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I'm not earning as much as I expected. What can I do to improve performance?

If your Sovrn Ad Exchange earnings are lower than expected, the most effective lever is usually the quality and completeness of the signals you pass in your bid requests. Major DSPs prioritize transparent, signal-rich inventory, so publishers that send complete and accurate signals win more often and command stronger CPMs (cost per thousand impressions).

Confirm you're meeting the required signals

On the Sovrn Ad Exchange, some signals are effectively mandatory for maintaining eligibility with key demand partners. Missing them can reduce bid density or exclude you from buying paths entirely. Confirm that you have:

  • Ads.txt / app-ads.txt and Inventory Partner Domain (IPD) compliance — all authorized domains listed, including the IPD when inventory is monetized on your behalf by an intermediary.

  • Sellers.json and a complete SupplyChain (schain) object that traces all intermediaries back to the originating publisher.

  • Secure traffic — flag requests as secure (imp.secure = 1) and serve all creative assets and tracking URLs over HTTPS.

  • Accurate impression expiration (imp.exp) values so buyers can trust the impression will render in the expected window.

Adopt the signals that lift CPMs

Beyond the required signals, several strongly encouraged signals materially improve demand and yield on the Sovrn Ad Exchange:

  • Identity coverage. Maximize adoption of industry identifiers such as GPID, UID2, TDID, and others across all supply paths. Low ID coverage typically correlates with lower bid density.

  • Accurate video metadata. For video inventory, pass accurate placement / plcmt, playbackmethod, and startdelay so inventory is classified correctly and isn't downgraded or filtered.

  • CTV and in-app signals. For connected TV and in-app inventory, pass rich content metadata (genre, series, title, channel, etc.), adopt the Open Measurement SDK (OMSDK), and include Sovrn's SKAdNetwork IDs for iOS.

  • Cookie sync. Ensure your cookie sync is in place, as it directly increases the bid values you receive.

For the complete checklist of required and recommended signals, see Supply Optimization Best Practices. If earnings are still below expectations after reviewing these, reach out to Sovrn Support for a review of your setup.

Questions? Concerns? Our team would be more than happy to help. Reach out to our Support Team here.