RTB Standard Pushes Ahead — Without Google

 

The OpenRTB consortium is a who’s who of the emerging real-time bidding landscape with a notable exception: Google. The Interactive Advertising Bureau said late yesterday it would take over the work of the group in developing a common protocol for open real-time bidding.

The end goal, after the tech details are hashed out, is to bring needed efficiency to the ad-bidding world — and allow the many small players to compete without having one standard imposed from above. That one standard from above, of course, would be via Google. The digital ad system is developing into two camps: Google and everyone else. Google is working to build an end-to-end system, one that is often painted by competitors as “closed.” (Think Apple’s approach with iOS.) Others, including the proposed Microsoft-Yahoo-AOL alliance, are banking on an open approach.

The IAB’s head, Randall Rothenberg, announced the support for the standard yesterday at an OpenRTB Town Hall. (I moderated the discussion.) Participants in the meeting wasted little time criticizing Google for holding back support for the standard. Google group product manager Scott Spencer asserted Google does favor open standards, only it wants the best protocol used. He also noted the meeting was the first time Google was invited.

The skirmishes are part of a bigger game of positioning how the emerging ad-tech landscape will shake out. Another interesting non-supporter of the standard: AppNexus, which is emerging as a force on the bidding landscape. It was a member of the OpenRTB group but then dropped out.

More in Media

Why 1440 is evolving from a newsletter company to a destination of explainers

Newsletter company 1440 is expanding beyond email by building an online library of explainers, amid the rise of AI-driven search.

Publisher alliance Ozone makes a larger play for U.S. advertisers

Publisher alliance Ozone is on a growth tear in the US and plans to expand its local headcount to 50 people next year.

Media Briefing: From blocking to licensing, publishers inch toward leverage with AI

There are new levers for publishers to test in the AI era. While they’re still far from holding the upper hand, compared to a year ago, the outlook no longer looks quite so bleak.