This page details best practices for Microsoft Monetize sellers to maximize revenue and optimize their monetization strategies based on The Trade Desk’s inventory policies.
Inventory Transparency
Transparent and accurate signals along with support for the IAB inventory transparency standards such as (app-)ads.txt, sellers.json, and the SupplyChain object are required.
| Guideline |
Details |
| Ads.txt and app-ads.txt |
The ads.txt IAB standard provides a mechanism for web publishers to list their authorized digital sellers to fight against fraud and misrepresented domains. The app-ads.txt specification is an extension of the original ads.txt standard to meet the requirements for applications distributed through mobile app stores, connected television app stores, or other application distribution channels. For details, see Ads.txt in the IAB Tech Lab documentation. In the app-ads.txt or ads.txt files, you must include the variables in the following table.
| Variable | Description |
|---|
| OwnerDomain | - To indicate page ownership, publishers must add an OwnerDomain variable to all their ads.txt files, using the following syntax:
ownerdomain=xyz.com. This represents the business domain of the site owner or publisher. - Unless a ManagerDomain is specified, this value must match the seller's domain used in the sellers.json files and must resolve in a browser without subsequent redirects.
- This value should be the domain for the business entity that collects payment on behalf of the publisher, typically not the domain of a site with ads.
- If there is no business domain for the publisher and they have only a single site, it is acceptable to use that site's domain as the OwnerDomain.
| | ManagerDomain | - To indicate a publisher outsourced monetization to a sales house, the publisher must add a ManagerDomain variable to all their ads.txt files, using the following syntax:
managerdomain=xyz.com. Only one ManagerDomain per ads.txt file is allowed per country as per the spec. ManagerDomain should only be used when there is a preferred seller who is not the site owner. - This value must match the seller's domain used in the sellers.json files and must resolve in a browser without subsequent redirects.
- This value should be the domain for the business entity that collects payment on behalf of the owner that is specified in OwnerDomain.
|
|
| sellers.json |
To transact on The Trade Desk platform, be sure to meet the following requirements for the sellers.json files:
- All direct integrations must have a non-confidential sellers.json file.
- Intermediary sellers must have their own non-confidential sellers.json files.
- All sellers.json files must be listed on a secure link (HTTPS).
- Seller IDs, names, seller types, and business domains must be listed in the sellers.json file.
- A seller must use a consistent business domain everywhere they are represented, particularly across all exchanges’ sellers.json files.
- Sellers must have the correct seller_type value, that can be one of the following three values listed in the sellers.json spec (PUBLISHER, INTERMEDIARY, BOTH). The decisive criterion for the determination of the seller_type is if the seller is the final payee of the auction or handing payment to another entity.Note: For details, see sellers.json in the IAB Tech Lab documentation.
IMPORTANT: To ensure proper enforcement of the policies, The Trade Desk recommends splitting publisher and intermediary inventory into separate seller IDs (especially for CTV inventory). If direct and resold inventory must be sent through the same seller ID (ideally for only non-CTV), the seller should be designated BOTH and OwnerDomain must be implemented on the O&O properties’ ads.txt files. |
Bid Request Signals
| Guideline |
Details |
| Support and pass a Global Placement Identifier (GPID) |
- Support GPID for all integration types.
- See The Trade Desk GPID documentation.
- See Prebid GPID documentation
- Xandr adapter supports GPT Pre-Auction module as of Prebid 4.38.0 Release, which is the module responsible for generating GPID -> The module tries to populate the
pbadslot and gpid fields on its own (by default) reading the data from the GAM slots that are present on the page. - The GPT Pre-Auction module is typically enabled by default in the Prebid.js Code download screen
- If the publisher is using Prebid code handled by a managed service provider, they should consult with this provider to check whether they are already using the above module, or to check if the provider can implement the above module in order to begin passing GPID.
- AST Guidelines (see
globalPlacementId)- Publishers need to ensure they are using AST version 0.49.0+ in order to use the globalPlacementId for AST
- OpenRTB (server-side integrations) Guidelines
- Publisher Clients using server-side/OpenRTB based integrations will need to use imp.ext.gpid field to pass Global Placement ID in their OpenRTB request - whereby the GPID value should be a string
- Video Tags (PTV, SSPTV) Guidelines
|
| Video.plcmt adoption |
The video.plcmt value (introduced in 2023) must be included and accurate according to the IAB definition of in-stream video. In-stream videos must meet the following requirements:- In-stream placements are pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll ads that are played before, during, or after the streaming video content that the consumer has requested.
- The video should be the primary content on the page in a large, premium, static player.
- The video should not be placed in the middle or at the end of an article.
- The video must be unmuted by default, but browser-specific overrides may mute the player.
- If the video player has the functionality to move to a sticky or floater as the consumer navigates the page, the video must have been unmuted at player start for The Trade Desk to consider it an in-stream placement.
- If the video player can be scrolled out of view while the user consumes other content, then it should not be declared as in-stream (
plcmt=1).
|
| Transaction ID |
The transaction ID (passed via source.tid or imp.ext.tid) must be a common auction identifier across all suppliers throughout the entire supply chain documenting a unique impression transaction. |
| Clear visibility profiles |
Ensure visibility profiles allow for sending of site.page url with the full-page URL including query string, key-value pairs, and UTM parameters. |
Inventory Effieciency
| Guideline |
Details |
| Single source of inventory |
Only one source of inventory for a particular media type per seller is allowed. Therefore do not send one media type inventory via multiple integration types or header bidding solutions like (Google) Open Bidding (OB), (Amazon) Transparent Ad Marketplace (TAM), Prebid, etc. Choose one out of them that suits your purpose. However, it is allowed to send one media type via one solution and other media types via different solutions. For example, a selling publisher, Publisher-Company123, cannot send display inventory via Exchange-ABC, on two different seller IDs. Publisher-123 can send video inventory through Exchange-ABC on seller_id=1 and display on the same exchange via seller_id=2. If the publisher prefers, sellers 1 and 2 can represent different header solutions. |
Inventory Quality
| Guideline |
Details |
| CTV quality content |
To transact CTV inventory on The Trade Desk platform, be sure to meet the following policies and requirements:- The Trade Desk prohibits resold CTV. To ensure the direct traffic continues to transact, any CTV sellers that are sending both direct and resold CTV with the same seller ID must separate the direct and resold supply into separate seller IDs.
- There may be more than one entity with direct sales rights to CTV supply (carriage rights agreements). If the inventory is exclusive to the seller, and payment terminates with the seller, this is allowed. In this case, use the Inventory Partner Domain. For more details, see IAB Tech Lab Guidance for Inventory Sharing.
- CTV inventory excludes devices that are placed in public environments and devices that are expected to be muted by default.
- The Trade Desk prohibits resold CTV. To ensure the direct traffic continues to transact, any CTV sellers that are sending both direct and resold CTV with the same seller ID must separate the direct and resold supply into separate seller IDs.
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TTD/Monetize Integration Specifics
| Guideline |
Details |
| Supported ad formats |
The TTD/Monetize integration supports Banner, Video, CTV, and Native across both Web & App.
Note: Audio and DOOH are not supported. |