Also known as: IO, Ad Insertion Order
An Insertion Order is the binding order document a broker and a media partner sign before a paid campaign goes live. It locks the commercial terms in writing: the payout model (CPA, CPL, RevShare or hybrid), the rates, the geos, the flight dates, the budget cap and the reporting cadence.
An Insertion Order converts a verbal or chat-based deal into an enforceable order for one campaign. The broker's partnership team (or a large partner) drafts a short document naming the payout model, the exact CPA/CPL/RevShare rate, the eligible geos, the flight dates, the budget or conversion cap and the reporting cadence. Both sides sign it before traffic goes live.
Because the IO references the umbrella MSA for legal terms, it stays lightweight and campaign-specific. Once signed, it is the reference the platform's payout figures are checked against: if the tracked rate drifts from the IO, the signed document wins and the payout is corrected. That is why fronting ad spend without a signed IO leaves a media buyer with no proof of the agreed rate.
Broker and partner settle the model, rate, geos, cap and dates verbally or in a deal memo.
The partnership team writes the terms into a short-form order that references the MSA.
Complete the cap, clawback, reporting-cadence and flight-date fields rather than leaving them blank.
Each side signs before any media spend begins.
Traffic goes live only once the executed IO is on file.
Check platform payouts against the signed rate and correct any drift.
Why it matters for partnership: The IO is what turns a verbal deal into an enforceable one. For a media buyer or large affiliate, it is the single document that protects the agreed CPA if the broker's affiliate manager later leaves. Without a signed IO, a partner who fronts real ad spend has no proof of the rate they were promised.
A media-buying team agrees to send FTDs to a broker at a $400 CPA for Tier-1 traffic, capped at 200 conversions per month. Before spending a dollar on ads, both sides sign an IO stating exactly that. When the broker's platform later shows the rate as $350, the partner points to the signed IO and the payout is corrected.
| Document | Binding | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Insertion Order | Yes | One specific paid campaign's commercial terms |
| Master Service Agreement | Yes | The whole ongoing legal relationship |
| Statement of Work | Yes | Deliverables and timeline of a project engagement |
Always get the IO signed before you spend on media. Verbal or chat-only rate promises evaporate the moment the affiliate manager changes.
Treating the IO as a formality and skipping the cap, clawback and reporting-cadence clauses. Those blank fields are exactly where disputes happen.
It is a short-form binding order that usually sits under a broader Master Service Agreement; together they form the contract for that campaign.
Usually the broker's affiliate/partnership team drafts it, but a large partner can send their own.