About publisher provided signals (Beta)

This article explores publisher provided signals (Beta), and how to turn them on for your network.

Publisher provided signals (PPS) let publishers scale their first-party audience and contextual data to improve programmatic monetization. This helps publishers make the most of their first-party data for ads personalization in programmatic transactions and helps buyers understand the inventory they're bidding into. 

Beta publishers can use publisher provided signals with existing first-party audiences or detailed contextual signals, such as key-values.

Note: Publishers are expected to map their first-party data to the standardized industry segments that Google Ad Manager supports. Some sensitive categories aren't supported. When turning on this feature, publishers need to accept the policy related to the origin of data included as publisher provided signals.

Some key benefits for publishers include:

• A way to use unique first-party data directly in the auction
• Ability to make first-party audience and attributes and content information more discoverable to buyers by mapping standardized audience attributes and content segments with industry taxonomies that can be directly communicated in bid requests
• Enhanced privacy for ads personalization
• Sharing first-party audience attributes and contextual data with buyers without data leakage concerns
• Valuable for inventory across apps and OTT/CTV environments where limited contextual signals are available
• PPS can be sent to Google demand (including open auction, private auction, preferred deals, programmatic guaranteed), Authorized Buyers, Open Bidding, and SDK Bidding.

Note: To view or edit PPS, you must have the "View publisher provided signals" or "Edit publisher provided signals" permissions added to your role.

Some bidders require that you send contextual signals (like, genre) to receive full demand.

For example, Display & Video 360 has updated guidance for publishers and supply-side platforms (SSP). To get full demand for connected TV (CTV), they need to send the genre-values PPS IAB content taxonomies, as well as the IFA through device ID or PPID.

Turn on publisher provided signals for your network

1. Sign in to Google Ad Manager.

2. Click Admin, then Global settings.

3. In the "Ad preference settings," turn on Publisher provided signals (audience and content).

4. Click Confirm to accept the terms and conditions of turning on this feature.

By turning on PPS, you are turning on both audience and content.

How signals are passed

The taxonomy segment IDs are passed in eligible bid requests to Google demand, and to eligible Authorized Buyers, Open Bidding, and SDK Bidding partners when configured in demand channel settings. Publishers can send PPS in two ways:

1. Map audiences, custom key-values, or CMS key-values to standardized industry segments that Google Ad Manager supports. 
2. Send signals at the time of the ad request to standardized industry segments that Google Ad Manager supports.

Related articles

• Map key-values and audience segments to taxonomies
• Send publisher provided signals at time of ad request 
• View supported video and audio for publisher provided signals
• Report on publisher provided signals