Announcement archives

Real-time bidding updates

• Flattened Bid Requests for Video Ad Breaks
  Instead of receiving one bid request for the entire commercial break (e.g. 3 minutes), we split it into several distinct bid requests, one for each ad opportunity. Learn more
• Native-specific impression_tracking_url to be sunset
  The native-specific impression_tracking_url is deprecated and will be removed at the end of the year. Please use BidResponse.Ad.impression_tracking_url instead -- which is usable for native and for display impression tracking. If you are still using the NativeAd.impression_tracking_url, please migrate before end of the year. Learn more

Policy updates

• New certification process for Social Casino Games advertisers
  As of now, a new process has been put in place to certify Social Casino Games advertisers. The list has also been updated so that 900 new App IDs and Domains are certified. Learn more

Other updates

• South Korean entity/currency now available to Authorized Buyers
  Authorized Buyers now have the capability to create South Korean entities and use their local currency Won. The programmatic market in South Korea is small at the moment but represents a huge opportunity given the size of the advertising market and advanced mobile/technology environment.

Real-time bidding updates

• Declaring restricted categories (including alcohol) now supported in OpenRTB
  A new OpenRTB extension has been added: BidExt.restricted_categories. This field should be used to specify the restricted categories for the ads that may be shown from the corresponding snippet. See ad-restricted-categories.txt for a list of restricted category IDs. In particular, declaration of attribute 33 is required for ads for alcohol to avoid creative disapproval. Learn more
   
• New 'Excluded Creatives' field in OpenRTB and Google Protocol
  A new field that lists creatives that are disallowed to serve on this impression to help bidders reduce filtering and choose an alternative creative. Contact your account manager if you would like to enable this feature. Learn more
   
• 'Store URL' now populated in OpenRTB
  In OpenRTB, App.storeurl is now populated on applicable requests. Learn more
   
• Flattened Bid Requests for Video Pods in RTB
  “Flattening” separates publisher queries into distinct individual bid requests to make it easier to buy. For video pods specifically, instead of receiving one bid request for the entire commercial break (e.g. 3 minutes), Authorized Buyers will split it into several distinct bid requests, one for each ad opportunity within that commercial break.
   
• BidExt.billing_id added as an OpenRTB extension
  Authorized Buyers is migrating away from the use of Bid.cid for specifying in a bid response which billing ID an impression should be attributed to, and migrating to a new extension: BidExt.billing_id field. We will continue to fall back on consuming Bid.cid for backward compatibility until bidders have migrated. Learn more

Policy updates

• New Bail Bonds policy will start being enforced in October
  Following a broader Google announcement for AdWords, we will update the Other restricted businesses policy to prohibit advertising for bail bond services on Authorized Buyers. This policy will apply globally from October 2018. After the policy update, ads for bail bonds services, which notably include bail bond agents, bounty hunters, bail bondsman and bail bond financing will no longer be allowed. Advertising for legal services or legal representation will not be affected. Learn more

Real-time bidding updates

Selective Callouts and Simplifying RTB Troubleshooting
In an effort to make the product simpler, easier to troubleshoot, and more transparent, in the coming weeks Selective Callouts will no longer be supported. This is an improvement for buyers who in some cases were losing access to callouts for which they would have submitted bids. In addition, the "Predicted to be ignored" model in the RTB Troubleshooting UI will no longer support granular reason breakouts. Note that QPS caps will continue to be respected as usual. Learn more about Selective Callouts. Learn more about the RTB Breakout UI.

Note on filtered bids from Private Auction
There are cases where the Private Auction bid you submitted is ineligible because of Private Auction settings. In these cases, your bid is also submitted to the Open Auction with the same creative to maximize your chance of winning.

Policy updates

New Bail Bonds policy will start being enforced in October
Following a broader Google announcement for AdWords, we will update the Other restricted businesses policy to prohibit advertising for bail bond services on Authorized Buyers. This policy will apply globally from October 2018. After the policy update, ads for bail bonds services, which notably include bail bond agents, bounty hunters, bail bondsman and bail bond financing will no longer be allowed. Advertising for legal services or legal representation will not be affected. Learn more

Additional updates

Selective Callouts and Online Efficient Callouts
Selective Callouts are not longer supported. Online Efficient Callouts has been activated for all accounts.

Interface updates

Native Video
Native Video has moved to general availability for all Google Ad Manager publishers. This provides great access to video inventory for buyers as they move outstream. Learn more

Real-time bidding updates

Selective Callouts are being removed and Simplifying RTB Troubleshooting
In an effort to make the Authorized Buyers simpler, easier to troubleshoot, and more transparent, in the coming weeks Selective Callouts will be removed. This is an improvement in some cases were losing access to callouts for which you would have submitted bids. The "Predicted to be ignored" model in the RTB Troubleshooting will no longer support granular reason breakouts. Note: that QPS caps will continue to be respected as usual. Learn more Selective Callouts, RTB Breakout

Policy updates

Clarification to Unacceptable Business Practices policy
On August 3, 2018, Google updated the Misrepresentation policy page to clarify the “Unacceptable Business Practices” policy.

Interface updates

Auction Packages now available
Auction Packages allow buyers to curate and package AdX inventory across publishers on AdX, using a rich set of targeting options. Packages simplifies buying brand suitable inventory at scale, curating inventory in a centralized manner across seats, and consuming rich targeting signals on AdX. Learn more

Open Auction Inventory Discovery now available
Open Auction inventory can be found in the Marketplace, complete with AdMob and AdSense inventory and forecasting. You can find it under ‘Sites & Apps’. Learn more

Real-time bidding updates

Auction Package deal type enum now in RTB proto
Ad Exchange now uses the AUCTION_PACKAGE enum value (as opposed to the previously used PRIVATE_AUCTION) to indicate that an Auction Package direct_deal_id is present in the direct_deal. Learn more

Policy updates

The Google DoubleClick Ad Exchange (AdX) Buyer Program Guidelines have been updated to include a new policy on Child Endangerment. Learn more

Additional updates

Declarable vendor update
AddThis has been added to vendors.txt and may now appear in allowed_vendor_types field. Learn more

Interface updates

Changes to alcohol policy
Although Remarketing Alcohol ads has long been against our policies, we are ramping up enforcement of these policies starting in early June. Please review the impact list and notify any buyers in your book of business who will be impacted. Learn more

Real-time bidding updates

Session Depth signal added
Added a new signal for Session Depth (BidRequest.AdSlot.session_depth; Metrics object in OpenRTB). This field represents the total number of impressions served to this user (within this specific site or app) in this browsing session, plus 1. A session ends after 30 minutes inactivity. The default value of -1 indicates that the session depth cannot be estimated. Learn more

GDPR-related fields added
Added new fields related to GDPR, including consented_providers and Regs.ext.gdpr, as well as the associated providers.csv file. Learn more

Interface updates

RTB Graphs v2 (Beta)
A new version of the RTB Graphs (currently in beta) will be introduced in May with the addition of Bidder Health, Web Inventory Hosted Match Rates, and Latency graphs. Learn more

Real-time bidding updates

Filtering Assist (Beta)
Allows bidders to easily reduce their pre-auction bid filtering by helping them avoid submitting bids with creatives that will certainly be filtered.

Policy updates

Social Casino Games
Social Casino Games will now be classified as a Sensitive Category for Publishers and as such, filtering might happen if Publishers exclude this category. Learn more

Additional languages introduced
10 additional languages have been introduced to Ad Exchange: Arabic, Filipino, Malay, Thai, Hindi, Urdu, Bulgarian, Czech, Slovak, and Ukrainian. Learn more

Other updates

iOS pop-up bug
Ad Exchange will no longer allow rich media creatives that use video in iOS apps due to the widespread lack of playsinline attribute on such creatives. Longer-term we hope to build detection of playsinline to filter non-compliant creatives.

Interface updates

MQTE Deprecated
Multi Tier Quota Enforcement (MTQE) has been deprecated. Users are able to set QPS caps for each of their pretargeting configurations, an easier and more intuitive alternative. Learn more

Muted Instream Video on Ad Exchange 
Due to Chrome's Autoplay policy change, publishers are now allowed to monetize muted instream video with AdX. AdX RTB video buyers should pay attention to the video playback signal in order to bid intelligently.

Ad Exchange Buyer Chat Support now available
Ad Exchange Buyer chat support is now available directly from the AdX UI. Buyers now have instant access to a troubleshooting support specialist just right from the product itself. In the AdX Buyer UI, click on the "?" on the top right corner and select "Live Chat".

Open Auction Discovery - Beta
Ad Exchange open auction inventory is now discoverable, filterable and exportable in the Marketplace UI. It can be found in the Marketplace under Site and Apps (Beta)

Real-time bidding updates

OpenRTB now supports bid response feedback as an extension. Learn more

Interface updates

Rewarded Video now available
This inventory can be great for buyers interested in high completion rates, click to play user experiences, high engagement rates, and mobile app. Learn more about Out-stream video ads

Ads.txt Targeting now available in Auction Packages
Authorized Inventory (ads.txt) is now available for targeting in Auction Packages. For easier adoption, buyers can use the AdX curated Auction Package, which includes only DIRECT, authorized inventory. Learn more about Auction Packages

Updates to pretargeting for deals
The following changes to how pretargeting settings apply to deals have been made. They are currently available for non-Programmatic Guaranteed accounts. (coming soon for Programmatic Guaranteed accounts) Learn more about pretargeting configurations.

• By default, callouts will be sent regardless of pretargeting settings for inventory associated with PG deals (buyers will not be able to modify this setting)
• Buyers will get an account-level setting to control whether they want their pretargeting settings ignored or overwritten for PD/PA deals
• The deals section will be removed from the pretargeting interface
• Bidders will receive an increase in the number of callouts associated with their deals.

Multi Tier Quota Enforcement (MTQE) deprecated
Multi Tier Quota Enforcement (MTQE) has been deprecated for new accounts, and will be deprecated for all accounts by the end of Q1. Users will soon be able to set QPS caps for each of their pretargeting configurations, in a easier and more intuitive alternative. Learn more about pretargeting configurations

Real-time bidding updates

As an OpenRTB parity feature, bidders are no allowed to return the entire raw VAST XML inline in the bid response, rather than requiring the response to contain a URL that redirects to the VAST XML.

Ad Exchange Buyer pricing rules will be removed from RTB Proto
In an effort to simplify the AdX proto, AdX Buyer Pricing Rules from RTB Request have been removed from the bid request. Learn more

Interface updates

Multi Tier Quota Enforcement (MTQE) deprecated
Multi Tier Quota Enforcement (MTQE) has been deprecated for new accounts, and only used by accounts that have not migrated away. It will be replaced with a more intuitive way to prioritize QPS across ad groups (QPS Threshold).

Upcoming changes to pretargeting for deals
There are a few upcoming changes to how pretargeting settings apply to deals so that bidders can easily receive all of the eligible traffic associated for their deals without their pretargeting settings inadvertently causing them to not receive callouts.

• By default, callouts will be sent regardless of pretargeting settings for inventory associated with PG deals (buyers will not be able to modify this setting)
• Buyers will get an account-level setting to control whether they want their pretargeting settings ignored or overwritten for PD/PA deals
• The deals section will be removed from the pretargeting interface
• Bidders will receive an increase in the number of callouts associated with their deals.

New Filter and report dimension: Ad Format
The "Ad Format" filter and report dimension has been added to the Query Tool, which enables buyers to pull reports just for their video buys. Learn more

Real-time bidding updates

Ad Exchange Buyer pricing rules will be removed from RTB Proto
In an effort to simplify the AdX proto, we will be removing AdX Buyer Pricing Rules from RTB Request from the bid request in the coming weeks. This should have minimal impact on most buyers, but we want to make sure that teams are aware of these changes. Buyers should review their integration with AdX to ensure that removing these pricing rules does not cause complications. Learn more

Additional updates

Removing restrictions on content from sensitive categories (previously not available through Real-time bidding)
Restrictions on non-adult category sites will be removed soon to allow Ad Exchange buyers access to additional publisher demand that had previously been block due to content categorization policies.