OpenAds overview (closed beta)
OpenAds is a high-integrity auction environment powered by Prebid-derived open-source auction logic. With its transparent programmatic demand wrapper, OpenAds offers unique features that publishers can use to validate the fairness of the auction. OpenAds does not perform yield management, replace a full-stack Prebid offering, or replace a publisher's ad server. The Trade Desk built OpenAds because clean auctions drive better campaign performance for ad buyers and highlight high-quality inventory.
NOTE: OpenAds currently retrieves demand only from The Trade Desk; additional third-party SSP and DSP support is coming soon.
Prerequisites
To get started with OpenAds, you must meet the following requirements:
Be enabled to receive OpenAds responses. Contact The Trade Desk Inventory team for help.
Have your OpenPath account ID.
Be familiar with Prebid.js and Prebid Server setup.
Configure an ad server, such as Google Ad Manager (GAM).
For details, see OpenAds onboarding checklist.
Process overview
After you've gathered your prerequisites and read through the best practices, follow these one-time steps.
| Step | Task | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Configure user ID modules for OpenAds. | Before you build, identify which identity providers apply and align with OpenAds user ID modules. See also Consent Management for privacy, and Cookie Mapping if using TDIDs. IMPORTANT: Adding a module later requires a full recompile and CDN update, more than just a config change. |
| 2 | Activate the OpenAds script to your webpage. | The provided code samples show how to add the OpenAds script and ad units to your website. NOTE: These scripts use different configuration settings from Prebid. |
| 3 | (Optional) Sync with multiple wrappers such as Prebid. | If your page runs both pb.js and oa.js scripts, you must sync the transaction ID to comply with IAB guidelines. For a code sample, see Run Prebid.js and OpenAds.js concurrently. |
NOTE: If you decide to add more user ID modules, contact the Inventory Team to determine if your integration needs to redo steps.
Implementation guidelines
Keep the following guidelines in mind when configuring your OpenAds integration:
- Price floors: Bids below the floor are never eligible to compete, reducing demand and limiting competition in your ad server. If you need to set floors, do so in a single centralized place, such as your ad server, rather than within OpenAds.
- Identity: All IDs used in OpenAds must have real-time provenance declared. OpenAds does not support ID modules that do not provide provenance as defined by the IAB Tech Lab.
Here are additional resources on ID provenance:
- For best practices, see Identity.
- For field reference, see User object in the The Trade Desk Standard Adapter specification.
- For examples of the ID provenance fields, see Bid request and response examples.
See also the Current article for more industry news.