About private auctions and preferred deals

Private auctions and preferred deals are agreements between publishers and buyers that are set up on the supply side (Equativ) and the demand side (DSP) and are identified through a unique identifier. 

Private auctions are for a limited set of buyers where eligible impressions are purchased via first-price auction with a set floor price. Preferred deals (previously called “Direct deals”) are fixed-price agreements with one or more buyers. The buyer(s) get(s) priority access to eligible impressions at the agreed price. 

Read the Deal types compared article to learn more about the deal types. 

About the new workflow

The new workflow, described in this article, is available as of Q1 2025 and has been enabled as the default workflow in compatible customer networks. While the targeting criteria Creative size, Impression type and Environment are exclusive to the new workflow, multiple features from the legacy workflow are not yet available in the new workflow.  

At this time, the new workflow includes the following features:

• General settings: Name, Deal Id, Start date, End date, Currency, Price
• Inventory selection (available in new workflow only): Ad type, including Impression type (Display, In-stream video etc.) and Environment (Web or App)
• Demand selection: Buyers
• Targeting criteria:
  • Geography
  • Device type
  • Creative size (available in new workflow only)

You can revert to the legacy workflow at any time, using the Use legacy mode button. 

In case of questions about the new workflow, reach out to your contact at Equativ.

Create private auctions and preferred deals

Access

Click here to access the new workflow to create private auctions and preferred deals.

General settings

Fill in the General settings:

• Deal type (more details in Deal types compared)
  • Private auction - a deal for a limited set of buyers where eligible impressions are purchased via first-price auction with a set floor price.
  • Preferred deal - a fixed-price agreement with one or more buyers. The buyer(s) get(s) priority access to eligible impressions at the agreed price.
• Name - a meaningful name for the private auction/preferred deal.
• Auto-generated deal Id - the Id of the private auction/preferred deal. If enabled, a deal Id is generated automatically when the deal is saved. The buyer must use or select this Id in the DSP to bid on the deal.
• Start date / End date
• Start immediately - if enabled, the deal is activated immediately, instead of at the Start date
• Always ON - if enabled, the deal is activated permanently (no end date)
• Currency - an optional custom currency for this specific deal, different from the currency set in the network. Default value: the network’s currency. The currency cannot be changed after the deal was saved. Note that the custom currency is meant to provide a convenient way to manage prices without the need of manual currency conversion. The revenue shown in reports remains in the network’s default currency and bid requests to demand partners are done in the partner’s preferred currency.
• Price - the bid floor (private auctions) or the fixed price (preferred deals), in your network’s currency

Inventory

Specify the inventory on which the deal is to be delivered, selecting the Impression type (Display, In-stream video etc.) and the Environment (Web or App).

Demand

Select the Buyer seats to which the private auction/preferred deal applies.

Targeting

You can target the deal to the following targeting criteria: 

• Geography - Country, Region, State, DMA or City. Only one type can be targeted (e. g., only Countries). Combinations (e. g., a Country and a State) are not supported 
• Device type - the type of device, such as Desktop, Table, Smartphone etc.; previously called Platform targeting. 
• Creative size - the size of the creative. Available with the impression type Display only. This targeting is enforced after the bid request: it rejects any bids containing a deal Id not matching at least one of the deal’s creative sizes