Prebid Server | Endpoints | /openrtb2/auction

POST /openrtb2/auction

• Sample Request
• Sample Response
• OpenRTB Fields
  • Currency
  • Expiration
  • Privacy fields
• OpenRTB Extensions
  • Conventions
  • OpenRTB Request Extensions
    • Global Bid Adapter Parameters
    • Bid Adjustments
    • Targeting
    • Buyer UID
    • Native Request
    • Bidder Aliases
    • Bidder Alias GVL IDs
    • Stored Requests
    • Cache bids
      • Caching the entire bid
      • Caching just the VAST XML
    • GDPR
    • Interstitial support
    • Currency Support
    • Supply Chain Support
    • User IDs
    • EID Permissions
    • Rewarded Video
    • Debug Flag
    • Stored Responses
    • First Party Data Support
    • Custom Targeting
    • MultiBid
    • Echo StoredRequest Video Attributes
    • Request Passthrough
    • PG Deals Extensions
  • OpenRTB Response Extensions
    • Bidder Response Times
    • Bidder Errors
    • Ad Server Targeting
    • Debug Output
    • Original Bid CPM
• OpenRTB Ambiguities
• OpenRTB Differences
  • Allowed Bidders
  • Deprecated Properties
  • Determining Bid Security (http/https)
• HTTP Headers
• Prebid Server ORTB2 Extension Summary
• Further Reading

This endpoint runs an auction with the given OpenRTB 2.5 bid request.

Sample Request

This is a sample OpenRTB 2.5 bid request:

{
  "id": "some-request-id",
  "test": 1,
  "site": {
    "page": "prebid.org"
  },
  "imp": [{
    "id": "some-impression-id",
    "banner": {
      "format": [{
        "w": 600,
        "h": 500
      }, {
        "w": 300,
        "h": 600
      }]
    },
    "ext": {
      "prebid": {
        "bidder": {
          "bidderA": {
            "placement": 12345
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }],
  "tmax": 500
}

Additional examples can be found in endpoints/openrtb2/sample-requests/valid-whole.

Sample Response

This endpoint will respond with either:

• An OpenRTB 2.5 bid response, or
• HTTP 400 if the request is malformed, or
• HTTP 503 if the account or app specified in the request is blacklisted

This is a corresponding sample response to sample OpenRTB 2.5 bid request:

{
  "id": "some-request-id",
  "seatbid": [{
    "seat": "bidderA",
    "bid": [{
      "id": "145556724130495288",
      "impid": "some-impression-id",
      "price": 0.01,
      "adm": "<script type=\"application/javascript\">...</script>",
      "adid": "107987536",
      "adomain": [
        "biddera.com"
      ],
      "iurl": "https://biddera.com/cr?id=107987536",
      "cid": "3532",
      "crid": "107987536",
      "w": 600,
      "h": 500,
      "ext": {
        "prebid": {
          "type": "banner",
          "video": {
            "duration": 0,
            "primary_category": ""
          }
        },
        "bidder": {
          "bidderA": {
            "brand_id": 1,
            "auction_id": 7311907164510136364,
            "bidder_id": 2,
            "bid_ad_type": 0
          }
        }
      }
    }]
  }],
  "cur": "USD",
  "ext": {
    "responsetimemillis": {
      "bidderA": 10
    },
    "tmaxrequest": 500
  }
}

OpenRTB Fields

Prebid Server accepts all OpenRTB 2.5 fields and passes them in the request to all bid and analytics adapters. Some fields are processed by Prebid Server in the following ways:

Currency

The cur field is read and the first element of the array is taken to be the “Ad Server Currency” for purposes of currency conversion.

Expiration

The OpenRTB 2.5 imp[].exp field is an “Advisory as to the number of seconds that may elapse between the auction and the actual impression.”

This field is used in slightly different ways by PBS-Go and PBS-Java:

PBS-Go

How long an item is stored in Prebid Cache is determined by this hunt path:

1. bidResponse.seatbid[].bid[].exp + 60: as set by the bidder’s adapter
2. request.imp[].exp + 60: as set by the incoming request
3. account config: cache_ttl.{banner,video,native,audio} + 60
4. global config: cache.default_ttl_seconds.{banner,video,native,audio} + 60

A 60-second buffer is added to make sure cache retrievals work towards the end of the cache period.

PBS-Java

How long an item is stored in Prebid Cache is determined by this hunt path:

1. bidResponse.seatbid[].bid[].exp: set by the bidder’s adapter
2. request.imp[].exp: set by the incoming request
3. request.ext.prebid.cache.{bids,vastxml}.ttlseconds
4. account config: {banner,video}-cache-ttl
5. global config: cache.{banner,video}-ttl-seconds

Privacy fields

Prebid Server reads the OpenRTB privacy fields:

• regs.coppa
• regs.ext.gdpr
• regs.ext.us_privacy
• user.ext.consent
• device.lmt

OpenRTB Extensions

Conventions

OpenRTB 2.x permits exchanges to define their own extensions to any object from the spec. These fall under the ext field of JSON objects.

If ext is defined on an object, Prebid Server uses the following conventions:

1. ext in “request objects” uses ext.prebid and/or ext.{anyBidderCode}.
2. ext on “response objects” uses ext.prebid and/or ext.bidder. The only exception here is the top-level BidResponse, because it’s bidder-independent.

ext.{anyBidderCode} and ext.bidder extensions are defined by bidders. ext.prebid extensions are defined by Prebid Server.

Prebid Server supports the following “standard” industry extensions:

• request.regs.ext.gdpr and request.user.ext.consent – To support GDPR
• request.regs.ext.us_privacy – To support CCPA
• request.site.ext.amp – To identify AMP as the request source
• request.app.ext.source and request.app.ext.version – To support identifying the displaymanager/SDK in mobile apps. If given, we expect these to be strings.

OpenRTB Request Extensions

Global Bid Adapter Parameters

If a bid adapter has a parameter that is the same across all imp[] entries, it can be supplied

{
  "ext": {
    "prebid": {
      "bidderparams": {
        "bidderA": {
          "key1": "some-value-1",
          "key2": {
            "version": 3.3,
            "profileid": 1234
          }
        },
        "bidderB": {
          "key3": "some-value-3"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Bid adapters do not need to read this data from ext.prebid. PBS will merge the attributes to each imp[] in the request so the adapter can read them normally.

Bid Adjustments

Bidders are encouraged to make Net bids. However, there’s no way for Prebid to enforce this. If you find that some bidders use Gross bids, publishers can adjust for it with request.ext.prebid.bidadjustmentfactors:

{
  "ext": {
    "prebid": {
      "bidadjustmentfactors": {
        "bidderA": 0.9,
        "bidderB": 0.8
      }
    }
  }
}

This may also be useful for publishers who want to account for different discrepancies with different bidders.

It’s also possible to define different bid adjustment factors by mediatype, which can be helpful to adjust discrepancies that differ across mediatypes (PBS-Java only):

{
  "ext": {
    "prebid": {
      "bidadjustmentfactors": {
        "bidderA": 0.9,
        "bidderB": 0.8,
        "mediatypes": {
          "banner": {
            "bidderA": 0.8
          },
          "video-outstream": {
            "bidderC": 0.9
          },
          "video": {
            "bidderB": 0.85
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Note that video-outstream is defined to be imp[].video requests where imp[].video.placement is greater than 1.

Targeting

Targeting refers to strings which are sent to the adserver to make header bidding possible.

request.ext.prebid.targeting is an optional property which causes Prebid Server to set these params on the response at response.seatbid[i].bid[j].ext.prebid.targeting.

Request format (optional param request.ext.prebid.targeting)

{
  "ext": {
    "prebid": {
      "targeting": {
        "pricegranularity": {
          "precision": 2,
          "ranges": [{
            "max": 20.00,
            "increment": 0.10 // This is equivalent to the deprecated
                              // "pricegranularity": "medium"
          }]
        },
        "includewinners": true,     // Optional param defaulting to false
        "includebidderkeys": false, // Optional param defaulting to false
        "includeformat": false,     // Optional param defaulting to false
        "preferdeals": true         // Optional param defaulting to false
        "alwaysincludedeals": true  // Optional param defaulting to false
      }
    }
  }
}

The list of price granularity ranges must be given in order of increasing max values. If precision is omitted, it will default to 2. The minimum of a range will be 0 or the previous max. Any cmp above the largest max will go in the max pricebucket.

For backwards compatibility the following strings will also be allowed as price granularity definitions. There is no guarantee that these will be honored in the future. “One of [‘low’, ‘med’, ‘high’, ‘auto’, ‘dense’]” See price granularity definitions

One of “includewinners” or “includebidderkeys” must be true (both default to false if unset). If both are false, then no targeting keys will be set, which is better configured by omitting targeting altogether.

The parameter “includeformat” indicates the type of the bid (banner, video, etc) for multiformat requests. It will add the key hb_format and/or hb_format_{bidderName} as per “includewinners” and “includebidderkeys” above.

MediaType PriceGranularity (PBS-Java only) - when a single OpenRTB request contains multiple impressions with different mediatypes, or a single impression supports multiple formats, the different mediatypes may need different price granularities. If mediatypepricegranularity is present, pricegranularity would only be used for any mediatypes not specified.

{
  "ext": {
    "prebid": {
      "targeting": {
        "mediatypepricegranularity": {
          "banner": {
            "ranges": [
              {"max": 20, "increment": 0.5}
            ]
          },
          "video": {
            "ranges": [
              {"max": 10, "increment": 1},
              {"max": 20, "increment": 2},
              {"max": 50, "increment": 5}
            ]
          }
        }
      },
      "includewinners": true
    }
  }
}

Response format (returned in bid.ext.prebid.targeting)

{
  "seatbid": [{
    "bid": [{
      ...
      "ext": {
        "prebid": {
          "targeting": {
            "hb_bidder_{bidderName}": "The seatbid.seat which contains this bid",
            "hb_size_{bidderName}": "A string like '300x250' using bid.w and bid.h for this bid",
            "hb_pb_{bidderName}": "The bid.cpm, rounded down based on the price granularity."
          }
        }
      }
    }]
  }]
}

The winning bid for each request.imp[i] will also contain hb_bidder, hb_size, and hb_pb (with no {bidderName} suffix). To prevent these keys, set request.ext.prebid.targeting.includeWinners to false.

NOTE: Targeting keys are limited to 20 characters. If {bidderName} is too long, the returned key will be truncated to only include the first 20 characters.

Buyer UID

Each Bidder should receive their own ID in the request.user.buyeruid property. Prebid Server has three ways to populate this field. In order of priority:

1. If the request payload contains request.user.buyeruid, then that value will be sent to all Bidders. In most cases, this is probably a bad idea.

2. The request payload can store a buyeruid for each Bidder by defining request.user.ext.prebid.buyeruids like so:

    {
      "user": {
        "ext": {
          "prebid": {
            "buyeruids": {
              "bidderA": "some-biddera-id",
              "bidderB": "some-bidderb-id"
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
   

   Prebid Server’s core logic will preprocess the request so that each Bidder sees their own value in the request.user.buyeruid field.

3. Prebid Server will use its Cookie to map IDs for each Bidder.

   If you’re using Prebid.js, this is happening automatically.

   If you’re using another client, you can populate the Cookie of the Prebid Server host with User IDs for each Bidder by using the /cookie_sync endpoint, and calling the URLs that it returns in the response.

Native Request

For each native request, the assets object’s id field is optional and if not defined, Prebid Server will set this automatically, using the index of the asset in the array as the ID.

Bidder Aliases

Requests can define Bidder aliases if they want to refer to a Bidder by a separate name. This can be used to request bids from the same Bidder with different params. For example:

{
  "imp": [{
    "id": "some-impression-id",
    "video": {
      "mimes": ["video/mp4"]
    },
    "ext": {
      "appnexus": {
        "placementId": 123
      },
      "districtm": {
        "placementId": 456
      }
    }
  }],
  "ext": {
    "prebid": {
      "aliases": {
        "districtm": "appnexus"
      }
    }
  }
}

For all intents and purposes, the alias will be treated as another Bidder. This new Bidder will behave exactly like the original, except that the Response will contain separate SeatBids, and any Targeting keys will be formed using the alias’ name.

If an alias overlaps with a core Bidder’s name, then the alias will take precedence. This prevents breaking API changes as new Bidders are added to the project.

For example, if the Request defines an alias like this:

"aliases": {
  "appnexus": "rubicon"
}

then any imp.ext.appnexus params will actually go to the rubicon adapter. It will become impossible to fetch bids from AppNexus within that Request.

Bidder Alias GVL IDs

For environments that have turned on GDPR enforcement, it can be important to define the Global Vendor List (GVL) ID with an alias.

To do this, just set ext.prebid.aliasgvlids alongside ext.prebid.aliases:

"ext": {
  "prebid": {
    "aliases": {
      "newAlias": "originalBidderCode"
    },
    "aliasgvlids": {
      "newAlias": 11111
    }
  }
}

Stored Requests

request.imp[i].ext.prebid.storedrequest incorporates a Stored Request from the server.

A typical storedrequest value looks like this:

{
  "imp": [{
    "ext": {
      "prebid": {
        "storedrequest": {
          "id": "some-id"
        }
      }
    }
  }]
}

For more information, see the docs for Stored Requests.

Cache bids

Bids can be temporarily cached on the server by sending instructions in request.ext.prebid.cache:

{
  "ext": {
    "prebid": {
      "cache": {
        "bids": {},
        "vastxml": {}
      }
    }
  }
}

Both bids and vastxml are optional, but one of the two is required if you want to cache bids. This property will have no effect unless request.ext.prebid.targeting is also set in the request.

Caching the entire bid

If the ext.prebid.cache.bids object is present, Prebid Server will make a best effort to cache the entire bid object server-side and return the cache location in two places:

1) OpenRTB seatbid.bid.ext.prebid.cache.bids

    {
      "seatbid": [
        "bid": [
          ...
          "ext": {
            "prebid": {
              "cache": {
                "bids": {
                  "url": "https://example.com:443/cache?uuid=385b283c-22cb-49a0-8c0b-8b88c49d9fe9",
                  "cacheId": "385b283c-22cb-49a0-8c0b-8b88c49d9fe9"
                }
              }
            }
          }
        ]
      ]
    }

2) Extra bid.ext.prebid.targeting keys:

• hb_cache_id: the cache ID for the highest overall bid in each imp.
• hb_cache_host: the hostname where the cacheId may be retrieved.
• hb_cache_path: the path where the cacheId may be retrieved. https://hb_cache_host/hb_cache_path?uuid=hb_cacheId
• hb_cache_id_{bidderName}: the cache ID for the highest bid from {bidderName} in each imp.

If caching succeeded, the value will be a UUID which can be used to fetch Bid JSON from Prebid Cache. The keys may not exist if the host company’s cache is full, having connection problems, etc.

This option is mainly intended for Prebid Mobile setups where bids aren’t cached client-side.

Caching just the VAST XML

This option is mainly intended for video players that need a URL that returns a VAST XML body.

If the ext.prebid.cache.vastxml object is present, Prebid Server will make a best effort to cache just the VAST XML server-side and return the cache location in two places:

1) OpenRTB seatbid.bid.ext.prebid.cache.vastXml

    {
      "seatbid": [
        "bid": [
          ...
          "ext": {
            "prebid": {
              "cache": {
                "bids": {
                  "url": "https://example.com:443/cache?uuid=385b283c-22cb-49a0-8c0b-8b88c49d9fe9",
                  "cacheId": "385b283c-22cb-49a0-8c0b-8b88c49d9fe9"
                }
              }
            }
          }
        ]
      ]
    }

2) Extra bid.ext.prebid.targeting keys:

• hb_uuid: the cache ID for the highest overall video bid in each imp.
• hb_cache_host: the hostname where the UUID may be retrieved.
• hb_cache_path: the path where the UUID may be retrieved. ex: https://hb_cache_host/hb_cache_path?uuid=hb_uuid
• hb_uuid_{bidderName}: the cache ID for the highest video bid from {bidderName} in each imp.

In addition to the caveats noted for cache.bids, these will exist only if there are video bids. If the keys exist, the values can be used to fetch the bid’s VAST XML from Prebid Cache directly.

GDPR

Prebid Server supports the IAB’s GDPR recommendations, which can be found here.

This adds two optional properties:

• request.user.ext.consent: Is the consent string required by the IAB standards.
• request.regs.ext.gdpr: Is 0 if the caller believes that the user is not under GDPR, 1 if the user is under GDPR, and undefined if the caller is uncertain.

These fields will be forwarded to each Bidder, so they can decide how to process them.

Interstitial support

Additional support for interstitials is enabled through the addition of two fields to the request: device.ext.prebid.interstitial.minwidthperc and device.ext.interstial.minheightperc The values will be numbers that indicate the minimum allowed size for the ad, as a percentage of the base side. For example, a width of 600 and “minwidthperc”: 60 would allow ads with widths from 360 to 600 pixels inclusive.

Example:

{
  "imp": [{
    ...
    "banner": { ... },
    "instl": 1,
    ...
  }],
  "device": {
    ...
    "h": 640,
    "w": 320,
    "ext": {
      "prebid": {
        "interstitial": {
          "minwidthperc": 60,
          "minheightperc": 60
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

PBS receiving a request for an interstitial imp and these parameters set, it will rewrite the format object within the interstitial imp. If the format array’s first object is a size, PBS will take it as the max size for the interstitial. If that size is 1x1, it will look up the device’s size and use that as the max size. If the format is not present, it will also use the device size as the max size. (1x1 support so that you don’t have to omit the format object to use the device size) PBS with interstitial support will come preconfigured with a list of common ad sizes. Preferentially organized by weighing the larger and more common sizes first. But no guarantees to the ordering will be made. PBS will generate a new format list for the interstitial imp by traversing this list and picking the first 10 sizes that fall within the imp’s max size and minimum percentage size. There will be no attempt to favor aspect ratios closer to the original size’s aspect ratio. The limit of 10 is enforced to ensure we don’t overload bidders with an overlong list. All the interstitial parameters will still be passed to the bidders, so they may recognize them and use their own size matching algorithms if they prefer.

Currency Support

To set the desired ‘ad server currency’, use the standard OpenRTB cur attribute. Note that Prebid Server only looks at the first currency in the array.

"cur": ["USD"]

If you want or need to define currency conversion rates (e.g. for currencies that your Prebid Server doesn’t support), define ext.prebid.currency.rates.

"ext": {
  "prebid": {
    "currency": {
      "rates": {
        "USD": { "UAH": 24.47, "ETB": 32.04 }
      }
    }
  }
}

If it exists, a rate defined in ext.prebid.currency.rates has the highest priority. If a currency rate doesn’t exist in the request, the external file will be used.

An additional option is usepbsrates. When true, this flag indicates that dynamic currency exchange rates should be preferred over any supplied static rates. When false, it indicates that dynamic exchange rates should not be used. The default is ‘true’.

Supply Chain Support

Basic supply chains are passed to Prebid Server on source.ext.schain and passed through to bid adapters. Prebid Server does not currently offer the ability to add a node to the supply chain.

Bidder-specific schains:

"ext.prebid.schains": [
   { "bidders": ["bidderA"], "schain": { SCHAIN OBJECT 1}},
   { "bidders": ["*"], "schain": { SCHAIN OBJECT 2}}
]

In this scenario, Prebid Server sends the first schain object to bidderA and the second schain object to everyone else.

If there’s already an source.ext.schain and a bidder is named in ext.prebid.schains (or covered by the wildcard condition), ext.prebid.schains takes precedent.

User IDs

Prebid Server adapters can support the Prebid.js User ID modules by reading the following extensions and passing them through to their server endpoints:

{
  "user": {
    "ext": {
      "eids": [{
        "source": "adserver.org",
        "uids": [{
          "id": "111111111111",
          "ext": {
            "rtiPartner": "TDID"
          }
        }]
      },
      {
        "source": "pubcid.org",
        "id":"11111111"
      }]
    }
  }
}

EID Permissions

Publishers can constrain which bidders receive which user.ext.eids entries. See the Prebid.js user ID permissions reference for background.

{
  "ext": {
    "prebid": {
      "data": {
        "eidpermissions": [
          {"source": "sharedid.org", "bidders": ["*"]},  // * is the default
          {"source": "neustar.biz",  "bidders": ["bidderB"]},
          {"source": "id5-sync.com", "bidders": ["bidderA","bidderC"]}
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

ext.prebid.data.eidpermissions is an array of objects that can contain these attributes:

Rewarded Video

To be deprecated for request.imp[].rwdd introduced in OpenRTB 2.6.

Rewarded video is a way to incentivize users to watch ads by giving them ‘points’ for viewing an ad. A Prebid Server client can declare a given adunit as eligible for rewards by declaring imp.ext.prebid.is_rewarded_inventory:1.

Debug Flag

The OpenRTB test flag has a special meaning that bidders may react to: they may not perform a normal auction, or may not pay for test requests.

You can turn on the extra Prebid Server debug log without the formal test behavior by instead setting ext.prebid.debug: true.

Stored Responses

While testing SDK and video integrations, it’s important, but often difficult, to get consistent responses back from bidders that cover a range of scenarios like different CPM values, deals, etc. Prebid Server supports a debugging workflow in two ways:

• a stored-auction-response that covers multiple bidder responses
• multiple stored-bid-responses at the bidder adapter level

Single Stored Auction Response ID

When a storedauctionresponse ID is specified:

• the rest of the imp.ext.prebid block is irrelevant and ignored
• nothing is sent to any bidder adapter for that imp
• the response retrieved from the stored-response-id is assumed to be the entire contents of the seatbid object corresponding to that impression.

This request:

{
  "test": 1,
  "tmax": 500,
  "id": "test-auction-id",
  "app": { ... },
  "ext": {
    "prebid": {
      "targeting": {},
      "cache": {
        "bids": {}
      }
    }
  },
  "imp": [
    {
      "id": "a",
      "ext": {
        "prebid": {
          "storedauctionresponse": { "id": "1111111111" }
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "b",
      "ext": {
        "prebid": {
          "storedauctionresponse": { "id": "22222222222" }
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Will result in this response, assuming that the ids exist in the appropriate DB table read by Prebid Server:

{
  "id": "test-auction-id",
  "seatbid": [
    {
      "bid": [{
        // BidderA bid from storedauctionresponse=11111111111
      },{
        // BidderA bid from storedauctionresponse=22222222222
      }],
      "seat": "bidderA"
    },
    {
      "bid": [{
        // BidderB bid from storedauctionresponse=11111111111
      },{
        // BidderB bid from storedauctionresponse=22222222222
      }],
      "seat": "bidderB"
    }
  ]
}

In this scenario, the contents of the storedauctionresponse entry is an array of ortb2 seatbid objects. e.g.

[
  {
    "bid": [{
        "impid": "a", // doesn't have to match the request
        ... bid 1 ...
    },{
        "impid": "b", // doesn't have to match the request
        ... bid 2 ...
    }],
    "seat": "bidderA"
  },{
    "bid": [{
        "impid": "a", // doesn't have to match the request
        ... bid 1 ...
    },{
        "impid": "b", // doesn't have to match the request
        ... bid 2 ...
    }],
    "seat": "bidderB"
  }
]

Multiple Stored Bid Response IDs

In contrast to the feature above, using storedbidresponse (instead of storedauctionresponse) lets real auctions take place while the actual bidder response is overridden in such a way that it still exercises adapter code.

PBS removes imp.ext.prebid.bidder parameters for those bidders specified in storedbidresponse but if there’s a bidder present in imp.ext.prebid.bidder that’s doesn’t have a storedbidresponse specified, the adapter will be called as usual.

For example, this request:

{
  "test": 1,
  "tmax": 500,
  "id": "test-auction-id",
  "app": { ... },
  "ext": {
    "prebid": {
      "targeting": {},
        "cache": { "bids": {} }
    }
  },
  "imp": [
    {
      "id": "a",
      "ext": {
        "prebid": {
          "bidder: {
            "bidderA": { ... params ... },
            "bidderB": { ... params ... }
          },
          "storedbidresponse": [
            { "bidder": "BidderA", "id": "333333", "replaceimpid":true },
            { "bidder": "BidderB", "id": "444444", "replaceimpid":true },
          ]
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "b",
      "ext": {
        "prebid": {
          "bidder: {
            "bidderA": { ... params ... },
            "bidderB": { ... params ... }
          },
          "storedbidresponse": [
            { "bidder": "BidderA", "id": "5555555", "replaceimpid":true }
            // note: no storedbidrespose for bidderB
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Could result in this response:

{
  "id": "test-auction-id",
  "seatbid": [
    {
      "bid": [{
        // contents of storedbidresponse=3333333 as parsed by bidderA adapter
      },{
        // contents of storedbidresponse=5555555 as parsed by bidderA adapter
      }],
      "seat": "bidderA"
    },
    {
      "bid": [{
        // contents of storedbidresponse=4444444 as parsed by bidderB adapter
      },{
        // actual bid response from bidderB
      }],
      "seat": "bidderB"
    }
  ]
}

Notes:

• the DB entries for this stored-response scenario are quite different: they need to be in whatever format the bid adapter’s endpoint responds with. i.e. the host company will need to capture an actual bid response from the specific bidders and enter it into the DB table.
• the replaceimpid parameter tells PBS to ignore the impid supplied in the DB and instead create/overwrite seatbid.bid.impid with the value that matches the incoming request. This simplifies debugging.

See Prebid.org troubleshooting pages for how to utilize this feature within the context of the browser.

First Party Data Support

This is the Prebid Server version of the Prebid.js First Party Data feature. It’s a standard way for the page (or app) to supply first party data and control which bidders have access to it.

It specifies where in the OpenRTB request non-standard attributes should be passed. For example:

{
  "ext": {
    "prebid": {
      "data": { "bidders": [ "rubicon", "appnexus" ] }  // these are the bidders allowed to see protected data
    }
  },
  "site": {
    "keywords": "",
    "search": "",
    "ext": {
      "data": { GLOBAL SITE DATA } // only seen by bidders named in ext.prebid.data.bidders[]
    }
  },
  "user": {
    "keywords": "",
    "gender": "",
    "yob": 1999,
    "geo": {},
    "ext": {
      "data": { GLOBAL USER DATA }  // only seen by bidders named in ext.prebid.data.bidders[]
    }
  },
  "imp": [
    {
      ...
      "ext": {
        "data": {
          ADUNIT SPECFIC CONTEXT DATA  // can be seen by all bidders
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Bidder-specific data can be defined with ext.prebid.bidderconfig:

"ext": {
  "prebid": {
    "bidderconfig": {
      "bidders": ["bidderA", "bidderB"]
    },
    "config": {
      "ortb2": {
        "site": { ... },
        "user": { ... }
      }
    }
  }
}

Prebid Server enforces data permissioning. So before passing values to the bidder adapters, the PBS core will:

1. Check for ext.prebid.bidderconfig
   1. If it exists, merge config.ortb2 into the bidder-specific request
2. As the OpenRTB request is being sent to each adapter:
   1. If ext.prebid.data.bidders exists in the original request and this bidder is on the list, then copy site.content.data, site.ext.data, app.ext.data, user.data, and user.ext.data to the bidder request – otherwise don’t copy those blocks. Remove ext.prebid.data.bidders from the bidder-specific request
   2. copy other objects as normal

Each adapter must be coded to read the values from the ortb and pass it to their endpoints appropriately.

Custom Targeting

PBS-Java only

An OpenRTB extension, whether in the the original request or the stored-request, can customize the ad server targeting generated by PBS.

The OpenRTB field is ext.prebid.adservertargeting. Here’s an example:

"ext.prebid.adservertargeting":  [
  {
    "key": "hb_amp_ow",           // the targeting key
    "source": "bidrequest",       // pull the value from the path specified in the bid request object
    "value": "ext.prebid.amp.data.ow"  // path to value in the bidrequest
  },{
    "key": "hb_static_thing",
    "source": "static",          // just use the 'value' provided
    "value": "my-static-value"
  },{
    "key": "{{BIDDER}}_custom1", // {{BIDDER}} is a macro to be resolved
    "source": "bidresponse",     // pull the value from the path specified in the bid response object
    "value": "seatbid.bid.ext.custom1"
  }
]

ext.prebid.adservertargeting is an array objects. Each object has the following format:

In order to pull AMP parameters out into targeting, Prebid Server places AMP query string parameters in ext.prebid.amp.data. e.g.

"ext": {
  "prebid": {
    "amp": {
      "data": {
        "adc": "GA1.2.662776284.1602172186",
        "curl": "https://example.com/index.html",
        "debug": "1",
        "pvid": "",  // page view ID
        "ms": "",    // multi-size
        "ow": "",    // override-width
        "oh": "",    // override-height
        "w": "300",
        "h": "50",
        "gdpr_consent": "",
        "purl": "https://example.com/index.html",
        "slot": "/11111/amp_test",
        "timeout": "1000",
        "targeting": "{\"site\":{\"attr\":\"val\"}}",
        "tag_id": "amp-AMP_Test-300x250",
        "account": "22222"
      }
    }
  }
}

MultiBid

PBS-Java only

Allows a single bidder to bid more than once into an auction and have extra bids passed back to the client.

See the Prebid.js MultiBid Module for background information and use cases.

The Prebid extension to the OpenRTB protocol is ext.prebid.multibid. For example:

{
  "ext": {
    "prebid": {
      "multibid": [{
        "bidder": "bidderA",
        "maxbids": 2,
        "targetbiddercodeprefix": "bidA"
      }, {
        "bidder": "bidderB",
        "maxbids": 3,
        "targetbiddercodeprefix": "bidB"
      }, {
        "bidders": ["bidderC", "bidderD"],
        "maxbids": 2
      }]
    }
  }
}

MultiBid parameter details:

Prebid Server core does the following when it sees ext.prebid.multibid:

1. Before sending the request to bid adapters, it removes all entries from the multibid array except the one for that particular bid adapter. This lets the bid adapters be aware of how many bids they’re going to be allowed to submit into the auction.
2. Lets any additional bids through the OpenRTB response on seatbid[].bid[].
3. Adds the additional specified targeting on seatbid[].bid[].ext.prebid.targeting and repeats the biddercode used for targeting on seatbid[].bid[].ext.prebid.targetbiddercode.

Here’s an example response:

{
  "seatbid": [{
    "seat": "bidderA",
    "bid": [{
      "id": "bid1",
      "impid": "imp1",
      "price": 1.04,
      "ext": {
        "prebid": {
          "targeting": {
            "hb_pb_bidderA": 1.00
          },
          "targetbiddercode": "bidderA"
        }
      }
      ...
    }, {
      "id": "bid2",
      "impid": "imp1", // same imp as above
      "price": 0.8,
      "ext": {
        "prebid": {
          "targeting": {
            "hb_pb_bidA2": 0.50
          },
          "targetbiddercode": "bidA2"
        }
      }
      ...
    }]
  }]
}

Echo StoredRequest Video Attributes

Several video specific fields can be set in the Stored Request that the device player would not have context to at time of render. The requester (e.g. Prebid SDK) can send this signal to Prebid Server, which causes PBS-core to place the video-related attributes on the response.

{
  ...
  "imp": [{
    "id": "123456789",
    "video": {
      ...
    },
    "ext": {
      "prebid": {
        "storedrequest": {
          "id": "xxx"
        },
        "options": {
          "echovideoattrs": true
        }
      }
    },
    ...
  }]
  ...
}

1. Prebid Server receives this request and expands the storedrequest value, merging it with the imp object.
2. Because echovideoattrs is true, video parameters in the storedrequest imp[].video are copied to seatbid.bid.ext.prebid.storedrequestattributes.

{
  "seatbid": [{
    "bid": [{
      ...
      "ext": {
        "prebid": {
          "storedrequestattributes": {
            "maxduration": 60,
            "mimes": ["video/mp4"],
            "minduration": 15,
            "protocols": [1, 2],
            "skipafter": 0,
            "skipmin": 0,
            "startdelay": 0,
            "playbackmethod": [1]
          }
        }
      }
    }]
  }],
  ...
}

Request Passthrough

In support of the Prebid SDK, PBS supports a simple passthrough mechanism:

If the bidrequest contains ext.prebid.passthrough simply copy that object to the bidresponse ext.prebid.passthrough with no validation other than it being valid JSON.

The initial use is for the SDK to define render-time parameters, but this mechanism may find use in other applications.

PG Deals Extensions

PBS-Java only

In support of Programmatic Guaranteed, there are two extensions at the bidder level to control behavior:

• imp[].ext.prebid.bidder.BIDDER.dealsonly - if true, PBS will call the bidder, but if there’s no deal ID in the response, it will reject the bid. This allows for scenarios where a bidder is called twice, once for Open Market bids, once for deals bids. Defaults to false.
• imp[].ext.prebid.bidder.BIDDER.pgdealsonly - If true and no PG line item for this bidder matches in this impression, PBS will not even call the bid adapter. This saves network bandwidth when no PG line items are available. Defaults to false. If set to ‘true’, this flag forces the dealsonly flag (above) to true.

These flags can be used separately or together. For example:

{
  "imp": [{
    "ext": {
      "prebid": {
        "bidder": {
          "bidderA": {
            ...,
            "dealsonly": true,
            "pgdealsonly": true
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }]
}

OpenRTB Response Extensions

Bidder Response Times

response.ext.responsetimemillis.{bidderName} tells how long each bidder took to respond. These can help quantify the performance impact of “the slowest bidder.”

Bidder Errors

response.ext.errors.{bidderName} contains messages which describe why a request may be “suboptimal”. For example, suppose a banner and a video impression are offered to a bidder which only supports banner.

In cases like these, the bidder can ignore the video impression and bid on the banner one. However, the publisher can improve performance by only offering impressions which the bidder supports.

For example, a request may return this in response.ext

{
  "ext": {
    "errors": {
      "appnexus": [{
        "code": 2,
        "message": "A hybrid Banner/Audio Imp was offered, but Appnexus doesn't support Audio."
      }],
      "rubicon": [{
        "code": 1,
        "message": "The request exceeded the timeout allocated"
      }]
    }
  }
}

The codes currently defined are:

0   NoErrorCode
1   TimeoutCode
2   BadInputCode
3   BadServerResponseCode
999 UnknownErrorCode

Ad Server Targeting

Prebid Server will generate ad server targeting variables as defined by request parameters:

1. If ext.prebid.targeting.includewinners is true, seatbid.bid.ext.prebid.targeting will be defined for the top bid in each imp object and will carry the following targeting values: hb_pb, hb_size, and hb_bidder.
2. If ext.prebid.targeting.includebidderkeys is true, seatbid.bid.ext.prebid.targeting will be defined for the top bid from each bidder in each imp object and will carry the following targeting values: hb_pb_BIDDER and hb_size_BIDDER.
3. If ext.prebid.cache.bids is specified, any targeting objects will also contain hb_cache_id, hb_cache_id_BIDDER, hb_cache_host, and hb_cache_path.
4. If ext.prebid.cache.vastxml is specified, any targeting objects will also contain hb_uuid, hb_uuid_BIDDER, hb_cache_host, and hb_cache_path.
5. If the bid response defines a deal, any targeting objects will also contain hb_deal or hb_deal_BIDDER
6. If ext.prebid.adservertargeting is defined, arbitrary targeting values may be specified.

{
  "seatbid": [{
    "seat": "bidderA",
    "bid": [{
      "id": "bid1",
      "impid": "imp1",
      "price": 1.04,
      "ext": {
        "prebid": {
          "targeting": {
            "hb_pb": 1.00, // values without prefixes on the winning bids only
            "hb_pb_bidderA": 1.00, // only if includebidderkeys is true
            "hb_bidder": "bidderA",
            "hb_size": "300x250",
            "hb_size_bidderA": "300x250",
            "hb_format": "video", // only if includeformat is specified
            "hb_deal": "123"      // only if bid response contains a deal
          }
        }
      }
      ...
    }]
  }]
}

Debug Output

response.ext.debug.httpcalls.{bidder} will be populated only if test:1 or ext.prebid.debug:true.

This contains info about every request and response sent by the bidder to its server. It is only returned on test bids for performance reasons, but may be useful during debugging.

response.ext.debug.resolvedrequest will be populated only if request.test was set to 1.

This contains the request after the resolution of stored requests and implicit information (e.g. site domain, device user agent).

"ext": {
  "debug": {
    "httpcalls": {
      "bidderA": [ ... ]
    },
    "resolvedrequest": { ... },
    "responsetimemillis": { ... }
    ...
  }
}

Original Bid CPM

response.seatbid[].bid[].ext.origbidcpm and response.seatbid[].bid[].ext.origbidcur will contain the original bid price/currency from the bidder. The value in seatbid[].bid[].price may be converted for currency and adjusted with a bid adjustment factor.

OpenRTB Ambiguities

This section describes the ways in which Prebid Server implements OpenRTB spec ambiguous parts.

• request.cur: If request.cur is not specified in the bid request, Prebid Server will consider it as being USD whereas OpenRTB spec doesn’t mention any default currency for bid request. request.cur: ['USD'] // Default value if not set

OpenRTB Differences

This section describes the ways in which Prebid Server breaks the OpenRTB spec.

Allowed Bidders

Prebid Server returns a 400 on requests which define wseat or bseat. We may add support for these in the future, if there’s compelling need.

Instead, an impression is only offered to a bidder if bidrequest.imp[i].ext.{bidderName} exists.

This supports publishers who want to sell different impressions to different bidders.

Deprecated Properties

This endpoint returns a 400 if the request contains deprecated properties (e.g. imp.wmin, imp.hmax).

The error message in the response describes how to alter the request to make it acceptable for Prebid Server.

Determining Bid Security (http/https)

In the OpenRTB spec, request.imp[i].secure says:

Flag to indicate if the impression requires secure HTTPS URL creative assets and markup, where 0 = non-secure, 1 = secure. If omitted, the secure state is unknown, but non-secure HTTP support can be assumed.

In Prebid Server, an https request which does not define secure will be forwarded to Bidders with a 1. Publishers who run https sites and want insecure ads can still set this to 0 explicitly.

HTTP Headers

In order to facilitate compatibility and analytics, Prebid Server will add the x-prebid HTTP header to outgoing requests. Some examples:

x-prebid: pbs-go/0.155
x-prebid: pbjs/4.39,pbs-go/0.155
x-prebid: prebid-mobile/1.2.3,pbs-java/1.64

The PBJS version comes from ext.prebid.channel: {name: "pbjs", version: "4.39"}

The Prebid SDK version comes from:

"app.ext.prebid": {
   "source":  "prebid-mobile"
   "version": "1.2.3"
}

Prebid Server ORTB2 Extension Summary

Request

Response

Further Reading

• OpenRTB 2.4 Specification
• OpenRTB 2.5 Specification
• OpenRTB 2.6 Specification