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What is PMP & Programmatic Guaranteed (PG)?

Also known as: Private Marketplace, Programmatic Guaranteed, Preferred Deal, Deal ID

Quick definition

Private Marketplaces (PMPs), Preferred Deals and Programmatic Guaranteed (PG) are deal types that let a publisher sell specific inventory to selected buyers through programmatic pipes, trading open-auction scale for price control, curated supply and, in the case of PG, a contractual volume commitment.

How it works

  1. 1Buyer and seller agree terms: inventory package, floor or fixed price, audience, flight dates and (for PG) impression volume
  2. 2SSP creates a Deal ID and attaches it to matching bid requests (pmp.deals object in OpenRTB)
  3. 3DSP line item targets the Deal ID; Preferred and PG deals get first look before the open auction
  4. 4PMP buyers compete in a private auction above the deal floor; PG buyers are expected to bid on every eligible impression
  5. 5Delivery, pacing and discrepancies are reconciled against the deal terms at month end

Key points

Three tiers
Private auction (PMP): invited buyers, floor price, no volume promise. Preferred Deal: fixed price, first look, unreserved. PG: fixed price, reserved volume, closest to a traditional IO.
Why buyers shift here
Curated supply reduces made-for-advertising sites, IVT exposure and wasted reseller hops, and gives brand-safety teams a contract to point to.
Where deals break
Most 'dead' deals fail on setup: mismatched targeting, floors above market, creative specs rejected, or DSP line items never activated. Bid-rate and win-rate per Deal ID are the first diagnostic.
Curation
A newer layer where SSPs or data companies package supply plus audience data into curated deals, shifting margin from DSPs toward the sell side.

Benefits

  • Price stability and premium CPMs for publishers
  • Higher-quality, transparent supply for buyers
  • PG automates guaranteed buys without manual trafficking

Trade-offs

  • Under-delivery and low bid rates are common without active deal management
  • Fixed prices can overpay versus open-auction clearing prices
  • Curated deals can stack extra fees between buyer and publisher

FAQ

What is the difference between a PMP and Programmatic Guaranteed?

A PMP is an invitation-only auction with a floor and no delivery commitment; PG fixes both price and volume, so the buyer commits to buy and the seller commits to deliver.

Why does my deal not spend?

Check bid rate first (is the DSP bidding?), then win rate (is the bid above the floor?), then targeting overlap and creative approval. Most issues are setup, not demand.

Is a PMP always safer than the open exchange?

Usually cleaner, but not automatically: a deal can still include resold or low-quality supply, so verify the supply chain (schain, sellers.json) behind each Deal ID.

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Official sources

Last reviewed 2026-11-03. Explanations are written by AdTech Radar; consult the official specification for implementation.