Google Ordered to Open Up Ad Servers to Prebid
A federal judge has ordered Google to open up its AdX and DFP ad servers to Prebid, an open-source header bidding framework. This is a major win for publishers who have long advocated for greater transparency in online advertising.
The ruling was made by Judge Leonie Brinkema in the largest advertising antitrust case in the United States. Google had been accused of anti-competitive practices and the judge's decision requires the company to build API integrations connecting both AdX and DFP to Prebid. This means that publishers will now have access to real-time bids from competing ad servers.
The ruling also requires Google to share bid data with publishers, including wins and losses, as well as publish technical documentation explaining how DFP selects a winning bid. This is a significant shift for the industry, which has long been opaque in its dealings. Publishers have previously had to reconstruct the logic of ad selection from observed outcomes.
The buy-side restrictions are narrower than what the DOJ had sought, with AdWords no longer able to bid directly into DFP and restricted from using first-party data to advantage Google's own infrastructure. Display and Video 360 emerged untouched due to insufficient connection to anticompetitive conduct.