For a while, it seemed that Private Marketplaces (PMPs)* were the solution to every problem. Worried about the quality of inventory in the open auction? Worried about programmatic becoming a race to the bottom? Worried about control as a publisher? PMPs were the answer.
In the rush to set up a Private Marketplace, far too few people were evaluating whether a Private Marketplace was truly the most appropriate approach. Even fewer were assessing ahead of time what the overlap was between the buyer’s target audience and the publisher’s audience. The result was PMPs not delivering ROI and the volume of transactions through PMPs not meeting expectations.
The answer? #PMPChecklist
The IAB PMP Checklist was created by a sub-group of IAB’s Programmatic Council including representatives from companies across the programmatic landscape including publishers, SSPs, DSPs, and media buyers.
The aim of the checklist is to ensure that buyers and sellers are on the same page about what they are trying to achieve from their Private Marketplace and that they appropriately assess (before moving ahead) whether it is the right channel to transact through.
How does it do that?
The PMP Checklist provides a list of issues that buyers and sellers need to discuss and agree to ensure ROI from their private marketplaces. The Checklist is divided into 3 key sections:- Consideration
The aim at this stage is to determine if a Private Marketplace is the appropriate approach and will yield ROI by comparing the buyer’s needs & target audience with publisher’s capabilities & audience. - Activation
Having established that a Private Marketplace is the right approach, the aim at Stage 2 is to ensure that buyer and seller agree on parties involved, inventory transparency, and financial terms/timing to deliver ROI. - Troubleshooting
The aim at Stage 3 is to help identify some common issues such as low impression volume, poor win rate, and flighting/targeting, that may arise once the Private Marketplace is set up.
Our goal was to create a helpful, simple tool for buyers, sellers, and everyone involved in Private Marketplaces. We want them to speak the same language and cover the important issues at all stages in Private Marketplace development.
Special thanks to all those who participated especially the two co-chairs of the IAB Programmatic Council for their leadership – Jason White of CBS Interactive and Bob Arnold of Google.
