How to confirm each site in a deal can actually sell
Part of Curated deals and PMPs
The short answer
Deal inventory eligibility means each site on a planned deal can be sold through the chosen exchange, to the buyer's seat, in the formats the deal sells. Confirm it before the deal is created: the buying route is enabled, the site is offered on that exchange for deals, and each needed format exists. Hold back sites that fail.
Key takeaways
- Eligibility has four layers: the buying route, the site on that exchange, the format on that site, and the platform's own filters.
- A site that cannot be sold still counts on the domain list, so the deal looks larger on paper than in bid requests.
- Confirm formats site by site, because sizes and video placements differ between sites sold by the same exchange.
- Check a long list at once with a domain list run against the exchange's own inventory tools, then keep one row per site.
- Remove or hold back failing sites before the deal is created, and keep the reason next to each one.
What does eligibility mean for a site in a deal?
Definition
- Eligible deal inventory
- Impressions on a site that the chosen exchange can offer under a deal, to the buyer's seat, in the format and environment the deal sells, after the exchange's and the buying platform's own filters.
A site's presence on an exchange is a starting point, not proof. Authorization through ads.txt and sellers.json is one check, covered in our guide to checking ads.txt. This page covers the checks that come after it: whether the exchange actually offers that site for deals, in the needed formats, through a route the buyer can bid on.
How do I confirm the publisher is eligible on the intended SSP?
Start with the route, because no site check matters if the buyer cannot reach the exchange. Display & Video 360 lists its supported exchange partners (opens in a new tab), the integrations it can bid on or exclude. Its page on managing exchanges (opens in a new tab) says an exchange must be enabled before line items can target its inventory or its publishers can be viewed in Marketplace, and that some exchanges require the partner to contact support to set up or update a seat ID.
Confirming one publisher on one exchange
- Check the route. Confirm the exchange is supported and enabled in the buying platform, and that the seat the seller will allow on the deal is the one the platform bids with.
- Ask how the exchange deals. The same help page notes that some exchanges are not available for manual deal creation and sync their deals automatically, which changes who enters the deal ID.
- Ask the seller for the site's status. Request confirmation that each domain is active on the exchange for deals, not only for the open auction, with the seller account it sells under.
- Match the seller account. In OpenRTB 2.6, the Publisher id is the exchange-specific seller ID and corresponds to a seller_id in the exchange's sellers.json file, so record it for each site.
- Look the site up in the exchange's own tools. Where the exchange offers a marketplace or forecast, search the domain and read what it shows for deals.
Google's Authorized Buyers Marketplace discovery page (opens in a new tab) shows what such a tool can tell a buyer about one exchange. It finds matching sites and apps "eligible for Open Auction or deals", breaks each down by geo, device and format, and its Publishers tab lists only publishers that are available for deals. Other exchanges offer different tools, so ask each seller what its equivalent is.
What happens if a deal contains a site with no eligible inventory?
Nothing visible happens at first, which is the problem. The deal is created with the full domain list, but the exchange does not attach the deal ID to requests from a site it cannot sell. Volume comes only from the sites that can sell. For example, a 60 site deal with 15 ineligible sites delivers like a 45 site deal while the paperwork still says 60.
| Where you look | What you see | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Served domain report | The site does not appear | No requests from it carried the deal ID |
| Troubleshooter, total available requests | Lower volume than the site count suggests | Only eligible sites send requests under the deal |
| Troubleshooter, prebid stage | Losses such as unauthorized seller, domain could not be crawled or content language not supported | Requests arrived but the buying platform filtered them before bidding |
| Troubleshooter, creative stage | Losses on one size or type | The site sells, but not in the format the creative uses |
| Client report | Delivery concentrated on fewer sites than approved | The approved list and the live deal have drifted apart |
Display & Video 360's troubleshooter for deals (opens in a new tab) names those prebid losses, including requests from domains that do not allow crawling, pages whose content language is not supported and requests sent before the deal ID was generated. The deal hub covers what to do when a site stops selling mid-flight; the cheaper fix is to find it before launch.
Which formats must be confirmed per site?
Formats are confirmed per site because an exchange sells each site's placements, not a uniform product. Google's rich media guidelines (opens in a new tab) say different sites, apps and regions support different display sizes. Our deal ad formats guide covers how to write format terms; for eligibility, the job is a site by format grid.
| Site | 300 by 250 | 320 by 50 | 728 by 90 | Native in-feed | Outstream video | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Island food magazine | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Keep |
| Neighborhood news site | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Keep for banner only |
| Recipe blog | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Keep if video is in scope |
| Events calendar | No | No | No | No | No | Hold: no placements on this exchange |
Fill the grid with the formats the deal will actually buy. Record the environment too: an OpenRTB request must not contain more than one of a Site, App or DOOH object, so a publisher's website and app are separate inventory, and the Deals API marks them apart in its inventory types (1 site, 2 app). For video, list the placement types; the video PMP guide explains them.
How do you check eligibility across many sites?
Checking one domain at a time does not scale past a short list. The Authorized Buyers Marketplace accepts a typed or pasted list of sites in its Domain filter, adds filters for format and inventory size, and exports up to ten thousand rows of publishers and inventory data to a CSV file. Ask each other exchange whether it can run a domain list against its inventory and return a status per site.
A bulk eligibility pass
- Send one clean domain list. Use root domains, one per line, deduplicated, and say which subdomains matter.
- Ask for four answers per site. Sold on this exchange for deals, seller account ID, formats available, environment (web or app).
- Merge the answers into one grid. One row per site per exchange, with the date and the person who replied.
- Mark three outcomes. Eligible, eligible for some formats, or not eligible, each with a reason.
- Re-run the grid for each exchange. A site eligible on one exchange can be missing on another.
What should be removed before the deal is created?
Remove or hold back before the deal exists
- Sites the exchange does not offer for deals, even if they sell in its open auction.
- Sites with none of the formats the deal will buy.
- App inventory on a deal planned for websites only, or the reverse.
- Sites whose seller account the seller could not confirm.
- Duplicate entries for the same site under different subdomains, unless each sells separately.
- Sites with no reply after the agreed deadline, moved to a holding list rather than deleted.
Keep the holding list with each reason and date, so a site can join a later version once fixed. The Deals API's dinventory field says whether a deal's sites may change after it goes live (1 means they will not, 2 means they update dynamically), so agree with the seller how late additions will be handled before it is created.
What does an eligibility pass look like on a real brief?
Fictional example
A bakery café chain checks a Hawaii site list before its deal
An unnamed bakery café chain with locations on Oahu, Maui and the Island of Hawaii wants display and native ads beside food, local news and community events in Hawaii, in English, through a private auction on one exchange. The planner's approved list holds 38 local and regional sites.
The desk confirms the exchange is enabled and that the seat the seller will allow is the one its platform bids with. It sends the seller the deduplicated domain list and asks for deal status, seller account, formats and environment for each site.
The reply shows 29 sites eligible for both formats, 5 eligible for banner only, 2 sold only as apps and 2 not offered for deals. The desk builds a banner deal with 34 sites and a native deal with 29, moves the other 4 to a holding list with reasons, and writes the counts on the deal sheet.
How does PlacementGraph help show which exchange sells each site?
Frequently asked questions
Does eligibility for the open auction mean a site is eligible for deals?
No. An exchange can sell a site in its open auction without offering it for private deals. Google's Authorized Buyers Marketplace separates the two: its Sites and apps view covers inventory eligible for open auction or deals, while its Publishers tab lists only publishers available for deals. Ask the seller about deal status for each domain.
Do a publisher's website and app count as one site in a deal?
No. In OpenRTB a bid request carries either a Site, an App or a DOOH object, never more than one, and the Deals API lists site and app as separate inventory types. Check each environment separately and say on the deal sheet which ones the deal includes.
Can a site be eligible on one exchange and not on another?
Yes. Each exchange has its own publisher accounts, formats and policies, so a site sold for deals on one exchange can be missing, or sold only in some sizes, on another. Run the eligibility grid once per exchange and keep the results apart on the sheet.
Who should run the eligibility check, the planner or the trader?
Both have a part. The planner owns the approved list and the reason each site is on it. The trader owns the route, the seat and the seller's replies. Agree one owner for the eligibility grid itself, so the deal sheet has a single source for which sites made the cut.
Sources
- Supported exchange partners (opens in a new tab)Google, Display & Video 360 Help
- Managing exchanges (opens in a new tab)Google, Display & Video 360 Help
- Discover inventory and publishers (opens in a new tab)Google, Authorized Buyers Help
- Troubleshoot your deals and line items (opens in a new tab)Google, Display & Video 360 Help
- Inventory Availability report (opens in a new tab)Google, Display & Video 360 Help
- Best practices for setting up deals (opens in a new tab)Google, Display & Video 360 Help
- Guidelines for rich media creatives (opens in a new tab)Google, Display & Video 360 Help
- OpenRTB 2.6 specification: Site, App and Publisher objects (opens in a new tab)IAB Tech Lab, OpenRTB repository
- Deals API Specification version 1.0 (opens in a new tab)IAB Tech Lab, deal-api repository
Researched and written by PlacementGraph Research. Read how we research, source and update these pages. Corrections: diana@placementgraph.com.