Video PMP deals: what to specify before the first ad plays
Part of Curated deals and PMPs
The short answer
A video PMP is a private marketplace deal whose impressions are video ad opportunities. Beyond the deal ID, seats and floor, it needs video terms: the placement type (the plcmt value), player size, sound and start behavior, ad position, allowed durations and skippability. Those terms decide what the buyer is actually paying for, so they belong in writing.
Key takeaways
- A video deal should name the plcmt values it covers, because instream, accompanying content, interstitial and standalone players are different inventory.
- Player size, playback method and start delay arrive in every bid request, so the buyer can check them against the deal.
- Skippability is a publisher setting expressed through skip, skipmin and skipafter.
- Completion and viewability need agreed definitions; VAST quartile events and the MRC two second video rule are two documented references.
- Report a video deal by placement type, player size and position, not only by impressions and spend.
What is different about a video PMP deal?
Definition
- Video PMP
- A private marketplace deal in which the seller offers video ad opportunities to invited buyers under agreed terms, so each bid request carrying the deal ID also carries a Video object describing the player and the slot.
A display deal turns mostly on sizes and positions. A video deal adds the player. In the OpenRTB 2.6 specification (opens in a new tab), a Video object under the impression means the opportunity is offered as video, generally assuming VAST compliance. That object describes file types, durations, player width and height, start delay, skippability, playback method, pods and companion banners.
Each of those fields shapes the value of the impression. A fifteen second spot that starts with sound before a requested news clip is not the same purchase as a muted player that starts when a reader scrolls past paragraph four, yet both can sit under one deal ID. A video deal sheet therefore needs more than a format line that says video.
The IAB Tech Lab Deals API (opens in a new tab), finalized on February 6, 2026, has an adtypes field in which 2 means video; an empty field means all creative types. It warns that deal criteria are not guaranteed to appear in bid requests, so buyers should apply matching targeting, player terms included, on their side.
Which video placement types should a deal specify?
OpenRTB 2.6 replaced the older placement field with plcmt in its 2.6-202303 release, and points to the list of placement subtypes in AdCOM 1.0 (opens in a new tab), which follows the updated IAB digital video guidelines. A deal that names its plcmt values gives both sides a shared test: each request either matches or it does not. Our outstream video guide explains why the definitions changed; for a deal, the practical question is which values to include.
| plcmt value | AdCOM definition, in short | What to confirm in the deal |
|---|---|---|
| 1, Instream | Ads before, during or after video content the viewer requested; sound on at player start, or clear intent to watch | The video is the focus of the page and the only player in view capable of audio |
| 2, Accompanying content | Ads around video content in a player placed among text or graphics; playback starts only when the player enters the viewport | Whether the player turns floating or sticky as the reader scrolls |
| 3, Interstitial | Ads with no video content that take up most of the viewport and cannot be scrolled out of view | Which apps or slideshow placements supply it, and whether the deal is meant to include them |
| 4, No content or standalone | Ads with no streaming video content, such as in feeds, in content or in sticky players | Whether the brief accepts video with no content at all |
AdCOM also lists 5 pause, 6 screensaver, 7 overlay, 8 squeezeback and 9 in-scene, mostly for streaming players. Older integrations may still send the deprecated placement field; the implementation guide shows placement 3 sent with plcmt 4 for former in-article video, so read both fields in logs.
How do player size and sound affect a video deal?
The Video object reports the player's width and height in device independent pixels, and the AdCOM definition of instream says a player that turns floating or sticky should report its updated size on later ad calls. Sound and start behavior travel in playbackmethod, where the specification advises using only the first element. Start delay gives the slot's position in the stream.
| Field | What the specification says | Deal term to agree |
|---|---|---|
| w and h | Player width and height in device independent pixels | A minimum player size, and whether sticky players count |
| playbackmethod | AdCOM values include 1 autoplay with sound on, 2 autoplay sound off, 3 click to play with sound on, 5 and 6 start on entering the viewport with sound on or off | Which start and sound behaviors are covered |
| startdelay | 0 pre-roll, above 0 mid-roll at that second, minus 1 generic mid-roll, minus 2 generic post-roll | Which ad positions are included |
| minduration, maxduration or rqddurs | Allowed ad lengths in seconds; rqddurs lists exact lengths and excludes the other two | The creative lengths the buyer will send |
| mimes and protocols | Accepted file types, such as video/mp4, and supported VAST versions | That the creative files and wrapper are accepted |
Sound deserves its own line on the sheet. The MRC Viewable Ad Impression Measurement Guidelines (opens in a new tab) say detection of audio is not currently a requirement for a viewable video impression, though they strongly encourage considering it where feasible. If a brief depends on sound, the deal must say so through playbackmethod, because a viewability report will not.
What should a video deal say about skipping, length and completion?
In OpenRTB, skip set to 1 means the player allows skipping. The implementation guide (opens in a new tab) says publishers usually control skipping, and a request without skip leaves it unknown. skipmin is the total length above which a video can be skipped, and skipafter the seconds it must play first. The guide's example of skip 1, skipmin 15 and skipafter 5 makes only creatives longer than 15 seconds skippable, after five seconds.
Completion needs a definition before anyone reports a rate. The VAST 4.3 specification (opens in a new tab), dated December 2022, counts firstQuartile when the creative played continuously for at least 25 percent of its duration at normal speed, midpoint at 50 percent, thirdQuartile at 75 percent, and complete at the end. Its skipoffset attribute sets when skip controls appear.
Five video terms to settle in writing
- Name the skip rule. Record skip, skipmin and skipafter as the seller will send them, or state that the deal is non skippable.
- Fix the creative lengths. Check the durations you will traffic against minduration and maxduration, or rqddurs.
- Define completion. Name the counting event, such as VAST complete, and the count of record.
- Define viewability. The MRC rule for video is 50 percent of the ad's pixels in view for two continuous seconds; name the vendor.
- List the allowed placements. Write the plcmt values and start delay positions, so a mismatch is a breach of terms.
What video specific checks should run before launch?
Our deal sheet page covers the deal ID, seats, currency and site list. A video deal adds player and creative checks that take a few test bid requests and a look at listed pages.
Video deal pre-launch checklist
- Sample bid requests carry the plcmt values on the deal sheet, and any deprecated placement field agrees.
- Player width and height meet the agreed minimum, including on phones.
- playbackmethod and startdelay match the agreed sound, start and position terms.
- Creative lengths fall inside minduration and maxduration, or match rqddurs exactly.
- Skip terms in the request match the deal, and the creative adds no skip control of its own without permission.
- Completion and viewability counts of record are named on the deal sheet.
- A person has opened several listed pages on a phone and a desktop to see where the player sits.
How should video deal delivery be reported?
A report showing only impressions and spend hides which player experiences the money bought. Ask for delivery split by the negotiated dimensions, drawn from bid request fields the buying platform already logs.
- By placement type: impressions under each plcmt value, so drift into standalone players shows in week one.
- By player size band: small, medium and large, from the w and h values.
- By start behavior: sound on autoplay, muted autoplay and click to play.
- By position: pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll, from startdelay.
- By domain: served domains against the approved site list.
- By completion and viewability: from the named count of record.
The MRC video rule covers in-stream video ads; banners with embedded video generally fall under the display criteria. If a deal mixes both, ask which rule each viewability line used.
What does a video deal look like on a real brief?
Fictional example
A flavor launch for a cold brew coffee brand in the Washington area
An unnamed canned cold brew coffee brand is launching a new flavor in Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC, in English, with a USD budget. The agency wants video with sound beside food, local events and lifestyle coverage, using a 15 second spot and a 6 second cut. The desk asks the seller for a private auction deal limited to video on the approved site list.
The desk writes the terms on the deal sheet: plcmt 1 and 2 only, pre-roll and mid-roll, a minimum player size, sound on or click to play, and the two lengths. The seller confirms skipping after five seconds for ads over 15 seconds, which leaves both cuts unskippable under the rule as stated.
Test requests show one listed recipe site sending plcmt 4 from a sticky player with no content. The seller removes that placement from the deal rather than the site, and the desk adds a weekly report split by plcmt, player size and start behavior.
How does PlacementGraph help prepare the site list behind a video deal?
Frequently asked questions
Can one video PMP mix instream and outstream placements?
Yes, if both sides agree. One deal ID can cover several plcmt values, and the Deals API lets a deal declare video without naming placements. Mixing makes reporting harder, so a desk can split instream and outstream into separate deals or require delivery broken out by plcmt.
Who decides whether a video ad in a deal can be skipped?
The OpenRTB implementation guide points to the publisher. It says publishers and exchanges generally control skipping through their player and signal it with skip, skipmin and skipafter. A buyer that wants its creative to add its own skip control should confirm the seller allows it and mark the bid with the skippable creative attribute, value 16.
Does a video deal need a different creative from an open auction buy?
Not necessarily, but it has to fit the deal's terms: the agreed durations, the file types in mimes, the VAST versions in protocols and any blocked attributes in battr. A creative outside these values is not eligible, and the deal looks as if it is not delivering.
What is a video ad pod, and does it matter for a deal?
A pod is a group of ads played back to back in one break. OpenRTB 2.6 marks impressions in one pod with a shared podid and can signal slot position through slotinpod. If a deal promises the first slot in a break, ask the seller how that field is set.
Sources
- OpenRTB 2.6 specification, Object: Video (opens in a new tab)IAB Tech Lab, OpenRTB repository
- OpenRTB 2.6 implementation guide: skippability and updated video signals (opens in a new tab)IAB Tech Lab, OpenRTB repository
- AdCOM 1.0: Plcmt Subtypes, Playback Methods and Start Delay Modes (opens in a new tab)IAB Tech Lab, AdCOM repository
- VAST 4.3, December 2022 (opens in a new tab)IAB Tech Lab, VAST repository
- MRC Viewable Ad Impression Measurement Guidelines, Version 2.0, August 18, 2015 (opens in a new tab)Media Rating Council
- Deals API 1.0 specification (opens in a new tab)IAB Tech Lab, deal-api repository
- Deal API 1.0 release (1.0-202602), published February 6, 2026 (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.