The Programmatic Glossary
A practical glossary designed to help marketers, advertisers and ad-tech professionals understand the terminology that powers programmatic advertising
Programmatic
Bid Request
The package of information sent by a publisher's system to potential buyers when an ad impression becomes available. It's an invitation to bid, containing everything a buyer needs to decide whether they want to purchase the impression and at what price.
HOW IT WORKS
When a user loads a page, the publisher's SSP (Supply Side Platform) packages up available data such as the ad slot size, the page URL, the user's general location, device type, and any audience signals. It then sends this bid request to connected DSPs (Demand Side Platforms) via the OpenRTB (Open Real-Time Bidding) protocol. DSPs evaluate the information, determine whether the impression matches their campaign targets, and submit a bid response within milliseconds.
EXAMPLE
A user in New York opens a sports app on their iPhone. The app's ad slot generates a bid request containing a slot size of 320x50, location set to New York in the US, device type iOS, content category sports, and a floor price of $1.20. A sports betting brand's DSP (Demand Side Platform) recognises that the impression matches its target audience and submits a bid of $2.80.
RELATED TERMS
Bid response | OpenRTB | Real-time bidding (RTB) | SSP | DSP
★ LIMELIGHT INSIGHT: Limelight supports custom OpenRTB endpoints, giving partners full control over how bid requests are structured and which demand partners receive them.
