Guaranteed Delivery Line Item FAQ (GDALI)

Answers to common questions about Guaranteed Delivery Line Items (GDALI).

Why is Microsoft Advertising releasing GDALIs?

Microsoft Advertising has been continually investing in its Augmented Line Item (ALI) to provide our Microsoft Monetize and Microsoft Invest customers with greater control and optimization capabilities for direct sold, programmatic, and deal line items. Legacy guaranteed delivery line items, used by our Monetize Ad Server customers, use our legacy line item and campaign architecture, but are unable to leverage the most recent features and workflows offered by ALIs.

To provide a more streamlined user experience and ensure Microsoft Monetize customers have access to the latest features, we will be phasing out legacy line items and campaign support in favor of ALI in 2022. GDALI is one of several enhancements Microsoft Advertising is launching to support this initiative.

When do I need to fully adopt GDALIs and update my integration with any third-party vendors?

We recognize that transitioning your direct sold business to GDALIs is a time consuming and sensitive effort. We previously communicated that any new guaranteed line items with a start date in 2022 must be set up as GDALIs. However, to allow you more time to transition to the new workflow and APIs, we are extending this deadline to May 1, 2022.

We suggest that you engage with any of your third-party vendors who have integrated with Microsoft Advertising’s platform via the API, for example, Order Management Systems (OMS), to ensure they update their integration prior to May 1, 2022. Beginning on May 1, 2022, the creation of new legacy GDLIs will be restricted via the API and UI.

Are you planning to release any new features that will improve the usability of Microsoft Monetize?

There will be a number of improvements to the GDALI experience, including:

• “Flexible” Insertion Order: A new "flexible" budget type that allows you to combine CPC and GDALIs under a single insertion order.
• Creative Scheduling: Preschedule creatives to deliver on set dates or custom intervals within a flight.
• Programmable Splits: Creative targeting within the line item - no more campaign shells.
• Underspend Catch-Up: Choose delivery catch-up following mid-flight changes.
• Projected Spend: View Microsoft Advertising’s budget breakdown by displaying the expected allocation per day within a flight.
• Updated Interface: A streamlined interface for faster navigation; inline forecasting updates in real-time as you create or edit your line item.
• Monitoring: The new Monitoring workflow tracks delivery and pacing of GDALIs and Deal Line Items, all in one place (for more information, see Monitoring).

Are GDALIs going to be able to manage Programmatic buys as well?

No, GDALIs are intended to deliver on managed/direct inventory only; standard ALIs can be used to deliver on both direct and programmatic (third-party) inventory on a non-guaranteed basis.

Will legacy non-guaranteed line items be impacted?

The GDALI release only impacts legacy guaranteed delivery line items. There is no change to legacy non-guaranteed line items and campaigns at this point. More details to follow in 2022.

Are resources being made available to help migrate legacy GDLI to GDALI?

Due to the inherent risk and complication of migrating in-flight line items, Microsoft Advertising will not be migrating existing legacy GDLIs to GDALIs. Therefore, we recommend that you let any in-flight legacy GDLIs created prior to May 1, 2022, complete their flights as is.

If my legacy GDLI flight runs beyond May 1, 2022, will it stop delivering?

Your campaign will not immediately stop delivering. To ensure a smooth transition, legacy GDLIs created prior to May 1, 2022, will continue to run and be editable for a period of time after May 1, 2022. Details will be shared early in 2022, but we encourage customers to fully adopt GDALI as soon as possible.

Do I have to wait until May 1, 2022 to run GDALIs?

No. The product is available to all Monetize Ad Server customers upon request. Reach out to your Microsoft Advertising Account Representative for activation.

We highly encourage you to begin using the new workflow and updating the integration with your OMS or any third-party vendors or reporting systems that have integrated with your ad server to ensure they have sufficient time to make these changes.

What changes to reporting should we expect?

GDALIs no longer support campaigns. You instead have the option to use splits for granular creative targeting. The splits dimension is already available across all Microsoft Monetize reports where the campaign dimension is available. It's also available in several additional reports.

If you have an API integration for an internal BI or reporting system, we recommend incorporating validation of this integration into your planning to ensure everything is working as expected, particularly if you are a customer ingesting log level data.