Google has outlined changes to its real-time bidding (RTB) system, affecting advertisers and ad tech companies using its platform.
Key Updates
Protocol Deprecation: The Google Real-time Bidding protocol will sunset on February 15th, 2025.
Maintenance Mode: From September 1st, 2023, the protocol will enter maintenance mode, stopping non-critical feature and quality of service updates.
Migration Guidance: Google recommends users migrate to JSON or Protobuf OpenRTB implementations to access the latest features and avoid service interruptions.
Taxonomy Change: OpenRTB will use IAB Content 1.0 taxonomy instead of Google's product and sensitive category IDs for describing categories blocked by publishers.
New Feature
- DetectedCategories Field: Added to the Real-time Bidding API's creatives resource, this field identifies detected categories for creatives using IAB's taxonomy.
Advertiser Considerations
- Advertisers can use the detectedCategories field to align creative categories with publisher restrictions, potentially reducing bid filtering.
Recommended Actions
- Plan migration to OpenRTB implementations.
- Use the OpenRTB migration guide provided by Google.
- Familiarize with IAB Content 1.0 taxonomy for category management.
This update aligns Google's ad tech infrastructure more closely with industry standards while aiming to improve bidding efficiency.
