Direct deals are agreements in which an advertiser buys a publisher's inventory directly, at an agreed price, instead of competing in an open auction through ad networks or exchanges. They give both sides more control, more transparency and often better margins. This guide covers the types of direct deals, their benefits and challenges, and how to run them in an ad server.
Types of direct deals
- Exclusive deals: a placement is reserved for one advertiser for a set period, so the advertiser receives all of its traffic. The simplest and most popular arrangement.
- Percentage deals: the advertiser receives an agreed share of a placement's impressions, leaving the rest for other buyers.
- Fixed-impression deals: a set number of impressions per day or for the whole period.
- Remnant deals: unsold inventory offered at a discount for extra reach.
Deals are usually priced as a flat rate for the period or as a fixed CPM.
Benefits of direct deals
- Transparency and trust: both sides know exactly where ads run, to whom and at what price.
- Control over placement: advertisers choose the sites and sections; publishers decide which brands appear next to their content.
- Better margins: without intermediaries, publishers keep more of the price and advertisers pay less for the same reach.
- Custom campaigns: formats, placements and creatives can be tailored to the deal.
- Long-term partnerships: repeat deals build relationships that are hard for competitors to take over.
Challenges
- Negotiation takes time: prices, volumes, dates and creative rules all have to be agreed.
- Scale: many deals at once are hard to manage by hand, especially for small teams.
- Delivery: you must make sure each deal gets the traffic promised, and that traffic outside the deals still earns.
- Reporting: both sides need trustworthy numbers for impressions, clicks and conversions.
How to run direct deals in an ad server
An ad server takes the manual work out of direct deals. In GoAdserver a direct deal is its own campaign type with:
- Priority delivery: deal campaigns are served before other campaigns, so the deal is honoured.
- Deal type, dates and volume: exclusive, a percentage of the inventory, or impression caps, for a start and end date.
- Flat-rate or CPM pricing, agreed per deal.
- Traffic split: divide one placement between several deals and let the rest go to your normal campaigns, SmartZones or RTB.
- Reporting: real-time statistics per deal, and shared reports so the advertiser sees the same numbers you do.
See the direct deals feature page, and read what an ad server is for how deals fit into ad decisioning. The step-by-step guide is How to set up a direct deal.
Direct deals vs programmatic buying
| Direct deal | Open auction (RTB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Agreed in advance (flat rate or fixed CPM) | Set per impression by bidding |
| Volume | Guaranteed or reserved | Not guaranteed |
| Placement | Known sites and positions | Wherever the bid wins |
| Setup | Negotiation per deal | Automated |
| Best for | Brand campaigns, premium placements, long-term partners | Scale, performance campaigns, filling remaining inventory |
Most publishers use both: direct deals for their best placements and partners, and RTB or SmartZones to fill everything else at the best available price.
How to price a direct deal
- Start from what the placement earns today. Its eCPM in your statistics is the floor: a deal should pay more than the traffic would earn without it.
- Charge for exclusivity. An exclusive or guaranteed deal takes the placement out of competition; price that in.
- Flat rate or CPM? A flat rate is simple and predictable for both sides; a fixed CPM is fairer when traffic varies a lot from day to day.
- Agree on the numbers. Decide whose statistics count, and give the advertiser a live report so there are no disputes at the end of the month.