Release Notes

November 12, 2020

New creative_type value: native

We've added native as a new possible value provided in the creative_type field. For more information on available fields, see Data dictionary

Publishers

Buyers

DSPs

October 28, 2020

Transaction fee disclosure in real-time

To improve accountability and transparency at the transaction level, Index Exchange (Index) will now disclose, in real-time, its revenue share in DSP bid responses. DSPs who want to see the fee value can include the new ${SUPPLY_FEE} notification macro in the adm or billing notice URL (burl). If the publisher selling the impression allows fee disclosure, this macro will be replaced with the publisher’s Index revenue share in the bid response from Index to the publisher. This macro is available to DSPs on an opt-in basis. To enable it, contact your Index Representative.

DSPs

October 21, 2020

New DSP filter: identity matching

We've added a new traffic filter for DSPs. The identity matching filter allows DSPs to scope by matched cookie-less and device-less traffic that only contains a p_id, in addition to matched cookie-based traffic and device-based traffic.

During the auction, Index now checks the bid request for a p_id, in addition to an external_user_id and IFA. If only a p_id is present, and the DSP is scoping traffic by identity match, the request containing only a p_id will be sent through. For more information on using the DSP identity match filter, see Options to scope traffic by addressability match.

DSPs

October 20, 2020

LiveRamp ATS

The IX Library now supports LiveRamp ATS, a built-in feature of the LiveRampRTI adapter that identifies users in cookieless environments.

Publishers

September 21, 2020

netID

The netID adapter is now available for IX Library™ clients based in Europe. By enabling the netID RTI adapter, publishers can leverage user consent to enrich bid requests with people-based identifiers and minimize the need to rely on third-party cookie syncing to identify users.

Publishers

Buyers

September 18, 2020

Adapter updates

AppNexus has updated its adapter. It now supports allowSmallerSizes and usePaymentRule.

Publishers

September 18, 2020

LGPD

The Brazilian General Data Protection Act (in Portuguese, Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados, or, LGPD) protects personal data of all individuals in Brazil. To learn more about how Index supports the LGPD, see LGPD.

Publishers

Buyers

DSPs

September 17, 2020

clean.io

Index has partnered with clean.io, a third-party technology that prevents fraudulent ads that contain malware and auto-redirects from activating on publisher pages by blocking their malicious behaviors, in real-time. Their technology works by blocking auto-redirects while still allowing the ad to render. This prevents malicious code from rendering for users, while preserving the ad and publisher’s revenue.

For more information about demand quality guidelines at Index, see Ad quality.

Buyers

DSPs

September 4, 2020

Adapter updates

Four IX Library Partners have made the following updates to their adapter:

• AOL, TrustX, and Verizon Media have added support for CCPA.
• AppNexus has added support for keywords.

Publishers

August 25, 2020

Privacy signals added to DSP user matching

When applicable, we now pass privacy signals to DSPs during the Index initiated user matching process. For more information, see us_privacy, gdpr, and gdpr_consent in List of request fields sent to DSPs in Index initiated user data matching.

DSPs

August 18, 2020

New certified adapters

Four new certified adapters join the IX Library Ecosystem. 33Across, AJA, Brightcom, and Teads are bidding adapters that publishers can choose to configure in their IX Library. The Index UI now reflects this change. You'll see all four adapters in the Configure Other Adapters section under the Add Adapters drop-down list (Controls > Inventory > IX Library).

Publishers

August 13, 2020

New industry categories

We have added new industry categories that provide additional granularity for certain industries, including entertainment, medical, and travel categories. For more information, see Industry categories.

Publishers

July 23, 2020

Updated bid request endpoint

We have a new bid request URL for the Index Exchange adapter in Prebid.js and the IX Library: http://htlb.casalemedia.com. This new URL provides an improved load balancing system, which can support larger volumes of traffic with faster response times.

Publishers

July 22, 2020

New Domo field: is_ipv6

A new field called is_ipv6 is available in Domo that specifies if the request was made using version 6 of the Internet Protocol (IPv6). For more information on Domo fields, see Data dictionary.

Publishers

July 21, 2020

Updates to the SupplyChain Object in OpenRTB Bid Requests

To comply with the IAB guidelines, Index Exchange (Index) supports the following fields in the BidRequest.source.ext.schain object of the bid request:

• source.ext.schain.ver: Specifies the version of the supply chain spec, currently version 1.0.
• source.ext.schain.nodes.hp: Specifies that Index is involved in the payment flow for the request. Index's SupplyChain node will be 1 for all requests.

With these updates, Index is making sure that we can accept future versions of SupplyChain, creating a seamless experience as DSPs buy our inventory.

July 16, 2020

Support for LiveRamp in Europe and Asia-Pacific

The LiveRamp Real Time Identity (RTI) adapter is now available for IX Library™ publishers based in the following countries in Europe and Asia Pacific:

• United Kingdom
• France
• Germany
• Spain
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Australia
• Japan
• Singapore

For more information, see:

Publishers

Buyers

DSPs

July 16, 2020

ID Match Extension now available in Asia-Pacific

We're now implementing ID Match Extension across Asia-Pacific publishers and traffic to help activate people-based identifiers in environments where only cookie-based IDs are available.

Publishers

Buyers

July 13, 2020

Video player bidding is available in JW Player

Video player bidding is now available to all publisher partners. Index has partnered with JW Player and now offers demand directly through the video player. This allows publishers to easily connect their digital video inventory with Index through their JW Player. This integration offers reduced latency, which can lead to higher fill rates and greater ad revenue.

To learn more about video player bidding, see JW Player's documentation on how to monetize content with video ads, or speak to your Index Representative.

Publishers

July 3, 2020

Support for badv in bid requests

Index now sends a list of advertiser domains that have been blocked by the publisher from serving on their properties. The domains that we send are specific to domains that a DSP has previously bid with. DSPs can increase their win rate and the number of eligible bids by making sure that they don't bid on any domains that we send in the badv field.

For more information, see the bid request object in List of supported OpenRTB bid request fields for DSPs.

DSPs

June 29, 2020

Invalid Traffic Filtering (IVT)

Index is committed to operating a transparent and clean exchange. To make sure that we meet this goal, Index has a partnership with White Ops, the global leader in bot mitigation and fraud protection. To learn more about White Ops, visit the White Ops website.

Index uses a White Ops tool called MediaGuard to scan each advertising opportunity received by our exchange to filter out ad requests originating from bots or fraudulent traffic. Once an ad request clears this filtration step, it is assigned a lookupID. The lookupID is sent in bid requests to DSPs to indicate that MediaGuard has scanned the ad request and determined that it is not fraudulent. For more information about the lookupID sent in bid requests, see the Impression Extension Object in our List of supported OpenRTB bid request fields for DSPs documentation.

Publishers

Buyers

DSPs

Update to the Index UI login URL and login page

June 17, 2020

Device_type additions in Domo

We have expanded the device_type field in Domo to include the following device type data:

• mobile/tablet
• personal_computer
• connected_tv
• phone
• tablet
• connected_device
• set_top_box

Publishers

June 15, 2020

IX Bridge

We're now implementing ID Match Extension across North American publishers and traffic to help activate people-based identifiers in environments where only cookie-based IDs are available. When Index Exchange (Index) sees a bid request with both an Index cookie identifier and a people-based identifier, we will record the association of these two IDs. When we see the original Index cookie identifier in future bid requests, ID Match Extension can enrich them with people-based identifiers and features, such as LiveRamp's IdentityLink (IDL) and Matched Audiences™ deals.

Publishers

Buyers

DSPs

June 10, 2020

Expanded Support for bcrid

The array of blocked creatives sent to DSPs in the bcrid field (in the Impression Extension object) now includes creatives that are pending review and creatives that have been blocked from serving on our exchange. DSPs can increase their win rate and the number of viable bids by ensuring that they don't bid on any creative IDs we send in the bcrid field.

DSPs

June 2, 2020

New Fields: Video Metrics and Blocked Reason in Domo

We've introduced the following new fields in Domo:

• blocked_reason
• video_placement
• video_skippable
• video_playback_method
• video_rewarded

Publishers

Apr 27, 2020

Enhanced Billing Notifications with burl

We have enhanced our billing notification model for mobile app inventory to support the OpenRTB 2.5 standard Billing Notice URL (burl). With the support for burl, the ad markup and the billing notices are separated so that rendering of the ad and counting of the impression is done independently. This helps reduce billing discrepancies for both sellers and DSPs. To learn more about the burl workflow at Index, see Billing notifications.

Publishers

DSPs

Apr 27, 2020

New tagid Field in Impression Object

We will now pass the tagid field in the imp object on some traffic. tagid is a unique identifier that indicates the ad placement or ad tag on a publisher's website that was used to initiate an auction. With tagid, DSPs can access a more detailed breakdown of publisher inventory based on where the ad is located on a web page to optimize and troubleshoot buyer campaigns. To learn more, see tagid.

DSPs

Apr 14, 2020

New Fields in Domo for TCF 2.0

We've introduced the following new fields in Domo to provide reporting on TCF 2.0:

• consent_status
• tcf_version

For more information, see TCF 2.0.

Publishers

Apr 7, 2020

Post-Auction Discounts on Deals

When publishers offer discounts to buyers by setting a lower deal floor or a lower fixed deal price, the buyer's chances of winning an auction remain low. In an effort to increase win rates for buyers, we're now introducing Post-Auction Discounts.

With Post-Auction Discounts, publishers and buyers negotiate discounts for inventory and the discount is applied after the bid wins an auction, without impacting a buyer's win rate. To learn more, see Negotiating discounts on deals.

Publishers can set Post-Auction Discounts directly in the Index UI using the new Discount toggle and Discount (%) field in the New Deal section. To learn more, see Create a legacy deal.

Publishers

Mar 30, 2020

Support for Rewarded Video Ads

We now support Open Bidding requests indicating in-app rewarded video ad inventory. Rewarded video ads are opt-in and give users rewards for watching or interacting with the ad. Index Exchange (Index) passes the rewarded ad unit signal from publishers to DSPs in the Video Extension object of the bid request.

Publishers

Buyers

DSPs

Mar 26, 2020

TCF v2.0 Support in the IX Library

The IX Library™ can now communicate and receive consent from Consent Management Providers (CMPs) who are compliant with TCF v2.0. The IX Library will continue to support TCF v1.1 CMP integrations, as the industry switches from TCF v1.1 to v2.0. Certified adapters in all IX Library configurations will continue to receive whichever consent signals are available on the page.

To learn more about how this works in the IX Library, see .

Publishers

Mar 26, 2020

New Certified Adapter: Eyereturn

A new Certified Adapter joins the IX Library™ Ecosystem. Eyereturn is a bidding adapter that publishers can choose to configure in their IX Library. The Index UI now reflects this change. You'll see Eyereturn in the Configure Other Adapters section under the Add Adapters drop-down list (Controls > Inventory > IX Library).

Publishers

Mar 25, 2020

Enhanced User Sync in Index Prebid Adapter

The Index Prebid adapter now leverages Prebid's user sync feature. It now loads an Index user sync pixel into the publisher's website at the completion of a Prebid auction rather than on ad display, which is when it was previously loaded.

Publishers must upgrade to Prebid.js version 3.13 or higher to see this change.

Publishers

Mar 24, 2020

TCF 2.0 Support in User Ext Object

We will now pass the consent string from the Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) 2.0 in the consent field of the user.ext object. We will continue to pass TCF 1.1 until IAB drops support for it on June 30, 2020. Publishers can only send one version of the TCF consent string (1.1 or 2.0), so DSPs should be ready to accept TCF 2.0 consent strings. To learn more, see GDPR (TCF)

Publishers

Mar 23, 2020

New Exchange Fee Reduction (XFR) Beta Program for Buyers

Starting Mar 23, 2020, we are launching a new program called Exchange Fee Reduction (XFR) for buyers that aims to increase ad spend for publishers and drive value for buyers who spend more with Index. When determining Index's fee on auctions, XFR can lower the publisher’s auction fee if the buyer has achieved certain ad spend goals. To learn more, see Understanding publisher revenue shares.

Publishers

Buyers

Mar 23, 2020

New Fields: Client Audit Logs and Domo

We've introduced the following new fields in Client Audit Logs and Domo:

• net_revenue
• pub_rev_share
• discount_amount
• billing_term_id
• p_ids

For more information about these fields, seeData dictionary documentation.

Publishers

Buyers

Mar 23, 2020

Smart Suspend & Enable for Client Audit Logs

We've introduced a new feature that automatically pauses the generation of new Client Audit Logs after a 35 day period of inactivity. This applies to authentication, file listing, and download routes. Smart Suspend goes into effect on Apr 1st.

Publishers

Buyers

Mar 23, 2020

Multi-part files in Client Audit Logs

We've added a new feature to our Client Audit Logs which breaks down large bid event log files into multiple parts or files. You can access this feature by downloading your bid event logs from https://app.indexexchange.com/api/cal/v1/downloads/bidevents.

For more information, see bid events logs in Client Audit Logs (CAL) API.

Publishers

Buyers

Mar 16, 2020

Sorting Auctions on Net Value to Publishers

To help maximize publisher revenue, Index will sort auctions based on bid net value (price after Index fee) to the publisher. For example, a publisher with a lower Index rate on private marketplace (PMP) transactions may see more PMP deal impressions instead of open market due to a higher net value (lower Index fee) on bids with a deal ID. To learn more, see Sorting bids in an auction.

Publishers

Mar 9, 2020

Support for OM SDK

We now support signaling for the Open Measurement (OM) SDK, a feature that allows third-parties to measure the performance of advertisers' creatives. When a publisher indicates that OM SDK is present, we set the associated fields in the bid request.

Publishers

Third Parties

Mar 2, 2020

New User Device Data in Bid Requests

We're now enhancing bid requests by passing more data about a user's device where possible. Index will now pass additional fields in the device object for some bid requests to provide more accurate information about the user's device including device make, model, OS, OS version, and more.

DSPs

Mar 2, 2020

Increased Bid Expiry in IX Library

We've increased the bid time-to-live (TTL) for web-based display (banner) bids in the IX Library from 35 to 300 seconds.

Publishers

Mar 2, 2020

Increased Bid Expiry in Index Prebid Adapter

We've increased the bid time-to-live (TTL) for web-based display (banner) bids on the Index Exchange Prebid adapter:

• Prebid.js is increasing from 35 to 300 seconds
• Prebid server is increasing from 60 to 300 seconds

Publishers may need to upgrade their Prebid to the latest version for these changes to take effect.

Publishers

Mar 2, 2020

Increased Bid Expiry to 300 Seconds for Creatives

For all publisher integrations, we’ve increased the bid time-to-live (TTL) for web-based display (banner) bids from 60 to 300 seconds. This increases the maximum amount of time between when our DSPs return us a bid with a creative to the time we allow that creative to be considered billable.

Publishers

DSPs

Feb 20, 2020

Publisher Sonar

We have started a closed beta for Publisher Sonar™. Publisher Sonar allows publishers to add first-party user data to bid requests, removing the reliance on third-party cookies, and providing all the benefits of people-based advertising.

Publishers

Feb 10, 2020

Unicode Characters Support for Creatives

Index now allows DSPs to bid with creatives containing Unicode characters. Unicode characters are used to represent characters from all the non-Latin alphabets like Greek, Cyrillic, Hebrew, East Asian writing systems, and many more.

DSPs

Jan 31, 2020

Partner Mappings in Client Audit Logs

We released an update to add partner mappings to the Client Audit Logs mappings service. The new mapping returns information about a partner, including their partner ID and partner name.

For more information, see the description for Partner Mapping in Mappings service.

Publishers
Buyers
DSPs

Jan 30, 2020

schain Support in Prebid Adapter

The Index Prebid adapter now supports the schain module. This allows an intermediary to declare their participation in the bid request using the schain object. To get the latest Index Prebid adapter supporting schain, please update your Prebid code to one of the versions listed below:

• Version 3.3.1 or later if you're on the Prebid major version 3.0
• Version 2.44.2 or later if you're on the Prebid major version 2.0

Jan 23, 2020

Removing pid in schain Object

We will end support for pid in the schain object on Feb 21, 2020. You can find the same pid information about the seller account ID from sid within the schain object. For more information, see sid in List of supported OpenRTB bid request fields for DSPs.

Jan 23, 2020

New Certified Adapters: PixiMedia and Quantcast

Two new Certified Adapters join the IX Library™ Ecosystem. PixiMedia and Quantcast are bidding adapters that publishers can choose to configure in their IX Library. The Index UI reflects this change. You'll see PixiMedia and Quantcast in the Configure Other Adapters section under the Add Adapters drop-down list (Controls > Inventory > IX Library).

Jan 23, 2020

Adapter Updates: TripleLift

TripleLift has added support for CCPA and tmax, a field in the bid request object. They've also hardcoded an HTTPS protocol for their API endpoint.

Publishers

Jan 21, 2020

Adapter Updates: Rubicon

Rubicon now passes the position field to indicate the location of an impression in the bid request. The field populates one of three options:

• atf, if the impression is located above the fold
• btf, if the impression is located below the fold
• Null, if the information is not available

Publishers

Jan 21, 2020

Adapter Updates: AppNexus Network Adapter

AppNexus Network Adapter has updated their API endpoint from JPT to UT.

Publishers

Jan 20, 2020

Anonymized fields in Client Audit Logs

We've added a new feature to our Client Audit Logs which anonymizes the data in the following fields:

• auction_id
• ad_domain
• campaign_id
• creative_id
• brand_id

To learn more, see Data dictionary.

Jan 16, 2020

Video in IX Wrapper Library

The option to monetize in-stream video inventory has now been added to the IX Wrapper Library™. To add video into your IX Library™ configuration, click here.

Publishers

Jan 14, 2020

CCPA Support

Publishers

Jan 9, 2020

Adapter Updates: Undertone

Undertone now supports the GDPR module. This allows their adapter to pass consent information to the Undertone API.

They've also added support for canonical URLs, an HTML element that prevents duplicate content by identifying a preferred URL. When available, the canonical URL is sent to the Undertone API instead of the full URL.

Jan 7, 2020

Index Prebid adapter now supports CCPA

The Index Prebid adapter is now able to consume the us_privacy string (CCPA opt-out signal) for both display and video requests. Publishers may need to update the version of Prebid they're using to get CCPA support in the Index Prebid adapter:

• Publishers using version 3.x must update their Prebid code to version 3.3.1 or later

• Publishers using version 2.x must update their Prebid code to version 2.44.2 or later

Publishers

Jan 1, 2020

New Dimension in Domo

We've added a new reporting dimension to Domo: state. This field provides the state or province of the impression. For more information, see Data dictionary.

Publishers