Loss reason codes

DSPs
Last Updated: October 07, 2026•

Before you begin: Loss reason codes are delivered through the ${AUCTION_LOSS} macro in a loss notice URL. See Sending the loss notice URL (lurl) in bid responses.

The following table lists the loss reason codes that Index can return in an lurl. The codes are defined by the IABClosed Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). An advertising business organization that develops industry standards, conducts research, and provides legal support for the online advertising industry. in the OpenRTB specification.

Note: The OpenRTBClosed An open industry standard for communication between buyers and sellers of online advertising in real-time bidding auctions. It's published by the IAB. specification defines additional loss reason codes that Index does not currently send. Codes that are not listed here will not appear in your loss notices.

CodeLoss reasonWhat it means

1

Internal Error

The bid responseClosed An OpenRTB response that is sent by the DSP in response to the SSP's or ad exchange's bid request. It is an event directed back to the seller expressing a valuation for the request and conditions of sale. could not be read or processed.

3

Invalid Bid Response

The bid response failed validation. Common causes are a missing or invalid seat, or an invalid video duration.

100

Bid was Below Auction FloorClosed A pricing control used by media owners and exchanges to set a minimum sale price on inventory.

The bid price was below the floor for the impression. This includes bids that fall below the floor after fees are deducted, and bids under one cent.

102

Lost to Higher Bid

The bid was valid and took part in the Index auction, but another bid was higher.

104

Buyer Seat Blocked

The seat was blocked for this impression, either by Index or by the Media Owner.

200

CreativeClosed A digital ad made available in various creative types, defined by their size in pixels such as 300x250px. Filtered – General; Reason Unknown

The creative was filtered for a reason with no more specific code. Causes include campaignClosed A collection of multiple ads in different formats., industry, brand, creative ID, or content groupClosed A category used to identify characteristics of campaigns based on the content of their creatives. Publishers can use content groups to block certain ad content from showing on their site, for example religious content. blocks set by the Media Owner, geographic blocks, and creative throttling for a high VASTClosed Video ad-serving template (VAST). A communication standard between ad servers and video players in XML-format that describes the video player's expected behavior. error rate.

201

Creative Filtered – Pending Processing by Exchange

The creative is not yet registered with Index, or is still being processed.

202

Creative Filtered – Disapproved by Exchange

The creative or its campaign was rejected during review.

203

Creative Filtered – Size Not Allowed

The ad size in the bid response was not valid for the requested size.

204

Creative Filtered – Incorrect Creative FormatClosed A classification of ads based on behavior. Describes the properties of the advertisement creative. Available formats include: standard, expandable, overlay/voken, in-banner video, survey, audio, and video.

The creative typeClosed A classification of ads based on behavior. Describes the properties of the advertisement creative. Available formats include: standard, expandable, overlay/voken, in-banner video, survey, audio, and video. was blocked for this impression.

205

Creative Filtered – Advertiser Exclusions

The advertiser was blocked, through the badv field, an advertiser domainClosed Advertiser domain (adomain). An identifier for a brand or advertiser, as provided in an OpenRTB bid response. block, or a brand block.

209

Creative Filtered – Category Exclusions

The creative was blocked by the bcat field (blocked advertiser categories).

210

Creative Filtered – Creative Attribute Exclusions

The creative was blocked by the battr field (blocked creative attributes).

213

Creative Filtered – Not Allowed in DealClosed A private auction that allows media owners to offer specific inventory directly to selected buyers identified by a deal ID. Terms are negotiated and are agreed upon before the auction occurs.

The bid response did not include a deal ID in a private auction.

215

Creative Filtered – App Bundle Exclusions

The creative was blocked by the app bundle ID.