A diagnostic checklist for a Deal ID that won't spend

A diagnostic checklist for a Deal ID that won't spend

A Deal ID (the negotiated handshake binding a buyer, an SSP, and specific inventory at agreed terms) failing to deliver is rarely one problem. Work the chain top to bottom.

1. Confirm the deal is active on both sides and the seat ID the SSP whitelisted matches the seat your DSP actually bids from — a seat mismatch silently drops every bid request.

2. Check the deal type. A Preferred Deal (non-guaranteed, fixed price, first look) behaves differently from a Private Auction (PMP with a floor). If your bid sits below the negotiated floor, the SSP filters it pre-auction and you see zero bid requests, not zero wins.

3. Inspect incoming bid requests for the deal object. No deals array in the request means the SSP isn't tagging the impression — a packaging error on their end, not yours.

4. If deals arrive but you don't bid, check your targeting: a deal does not override DSP-side brand safety, geo, or frequency filters layered on top.

5. If you bid and lose, the deal is competing in the auction. Confirm whether it's truly a guaranteed first-look or just a floor you're bidding into against open-market demand.

Why it matters: Each layer fails differently and the symptoms look identical from the dashboard. A structured top-to-bottom trace isolates whether the break is in packaging, seat mapping, floor logic, or your own targeting — saving days of blaming the wrong party.