AdCP, the Ad Context Protocol, is the open language buying and selling agents speak. Version 3.1 is the current one, 3.1.24 at the time of writing. Here is what matters, without the specification.
Three ways to ask for products
A buyer now says what it wants when it asks a seller for products:
- Brief. "Here is my campaign, propose what fits." The seller curates.
- Wholesale. "Show me your products as they are." No brief, no proposals.
- Refine. "Change this proposal: drop that line, add more of this." The negotiation.
For publishers, the brief is where a selling agent earns its place: it reads the campaign and answers with a plan from your products.
Proposals have a state
A proposal is a draft until both sides agree, then it is committed. The buyer commits it with a "finalize" step. Only a committed proposal can become an order. That gives both sides a clear moment when the plan stops moving.
Orders follow a lifecycle
Once ordered, a media buy moves through states both agents understand: waiting for creatives, waiting to start, active, paused, completed, or rejected and canceled. Oderra shows them with six simple words, from Proposed to Delivered, and shortfall first.
Creatives travel the same way
Formats a seller accepts, creatives a buyer sends, and the review in between, are part of the protocol. Refusals come back with a reason.
What it means for you
- Publishers. Your selling agent answers briefs, negotiates by refining proposals, and only books what is committed.
- Buyers. One brief reaches every selling agent that speaks AdCP, and every answer comes back in the same structure.
- Developers. The tasks and the status mapping are on the developers page.
Fanera, the selling agent from Oderra, and Skopa, the buying agent from Oderra, follow the current version, and we announce the supported version with each release.