Marketplace, Handshakes & Deals

It's the bilateral discovery surface. Advertisers publish approved ads with categories, geos and minimum reputation. Publishers browse, filter and request access (handshake) to serve the ones they want.

Advertiser: create the campaign and the ad, submit it for moderation and, once approved, set the audience categories (IAB), geos and minimum reputation. From there the ad becomes discoverable in the marketplace and eligible publishers can request a handshake to serve it.

Publisher: register and verify the property, create the slots (format/size) and integrate the SDK/tag. Then open /marketplace, filter by category, geo, eCPM and reputation, and request a handshake on the ad you want. Once approved a DIRECT deal is created and the ad starts serving in your slots.

A handshake is a formal request from publisher to advertiser. The flow has 6 states: requested → [proof_pending | under_review] → approved | rejected (terminal: expired). The advertiser can approve manually or set up auto-rules that evaluate reputation, geo and category automatically.

The advertiser can require proofs: domain (DNS), geo (GeoIP), category, volume, viewability and reputation. The system verifies automatically — declared must be less than measured.

When a handshake is approved, the system automatically creates a DIRECT deal. Default revshare: 88% publisher / 12% platform. The deal has eCPM floor, TTL (default 90 days) and eligible slots. Each impression served under the deal generates a credit in the ledger.

The priority order in /serve is: DIRECT > POOL > HOUSE > free. DIRECT deals have maximum priority. If no active deal, the system searches the cross-tenant POOL. If nothing, serves a HOUSE creative (platform-funded fallback). Never empty slot.

Each deal has real-time KPIs: impressions, clicks, conversions, spend, IAB viewability. The credit ledger is append-only with daily reconciliation. CSV exports available per deal and per handshake.

The publisher posts an inventory_request describing what type of campaign they're looking for. The system scores matches with compatible advertisers and notifies them. They can initiate a handshake directly. Lives in Reverse Demand on the dashboard.