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Migrating pricing

AdCP 3.0 renames pricing fields for clarity and separates hard constraints (prices the publisher enforces) from soft hints (historical data to help buyers bid).

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What changed

v2 fieldv3 fieldChange type
fixed_ratefixed_priceRenamed
price_guidance.floorfloor_priceMoved to top level
The pricing_model, currency, pricing_option_id, and price_guidance percentiles (p25, p50, p75, p90) are unchanged.

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Hard constraints vs soft hints

v3 makes an explicit semantic distinction: Hard constraints — publisher-enforced prices that cause bid rejection if violated:
  • fixed_price — the exact price per unit (fixed-price deals)
  • floor_price — minimum acceptable bid (auction pricing)
These are mutually exclusive. A pricing option has either fixed_price (guaranteed rate) or floor_price (auction with minimum), never both. Soft hints — historical percentiles to help buyers calibrate bids:
  • price_guidance.p25 — 25th percentile of recent winning bids
  • price_guidance.p50 — median of recent winning bids
  • price_guidance.p75 — 75th percentile of recent winning bids
  • price_guidance.p90 — 90th percentile of recent winning bids

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Deal type mapping

These fields map to standard programmatic deal types:
Deal typeAdCP fieldDescription
Programmatic Guaranteed (PG)fixed_priceFixed CPM, guaranteed delivery
Preferred Dealfixed_priceFixed CPM, non-guaranteed (buyer has first look)
Private Marketplace (PMP)floor_priceAuction with minimum bid
Open AuctionNeitherNo floor or fixed price — open bidding
PG and Preferred Deals both use fixed_price. The distinction between them is in delivery commitment, not pricing — PG guarantees delivery volume while Preferred Deals offer first-look access without volume guarantees.

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Fixed-price deals

v2: 
{
  "pricing_option_id": "cpm_usd_fixed",
  "pricing_model": "cpm",
  "currency": "USD",
  "fixed_rate": 25.00
}
v3: 
{
  "$schema": "https://adcontextprotocol.org/schemas/v3/pricing-options/cpm-option.json",
  "pricing_option_id": "cpm_usd_fixed",
  "pricing_model": "cpm",
  "currency": "USD",
  "fixed_price": 25.00
}
Rename fixed_rate to fixed_price. No structural changes.

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Auction pricing

v2: 
{
  "pricing_option_id": "cpm_usd_auction",
  "pricing_model": "cpm",
  "currency": "USD",
  "price_guidance": {
    "floor": 10.00,
    "p50": 15.00,
    "p75": 18.00
  }
}
v3: 
{
  "$schema": "https://adcontextprotocol.org/schemas/v3/pricing-options/cpm-option.json",
  "pricing_option_id": "cpm_usd_auction",
  "pricing_model": "cpm",
  "currency": "USD",
  "floor_price": 10.00,
  "price_guidance": {
    "p50": 15.00,
    "p75": 18.00
  }
}
Two changes:
  1. price_guidance.floor moves to top-level floor_price
  2. price_guidance retains only the percentile hints

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Price guidance object

The v3 price_guidance object contains only statistical percentiles: 
{
  "$schema": "https://adcontextprotocol.org/schemas/v3/pricing-options/price-guidance.json",
  "p25": 8.50,
  "p50": 15.00,
  "p75": 18.00,
  "p90": 22.00
}
All fields are optional. Publishers include whichever percentiles they can provide.

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Flat-rate pricing

v2 (DOOH with parameters, no type discriminator): 
{
  "pricing_option_id": "dooh_times_square",
  "pricing_model": "flat_rate",
  "currency": "USD",
  "fixed_rate": 50000.00,
  "parameters": {
    "duration_hours": 24,
    "sov_percentage": 100,
    "estimated_impressions": 1500000
  }
}
v3: 
{
  "$schema": "https://adcontextprotocol.org/schemas/v3/pricing-options/flat-rate-option.json",
  "pricing_option_id": "dooh_times_square",
  "pricing_model": "flat_rate",
  "currency": "USD",
  "fixed_price": 50000.00,
  "parameters": {
    "type": "dooh",
    "duration_hours": 24,
    "sov_percentage": 100,
    "estimated_impressions": 1500000
  }
}
Two changes:
  1. fixed_rate renames to fixed_price (same as other pricing models)
  2. parameters gains a required "type": "dooh" discriminator for DOOH inventory
Sponsorship flat_rate options that had no parameters in v2 continue to omit it in v3. Note that fixed_price is optional on flat-rate options — when absent, the flat-rate is auction-based (uncommon but valid for some DOOH inventory).

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Minimum spend

v3 adds an optional min_spend_per_package field to all pricing options: 
{
  "$schema": "https://adcontextprotocol.org/schemas/v3/pricing-options/cpm-option.json",
  "pricing_option_id": "cpm_usd_premium",
  "pricing_model": "cpm",
  "currency": "USD",
  "floor_price": 15.00,
  "min_spend_per_package": 5000.00,
  "price_guidance": {
    "p50": 22.00,
    "p75": 28.00
  }
}
This lets publishers declare minimum spend requirements per package.

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Transition period handling

During migration, readers may encounter both old and new field names. Consider checking for both:
test=false
const price = option.fixed_price ?? option.fixed_rate;
const floor = option.floor_price ?? option.price_guidance?.floor;
v3 writers should only emit the new field names. Old field names (fixed_rate, price_guidance.floor) are not recognized by v3 schema validation. Remove the v2 fallback once all upstream sellers have migrated to v3 schemas.

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Migration steps

1

Rename fixed_rate

Rename fixed_rate to fixed_price in all pricing options.
2

Move floor

Move floor from inside price_guidance to top-level floor_price.
3

Clean up price_guidance

Remove floor from price_guidance objects (only percentiles remain).
4

Update readers

Update code to look for new field names. Consider temporary fallback for both during transition.
5

Test auction bids

Verify floor enforcement works with the new field location.
6

Validate against schemas

Each pricing model has its own schema in /schemas/v3/pricing-options/.

Media products

How products declare pricing options, channels, and capabilities.
Related: Channels | Geo targeting | Creatives | Catalogs | Attribution | AdCP 3.0 overview