Ep 1: How Prebid.js runs an auction

A reader opens news.example. An auction starts before any ad.

That auction is Prebid.js, free, open-source code that collects bids in the browser.

One, the page tells Google Ad Manager to wait. Two, Prebid reads your ad units, like this three hundred by two fifty slot and its three bidders. Three, it asks all three at once and starts a timer, say one thousand milliseconds. Bidder A answers two dollars ten. Bidder B, one eighty-five. Bidder C is late, so it’s left out. Four, Prebid tags the slot with labels called key-values. The rounded price, the bidder, and an ad ID. Five, Google Ad Manager runs. If two ten beats your other demand, Prebid’s ad renders.

Today, install Professor Prebid, Prebid’s open-source Chrome extension, and watch who answers, and how fast.

Next, bidder adapters, and why your Prebid build matters.