Operations
Part of What programmatic advertising operations means for delivery teams
A five-gate programmatic advertising workflow
A five-gate programmatic advertising workflow for UK agencies, with named owners, DSP setup, consent checks, verification and invoice reconciliation.
What to take away
- For a programmatic advertising campaign, a UK agency running display, video and audio through different ad servers can use the same five gates: brief, build, launch, verify, reconcile.
- Name one person for each gate before the first campaign goes live.
- Agree and record a verification budget allocation before launch, then note what the checks catch.
- Set a reconciliation tolerance in the workflow and apply it when matching platform spend to invoices.
- Write the workflow down once, then review it quarterly with the team roles that run it.
Why one workflow is better than fragmented processes
UK agencies do not lack process. They have too many. A planner keeps a spreadsheet, the ad ops team keeps a trafficking checklist, and finance keeps its own reconciliation notes.
Those documents drift apart within a quarter. The fix is a single spine that every channel and every client runs through, with local variation only where a platform forces it.
The operations and delivery guide sets out the wider structure this workflow sits inside, including how delivery, quality and ownership divide between teams.
The five gates
Brief. One page. Objective, audience, budget in pounds, flight dates, success measure. No brief, no build. A planner signs it off and the client sees the same page.
Five gates in the workflow
- Briefone page, planner signs off
- Buildstructure, specs, tracking, register
- Launchsecond pair of eyes checks build
- Verifydelivery, viewability, invalid traffic
- Reconcilematch spend to plan and invoice
Build. Record campaign structure, creative specs, tracking and consent flags and audience segments. Enter the DSP, such as DV360 or The Trade Desk, the ad server, such as Campaign Manager 360, and any relevant SSP or exchange in the register. Record the buying route (open auction, PMP or programmatic guaranteed), deal ID where relevant, bid strategy and naming convention. Note which consent framework and signals apply, including IAB Europe's Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) where used; check implementation against UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and applicable ICO guidance.
Launch. An ad ops colleague who did not build the campaign checks the setup against the brief before spend starts. Record the check and any changes before the campaign is released.
Verify. After seven days, compare delivery, viewability, invalid traffic and brand-safety reports. Name the contracted verification provider, such as IAS or DoubleVerify, the report to be checked and the agreed budget allocation before launch; record what the checks catch. For display, the MRC display criterion is at least 50% of the ad being viewed for 1 continuous second or more.
Reconcile. Match platform spend to the media plan and invoice. Set and record a tolerance before launch; the agency and client should agree the percentage rather than leave it blank. For example, compare a £2,000 line item that lands 12 per cent over with the agreed tolerance and flag it if it breaches that limit.
Who owns each gate
The workflow fails when ownership is assumed rather than assigned. A practical default is planner for brief, buyer or builder for build, ad ops for launch and verification, and finance for reconciliation. Write a named person next to each gate and keep the assignments current.
A small UK team may assign two gates to one person. That is fine, provided the launch check is never done by the person who built the campaign. The team roles in England article maps typical responsibilities and can help when you are deciding who signs off what.
Escalation needs a route too. If verification raises a problem, the owner should know who decides whether to pause the affected line, correct it or continue.
Checks that catch real problems
Build the checks into the gate, not around it. Each one should take minutes, not hours.
Gate checks that catch problems
- Briefsuccess measure has number and date
- Buildnaming convention matches the register
- Launchnon-builder opened every line item
- Verifyinvalid traffic and viewability within limits
- Reconcilespend matches plan within tolerance
LinkedIn's campaign setup guidance is a platform-specific reference when a campaign includes LinkedIn. It does not replace the DSP, consent and trafficking checks in the build gate.
Glossary
- Gate:a checkpoint a campaign must pass before the next stage.
- Owner:the named person accountable for a gate.
- Register:the single record of campaigns, platforms, buying routes and naming conventions.
- Tolerance:the agreed percentage difference between planned and actual spend that triggers a review.
- DSP:the demand-side platform used to buy inventory; an SSP is a supply-side platform used by publishers to offer inventory.
- PMP:a private marketplace buying route; programmatic guaranteed is an automated, directly agreed buying route; an open auction makes inventory available to competing buyers.
- Invalid traffic:impressions or clicks that do not come from genuine users. The linked JICWEBS trading-standards document covers ad-trading standards.
Common questions
How often should the workflow be reviewed?
Quarterly is enough for most agencies. Review sooner if a platform changes its reporting or a client raises a delivery dispute.
Does every campaign need all five gates?
A small test budget can compress the build and launch gates into one sitting. The brief, verify and reconcile gates should always run.
What if the same person owns build and launch?
Then appoint a second checker for launch. The point of the gate is a fresh pair of eyes, not a job title.
How do we handle a failed verification check?
The gate owner pauses the affected line, records what was found, and escalates to the decision maker named in the workflow. Resume only once the cause is understood.
