Direct feed

A direct feed means the publisher is itself the syndication partner. It has signed with the search engine, has its own account and account manager, and receives the full revenue share the contract provides, with no intermediary taking a take rate.

The benefits are a larger share of each click, first-hand reporting, a direct line to the engine when something goes wrong, and control over the technical set-up.

The costs are less obvious. Direct contracts are hard to obtain and usually go to established companies with volume and a clean history. The holder carries full responsibility for compliance, traffic quality and any clawback, with nobody to absorb the shock. It must build its own pages, reporting and monitoring. And a single enforcement action lands on the whole business.

For these reasons most small and mid-sized buyers start with a feed provider, sometimes on a hosted feed, and pursue a direct feed only once they have scale. Be wary of sellers advertising a "direct Google feed" for rent: if someone else holds the contract, it is by definition not direct.

An example

Say a click earns $1.00 from the advertiser. A direct partner on a 70% share keeps $0.70. Through a provider that passes on 80% of its own 70%, the publisher keeps $0.56. The percentages here are illustrative.