Google announced an extension to the deprecation period for its Authorized Buyers Real-time Bidding protocol, pushing the sunset date to April 30th, 2025. This extension comes after the company's previous announcement to discontinue the protocol on February 15th, 2025.
Since announcing the protocol's sunset, Google has worked closely with partners to facilitate migration to OpenRTB, providing technical assistance and an A/B experimentation framework. The company reports significant enthusiasm from partners making the transition, with many experiencing notable improvements in bidding performance compared to their previous Google RTB integrations.
The Path Forward
After the new deprecation date of April 30th, 2025, bid requests will no longer be processed through the Authorized Buyers Real-time Bidding protocol. OpenRTB will become the sole supported protocol for:
- Authorized Buyers
- Open Bidding
- SDK Bidding
This extension aligns with Google's broader initiative to standardize industry protocols while ensuring partners have adequate time to optimize their bidding integrations with the OpenRTB protocol.
For partners seeking guidance on the differences between OpenRTB and the Authorized Buyers Real-time Bidding protocol, Google provides comprehensive resources through their OpenRTB migration guide. The extended timeline reflects Google's commitment to supporting a smooth transition for all partners in the ecosystem.