Programmatic
Deal ID
A deal ID is a unique code in a bid request telling the buyer's DSP that the impression belongs to a specific pre-agreed deal, such as a PMP or programmatic guaranteed.
A deal ID is how programmatic systems recognise a private agreement. When a publisher and buyer set up a deal, the SSP creates an ID. From then on, when a matching impression is available, the bid request includes that ID (in OpenRTB's "pmp" object) along with the deal's price or floor and auction type. The buyer's DSP maps the ID to a line item and bids according to the deal's terms.
Deal IDs power PMPs, preferred deals and programmatic guaranteed. They are also the basic unit of curation: curators package inventory from many publishers, often with data and quality filters, into a single deal ID sold to buyers.
A deal ID is only a label. It does not guarantee that the impression is premium, human or from the publisher you think. Deals can be set up by intermediaries and resellers, so buyers still check the supplyChain object, sellers.json and invalid traffic rates. Many deal IDs are created but never spend, a common operational headache.
Think of it like this
A deal ID is like a discount code at an online checkout: it unlocks agreed terms, but it does not prove the product is any good.
An example
A bid request contains pmp.deals[0].id = "PUB123-AUTO-PMP" with bidfloor 8.00; the DSP recognises the code and bids €9.20 under the matching line item.
Related terms
Private marketplace (PMP)
A private marketplace (PMP) is an invitation-only programmatic auction in which a publisher lets a selected group of buyers bid on specific inventory, usually with a floor price, via a deal ID.
Programmatic guaranteed (PG)
Programmatic guaranteed (PG) is a deal in which a buyer commits in advance to buy a fixed volume of impressions at a fixed price from a publisher, delivered through programmatic pipes.
Preferred deal
A preferred deal gives one buyer the first chance to buy a publisher's impressions at a fixed, pre-agreed price, with no obligation to buy and no guaranteed volume.
Curation
Curation is packaging inventory from many publishers, often combined with audience data and quality filters, into ready-made deals that buyers can purchase through their DSP.
OpenRTB
OpenRTB is the open technical standard, maintained by IAB Tech Lab, that defines how bid requests and bid responses are formatted and exchanged in real-time bidding.