Set up OpenRTB for native

Publishers selling native ad inventory can integrate with Index Exchange (Index) using OpenRTB An open industry standard for communication between buyers and sellers of online advertising in real-time bidding auctions. It's published by the IAB. to access Index’s native demand. Native ads are designed with text, images, or videos as provided by the marketer. The ads are optimized by the media owner or Index Exchange (Index) for the location where they are served. Native ad inventory is currently available on web.

How it works

Publishers selling native ad inventory will request a set of assets from buyers, such as a headline, image, logo, and descriptive ad copy. Buyers who are interested in buying native inventory must return these assets requested from the publisher The owner of a website or app where advertisements are served. as part of a valid native bid response 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.. For more information on how native works in an auction, refer to the steps below.

  1. A publisher sends a native bid request An OpenRTB request that is sent from a supply-side platform (SSP) or ad exchange to the DSP requesting a bid response for potential impressions. A bid request contains information about the impression that allows the DSP to decide whether to bid on the impression. through a supported supply source, such as Google's Open Bidding, to Index Exchange (Index). The native request contains a native object within the impression object.

  2. Index passes the bid request containing a list of the requested fields (creative A digital ad made available in various creative types, defined by their size in pixels such as 300x250px. assets) to eligible DSPs.

  3. Eligible DSPs bid on the impression opportunity and return the requested fields in their bid response to Index.

  4. Index runs an auction to select a winning bid and sends the buyer's creative assets to the supply source.

  5. The supply source runs a final auction to select the winning bid and sends the buyer's creative assets to the publisher.

  6. The publisher assembles the assets into a native ad and styles them to fit their site or mobile app's design.

For more information on supported native bid request and response fields, see: