Glossary
What is Direct-sold inventory?
Also called: direct sales, direct deals, direct-sold campaigns
Direct-sold inventory is ad space a publisher's own sales team sells to an advertiser under a contract, usually at a fixed price.
हिंदी में पढ़ेंWith direct-sold inventory, a publisher’s sales team agrees a campaign directly with an advertiser or agency: dates, placements, volume and a fixed price, often with guaranteed delivery. The booking is set up in the ad server as an order with line items and creatives.
In Google Ad Manager, guaranteed direct campaigns are Sponsorship (priority 4) or Standard (priority 6, 8 or 10) line items, so they get first claim on matching impressions while they need them. Whatever they leave becomes remnant, which today is mostly sold through programmatic auctions. Ad Exchange can still compete with them through dynamic allocation.
Direct sales need a sales team and an ad server that can book them. Google says AdSense fits best if you do not have a direct sales business; a publisher with direct deals usually moves to Ad Manager so the deal can become a line item while everything else competes for the rest.
Example
A sales team signs a bank for 200,000 homepage impressions at a $12.00 CPM. The deal is worth 200,000 × $12.00 ÷ 1,000 = $2,400 and is booked as a Standard line item.
Why it matters to publishers
Direct deals give a predictable price and a relationship with the advertiser. Knowing how they sit above programmatic demand helps you plan inventory for both.