In programmatic advertising, pricing control is everything. It determines how much publishers earn and how efficiently advertisers spend. But with so many different demand sources competing in auctions, setting the right floor price for each can be a challenge.
Google Ad Manager’s Unified Pricing Rules (UPRs) are a feature in Google Ad Manager (GAM) that allows publishers to set consistent floor prices across programmatic demand, preventing low bids from winning while ensuring fair market value for their inventory.
So, instead of juggling separate pricing rules for different auction types, you can manage everything in one place—optimizing revenue with minimal hassle. Let’s break down where UPRs apply, where they don’t, and how to set them up effectively.
Where Unified Pricing Rules Apply
UPRs impact several types of programmatic auctions, including:
-Open Auction
The standard bidding process where multiple advertisers compete for inventory.
-Private Auctions
Invite-only bidding, where publishers give select buyers access to premium inventory.
-First Look
A way to offer premium inventory to specific buyers before it enters the open auction.
-Header Bidding
External SSPs and demand partners bid before GAM’s own auction runs.
-AdSense & Ad Exchange
When unsold inventory is monetized via Google Ad Exchange or AdSense.
With UPRs, publishers don’t have to manage separate price rules for each of these—one unified approach simplifies everything.
Where Unified Pricing Rules Don’t Apply
There are some exceptions where UPRs don’t come into play, mostly in direct or fixed-price deals, such as:
-Sponsorship & Standard Line Items
Direct deals with fixed or priority pricing.
-Preferred Deals
Private deals where buyers have a fixed price agreement.
-Programmatic Guaranteed
Pre-negotiated programmatic deals with a set CPM.
-House & Ad Exchange Preferred Deals
Internal or special pricing agreements that bypass open auctions.
In short, if an advertiser has a direct agreement with a publisher, UPRs won’t override those fixed terms.
How to create Unified Pricing Rules in 3 simple steps
1. Go to Inventory > Pricing Rules in GAM and click New Unified Pricing Rule.
2. Choose the inventory where the rule should apply (specific geographies, devices, etc.).
3. Decide how you want to set the floor price:
-Fixed Floor Price
The lowest winning bid must be at least this amount.
-Targeted CPM
Google’s machine learning dynamically adjusts floors for better fill rates.
-Google Optimized Floors
Google sets real-time floor prices per auction to maximize revenue.
UPRs give publishers flexibility, but ongoing optimization is key to maximizing revenue
UPRs offer publishers a centralized way to manage floor prices, ensuring fair competition across programmatic demand sources. By setting strategic pricing rules, publishers can protect inventory value, optimize eCPMs, and improve fill rates while maintaining flexibility through options like fixed floors, targeted CPMs, and automated Google optimizations.
While UPRs streamline auction dynamics, publishers must also carefully balance pricing strategies to maximize revenue without compromising demand. By continuously monitoring performance and adjusting rules as needed, they can leverage UPRs to drive sustainable monetization and long-term yield growth in an increasingly competitive programmatic landscape.
