How do quality rules shrink scale, and how strict should a plan be?
Part of MFA avoidance
The short answer
Each quality rule removes some ad requests, and rules stack, so a stricter plan reaches less supply. Choose the level by adding rules one at a time to a forecast, measuring what each removes, and stopping where the budget can still deliver with margin. Explain the result to the client as a documented choice of supply, not a promise.
Key takeaways
- Quality rules act in sequence: seller authorization, suitability tiers, keyword and MFA exclusions, then the inclusion list itself.
- Which rule costs the most reach depends on the campaign, and the platform's filtered request diagnostics show it for that campaign.
- Change one constraint at a time in the forecast, because a forecast built from historical bid requests is not a guarantee of future traffic.
- Available impressions and unique people reached are different measures, and the client should see both.
- Rules that are not pruned can drift toward overblocking, so the strictness setting needs the same review rhythm as the lists.
How do quality rules affect campaign scale?
A buying platform sees a stream of bid requests that match the campaign's geography, format and flight. Each quality rule removes part of that stream before a bid is placed. Display & Video 360's spend forecast (opens in a new tab) works the same way in reverse: it takes "historical traffic and layering your current targeting, bid, budget, and flight settings on top of it," so each added rule shows up as a smaller forecast. The MFA avoidance hub sets which rules apply; this page is about how far to push them.
Definition
- Quality and scale curve
- The line a planner traces by adding quality rules one at a time to a forecast and recording the remaining deliverable supply after each, from the loosest acceptable plan to the strictest.
Which quality rules cost the most reach?
The cost of a rule depends on the brief: a suitability tier may barely touch a recipe plan and cut deeply into a news plan, so a claim that one rule always costs the most should be read with care. The useful question is which rule removed the most supply in this campaign, and the platforms answer it. Display & Video 360's deal and line item troubleshooting (opens in a new tab) shows Filtered impressions by reason, including "Unauthorized seller (Ads.txt)" and "Domain could not be crawled (Brand safety)," and counts requests that missed the line's apps and URLs or its brand safety tiers.
| Rule | What it removes | Where its cost shows | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authorized seller requirement | Requests from sellers the site's ads.txt does not list | Filtered impressions, Unauthorized seller (Ads.txt) | Sites with no ads.txt file at all when the advertiser excludes them |
| Suitability tier | Sensitive content above the chosen level | Brand safety rows in the targeting breakdown | Google says Limited inventory may limit your reach and performance |
| Keyword exclusions | Pages containing listed terms | Forecast before and after the list | Broad terms that remove news and health coverage |
| MFA exclusion list | Domains classified as made for advertising | Apps and URLs rows in the targeting breakdown | Old entries for sites that have since changed |
| Inclusion list | Sites not reviewed and approved | Forecast with and without the list | A list too short for the budget and flight |
| Viewability targeting | Placements predicted below the target | Forecast cost and volume | Higher average cost per thousand impressions |
Google's Content suitability help (opens in a new tab) says Limited inventory "is intended to exclude as much sensitive content as possible" and "may limit your reach and performance." Display & Video 360's planning help (opens in a new tab) adds that when more specific targeting such as viewability is added, "the average cost will usually increase." Neither page gives the size of each effect, which is campaign specific.
How do you choose how strict to be?
Strictness is a supply decision with a floor the brand will not go below. Above that floor, the point on the curve depends on how much risk the message carries and how much supply the brief has to begin with. A niche brief in a small market starts with little supply, so each rule takes a larger share of it.
Build the curve for one plan
- Set the floor. Write down the rules the brand never relaxes, such as its suitability minimum and its MFA exclusion list.
- Forecast the floor alone. Record deliverable impressions, estimated unique reach and average cost with only those rules applied.
- Add one rule at a time. Rerun the forecast after each addition and record the change, so each rule's cost is visible on its own.
- Mark the delivery line. Note the point where the forecast no longer covers the budget with a margin the agency trusts.
- Pick the point and write the reason. Choose a position at or before that line and record which rules were left out and why.
How do you explain the quality and scale tradeoff to a client?
Present the curve, not a single number. Show the client the floor, the point the agency recommends and one stricter and one looser option, each with the rules applied and the supply that remains. Talk in supply and reach, never in results the plan cannot promise. Display & Video 360's reach reports (opens in a new tab) separate impressions from unique reach, defined as "The estimated number of unique users (across devices) who saw an ad," which helps a client see that a smaller list can still reach a stable audience at a higher frequency.
| Option | Rules applied | What the client gains | What the client gives up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Looser | Floor, authorized sellers, MFA exclusion list | The widest supply above the floor | More sites seen only by rules, not by a reviewer |
| Recommended | Looser rules plus a reviewed inclusion list | Each site chosen with a reason | Supply limited to the reviewed sites |
| Stricter | Recommended rules plus a tighter suitability tier | Fewer sensitive adjacencies | Less news and current affairs supply; possible underdelivery |
What a quality and scale note to the client includes
- The brand's floor, stated as rules that are never relaxed.
- The forecast for each option, with the date it was run and the settings behind it.
- Estimated unique reach and frequency beside impression volume.
- The rules left out of the recommended option and the reason for each.
- What the agency will do if delivery falls short: extend the flight, add reviewed sites or move budget.
- The date the strictness choice will next be reviewed.
How should quality and scale be reviewed over time?
Rules can pile up unless someone prunes them. TAG's description of its Keyword Exclusion List Toolset (opens in a new tab) warns that lists can include terms that are "overly broad, irrelevant, or outdated," and that "once added to a list, keywords are rarely removed." The same drift affects exclusion lists and tier settings. TAG's Brand Safety Certified Guidelines (opens in a new tab), version 5.0 of July 2026, require direct buyers and intermediaries in the program to review inclusion and exclusion lists quarterly and to document how entries are added and removed.
The review compares what was forecast with what happened. If the flight underdelivered, the filtered request reasons show whether a quality rule or something else, such as the bid or a narrow flight, held it back. If it delivered easily, the agency can ask whether one of the rules it left out of the recommended option should come back. Either way the strictness choice is reopened on a date, not only when a problem appears, and the client sees the comparison before the next flight is planned.
A quality and scale review after each flight
- Delivered impressions and unique reach are compared with the forecast for the chosen option.
- The filtered request reasons for the flight are pulled and the largest one is named.
- Keyword exclusions that removed supply without catching unsuitable pages are proposed for removal.
- MFA exclusion entries older than the agency's review interval are rechecked.
- The client confirms or changes the strictness option for the next flight.
What does a quality and scale decision look like on a real brief?
Fictional example
A billiards and game room retailer in Nebraska
A fictional Omaha retailer of pool tables, game room furniture and billiards supplies asks for an English display plan in Omaha, Lincoln and Grand Island, beside home entertainment, basement remodeling and local sports content. The market is small and the topic is narrow, so supply is thin before any rule applies.
The planner forecasts the brand's floor first, then adds rules one at a time. The authorized seller rule and the MFA exclusion list cost little. A broad keyword list inherited from an earlier client removes a large share of local sports pages because of words used in game coverage, and the reviewed inclusion list brings the forecast close to the budget.
The agency recommends dropping the inherited keyword list, keeping the floor and the inclusion list, and extending the flight by two weeks. The client approves the recommended option, with the stricter one documented and declined.
How does PlacementGraph handle a brief with little qualifying supply?
Frequently asked questions
Does a stricter plan cost more per impression?
It can. Display & Video 360's planning help says that adding more specific targeting, such as viewability or audience lists, will usually raise the average cost. The size of the change depends on the campaign, so read it from the forecast for each strictness option rather than assuming it.
Should quality rules be relaxed in the middle of a slow flight?
Only with the client's approval and only above the floor. First check the filtered request reasons to see which rule is costing supply. Extending the flight or adding reviewed sites keeps the agreed quality level; removing a rule changes what the client approved, so record the change and the date.
Does a private marketplace deal avoid the quality and scale tradeoff?
Not by itself. A deal narrows supply to the seller's inventory, so its own list still needs review. Display & Video 360 lets advertisers bypass advertiser level brand suitability settings for specific deals to ease pacing, which trades quality control for delivery and belongs in the client note when used.
Is a long site list a sign of lower quality?
No. Length says how much supply passed the rules, not how well each site was checked. A long list of reviewed sites can be stricter than a short one built from a seller's package. Judge a list by the evidence behind each entry, not by its count.
Sources
- Forecast spend of a line item (opens in a new tab)Display & Video 360 Help
- Troubleshoot your deals and line items (opens in a new tab)Display & Video 360 Help
- Create a plan for a campaign (opens in a new tab)Display & Video 360 Help
- Reach reports (opens in a new tab)Display & Video 360 Help
- About content suitability (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
- Brand suitability (opens in a new tab)Display & Video 360 Help
- Promote Brand Safety (opens in a new tab)TAG (Trustworthy Accountability Group)
- Brand Safety Certified Guidelines, version 5.0 (opens in a new tab)TAG (Trustworthy Accountability Group), July 2026
Researched and written by PlacementGraph Research. Read how we research, source and update these pages. Corrections: diana@placementgraph.com.