--- title: "Third-Party Targeting: Off-The-Shelf Third-Party Audiences" slug: "using-third-party-audiences" description: "Explore how Quantcast leverages LiveRamp’s Data Marketplace for geo-targeting in the U.S. with off-the-shelf third-party audience segments." tags: ["Audience", "Third Party"] updated: 2026-09-11T16:25:51Z published: 2026-09-11T16:25:51Z canonical: "help.quantcast.com/using-third-party-audiences" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.quantcast.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Third-Party Targeting: Off-The-Shelf Third-Party Audiences Quantcast uses LiveRamp’s Data Marketplace to ingest off-the-shelf third-party audiences for clients geo-targeting the United States. An **off-the-shelf third-party (3P) audience segment** is a pre-packaged group of consumers categorized by specific behaviors, demographics, interests, or intent signals, created and sold by a third-party data provider (like Experian, Dun & Bradstreet, or Bombora) for advertising and targeting purposes. Quantcast does not sell this data; Quantcast enables clients to activate segments sourced from third-party providers > [!NOTE] > **Third-party segments work best as a complement to Quantcast audiences and should be used as a backup option when Quantcast audience targeting options don't fully align with your campaign needs.** ## Browsing Off-The-Shelf Third-Party Audiences If you would like to browse available off-the-shelf third-party audiences, users have a few options: - **Utilize** [**Audience Explorer**](/v1/docs/audience-explorer), which offers a seamless and intuitive experience for discovering and selecting the perfect audiences for your campaigns. It centralizes all the audience segment data a marketer needs in one easy-to-navigate platform, simplifying your segment selection process. - You'll find Audience Explorer in the **Audience Catalog** section of **Audience Insights**. Simply look for the new **"Explorer" tab**. - **Reference and browse** the [**Available Segments in our Help Center**](/v1/docs/available-segments). - **Take it a step further!** Utilize the Help Center bot, "Ask Q", to help you get started with browsing audiences (see screenshot below). ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/9a180fa0-df3b-4942-a5f6-b3905cf917d9/Images/Documentation/image-1749579987838.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-08T07%3A45%3A41Z&se=2026-11-08T08%3A45%3A41Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=oxxaIUtKNA9SMkzAc32AnFKTs0xN0c1BoJURnMTgcz0%3D) - **Browse available segments in a mock ad set** > [!NOTE] > Did you know? > > You can “AND” or “OR” off-the-shelf segments together by toggling between “ALL” and “ANY” next to the audience segment field. 1. Create a mock ad set within your account. 2. Click on the **Lookalike** and/or **Retargeting** field within the Audiences section. 3. Click on **Third Party Segment** within the drop-down. 4. Type in keywords related to the audience you wish to activate against. 5. Hover over the audiences that appear to see a snapshot of the Segment ID, audience description, and audience cost. ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/9a180fa0-df3b-4942-a5f6-b3905cf917d9/Images/Documentation/image-1749588686942.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-08T07%3A45%3A41Z&se=2026-11-08T08%3A45%3A41Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=oxxaIUtKNA9SMkzAc32AnFKTs0xN0c1BoJURnMTgcz0%3D) ## How to Determine the Size of An Off-The-Shelf Third-Party Audience Currently, you can estimate off-the-shelf third-party audience sizes at the ad set level within a mock ad set. 1. Create a mock ad set within your account. 2. Navigate to the ad set setup level: 1. If you have a budget and date range in mind, you can enter them to generate a delivery forecast. Otherwise, if you're only looking to view the maximum audience size for the segment, simply proceed to the next step. 2. Scroll down to the **Audience** section. 3. Remove all selections in the **Lookalike** field. This field should be left empty. 4. Clear all entries in the **Retargeting** field. 5. Search for and select the desired off-the-shelf third-party audience within the Retargeting field. This should be the only segment listed here. 6. Navigate to the **Projections** tool on the right side of the screen and expand the audience details by clicking on the arrow (carrot icon). 7. The **Targetable Audience** size listed reflects the size of your selected audience. 1. **Heads Up!** If the targetable audience size displays as 100, it usually means the segment no longer contains any active data. In some cases, data providers may retire audiences before Quantcast is able to remove them from the UI. If you encounter this issue, please contact your Quantcast representative for support. ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/9a180fa0-df3b-4942-a5f6-b3905cf917d9/Images/Documentation/image-1749589049315.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-08T07%3A45%3A41Z&se=2026-11-08T08%3A45%3A41Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=oxxaIUtKNA9SMkzAc32AnFKTs0xN0c1BoJURnMTgcz0%3D) ## Activating Your Off-The-Shelf Third-Party Audience 1. Navigate to the Ad Set setup within your campaign. 2. Scroll down to the **Audience** section within the Ad Set setup. 3. Based on your targeting strategy, search for and select your ingested custom third-party audience in the appropriate field(s): Lookalike, Retargeting, and/or Exclusions. 4. After selecting the desired audience, the **passthrough CPM cost of the desired audience** will appear in the **Inventory Cost** section on the right-hand panel. ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/9a180fa0-df3b-4942-a5f6-b3905cf917d9/Images/Documentation/image-1749675250433.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-08T07%3A45%3A41Z&se=2026-11-08T08%3A45%3A41Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=oxxaIUtKNA9SMkzAc32AnFKTs0xN0c1BoJURnMTgcz0%3D) ## Related - [Third-Party Targeting: Custom Third-Party Audiences](/ingesting-custom-third-party-audiences.md) - [Third-Party Audience Targeting](/third-party-targeting.md) - [Client First-Party Data Onboarding Options](/dmp-audiences.md)