Header Bidding

Header bidding offers a page’s ad slots to several buyers before the ad server decides, so every slot goes to the best bid. GoAdserver runs that auction on the server: your own campaigns and your RTB buyers in one auction, reached from Prebid.js, from AMP pages, from apps, or from a few lines of JavaScript.

Performance tracking in GoAdserver

Server-to-server instead of in the browser

In client-side header bidding the visitor’s browser calls every bidder itself, which costs page speed and loses bids on slow connections. With server-to-server header bidding the page makes one call, and the server asks the buyers in parallel and returns the winners. GoAdserver is that server: one request per page, each slot its own auction.

Two ways in, one auction

  • Prebid Server endpoint (/openrtb2/auction): standard OpenRTB 2.6 with the Prebid extensions. Prebid.js talks to it through its built-in Prebid Server adapter, so publishers who already use Prebid add an s2sConfig with your ad domain and their token, with no custom adapter code. Responses carry the usual hb_pb, hb_size and hb_adid targeting keys.
  • Light auction (/hb/auction): for publishers without Prebid. One JSON request with the token and a list of slots; each slot gets its own auction and comes back with the winning ad’s markup. A new slot id is set up as an ad zone automatically.

Both feed the same auction core, so bid quality is identical; pick the one that fits the publisher’s stack. Overview for developers: header bidding overview.

Everything Prebid expects

  • Cookie sync: our own user id cookie and the standard Prebid setuid endpoint, so buyers can recognise the same visitor (cookie sync).
  • Prebid Cache: winning VAST and native payloads stored server-side for 5 minutes by default, up to an hour (cache).
  • Analytics: Prebid’s analytics adapter can post auction events to your endpoint (analytics).
  • AMP: an AMP auction for <amp-ad type="prebid"> (AMP header bidding).
  • Apps: Prebid Mobile on iOS and Android can use the same endpoint, see in-app ads.

Banner, video and native, done properly

Banner, video and native slots are supported on the Prebid endpoint, and the light auction also takes pop and push. A video slot’s requirements (formats, duration, skippability, placement) travel to the buyers and filter your own creatives, so an ad that can’t play never wins. Native slots get the assets they asked for, in the version they asked for.

Privacy and blocking signals respected

Consent signals from the page (TCF, US privacy and GPP strings) are passed on to every buyer. COPPA requests have user ids removed and IP addresses shortened, and no user sync is offered. Category, advertiser-domain and creative-attribute blocks the publisher sends are enforced against every bid, and DSA transparency requirements are applied to the bids that come back.

The publisher’s own campaigns compete too

Each slot’s auction includes the publisher’s own campaigns next to the outside buyers, with an optional floor per slot. The winner is whoever pays most. The same auction powers the white-label SSP and the white-label ad exchange, so a publisher who starts with header bidding can grow into the full white-label RTB platform. More on the auction: RTB ad server.

Statistics

Header-bidding traffic runs on an SSP campaign, so it shows up in the SSP statistics with requests, bids, wins, response times, timeouts and revenue per campaign, country, website and ad zone, next to every other RTB partner.

Frequently asked questions

What is server-to-server header bidding?

The page sends one request to a server, which asks all buyers in parallel and returns the winning bids. It is faster for the visitor than calling every bidder from the browser.

Do publishers need a custom Prebid adapter?

No. Prebid.js’s built-in Prebid Server adapter works with the endpoint; they only set your ad domain and their token in the s2sConfig.

Can I use header bidding without Prebid?

Yes, with the light auction: a few lines of JavaScript post the slots and place the winning ads. See the light auction reference.

Which formats are supported?

Banner, video and native on the Prebid endpoint; the light auction also takes pop and push.

How do publishers get access?

Header bidding is switched on per account. Once it is on, a publisher creates a header-bidding campaign and gets a token and a code snippet.

Documentation

Header bidding overview, Prebid Server endpoint, light auction and SSP campaigns.

Want to see it with your own partners? Talk with our team or compare the plans.