Amazon DSP Can Now Buy Publisher-Hosted PG Deals in GAM. Get Your Setup Ready

On August 10, Amazon Ads announced that Amazon DSP now supports publisher-hosted creatives for Google Ad Manager programmatic guaranteed (PG) deals. Advertisers can now buy PG inventory where the creative sits in the publisher's ad server rather than being served from Amazon DSP or a third-party ad server. Both display and video are covered.

The feature is available to self-service Amazon DSP advertisers in 33 markets across North America, Brazil, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. Buyers find it as a new "Publisher-hosted" option under third-party display and third-party video creatives. Amazon pitched it as a way to reach inventory from broadcasters, news platforms and major publishers that require creative assets to be hosted on their side for compliance, format or delivery reasons.

That describes a lot of premium sellers, including broadcasters with sponsorship units and B2B trade publishers with custom formats. If you have ever turned down a PG deal because the buyer could not accept your creative requirements, this removes one reason. Four months before year-end, it is worth getting the setup right.

How publisher-managed PG works in Ad Manager

Google calls this publisher-managed creatives. By default, PG deals are buyer-managed: the advertiser hosts the creative outside Ad Manager. With publisher-managed creatives, you host the creative in Ad Manager and can apply the same policies you use for direct reservations.

According to Google's documentation, when a proposal with publisher-managed creatives is accepted, two line items are created:

• An Ad Manager line item that actually serves and renders the ad.
• A DSP line item that works as a tracking pixel for impressions and clicks, so the buyer's platform can count delivery.

Google lists Amazon (US, EU and APAC) among the DSPs that support PG with publisher-managed creatives, alongside partners such as Display and Video 360, The Trade Desk, Yahoo and others on its DSP partner page. The same page notes that only Display and Video 360 is fully enabled for every supported PG feature, so do not assume every option behaves the same across buyers.

The setup rules that trip people up

Google's steps are short, but a few details cause most of the problems:

1. Confirm the buyer agrees first. Publisher-managed is not the default. Settle it in the RFP, not after the proposal is out.
2. Lock sizes before you send. Google is explicit that sizes cannot be changed once a proposal has been sent to the buyer. Decide every size, including video, before you send.
3. Set the creative source on every line. Each proposal line item needs "Creative source" set to "Publisher managed."
4. Add click-tracking macros. After the buyer accepts, add creatives to the Ad Manager line item with click-tracking macros in every creative except images. Missing macros mean the buyer's clicks never register.
5. Make sure the buyer finishes their side. The DSP still has to complete its own configuration. Keep a contact on the buyer side until the first impressions show up in both systems.

Package PG offers for this kind of buyer

Self-service Amazon DSP users are often lean teams: brand and performance marketers, smaller agencies, and advertisers who want Amazon's audience data on premium inventory. They are less likely to sit through a long custom-creative process. Make it easy.

Publish a creative spec sheet

One page per product: sizes, file types, weight limits, video length and encoding, how many rotations you accept, turnaround time for approval and who approves. For broadcasters, include how sponsorship and adjacency units differ from standard display. For B2B publishers, explain any custom or native unit plainly, with a screenshot of it live.

Build standard packages

Offer a few fixed PG packages instead of one-off quotes: a homepage takeover week, a section sponsorship, a video package on a specific show or vertical. Fixed packages with known sizes are faster to propose and far less likely to hit the size lock problem.

Agree on counting before launch

With two line items, two systems count delivery. Your ad server counts what it served; the DSP counts what its pixel recorded. Some gap is normal. Agree in the insertion terms on which number bills, what discrepancy is acceptable and what happens beyond it. Amazon's announcement does not say how impressions are counted or how third-party verification applies for these deals, so raise both in the deal conversation rather than assuming.

Protect your forecast

Guaranteed means guaranteed. Book PG against real availability forecasts, especially for Q4 when direct campaigns, sponsorships and PG all compete for the same premium placements. Overbooking a homepage in November produces make-goods, not revenue.

Why broadcasters and B2B publishers should care most

Local and national broadcasters often require creative hosting for technical and compliance reasons, particularly around video and sponsorship units. B2B trade publishers sell to narrow, valuable audiences through custom units that do not fit standard third-party tags. Both have historically relied on direct IOs, which limits the number of buyers they can reach. PG with publisher-hosted creatives lets them keep control of the ad while opening the door to buyers who work through a DSP.

It also changes the shape of the conversation. An advertiser who wants a guaranteed sponsorship on a trade title can now buy it where they already manage their programmatic budget, with the publisher still controlling what renders on the page.

A short checklist for September

• Confirm with your Ad Manager team that publisher-managed PG proposals are set up and tested.
• Write the creative spec sheet and define three to five standard PG packages.
• Decide your discrepancy and billing terms before the first deal.
• Run one small PG deal end to end, and check delivery in both systems within the first day.
• Tell your sales team this option exists. The best time to pitch Q4 guarantees is before budgets lock.

Programmatic guaranteed has often been harder to execute than it should be. This change removes one obstacle for a meaningful group of buyers. If you work with a managed partner like HBDR, ask for help setting up the first proposal so the size and macro details are right from the start.