Let's talk about truth, justice, and the ad operations way.

I'm a fan of hot, sweet justice in all of its forms. I watched Revenge even when it got bad, Kill Bill's The Bride is my go-to spirit animal, and if someone cuts me off on the highway only to be pulled over by a cop a mile up the road (THIS HAS ACTUALLY HAPPENED) the satisfaction alone can put me on cloud nine for a whole week. Justice is great. But it's not guaranteed. Most wronged parties don't receive it, and most offenders keep on keeping on.

Fun, sad fact: not everybody is a good human being. There are loads of people out there who want to take advantage of you and have no qualms about doing it. The ad tech space is most certainly not immune to such individuals. Most of us know that you don't accept candy from strangers, you don't get into gypsy cabs, and you don't give your bank account information and social security number to the Nigerian prince who has a great business proposition for you. Most of us can see a sketchy situation for what it is and walk away. But it is easy to forget how to listen to your gut when you have someone in front of you who says they are willing to pay you a ridiculous amount of money to post their ads on your site. You've been waiting for this moment for a long time, and when it happens you err on the side of hope and think you've finally hit your stride.

I'm going to say something now that may shock you. Brace yourselves.

Every agency lies. Every ad network lies.

This is important to know and understand before you really start dealing with these companies. Most of these lies are generally harmless. Most of the liars have the best of intentions and don't even realize they're doing it. It's just part of the business. Here are some examples of lies I've heard from agencies and ad networks over the years:

"You're my favorite publisher! I really want to see you succeed."

"We can definitely monetize better than your other partners."

"Yeah, we can get you creatives at least five business days before launch."

"With our top-tier brands, we can guarantee that our creatives will be of the highest quality."

And my personal favorite:

"We pay net 30."

A lot of quality ad networks will be able to abide by the net terms on the contract, but some won't, and you will hear every excuse under the sun as to why they aren't paying on time. Agencies DEFINITELY won't. Ninety percent of payments made to my publishers are late by some measure. Usually this is not intentional. Agencies are notorious for having poor internal communication. You talk to the account manager, but payment comes from the AP department, and there are several steps in between the two. If you're a larger publisher, it's likely you have a similar set up. On one side or the other, there's usually some miscommunicated approval or requirement that results in a late or incorrect payment. It's just part of ad tech life. It does not make you a bad publisher or make them a bad agency. It just happens. It sucks and you should try everything within your power to close the gaps on your side so you are not the cause of the delay, but know that when it happens YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

Sometimes a delayed payment to you is a result of a chain of delayed payment. A popular addition to most contracts is the "we don't pay you if we don't get paid" clause, used by agencies and ad networks alike. Not groundbreaking or unusual, this idea totally makes sense, but sucks in practice. And you probably can't do anything about it.