When the winning buyer rejects the post

This article explains the If the winning buyer rejects the post setting and helps you choose the right option for each distribution step. It matters most on ping/post traffic, where your supplier was quoted a price on the ping and may bill you on that price.

Why this setting exists

On a ping/post lead, the payout returned on the ping is a promise to the supplier. If the buyer that bid then refuses the post, the lead can go to a lower-paying buyer. If the supplier is paid from whoever finally bought, the supplier earns less than they were quoted. If the supplier bills you on the quote, you can owe more than you earn.

This setting lets each step decide whether the lead may go to another buyer, and what the supplier is paid when it does.

The four options

How to choose:

• Try every buyer suits suppliers paid on what was actually sold. It is how every step worked before this setting existed, so existing campaigns are unchanged.
• Try every buyer, pay the quote suits suppliers who bill on the ping price when selling the lead matters more than margin. Some sales can lose money.
• Only buyers that cover the quote is the break-even option. A fallback buyer paying less than the quote is skipped. The exceptions are a price set from a buyer's post response, which is known only after the buyer has the lead, and a CPA buyer that later confirms at a lower price.
• Stop and reject suits programs where only the quoted buyer may have the lead.

Prerequisites

• A campaign with at least one step on the Distribution tab. The Everything else step counts.
• For the two "quote" options, at least one Ping Post or One to One buyer on the step

Set the option on a step

1. Go to Campaigns, open the campaign, and open the Distribution tab.
2. On the How leads get sold card, open the step you want to change, or Everything else.
3. Under If the winning buyer rejects the post, click the option you want. Hover the info icon next to an option for the full explanation.
4. Click Save.

Repeat for each step. Different steps can use different options, so partner traffic can keep Try every buyer while a supplier who bills on the quote gets Only buyers that cover the quote.

How each option behaves in detail

• The option is fixed on the lead when the supplier is quoted. Editing a step between a ping and its post does not change the promise already made.
• Only buyers that cover the quote is checked on both the ping and the post. On the ping, if no bid covers the payout the supplier would be paid, the ping is refused with No bid covers the source payout, so a supplier is never quoted a price no buyer pays. On the post, a buyer whose final price is below the quote is never sent the lead.
• The quote includes source payouts set by rules. It is what the supplier would actually be paid, so a rule's source payout of 35 on a 50% supplier is judged on 35.
• Stop and reject never tries a second buyer. If the quoted buyer is skipped before sending, for example for schedule, duplicate, a delivery rule, minimum price or cap, or refuses the post, the lead is rejected with Stopped by post rejection policy.
• A buyer that accepts below its ping bid is still sold under the two "pay the quote" options. The lead timeline shows Sold below quote so the lost margin is visible.
• Direct post leads have no quote. On a direct post, the two "quote" options behave like Try every buyer, and Stop and reject still limits the lead to one attempt. If a step has no Ping Post or One to One buyer, the two "quote" options are hidden, and a value already saved shows a notice instead.
• One to One consent leads follow the same option. The supplier is shown one payout per brand bid. "Pay the quote" pays the payout shown for the brand that bought. Stop and reject lets only the highest-priced buyer among the brands the consumer chose buy.
• Buyers never see the supplier's side. A buyer opening a lead does not see the quote, the supplier payout or the policy.
• CPA buyers. The quoted payout is kept when a CPA buyer later confirms the sale. Only buyers that cover the quote can only judge a CPA buyer on its delivery price, so a buyer that later confirms below the quote still pays the supplier the quote.
• Manual redistribution does not apply this option, because you pick the buyers yourself. When the lead came in on a non-default step, the redistribute drawer asks whether to pay the supplier the original quote or normal pricing.

Expected result

A test lead on the step behaves as the option describes. On the lead timeline you can see Stopped by policy when Stop and reject ended distribution, and Sold below quote when a sale under a "pay the quote" option came in below what the supplier was paid.

Troubleshooting

• The supplier was quoted one payout and paid another. The step is on Try every buyer, which recalculates the payout from whichever buyer bought. Choose Only buyers that cover the quote or Stop and reject if the quote must hold.
• Pings are refused with No bid covers the source payout. The step is on Only buyers that cover the quote and no bid reached what the supplier would be paid. Check the supplier's pricing and any source payout set by rules.
• A lead was rejected with Stopped by post rejection policy. The step is on Stop and reject and the quoted buyer was skipped or refused the post. Check that buyer's schedule, caps and response on the timeline.
• A sale shows Sold below quote. The buyer accepted at a lower price than its bid, and the supplier was still paid the quote. If a pricing rule set that price from the buyer's post response, adjust that rule's tiers.
• The quote options are missing on a step. The step has no Ping Post or One to One buyer, so no supplier is ever quoted a price there.