Set your GAM priorities for top ad revenue

As Q4 approaches, it’s a good time to make sure your ad stack is set to deliver the best performance possible. We recommend taking some time to check that your line items in Google Ad Manager are properly prioritized.

GAM line item selection process:

Numerical priority => Named priority => CPM

Each ad request to GAM kicks off the line item selection process. GAM starts by looking at priority level 1, then it looks at the line item types within that level, and finally, if it gets to any price priority line items, it looks at the CPM.

Here’s an example of what GAM does during an ad request:

Starting with numerical priority 1:

  • Are there any sponsorship line items eligible to serve? If so, STOP and serve that line item. If not, continue.
  • Are there any standard line items eligible to serve? If so, STOP and serve the line item that is furthest behind in pacing. If not, continue.
  • Are there any price priority line items eligible to serve? If so, STOP and serve the line item with the highest value CPM. If not, continue.
  • Are there any house line items eligible to serve? If so, STOP and serve the line item that has delivered the least. If not, continue.

Next, numerical priority 2:

  • Are there any sponsorship line items eligible to serve? If so, STOP and serve that line item. If not, continue.
  • Are there any standard line items eligible to serve? If so, STOP and serve the line item that is furthest behind in pacing. If not, continue.
  • Are there any price priority line items eligible to serve? If so, STOP and serve the line item with the highest value CPM. If not, continue.
  • Are there any house line items eligible to serve? If so, STOP and serve the line item that has delivered the least. If not, continue.

Then, numerical priority 3 (and so on):

GAM repeats the above steps through all priority numbers.

If no line item satisfies the conditions for delivery, then the ad request will go unfilled.

Therefore…

  • A price priority $10 CPM line item set to priority 12 and eligible to serve will lose to a price priority $0.01 CPM line item set to a numerical priority less than 12, such as 11.
  • A house ad set to priority 11 will serve every time if all price priority line items are set to higher number values; for example, 12.

Time to take action!

As we head into Q4, review the priority levels of your line items. We don’t think there is much to gain by trying to game the system. Unless you have a specific use case, we suggest setting all line items to their default GAM priorities:

  • 4 = sponsorship
  • 8 = standard
  • 12 = price priority, AdX, and deals
  • 16 = house

Let us help!

Want to talk through your GAM priorities? Just fill out the form below and we’ll reach out to schedule a 30-minute call (no charge!).