PMP advertising

Accent Athletics wants to access ad inventory on a sports website for an upcoming ad campaign that promotes the sale of their basketballs. They would also like to use Amazon audiences as part of this campaign. To accomplish this, Accent Athletics can leverage a private marketplace deal to access exclusive inventory directly from the sports website. Accent Athletics can then use Amazon DSP to set up their campaign to access the website’s inventory to reach Amazon audience segments.

1. Publisher (or supply-side platform (SSP)) curates premium inventory and invites a group of advertisers to participate.
2. Each deal is represented by a Deal ID that travels through the bidstream so buyers can target and report on specific private marketplace deals.
3. Buyers use a demand-side platform (DSP) to bid in a private auction, accept preferred deals, or implement programmatic guaranteed arrangements depending on the deal type.
4. Floor price and base bids are negotiated or set by the publisher so the cost per mille (CPM) rates reflect the premium nature of the inventory and the level of exclusivity desired.
5. Programmatic elements such as real-time bidding (RTB), automated targeting, and audience targeting continue to operate—but within a curated, often more transparent environment.

Private auction deals allow you to pay a varied CPM across multiple sites or publishers.

Let’s say Advertiser X is looking to secure ad inventory across a variety of sites owned by example.com and is willing to pay between $10–$15 CPM. To achieve this, Advertiser X finds a private auction deal with a floor price of $10, allowing them to serve on this inventory and pay a varied CPM across multiple sites.

Private auction deals are similar to an open auction, except that the publishers restrict participation to selected advertisers only. In a private auction, the private deal gives an exclusive group of advertisers priority to bid on the open inventory. Advertisers will still need to compete for the highest bid.

Private auction deals are based on a floor price. Private auction deals work on a second price auction where the highest bidder wins the impression but pays a penny more than the second highest bid. Characteristics of a private deal include:

• Deal arrangement: Price and inventory negotiated with the publisher
• Price structure: Floor price
• Auction set up: 1:1
• Competition: Often competing with other buyers

Preferred deals allow you to negotiate a fixed price of inventory with the publisher.
Preferred deals are based on a direct arrangement between a buyer and a seller. The buyer and seller agree on a flat price (CPM based) that the buyer pays. As long as the buyer bids at or above the negotiated fixed price, the inventory goes to that single participating buyer.

For example, Advertiser Y is looking to secure inventory on the homepage of xyz.com and wants to buy it for $20 CPM. Entering into a preferred deal with the publisher would guarantee their inventory at a fixed price.

If the buyer’s bid is above the fixed price, the buyer still pays only the fixed price. Generally, preferred deals tend to have higher CPMs as compared to the open exchange because the publisher makes one specific buyer privy to their premium inventory before anyone else.

• Deal arrangement: Price and inventory negotiated with the publisher
• Price structure: Fixed price
• Auction set up: 1:1 deal between the publisher and buyer exclusively
• Competition: Prioritized placement and custom execution

Programmatic guaranteed (PG) deals are pre-negotiated, invitation-only deals where the seller guarantees a fixed volume of impressions at a fixed price. The seller manages targeting and decisioning. When targeting a PG deal, there are specific validation rules that must be followed. Additionally, PG Share of Voice (PG SOV) deals have their own validation rules.

Higher-quality placements (homepage, CTV front-of-house, curated digital out-of-home (DOOH) screens) are more commonly offered via PMPs.

Publishers and buyers can agree on policies, allow lists, and block lists to reduce fraud and unsafe placements.

PMPs often provide clearer reporting and easier mapping between spend and inventory performance.

Buyers can combine first-party data, clean-room insights, and platform identifiers to activate more relevant audiences.

Time bidding, dayparting, frequency caps, creative specs, and negotiated floor price are all negotiable.

In many setups, PMP bids can win before open auction bids are considered, improving win rates for strategic buys.

Curated inventory commands higher CPMs and often more stable demand.

Publishers set floor price, select advertisers, and protect editorial context.

Private deals encourage longer-term partnerships between publishers' sales teams and buyers.

PMPs cut down on noisy open marketplace traffic and fraudulent bids, improving yield.

A private marketplace is an invite-only auction that connects you with premium publishers offering their highest-quality inventory to a curated group of advertisers.

Publishers extend access to select advertisers through a unique Deal ID. Depending on the deal type, buyers either bid against a negotiated floor price (private auction) or purchase impressions at a fixed, pre-agreed rate (preferred deal)—all within a closed, invitation-only environment.

Fixed minimum (floor) CPMs are negotiated in advance, giving you cost predictability alongside auction-based flexibility.

Premium. Inventory is non-guaranteed—you win the impression only if your bid is highest and meets the publisher's criteria—but the quality is consistently elevated.

Brand awareness campaigns, reaching niche audiences on trusted sites, and securing premium placements with built-in brand safety controls.

The open exchange is a public, real-time bidding (RTB) marketplace designed for scale and efficiency. It gives you access to vast pools of ad inventory across thousands of publishers—all in a single, automated auction.

Publishers make available inventory accessible to all advertisers simultaneously. You set a maximum CPM you're willing to pay, and the highest bid wins the impression—instantly.

Dynamic. The open exchange is typically the most cost-effective buying method, giving you high-volume reach at competitive rates.

Massive. Inventory is non-guaranteed and spans the full spectrum—from premium placements to broad reach.

Direct-response campaigns, retargeting, scaling volume efficiently, and testing creatives or audiences before committing larger budgets.

Programmatic guaranteed brings the certainty of traditional media buying into a fully automated, programmatic workflow—removing the manual complexity of direct insertion orders.

You negotiate directly with a specific publisher to reserve a defined volume of impressions at a fixed price. There's no auction. It's a one-to-one deal, executed programmatically through your demand-side platform (DSP).

Fixed, pre-negotiated CPM—no bidding, no variability.

Exclusive. Your impressions are 100% reserved and guaranteed, giving you complete control over delivery.

Major product launches, site takeovers, securing 100% share of voice, and campaigns where guaranteed delivery of premium impressions is non-negotiable.

• Higher quality viewability and completion metrics for video buys.
• Curated audience targeting (e.g., show- or channel-level targeting) tied to Deal ID visibility.
• Integration of first- and zero-party data to reach the right households.

No. PMPs reduce exposure to some types of fraud by limiting bidders and improving transparency, but they are not immune. Always validate inventory, use verification vendors, and consider clean-room measurement.

PMP CPMs are typically higher because you're buying premium inventory and transparency—but better return on investment (ROI) is possible through improved viewability, lower invalid traffic, and more accurate audience targeting.

Not necessarily. There are scaled private auctions and preferred deals that can work for mid-market advertisers as well as global brands. Focus on negotiating the right floor price and pacing with the publisher's sales team.

Is this a brand lift, reach, or performance activation? Match deal type accordingly (preferred vs. guaranteed).

Combine first-party insights with DSP targeting to prioritize high-value audiences while respecting privacy.

Work with the publisher's sales team to set realistic floor price and delivery windows rather than accepting default base bids.

Track performance by Deal ID in your DSP and analytics stack for transparent reporting.

Premium inventory often benefits from bespoke creative (long-form video on CTV, dynamic creative for DOOH). Test variants within the deal.

Ask for bid-level data, viewability, and placement reports to ensure you know where ads run.

Use verification, block lists, and open lines with publishers. PMPs reduce risk but don't remove it.

If the deal is negotiated on CPM, layer conversion or engagement metrics to guide optimization in the DSP.

Some SSPs require a child seat for deals using an API. This will be provided by your Amazon Ads representative. Confirm with your representative which SSPs require a child seat before setting up your deal.

It is important to know the negotiated rate when setting up the deal as the floor price needs to match the SSP. This is to ensure the deal is set up correctly.

This is important if you have to manually set up the deal, otherwise you may not receive bid requests.

If you need pre-bid settings applied, it is a best practice to have pre-bid settings applied on the publisher side.

Publishers need to send enough inventory for your campaign in order to deliver in full.

As third-party identifiers decline, PMPs combined with first-party data and clean-room analytics will become a key way to preserve targeting and measurement.

These channels are increasingly transacted via private marketplace deals to preserve contextual alignment and brand safety.

Publishers are packaging premium inventory into curated collections and auction packages to attract buyers seeking transparency and scale.

Brands that marry audience insight with negotiated access to premium inventory will be best positioned to convert reach into meaningful engagement.

Amazon DSP is a demand-side platform that enables brands to programmatically reach audiences across Amazon-exclusive properties like Prime Video, Twitch, and Amazon.com, as well as thousands of third-party premium publishers and apps. With unique audience signals based on browsing, shopping, and streaming insights, Amazon DSP helps you deliver relevant ads across display, online video, audio, and streaming TV formats.

With Amazon DSP, you can access premium publisher inventory available exclusively through direct deals with publishers, while applying the full suite of Amazon DSP capabilities—including Amazon's first-party audiences, campaign performance visibility, and AI-powered optimization.

Additional resources

• What is programmatic advertising?
• How does real time bidding work?
• Media buying explained
• Media planning 101
• Connected TV advertising in a nutshell