--- title: Programmatic guaranteed (PG): fixed-price reserved | RGM® url: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/channels/programmatic-guaranteed-pg/ updated: 2026-06-10 source_html: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/channels/programmatic-guaranteed-pg/ --- # Programmatic guaranteed (PG): fixed-price reserved inventory via DSP Programmatic guaranteed is the answer to a question that came up repeatedly in the early 2010s: can we get the certainty of a direct buy — guaranteed volume, guaranteed price — without the email-thread and insertion-order workflow? PG is the resulting product. The price and volume are negotiated up front; the delivery happens through the same DSP, SSP, and ad-server infrastructure as the rest of programmatic. By **David Schaefer** · [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/daschaefer/) · Updated May 2026 ## What PG actually is A programmatic guaranteed deal is a one-to-one commitment between a buyer and a publisher: a fixed CPM, a guaranteed volume of impressions, a defined time window, on a defined inventory package. The publisher commits to delivering the volume; the buyer commits to paying for it whether or not their creative actually serves to every impression. The deal ID is added to a DSP line item, and PG impressions are delivered with the highest priority in the publisher's ad-server waterfall — above PMP, above open-exchange RTB. PG looks like a direct buy from the publisher's revenue perspective: predictable, contractual, billed at the agreed CPM. PG looks like programmatic from the buyer's operational perspective: trafficked through the DSP, reported alongside other campaigns, optimized within the constraints of the deal. ## Where PG fits in the buyer's portfolio | Buy type | Volume | Price | Inventory access | Effort | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Direct IO | Guaranteed | Fixed | Reserved | High (trafficking + reconciliation) | | Programmatic Guaranteed | Guaranteed | Fixed | Reserved | Medium | | Preferred Deal | Best effort | Fixed | First look | Medium | | PMP | Best effort | Floor + bid | Invited auction | Low-medium | | Open Exchange | Best effort | Bid | All eligible | Low | ## The CTV PG explosion CTV upfronts now run almost entirely on PG pipes. The reason: streaming inventory has a finite supply (you can't manufacture more eyeballs on Hulu) and demand is dramatically elastic during upfront season. Publishers want certainty about which advertisers are committing to what inventory; advertisers want certainty that they'll get the inventory they need around tentpole moments. PG provides both. [Connected TV advertising](/learn/channels/connected-tv-advertising/) walks through how the CTV market evolved from upfront-only to PG-dominant. ## When PG is the right call - **Tentpole inventory.** NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube, Super Bowl, awards-show streaming — guarantee the inventory or it will be sold to a competitor. - **Seasonal certainty.** Holiday campaigns where guaranteed volume on premium inventory is operationally critical. PG locks the inventory in October for December delivery. - **Custom creative integrations.** Branded segments, sponsored content, ad pod ownership — the creative work justifies the inventory commitment. - **High-value audiences with scarce supply.** When the audience is small and the inventory is contested, PG removes the risk of being out-bid in the open auction. ## What PG isn't good for PG doesn't optimize. Once the deal is signed, the volume, CPM, and inventory are locked. If performance disappoints, you can't shift the budget to a different audience or publisher. For advertisers who measure ruthlessly on CPA and optimize daily, PG is too rigid. Run PG only where the commitment itself is the point — inventory access, custom creative, or upfront certainty. ## Reconciliation PG reconciliation is more involved than PMP reconciliation because there's a delivery commitment. If the publisher under-delivers by more than 5%, they typically owe make-goods (free impressions on equivalent inventory in a future window). If the buyer's creative fails to serve (incorrect tags, blocked domain, creative rejected), the publisher may not owe make-goods because the under-delivery is the buyer's fault. Both sides need clear logs. How does PG differ from a preferred deal? PG is volume-guaranteed; preferred deal is not. Both use fixed CPMs and bypass the auction. In PG, the publisher commits to delivering a specific volume; in a preferred deal, the buyer gets first-look access at the fixed price but can pass on impressions they don't want. Can I run PG across multiple publishers? Not as a single deal. PG is one-to-one. To assemble a multi-publisher PG, you negotiate separate PG deals with each publisher (or use a curated marketplace that wraps them into a packaged offering, though those usually transact as PMPs not PG). What's a typical PG CPM premium over open exchange? For CTV, 50-300% premium over open-exchange CTV CPMs. For display, 100-400%. The premium is paying for guarantee, priority, and often custom creative ownership. Are make-goods automatic? Usually yes if specified in the deal. If the publisher under-delivers by more than a contractual threshold (commonly 5%), they owe equivalent impressions on equivalent inventory in a future window. Get this written into the deal terms. Does PG bypass viewability and IVT filtering? Pre-bid filters can still apply if you configure them in the DSP, but they reduce the volume you're paying for. The PG commitment is to deliver impressions; filtering them out post-delivery is the buyer's choice. Most teams accept slightly looser filtering on PG in exchange for the inventory guarantee. How is PG priced? Annual upfront commitments often get tiered pricing: lower CPM for higher volume commits. Spot PG (quarterly or campaign-specific) usually carries a premium. Negotiate the rate-card with reference to the publisher's open-exchange clearing price plus the appropriate premium for guarantee. ## Operating checklist 1. Define the desired outcome before opening a platform UI. 2. Validate platform fit against budget, geo, and inventory access needs. 3. Set frequency caps, viewability floors, and IVT filters at line-item launch. 4. Run a controlled holdout to measure incrementality, not last-click. 5. Review pacing, viewability, and brand-safety reports weekly. 6. Reconcile delivery against publisher-side reporting monthly. 7. Document seat IDs, deal IDs, contacts, and lessons learned in a runbook. ### In this section - [Channels](/learn/channels/) - [All learn topics](/learn/) - [Concepts](/learn/concepts/) - [Measurement](/learn/measurement/) ### Foundational reading - [What is growth marketing?](/learn/concepts/what-is-growth-marketing/) - [What is performance marketing?](/learn/concepts/what-is-performance-marketing/) - [Server-side vs client-side](/learn/measurement/server-side-vs-client-side-tracking/) - [Vickrey auction](/learn/concepts/vickrey-auction-google-ads/) ### Hubs - [Services](/services/) - [Platforms](/platforms/) - [Areas served](/areas-served/) - [Performance marketing](/services/performance-marketing/)