How to Display Premium Ads with Hard Floor Price

In programmatic advertising, pricing strategies play a critical role in how publishers monetize their ad inventory. One of the most commonly used strategies is the hard floor price, which sets a strict minimum bid requirement for advertisers.

But how does a hard floor price impact publisher revenue? And when should publishers use it? In this blog, we’ll break down everything you need to know about hard floor pricing, including its benefits, risks, and best practices for maximizing ad revenue.

What is a Hard Floor Price?

A hard floor price or static floor price is the minimum price that an advertiser must meet or exceed to win an impression in a programmatic auction. If no advertisers bid at or above this set price, the impression remains unsold (instead of selling at a lower bid).

Example of a Hard Floor Price in Action

• A publisher sets a hard floor price of $2.50 CPM.
• Advertiser A bids $2.40 CPM → Rejected (since it’s below the hard floor).
• Advertiser B bids $2.50 CPM → Accepted
• Advertiser C bids  $2.60 CPM → Accepted, and the ad is served as it bid the highest

Unlike soft floors, which allow lower bids to be considered if no higher ones exist, a hard floor strictly blocks any bids below the set threshold.

What is Bid Shading?

Bid shading is an AI-driven bidding strategy used by advertisers to reduce their costs in first-price auctions while still maintaining a competitive bid to win ad impressions. It helps advertisers avoid overpaying by predicting the lowest possible bid needed to win an auction.

For publishers, bid shading can impact revenue, as it often results in lower clearing prices than a pure first-price auction would generate. Therefore, understanding and setting up a floor price can help publishers prevent bid shading and low-quality impressions from appearing.

When Should Publishers Use a Hard Floor Price?

Although it might sound as good as it is, using a hard floor price can be beneficial or harmful, depending on the situation. Here’s when it makes sense to use it:

When you should use:

• For Premium Ad Placements: If you have high-value ad inventory (e.g., homepage ads, above-the-fold placements), using a hard floor ensures premium pricing. For example, you placed an ad unit at the ATF (where ads are seen almost 100% by users without scrolling) and your site attracts a great flow of traffic coming from the US, which advertisers are willing to pay higher prices to display high-quality impressions. If you want only those impressions to appear to your users, you should set up a hard price based on the market demand or referencing other similar websites.

• For Private Marketplace (PMP) & Direct Deals: Hard floors protect negotiated rates in private deals and premium programmatic auctions.
•  During High-Demand Periods: In Q4, Black Friday, and holiday seasons, advertisers are more willing to bid higher, making hard floors more effective.

When NOT to Use

• For Open Auctions with Fluctuating Demand: If demand is low, a strict hard floor can cause lost impressions and revenue.

• For Mobile & International Traffic: Lower demand in some geographies or devices may not justify high hard floor pricing.

• If Fill Rates are Already Low: If your ad inventory is already struggling with low fill rates, hard floors might make the problem worse.

Best Practices for Setting a Hard Floor Price

To maximize revenue while avoiding unsold inventory, follow these best practices:

1. Analyze Historical Bid Data

• Use Google Ad Manager, SSP dashboards, or PubPower reports to analyze past bids.
• Identify the average bid range for your inventory before setting a hard floor.

2. Set Different Floors for Different Placements

• Above-the-fold ads → Higher hard floor price
• Below-the-fold ads → Lower or no hard floor
• High-engagement pages → Premium pricing

3. Monitor Fill Rate & Adjust Regularly

• Track how many impressions go unsold due to hard floor pricing.
• If fill rates drop too much, consider lowering the floor or switching to a soft floor.

4. Consider Hybrid Pricing Strategies

• Combine hard floors with soft floors to allow some pricing flexibility.
• Use dynamic pricing (adjusting floors in real-time) for better revenue optimization.

5. Test & Optimize Over Time

• Run A/B tests with different floor prices to find the best-performing rates.
• Adjust seasonally to match market demand.

How to Set Up Hard Floor Price on PubPower

1. Log into your PubPower Dashboard

2. Navigate to Supply -> Rule

3. Add Rule

4. Floor -> Create

5. On PubPower, you can set your priority and target floor price to different dimensions.

6. Submit

Other Types of Floor Price

Soft Floor Price

A soft floor price is a preferred minimum bid that encourages advertisers to bid higher but still allows lower bids to win if necessary.

Example:

• Soft Floor = $3.00 CPM
• Advertiser A bids $2.80 CPM → Can still win if no higher bid exists.
• Advertiser B bids $3.50 CPM → Wins at $3.50 CPM since it exceeds the soft floor.

Dynamic Floor Pricing

A dynamic floor price automatically adjusts the floor price in real-time based on market conditions, bid competition, and historical data.

Example:

• Peak Season (Q4, Black Friday) → Floor price rises to capture premium bids.
• Low-Demand Periods (Mid-Q1, late Q2) → Floor price adjusts lower to avoid unsold inventory.

Unified Pricing Rules (UPR) in Google Ad Manager

Unified Pricing Rules (UPR) allow publishers to set floor prices across multiple ad exchanges in Google Ad Manager.

How It Works:

• Sets floor prices across multiple demand sources (Google AdX, Open Bidding, Prebid, etc.).
• Can apply different pricing rules based on geo, device, and ad placement.
• Helps reduce discrepancies between ad networks and SSPs.

Final Thoughts: Should You Use Hard Floor Pricing?

A hard floor price can be an effective strategy for maximizing revenue, but it must be used strategically. Setting the floor too high can lead to lost impressions, while a well-calibrated floor ensures strong CPMs without hurting fill rates.