Last updated: 14 October 2026

An agent-negotiated deal reaches a demand-side platform (DSP) the same way a human-negotiated deal does: through a deal ID. AI agents change how terms are agreed, not how a deal is activated in the auction. The seller's platform issues a deal ID, the buyer's DSP is set up to recognise it, and every bid request for that inventory carries it. The deal ID is the join between what two agents agreed and what actually trades, and most failures in agent-negotiated deals happen at that join rather than in the negotiation.

TL;DR. A deal ID is an identifier for a pre-agreed arrangement between a buyer and a seller, carried in the bid request so the buyer's DSP can recognise the inventory and bid on the agreed terms. Programmatic guaranteed deals, preferred deals and private marketplaces all depend on deal IDs today. According to IAB Tech Lab, AAMP's support for the Deals API covers programmatic guaranteed, preferred deals, private marketplaces, the open marketplace and linear GRPs, so agents working within AAMP connect to the deal types trading desks already use. The main risk is drift between the terms agents agreed and the terms configured against the deal ID.

What is a deal ID in programmatic advertising?

A deal ID is a unique string that a seller's platform, usually a supply-side platform (SSP), creates for an arrangement agreed with a specific buyer. The SSP attaches the deal ID to bid requests for the inventory the arrangement covers, so the buyer's DSP knows an impression falls under that arrangement and can bid on the agreed terms rather than as an ordinary open auction participant. In OpenRTB, deal information travels in the private marketplace object of the bid request, which can list one or more deals, each with its identifier and, where relevant, a floor price.

A deal ID carries no terms of its own. The terms (price, flight dates, inventory, formats, volume and permitted buyer seats) are stored separately in the platforms on each side, which is why a valid deal ID can sit on top of a wrongly configured deal.

How do PG, preferred deals and PMPs use deal IDs?

Each deal type uses the deal ID to signal a different commitment.

Programmatic guaranteed (PG) is a fixed price for reserved volume. The seller commits to delivering a set number of impressions and the buyer is expected to bid on the impressions it is offered. The deal ID tells the DSP which requests belong to the guarantee.

A preferred deal is a fixed price without guaranteed volume. The buyer gets a first look at the inventory before it goes to auction, and can pass.

A private marketplace (PMP) is an invitation-only auction. Selected buyers compete for the inventory, usually above a floor price, and the deal ID marks which requests they are eligible to bid on.

The open marketplace has no deal ID at all: any eligible buyer can bid.

How does an agent-negotiated deal reach a DSP?

An agent-negotiated deal passes through six stages between agreement and delivery, and the deal ID links them all.

First, agreement: a buyer agent and a seller agent agree terms, each within a mandate its principal has set, with people approving commitments above agreed thresholds. Second, creation: the seller side sets the deal up in its SSP, which generates the deal ID. Third, hand-over: the deal ID and its terms pass to the buy side. Fourth, activation: the buy side attaches the deal ID to a campaign or line item in its DSP, with a budget, a bid and any targeting. Fifth, trading: bid requests carry the deal ID and the DSP bids. Sixth, reporting: both sides report delivery against the same deal ID.

Agents can take on agreement and, depending on how each platform is connected, parts of creation, hand-over and activation. Whoever performs each stage, the deal ID is the only thing every stage shares.

What does AAMP's Deals API support mean for agent-negotiated deals?

According to IAB Tech Lab, AAMP's support for the Deals API means it covers programmatic guaranteed, preferred deals, private marketplaces and the open programmatic marketplace, as well as linear GRPs. The Deals API is IAB Tech Lab's specification for moving deal information between sell-side and buy-side platforms, which addresses the hand-over stage where terms are most often retyped by hand.

The practical consequence is that agents built within AAMP are not confined to a new channel. They work with the deal types a trading desk already runs, and linear GRPs, the gross rating points used to trade traditional television, sit in the same scope. Upstream of the deal, AAMP's OpenProposal specification standardises how publishers describe their products and packages in RFP responses, so a buyer agent can compare offers from different sellers in one format before any deal ID exists.

Where do agent-negotiated deals break between agreement and delivery?

Agent-negotiated deals break where the agreed terms are copied into a platform. In a hypothetical example, a buyer agent and a seller agent agree a preferred deal at £12 CPM for four weeks of UK display inventory. The seller side sets the deal up with a £14 floor because of an entry error. The buyer's DSP bids £12 on every request carrying the deal ID and never clears. Both agents' logs show a deal was agreed, and the deal shows zero delivery.

The same pattern takes other forms: flight dates in different time zones, a buyer seat the deal does not permit, mismatched formats, or a deal left paused on one side. None appears in a negotiation transcript; each appears only as missing or wrong delivery, often days later.

What should buyers check before an agent-negotiated deal goes live?

Buyers should check that the agreed terms and the configured terms are the same, field by field:

the deal ID in the DSP matches the deal ID in the SSP exactly;
deal type and price match the agreed terms, including whether the price is a fixed rate or a floor;
the buyer seat permitted on the deal is the seat the DSP will bid from;
flight dates and time zones agree on both sides;
formats, sizes and inventory match what was negotiated;
for PG, volume and pacing expectations are written down on both sides;
there is an agreed process for changing terms after agreement, and every change is recorded;
someone checks that requests carrying the deal ID arrive and win within the first day.

That check only works if there is one agreed version of the terms to check against. Alkimi, a neutral agentic advertising marketplace working within IAB Tech Lab's AAMP framework, writes that version as a DealSheet at the moment of agreement: timestamped, held by both parties and retrievable by either side independently, with humans keeping approval rights at the deal level.

Frequently asked questions

What is a deal ID?

A deal ID is an identifier for a pre-agreed arrangement between a buyer and a seller. The seller's platform attaches it to bid requests so the buyer's DSP can recognise the inventory and bid on the agreed terms.

Do AI agents replace deal IDs?

No. Agents change how deal terms are discovered and agreed. The agreed deal is still activated through a deal ID that the seller's platform issues and the buyer's DSP recognises.

Which deal types does AAMP support?

According to IAB Tech Lab, AAMP's support for the Deals API covers programmatic guaranteed, preferred deals, private marketplaces, the open marketplace and linear GRPs.

What is the difference between a preferred deal and a PMP?

A preferred deal gives one buyer a first look at a fixed price without guaranteed volume. A private marketplace is an invitation-only auction in which several selected buyers compete, usually above a floor price.

Why do deals fail to deliver after they are agreed?

Most failures come from a mismatch between the agreed terms and the configured terms, such as a wrong floor price, an unpermitted buyer seat or a deal left inactive on one side.

How Does an Agent-Negotiated Deal Reach Your DSP? What Do Deal IDs Do in Agentic Advertising?