Why Target Sell-Through Rates Are a Massive Mistake

The Yield Doctor with James Deaker · Sep 17, 2026 · 12m · transcript

Struggling with publisher direct sell-through rate (STR) targets? Whether you're managing direct sales inventory or retail/commerce media networks, treating STR like an airline load-factor quota destroys revenue.

In this video, James Deaker (The Yield Doctor) breaks down why 100% sell-through creates operational stress, why anchoring to 75/85/90 targets fails, and how to use the 4-part diagnostic framework instead.

Chapters:

0:00 - Introduction & The Sell-Through Trap

1:16 - Why STR Comes Up (And Why It Doesn't Work Like Airlines)

3:03 - The Goldilocks Metric & Examining the Extremes (0% vs…