Supplier Evaluation
Part of Media supplier evaluation
Reviewing cancellation and makegood terms
Check change cut-offs, cancellation charges, shortfall triggers, replacement inventory and fees before accepting a media deal.
Before accepting a media proposal, establish what happens if the advertiser changes the buy and what remedy applies if the supplier misses an agreed commitment. A platform pause control or sales promise settles neither question.
Check each change point
Read the order, proposal and incorporated terms together. Record notice requirements, change cut-offs, charges after each cut-off and payment for media already delivered. Ask separately about moving dates, narrowing geography, replacing creative, pausing and cancelling: one permitted change does not make the others free.
Identify what each line item reserves. A non-guaranteed buying opportunity may stop without further media purchases, while service or production charges may still apply. A reserved placement may carry a commitment before serving begins.
Ask the supplier to calculate the payable amount under its actual terms for a launch delay before creative submission and for a cancellation after the flight starts.
Unfair contract term protections may be relevant to standard form contracts; for whether a particular term is legally unfair, see separate guidance.
Define a useful makegood
Agree on the trigger, counting rule, confirmation date and remedy approval. If the supplier offers replacement media, check whether its audience, placement, format and dates still serve the campaign. Replacement impressions after an event has ended may have little value even if the count matches.
Term to clarify / Decision it enables
- Delivery threshold and counting rule
- Establish whether a shortfall occurred
- Notice and claim deadline
- Know when to raise it
- Replacement inventory and timing
- Judge whether the remedy remains useful
- Fees and billing treatment
- Understand its cost
- Approval and reporting
- Confirm what was accepted and delivered
If a platform makegood workflow applies to a Programmatic Guaranteed deal, ask the supplier to show the eligibility conditions, approval steps, fee treatment and billing for the replacement line item, and how those terms interact with the order. Those platform conditions do not define every media contract's remedy.
Key Terms to Clarify Before Signing
- Delivery Threshold
- Established in contract or proposal
- Notice Deadline
- Must be clearly defined for claims
- Replacement Timing
- Must match campaign window for relevance
- Fees and Billing
- Clarify if makegood is free or charged
Separate controls from rights
Check whether the platform action is technically available and whether the applicable agreement permits it. A platform action is not a cancellation right unless the applicable agreement allows it.
Ask the supplier to identify the clauses governing delay, cancellation and underdelivery. Record any negotiated exception in the accepted order before inventory is reserved.
