In CTV programmatic buying, the deal type determines who can buy inventory and at what price. Open auction (also called open RTB or open exchange) makes inventory available to any buyer bidding through a DSP — highest bid wins, no prior relationship required, prices fluctuate with demand. PMP (private marketplace) restricts access to a defined set of buyers who have a deal ID from the publisher — the publisher sets a floor CPM, and only invited buyers can participate. PMPs are a sealed private auction above the floor, while open auction is fully competitive with all comers.
For India CTV in 2026, this distinction is practically important: most premium CTV inventory from JioCinema, JioHotstar, SonyLIV, and Zee5 is only available via PMP or direct deals — not open auction. Open auction CTV inventory in India is typically: lower-quality publishers, long-tail OTT apps, or mobile video traffic misrepresented as CTV. This means for quality India CTV buys, PMPs are not optional — they are the primary access route. Open auction makes sense for: broad reach across long-tail OTT apps, price discovery, and supplementing premium direct/PMP buys at lower CPMs. Always apply IAS or DoubleVerify SIVT filtering on open auction buys; fraud rates are meaningfully higher than on PMPs.
Full guide
For a complete explanation, read: Open auction CTV advertising: how it works, when to use it, and India-specific risks