Strategy
Part of Reading programmatic advertising with a sceptical eye
Common programmatic advertising questions for PPC
Common programmatic advertising questions for PPC teams, with clear answers on bidding, deal types, seller records, fees, privacy, and measurement.
What to take away
- Programmatic is a transaction method, not a promise about inventory quality.
- ads.txt authorizes seller relationships, while sellers.json identifies selling entities and their roles.
- A useful answer states which system, record, period, and limitation it covers.
Common programmatic advertising questions often mix technical labels with business conclusions. Separate them. A standard can describe how identifiers are published. A platform can document its controls. The advertiser still decides whether the actual supply, price, claim, data use, customer experience, and outcome are acceptable. For PPC teams, these distinctions matter when selecting programmatic display inventory and judging campaign costs and outcomes.
Programmatic advertising is automated buying and selling of digital ad inventory. Real-time bidding (RTB) auctions eligible impressions as they become available, but not every impression is auctioned. Other routes include a private marketplace (PMP), preferred deals (negotiated access without a buying commitment), and programmatic guaranteed (reserved inventory at agreed terms). Deal IDs identify deals; header bidding lets publishers solicit multiple buyers before the ad server selects demand. A data management platform (DMP) organizes audience data. Floor prices set seller minimums; bid shading adjusts bids; frequency capping limits repeat exposure; brand-safety controls screen placements; ad fraud or invalid traffic (IVT) is non-genuine activity. PPC teams can test eligible supply, deal routes, bids, and repeat exposure against campaign outcomes where their buying model supports those controls.
| Question | Working answer | Record to inspect |
|---|---|---|
| What is a DSP? | Buyer software for programmatic purchasing. Examples include The Trade Desk and Google Display and Video 360. | Account, settings, bids, fees, logs, and contract |
| What is an SSP? | Seller technology for managing and transacting inventory. Examples include Magnite and PubMatic. | Seller identity, auction role, path, fees, and reporting |
| Is every impression auctioned? | No. Programmatic includes several transaction types | Deal, auction, reservation, priority, and price terms |
| Is a private deal direct? | Not necessarily | Legal parties, nodes, seller IDs, publisher, and invoice |
| Does viewability prove attention? | No. It records an opportunity-to-see condition | Standard, vendor, measurable base, and threshold |
Ask who controls the account, who contracts with the publisher or platform, who can change bids and exclusions, which party handles data, and which entity appears on the invoice. Similar product names can conceal different legal and operational arrangements.
What ads.txt establishes and what it cannot prove
IAB Tech Lab's page for ads.txt authorized digital sellers explains a publisher-controlled text file that declares companies authorized to sell its digital inventory. The initiative also includes app-ads.txt for apps. A declaration helps buyers check authorization, but it does not prove page quality, truthful bid data, viewability, or effectiveness.
What sellers.json adds and where it falls short
IAB Tech Lab's sellers.json specification page explains that advertising systems publish seller identities and whether an entity acts as a publisher, intermediary, or both. The related SupplyChain object represents the parties involved in an individual request. Teams should compare these records rather than treating either file as complete proof.
What fees and take rates are typical?
Programmatic fees come in several layers. Public rate cards vary, so treat any number as a typical range, not a quote.
DSP platform fees often run from 15% to 30% of media spend for managed service, while self-serve seats may charge 0% to 15% or a CPM technology fee. SSP take rates often run from 10% to 20% of gross media, with wider ranges for private deals.
Ad server, verification, and data fees often run from $0.05 to $0.50 CPM. The signed contract and invoice determine the final split. Record each line item: DSP fee, SSP take rate, data, verification, ad serving, and any managed service charge.
How to fill in a decision record
The GAO evaluation design guide links evaluation questions to evidence needs and design choices. It does not make a local marketing result causal or transferable.
Decision Record Checklist
- Identify the decision owner
- Define eligible population
- Set evidence period
- Choose method
- State action
- State what result cannot establish
- Save definition and date
The W3C Privacy Principles statement gives shared privacy concepts and warns against shifting privacy work to individuals. Review the governing law and configuration. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and IAB Europe's Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) may be relevant depending on the audience and data use. For viewability, name the Media Rating Council (MRC) viewable-impression criteria: the applicable threshold depends on pixels in view and duration, and reports should state the measurable-impression denominator. Verification providers include Integral Ad Science (IAS) and DoubleVerify. Comparing display advertising tools by inventory, fees, and exit terms keeps those choices visible.
Use these fields for each question.
Field / What to write
- Question and decision
- Did the campaign lower cost per purchase, and who will act on the answer?
- Owner
- Name the person who owns the decision and the follow-up.
- Platform and market
- DSP, SSP, ad server, country, and account.
- Inventory, format, period
- Publisher or app, placement, ad format, start and end dates.
- Evidence and date
- Report name, source system, saved date, and version.
- Fees
- DSP fee, SSP take rate, data, verification, ad serving, and managed service.
- Limits
- What the evidence cannot show, including missing fields and conflicts.
- Follow-up
- Owner, due date, and record location.
Worked example:
Field / Example entry
- Question and decision
- Did the campaign lower cost per purchase?
- Owner
- [decision owner]
- Platform and market
- The Trade Desk, United States
- Inventory, format, period
- Open exchange display, [start date] to [end date]
- Evidence and date
- Platform report and invoice, [saved date]
- Fees
- DSP fee 15% to 30%, SSP take rate 10% to 20%
- Limits
- The report cannot show whether sales would have happened without the campaign.
- Follow-up
- [owner], [due date]
Save the definition and date with the answer. If the same question returns, compare the records before changing the metric. That step exposes a changed population or source instead of treating every difference as new behavior.
Common questions
Is programmatic inventory low quality?
Quality varies. Inspect the delivered publisher, app, placement, content, seller path, traffic, creative experience, and outcome.
Can an agency own the buying account?
It can operate an account under agreed terms, but the business needs durable access, records, data rights, billing visibility, and an exit path.
Should every unauthorized seller be blocked?
Set a documented policy for missing, mismatched, direct, and reseller records, then test how the platform applies it.
