What is Clearing price?

The clearing price is the price at which an auction actually sells the impression. It is not always the highest bid: it depends on the auction rules and on the floor.

In a first-price auction, the clearing price is the winning bid itself. In a second-price auction, it is just above the runner-up’s bid, or the floor if that is higher. Fees taken by SSPs and exchanges, or Google’s revenue share, come off the clearing price before the publisher is paid, so the amount you receive is lower again.

Buyers watch clearing prices closely. In first-price auctions, DSPs use bid shading to bid just above the price they expect to clear, and Google shares a minimum bid to win with buyers after Ad Manager auctions. That is why clearing prices on a site can drift down over time if competition is thin, even when buyers value the inventory just as much.