What the publisher needs
- A verified Seller Account with the publisher’s name and domain.
- A Google Ad Manager connection. Add the Scope3 service account as a GAM user with the access needed to read inventory and traffic the test campaign.
- A separate sandbox advertiser. Either create or designate one, assign it to the Scope3 service account, and map it for the pilot; or let Scope3 create Interchange - Sandbox by granting the service account advertiser-create permission. The no-spend test never uses a live or default advertiser.
- Representative inventory. Include the properties, placements, formats, and channels needed for the briefs the publisher wants to test. Do not limit the pilot to a generic run-of-site package if that is not what the publisher wants to sell.
- Useful signals. Turn the audience segments and contextual targeting the publisher already uses in GAM into signals the Merchandising Agent can use. Include enough to show how the offer changes for different briefs.
- Useful sales material. Give the Merchandising Agent enough to explain who the publisher reaches, why its properties and editorial contexts matter, which formats or sponsorships are distinctive, and what proof supports those claims. A media kit, audience cards, and case studies are more useful than a media-kit file on its own.
- Pricing it can apply. Set the currency and the price guidance that matters for the pilot: target prices or floors, when each price applies, and any audience, context, format, or sponsorship premium—and any minimum-spend rule—the test briefs should trigger. One generic CPM is not enough if the offers are meant to be different.
- Basic selling choices. Say which advertisers are not accepted, which creative formats are allowed, and whether the publisher wants to approve the brief or creative before trafficking.
- Real brief–response pairs. Supply three to five recent briefs the publisher actually received, together with the proposal or response it sent for each one. Choose examples that show different demand—for example broad reach, a valuable audience, contextual relevance, or a distinctive sponsorship—and a declined or no-fit brief if one is available. The examples may be sanitized, but keep the objective, audience or context, market, flight, budget, important constraints, recommended plan, price logic, and explanation of why it fit. Mark any pricing or availability that is no longer current. Use made-up briefs only when real examples are not available.
- One test buyer. Decide who will participate. Scope3 routes the no-spend campaign through the separate sandbox advertiser once one of the setup paths above is complete.
- A billing choice. Decide whether Interchange or the publisher will bill the buyer. If the publisher bills directly, an administrator for an existing buyer-owned account selects and approves direct billing on its Seller connection before a paid campaign. A sponsored buyer does not approve or change billing separately.
- Discovery plus one executed test. Check that the Merchandising Agent can return relevant, differentiated products for each agreed brief. Then take one proposal through campaign creation, creative review, GAM trafficking, and a simple delivery report.
The publisher connects GAM to its Seller Account, and its Merchandising Agent
builds and sells products from that inventory. The publisher can still invoice
the buyer directly. That changes who sends the invoice, not how inventory is
connected or merchandised.
Read the response like a buyer
Run the real briefs again and compare the new response with what the publisher actually sent. Ask five simple questions:- Does it reflect the buyer’s objective and constraints?
- Does it make a specific case for this publisher using relevant audience, context, selling points, or proof—not generic reach language?
- Is the plan coherent, with the right products, formats, price, currency, flight, and budget?
- Does it clearly state any missing capability, unsupported claim, or reason not to answer the brief?
- Could a seller send it after a quick factual review, rather than rewrite it?
Only add these if the pilot uses them
- AXE or emissions-specific delivery: configure the additional GAM keys needed for that path when it is part of the pilot. Ordinary audience and contextual signals belong in the core pilot setup above.
- Public buyer discovery: complete the extra review and authorization work needed for a public marketplace listing. A named-buyer pilot can start privately.
- Live GAM advertiser routing: for paid activity, configure the live default advertiser or map the buyer to a dedicated advertiser. Neither is used by the no-spend sandbox campaign.
- Paid delivery: confirm the direct-billed buyer can be invoiced, or finish Interchange billing setup, before moving from no-spend testing to paid media.
What Scope3 helps with
Scope3 connects GAM to the Seller Account, turns the selected inventory into buyer-visible products, routes the sandbox test, provides the buyer-facing agent, and helps run the test from brief to report. The publisher supplies the inventory choices, commercial terms, creative rules, GAM access, sandbox setup or create permission, and approvals.The pilot is complete when
- The Merchandising Agent produces relevant, differentiated products for the agreed briefs—not the same generic package every time.
- The products use the expected inventory, signals, formats, and pricing.
- The proposal answers the buyer’s objective, explains why the plan fits, gives clear terms, and does not invent support the publisher has not supplied.
- The no-spend campaign and creative reach GAM under the Interchange - Sandbox advertiser.
- The publisher’s approval choices are followed.
- Delivery can be read back in a simple report.