A solution to help publishers and buyers improve transparency
Only available in Google Ad Manager 360.
Publishers can confirm gross revenue by running a revenue verification report and comparing it to a buyer's media costs.
This solution promotes transparency and helps confirm no hidden fees are taken by the demand-side platform (DSP), the supply-side platform (SSP), or any other intermediary. The review can be done without risking user privacy or revealing contractual details.
Confirming Gross Revenue is intended for Ad Manager 360 publishers and:
- End buyers (such as an ad agency or advertiser) interested in comparing their media costs with a publisher’s gross revenue.
- DSPs that can create a report to show buyers their media costs and fees based on an agreed “Revenue verification ID” space, as defined jointly with the buyer.
- SSPs that can ingest the “Revenue verification ID” space from DSPs, and can create a report to show publishers their gross and net revenue, broken down by “Revenue verification ID.”
- How publishers and buyers collaborate
- About the Revenue verification report
- Create a Revenue verification report
- Available demand channels
- FAQ
How publishers and buyers collaborate
The parties follow these steps:
- The buyer (agency or advertiser) works with their DSP to define a unique Revenue verification ID.
- The DSP ensures that all bids on behalf of the buyer include the defined Revenue verification ID in the bid response.
- The buyer pulls a report of their media costs from the DSP interface. The report should be filterable for the Revenue verification ID of the buyer and the Publisher ID of the publisher.
- The buyer then compares the DSP fee charged to media cost, and confirms this rate matches the agreed rate with the DSP.
- Note: Buyers should exclude Traditional reservation transaction types from their report. Those transaction types aren’t included in the publisher's report.
- The publisher runs a Revenue verification report in Ad Manager for the same time period, aggregating gross and net revenue coming from the buyer’s Revenue verification ID for a given bidder and transaction type (Open Auction, Private Auction, Preferred Deals, or Programmatic Guaranteed).
- The publisher then compares gross revenue to net revenue and confirms that the delta matches the agreed rate with Ad Manager.
- The buyer and publisher connect to compare the aggregated media cost from the DSP report with the aggregated gross revenue publishers see in their Ad Manager report for a specific Revenue verification ID. This process allows parties to confirm there are no unexplainable discrepancies.
Note: Due to misaligned impression counting, currency and time zone differences, and mechanisms to detect invalid traffic, some variance (up to 3%) between the publisher's and buyer's numbers is possible. You can troubleshoot these differences.
About the Revenue verification report
To confirm gross revenue, publishers use the Revenue verification report in Ad Manager. Review these details before running your report.
Time zones, dates, and schedules
- When creating your Revenue verification report, use the same time zone as the buyer you are confirming gross revenue with. You can choose either Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) or your own time zone.
- Ensure the Revenue verification report is generated for the same date range and transaction types as the buyer-generated report.
- Data for the Revenue verification report is updated on the 7th of each month. The previous month’s data becomes available on the 8th. For example, a report on April 7th will show January and February data, but not March data. The March data becomes available April 8th. If you use a fixed date range, available dates show in the date picker. The report contains data for the most recent six months.
- When comparing gross revenue with a buyer, a monthly period is recommended. Try generating your report for a monthly rather than a daily date range. When using a daily report for a month range, some rows can be redacted (-) due to insufficient data, which can cause the totals to be incomplete.
- Choose a dynamic or fixed date range of one or more full months. To view aggregated data, in the monthly report, remove the Date dimension and add the Month and year dimension.
Currency
Tip: Publishers and buyers should use the same currency and time zone in their DSP and Ad Manager reporting. If different currencies are used, you can try the currency converter in Ad Manager.
- The default report currency will be your Ad Manager network’s currency. If the buyer is using a different currency, you can try selecting the same currency they use. Note that monetary values reported when you change between currencies are subject to currency fluctuations.
Filters and dimensions
Tip: Publishers should make sure their report is filtered for the same dimensions as the buyer’s report.
- You can filter your report with multiple Revenue verification IDs a buyer shares with you. Click Add filters
Revenue verification ID
- The report shows available dimensions based on your selections, and indicates if you need to make changes to use a particular dimension.
- (Optional) If you use the Revenue verification report for confirming the fees you pay Ad Manager (as defined in your contract), you can use the "Ad Exchange product" dimension.
Report results
- A hyphen (–) in your report means the requested metric couldn't be calculated due to insufficient data, or data that didn't meet our privacy or quality requirements. The data will also be excluded from the “Totals” row, which may cause misaligned impression counting with buyers. Instead of the Date dimension, use the Month and year dimension. Review the details on dates, above.
Create a Revenue verification report
To create a Revenue verification report:
- Sign in to Google Ad Manager.
- Click Reporting
- Under "Report type," click
- Enter a report name.
- For the time zone, select (UTC) Coordinated Universal Time or your (the publisher’s) time zone.
- Select a date range:
- Dynamic (recommended): Best for scheduled reports. "Last month" is available.
- Fixed: A static range. The most recent 6 months of data is available.
- (Optional) Select filters for Bidder, Programmatic channel, or Revenue verification ID.
Tip: With the Revenue verification ID filter, you can select Is any of and paste in a list of Revenue verification IDs separated by commas.
Note: For parity, buyers have guidance to exclude Traditional transaction types. - Select at least the required dimensions:
- Bidder (required)
- Programmatic channel
- Revenue verification ID
- Demand channel
- Ad Exchange product
- Rendering SDK
- Date or Month and year (one is required)
Note: While you can choose the Date dimension, the Month and year dimension is recommended. Choose a dynamic or fixed date range of one or more full months.
- Select one or more metrics:
- Total CPM and CPC revenue (gross)
- Total CPM and CPC revenue
- Total impressions
- Total CPD revenue
- Total CPD revenue (gross)
Note: CPD metrics are available only for the publisher’s time zone.
- (Optional) Schedule and share your report.
You may want to remove the “Total CPM and CPC revenue” column before sharing the report with buyers. You can use “Total CPM and CPC revenue (gross)” to confirm revenue with buyers. - Click Run.
Available demand channels
This report helps you verify gross revenue related to ad requests flowing through your Ad Manager network and your Ad Exchange web property.
The report covers the following demand channels:
- Ad server (Programmatic Guaranteed and Preferred Deals)
- Ad Exchange (all)
- Open Bidding (all)
The Revenue verification report is not available for the AdSense or Mediation demand channels at this time.
If a publisher has Ad Exchange direct traffic, Ad Exchange demand channel metrics represent all traffic flowing through your Ad Exchange web property.
FAQ
How can I troubleshoot if numbers don’t match?
Due to currency and time zone differences, and mechanisms to detect invalid traffic, some variance (up to 3%) between the publisher's and buyer's numbers is possible.
To troubleshoot differences, try these steps:
- Verify that the reports in comparison are using the correct metrics, dimensions, filters, and time periods. If you notice incorrect metrics or filters, please make corrections and rerun the report.
- Check for differences in time zone and currency in both reports. If they differ, please rerun the corrected report and check for discrepancies again.
- A hyphen (–) in your report means the requested metric couldn't be calculated due to insufficient data, or data that didn't meet our privacy or quality requirements. The data was also excluded from the “Totals” row. To view more data, consider changing a daily report to a monthly report. Instead of the Date dimension, select the Month and year dimension. Choose a dynamic or fixed date range of one or more full months.
Publishers can contact publisher support with questions.
What happens when the buyer has a direct pay agreement with the publisher?
Gross revenue from the buyer will equal net revenue. Please contact the buyer directly to discuss any fee-related questions.
What does a hyphen indicate in the report results?
A hyphen (–) in your report means the requested metric couldn't be calculated due to insufficient data, or data that didn't meet our privacy or quality requirements. The data was also excluded from the “Totals” row.
To view more data, try these steps:
- If you’re using a daily report, try a monthly report instead. To do so, deselect the Date dimension and select the Month and year dimension. Choose a dynamic or fixed date range of one or more full months.
- Do not include the Revenue verification ID dimension or filter.
How does Confirming Gross Revenue work with Multiple Customer Management (MCM) partners?
- In Manage Inventory, buyers can confirm the gross with the parent. Buyers can’t directly confirm the gross with an MCM child in Manage Inventory.
- In Manage Account, buyers can confirm the gross with the child.
