YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed deals

YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed deals are only available to managed Display & Video 360 accounts. Contact your account manager for more information.

About YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed deals

YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed deals bring the automated buying solutions of Programmatic Guaranteed to YouTube’s highest value inventory, including YouTube Select and YouTube Masthead. With YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed on Display & Video 360, you can consolidate your reservation and auction buys across YouTube and other publishers on a single platform.

YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed deals offer a unique mix of pricing, targeting, and inventory options. 

More details about YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed deals

Inventory	YouTube in-stream YouTube Select, giving you access to the top 5% of content on YouTube. Learn more Regional and custom lineups YouTube Masthead Learn more
Ad formats	Bumpers Skippable in-stream 15s non-skippable (for Masthead) Any standard video upload to YouTube
Fixed CPM pricing	Negotiated prices and upfront rates
Flight changes	Changes at any time
Targeting	Basic high-level targeting, including: Audiences, including affinity lists Category exclusion Categories Day & time Demographics Device and operating system Geography Language Placements

Before you get started

There are a few requirements before you get started with YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed deals:

• Enable Marketplace: To enable partners for Programmatic Guaranteed deals, you can either accept the 4% fee and enable Marketplace from your partner account or contact your Display & Video 360 support representative. Learn more

• Accept terms: In your partner's "Advertiser Configurations," accept the Terms & Conditions for Accessing YouTube & Partners agreement, then select which advertisers you want to enable to access YouTube & partners line items. You won't be able to create YouTube & partners line items until you've accepted these terms.

• (Recommended) Set up Display & Video 360 video creatives: If you’re using a Display & Video 360 video creative, we recommend that you use a creative that’s already previously been assigned to an active line item with a start date in the future. This allows the creative to be fully approved before your deal launches, making it available for YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed deals.

• (Optional) Link YouTube channels: You can link a YouTube channel to a Display & Video 360 advertiser for an expanded set of features.

• (Optional) Third-party measurement: Third-party viewability, brand safety, brand lift, and reach measurement must be configured by your account manager for YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed deals. Reach out to your account manager for more details. For YouTube Masthead third-party measurement is only supported for brand lift and click tracking. 

We recommend that you allow at least 7 days of lead-time to set up and finalize your YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed campaign, including all creatives.

Negotiations overview

Offline negotiations

You can negotiate a YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed deal offline through your account manager. Your account manager will then create the final, negotiated deal in Display & Video 360 on your behalf, including all targeting settings. Once they’ve created the deal, you’ll be able to view it in Display & Video 360, but you won’t be able to edit anything except for the creative assignment.

If you’ve already negotiated a deal offline, skip down to the section below on Configuring YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed deals.

Make sure you agree on a name for the deal with your account manager. You’ll need to know the name of the deal when you configure it in Display & Video 360.

Configuring YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed deals

Once you’ve reached a finalized agreement, it’s time for you to configure the deal. This is where you’ll select advertisers and a campaign, assign creatives, and add other settings to the deal.

Step 1: Accept the deal in Negotiations

Before you configure the deal, you need to accept the terms in the Negotiations tab:

1. Navigate to Inventory > Negotiations.

2. You’ll see a deal with the status “Action required” with YouTube as the publisher. Make sure it has the same name as the one you agreed to with your account manager.

3. Click on the deal to review the terms presented to you.

4. Click Accept to accept the deal terms. 

5. Check the box and select Yes, I agree to acknowledge that you accept the YouTube Terms of Service.

After you’ve accepted, you’ll see a finalized deal in Inventory > My Inventory. You can configure the deal now or come back to it later.

Step 2: Configure the deal

Follow the steps below to configure your YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed deal:

1. Navigate to Inventory > My Inventory.

2. Locate the deal in the “Action required” section and select Action > Configure.

3. Add in basic details about your deal, including:

   1. Partner revenue model and partner costs.

   2. The default advertiser that has permission to target the deal. Note that the advertiser needs to use the same currency as the deal.

   3. The campaign for the deal. The campaign must be from the default advertiser. The deal won’t be affected by the campaign’s budget or flight dates.

4. Select a creative for the deal using the instructions for your inventory type:
    

   Creative setup for YouTube in-stream, YouTube Select, and Regional and custom lineups

   Choose a source for the creative. You can use either videos from YouTube or Display & Video 360. All creatives assigned to the deal must come from the same source.

   • For YouTube videos, follow the steps to create an ad and select your YouTube video. You’ll have the option to create multiple ads. Note that all videos will need to meet the requirements for using YouTube videos in Display & Video 360, including creative review. Learn more

   • For Display & Video 360 videos, follow the steps to select a creative and assign it to the deal. Only creatives that meet the creative requirements and that are from your selected advertiser will be available. Note that all videos will need to meet the requirements for video creatives in Display & Video 360, including creative review. Learn more

   Creative setup for YouTube Masthead campaigns

   1. Configure your YouTube ad by entering your Ads settings: 
      • Enter the Masthead name
      • (Optional for Campaign Manager 360 users) Use the Campaign Manager 360 tracking ad field to select an existing tracking ad you'd like to use to see enhanced metrics in Campaign Manager 360.
      • (Optional) You can bypass entering additional Masthead settings if you already have a Masthead preview URL.
   2. Enter your Masthead Settings
      • Video: Enter a valid YouTube video ID or URL. The video must be public or unlisted to be eligible to serve.
      • A headline for your ad that appears next to, on, or underneath the Masthead. 
      • Call-to-action button text and final landing page URL (click-through URL). The destination URL can be other pages on YouTube or another website. 
      • (Optional) Supporting description text that accompanies the Masthead. 
      • Primary video layout: Choose between widescreen and standard video size.
      • Autoplay timing: Enter video start time and duration
      • Supporting video and imagery such as channel art or companion videos.

5. (Optional) Choose any additional settings for your deal, including conversion tracking.

6. Click Done.

If at any point during configuration you’d like to continue the setup process later, click Save & Close. You’ll be returned to the "My Inventory" page, and the deal will be listed under the “Action required” section. Hover over the deal and click Configure to return to the setup process.

Step 3: View your guaranteed insertion order and line item

After you’ve configured the deal, a guaranteed insertion order and line item are automatically set up in the selected Display & Video 360 advertiser. YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed deals will be grouped with YouTube & partners line items.

You can update the creatives for your deal by navigating to the Line item details tab of the guaranteed line item.

Updating creatives mid-flight may cause performance issues if the creatives haven’t been reviewed.

Reporting & measurement

You can use the Basic report templates to measure the performance of your YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed deal. You can filter by line item ID to run a report for only YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed deals, or you can run a report combined with other campaigns.

You can also use the YouTube reports for additional YouTube-specific data like engagements.

Campaign Manager 360 users can see data about YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed deals through enhanced YouTube tracking.

Brand Lift measurement is available to measure your ads’ impact on the perception of your brand.

Limitations

• Google video partners inventory isn’t available with YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed deals.

• For YouTube Masthead third-party measurement is available only for brand lift and click tracking.

• In-stream ads can not be set to serve on the YouTube homefeed.

• Ads in the top slot of the YouTube homefeed and Masthead must comply with YouTube Masthead content requirements.