performing campaigns while enabling customers with best-in-class attribution. But where these tools really provide an advantage is in Viant’s historical area of strength, the mid-market. There are several reasons why we’ve been successful within this market segment, and it begins with product performance. Our investments in AI-enabled solutions like AI Bid Optimizer and our buyside-only strategy has consistently allowed us to deliver lower CPMs than our competitors, and that results in superior campaign performance for our customers.
That’s important for any customer, but particularly when budgets are more demanding. Similarly, we believe we offer the best attribution and reporting capabilities available. That means better tracking of return on ad spend and ultimately more efficient spending as campaigns can be consistently adjusted to ensure objectives are being met and effective spend — or excuse me, ineffective spend can be redirected. Now add to that a powerful product like the Viant Data Platform. With the depth of insights it provides a capability many of our mid-market customers have never dreamed of being able to access because of the high data and analytics skill set historically required. And we’ve now leveled the playing field in a truly unprecedented way. Finally, I want to dive into what’s become a hot topic in the programmatic advertising industry: Supply path optimization.
Put simply, how can the industry streamline the path between advertiser and publisher and ensure we are removing waste in the middle. As with many topics in the ad tech space, this can be confusing. We often get the question, is Viant trying to develop an SSP or eliminate the SSP? The answer is emphatically no. We’re working hard to eliminate the additional cost to advertisers, resulting from the unnecessary reselling of inventory amongst middlemen with our ultimate objective of being — of providing a tighter connection between advertisers and publishers. Earlier this year, we launched our supply path optimization program called Direct Access, where we partnered with leading CTV publishers to create a more cost-efficient direct path to premium inventory.
These are the largest publishers in the CTV space and represent a majority of the premium inventory available. Direct Access is a program that provides clear benefits to both the buy side and the sell side. The digital supply chain is unnecessarily complicated by resellers who drive up the tech tax while delivering no added value to the customer. With Direct Access, we’re removing resellers from the process and delivering lower immediate cost for the advertiser, along with tighter — or excuse me, higher revenue for the publisher. Our primary focus of Direct Access is in CTV. And Q3 saw us again outperform the inherently high-growth CTV market. In Q3, over 25% of our CTV spend was through Direct Access publishers, a figure that continues to grow as we move through the year.
Last month, we hosted an industry event in New York called the future of supply path optimization in CTV. Many of the leading CTV publishers and advertisers were in attendance. And the message could not have been clear from both parties. They want to streamline what has become an unnecessarily complex supply path. That complexity leads to financial waste, higher instances of fraud and less favorable viewing experiences for consumers. And Direct Access is injecting efficiency, transparency and ultimately improvement to the entire ecosystem. Our unique approach with Direct Access enables seamless access to premium CTV inventory at no additional cost to publishers while other supply path optimization solutions focus on web and display inventory while layering on fees.
As part of our program growth, we recently expanded our Direct Access partnership with Disney to include the launch of their biddable CTV inventory, inclusive of Hulu, ESPN+ and Disney+. Direct Access is picking up steam with an increasing amount of premium CTV publishers looking to connect directly to our customers’ demand, while more and more marketers recognize Direct Access as a way to maximize the value of their CTV ad spend with Viant. We will continue to drive innovation and the supply path for our customers as we represent their interest in the market. And with that, I’ll close by saying we had an excellent first 3 quarters of the year. We believe we’re well positioned to continue to take share amidst a broader market landscape that is continuing to trend upward.
We are focused on delivering best-in-class product solutions and support to our clients, and we believe the gains we’ve made so far this year will only continue to increase in the coming quarters. Thank you, and I’ll now turn it over to Larry to provide more details on our financial performance.
Larry Madden: Thanks, Chris. Before I begin, I’d like to remind everyone that we have posted a presentation to our Investor Relations website that includes supplemental financial information to accompany today’s call. As Tim shared, we delivered a very strong third quarter, exceeding the high end of our guidance on all key metrics. Revenue for the quarter was $59.6 million, an increase of 22% versus the prior year period. Contribution ex tax for the quarter was $39.1 million, also an increase of 22% versus the prior year period and 16% higher than Q2. These strong top line results were propelled by our continued success in capturing market share within the mid-market segment. This success was also bolstered by a steady cadence of new product releases and adoption including the Viant Household ID, our Advanced Reporting suite, the Viant Data Platform, Direct Access and AI Bid Optimizer.
