The brand the buyer recognizes: site, newsletter, show, network, or media property. This is identity, not the commercial package.
Setup & access
Publishers set up supply in four layers: publication, marketplace listing, delivery slot, and buyer deal. Only the last two are needed for live-served display or web video.
Know the four objects
Read the publisher setup in this order. If you skip ahead, the workflow starts feeling more complicated than it is.
The thing the buyer can actually book: format, timing, price, deliverables, and creative rules.
The technical serving slot, sometimes called an ad unit. Only needed for packages that must actually serve live.
The live delivery deal that mirrors the commercial booking once a campaign is real or when you are testing the sandbox.
1. Add the publication buyers recognize
- Use the real public-facing brand name, not an internal sales label.
- Add the website, contact email, markets, languages, and a short description that explains why the audience matters.
- This is the publisher identity behind every listing. It should build trust before a buyer ever opens the package.
2. Publish the marketplace listing
- This is the commercial package. It should stand on its own without back-channel explanations.
- Define media type, format, price, booking window, deliverables, and creative requirements clearly enough that a buyer can decide.
- If the package is newsletter, audio, or a custom sponsorship that does not need live serving, you can stop after this step.
- If the package is display or web video, make the listing commercially complete here before you touch delivery setup.
3. Add a delivery slot only when live serving is real
The delivery slot is the technical serving object. Only add it when the package really needs live display or web-video execution.
Placement key, channel, format, supported sizes or duration, and the exact page or player context the slot will serve in.
Newsletter, audio, and most custom packages do not need this step. Do not force every product into live delivery just because the form exists.
It becomes the source of truth for what will actually serve, instead of relying on memory, spreadsheets, or ops side notes.
4. Create the buyer deal only when delivery needs it
- Create the buyer deal when there is a real live booking or when you need to run the delivery sandbox against a real slot.
- Use preferred or programmatic guaranteed based on the agreement you already sold.
- External deal IDs are optional unless another system actually requires them.
- The deal should mirror the marketplace agreement, not create a second conflicting workflow.
Definition of done
A publisher setup is ready only if all of this is true:
- The publication profile is complete enough that a buyer can trust who is selling.
- The marketplace listing is commercially complete and can be booked without extra explanation.
- If the listing is display or web video, one delivery slot is attached to the real serving context.
- If there is a live booking or sandbox test, the buyer deal is attached to that delivery slot.
- No unresolved delivery blockers are still living in side notes, inboxes, or ad-ops memory.
Next: creative review. Move to creative review once the supply setup is complete and a live booking is ready for approval.