---
title: "What is Direct IO?"
slug: "what-is-direct-io"
updated: 2025-11-27T16:28:55Z
published: 2025-11-27T16:28:55Z
canonical: "help.tritondigital.com/what-is-direct-io"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.tritondigital.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What is Direct IO?

A Direct IO (insertion order) deal guarantees a specific number of impressions over a set time period at an agreed-upon rate. It is an effective way for both publishers and advertisers to benefit from the power of the Triton advertising platform.

> [!NOTE]
> This article is about Direct IO (insertion order) technology for advertising operations. It is not about direct I/O (input/output) for direct memory access in computer hardware.

## How it Works

- The publisher and advertiser (or the advertiser’s agency) agree to the deal’s terms and sign a contract.
- The publisher’s advertising operations team (AdOps) enters the details into TAP.
- The campaign runs.
- At the end of the campaign, the publisher’s AdOps team provides delivery reports to the advertiser (or their agency).
- The advertiser or agency pays the publisher.

## Why it Works

For advertisers:

- Provides a guaranteed brand presence on valued content to a valued audience, and premium placements.
- Can provide tight granularity in targeting.
- Facilitates sponsorships.

For publishers:

- Providers higher CPM than standard insertion orders.
- Ability to connect directly with small- to medium-sized advertisers, like local retailers, or schools, and so on.
- Can provide tight granularity in targeting.
- Better control over programmatic advertising in your content. If a publisher doesn’t like a product they simply don’t make a deal with that advertiser.

## What Tools are Used

#### Forecasting

- [TAP Forecasting](/user/docs/inventory-availability-forecasting) for inventory availability. Publishers can determine their advertising inventory and what is available to sell.

#### Campaign Management

- [TAP campaigns](/user/docs/the-tap-user-interface-campaigns) specify, monitor, and optimize the publisher’s digital audio campaigns.

#### Reporting

- [Affidavits](/user/docs/new-tap-user-guide-affidavits): creates a static report at the publisher, advertiser, and campaign level. Affidavit report setups can be saved and scheduled.
- [TAP Explore](/user/docs/new-tap-user-guide-tap-explore): The query tool is used to customize impressions and related reports with various filters and dimensions. TAP Explore report setups can be saved and scheduled.
- [Campaign creatives report](/user/docs/creative-delivery-report): provides deeper insight into creative performance such as reach, frequency, LTR (Listen Through Rate), and more.