Getting a unit onto your campaign is one thing; securing it is another. Between the two sit availability and holds, and understanding the difference is what stops inventory slipping away.
Availability Versus A Hold
Term | What it means |
Availability | The media owner confirms the unit could be yours for your dates. It is not reserved, and someone else can still take it. |
A hold | The unit is reserved for you, for a limited time, while you finalise the buy. |
Available is not secured. This is the single most common misunderstanding in out-of-home buying, and it costs people sites.
The Sequence
Send an RFP, or use Request Avails on specific units. Their availability moves from Not Requested.
The media owner responds, and units become Available or Unavailable.
Select the ones you want and use Request Holds from Manage → Units. They become Hold Requested.
The media owner grants or declines. You end up with On Hold, Backup Hold, or Hold Unavailable.
Once agreed, mark the units booked.
You can follow the whole sequence by filtering your plan on Availability.
Backup Holds
A Backup Hold means someone else holds the unit and you are next in line. If their hold falls away, it becomes yours.
Backups are worth taking on sites you really want, but do not build a plan on them — you have no control over whether the first hold releases.
Holds Expire
A hold is temporary. Every one has an expiry, shown as Hold Expires At on the campaign grid, and once it passes the unit returns to the market as Hold Expired.
Two habits prevent losing sites this way:
Add Hold Expires At to your grid columns and check it as part of your routine.
Use Hold Extension before the date, not after. Extending a live hold is a request; recovering an expired one means starting again, and the unit may already be gone.
*Note: Filter your plan by Hold Expired now and again even when you think everything is in order. It is the fastest way to catch units that lapsed quietly.
If A Unit Comes Back Unavailable
Availability is specific to your dates, so an unavailable unit is not necessarily unavailable full stop. Worth trying:
Request a refresh. Availability changes as other campaigns move around. Refresh Requested tracks a re-check.
Ask about adjacent dates. A week either way is often free.
Take a backup hold if the site genuinely matters.
Find an alternative nearby. Draw around the area on the map and look at what else is there.