Network Bidding Program Guidelines

Your use of this product is governed by the Network Bidding Terms entered into by you and Google (the "Network Bidding Terms").

The Network Bidding service (the "Service") enables you to access multiple sources of online display advertising inventory. In the Service, publishers and publisher networks are considered "Sellers," and unique instances of a Web browser or mobile application are considered "Users."

To participate in the Service, you must adhere, and ensure that any third party on behalf of whom you buy advertising inventory or to whom you provide access to the Service under your account also adheres, to the following policies: (i) the Platforms program policies, and (ii) the Service-specific policies stated below on this page. Please note that any restatements of the Platforms program policies in these Network Bidding Program Guidelines are for clarification purposes only and do not limit the application of the Platforms program policies.

1. No Sub-syndication Policy

   Buyers may only purchase inventory for use directly by an advertiser (or direct agent of an advertiser) with which they have a direct relationship. Reselling, distributing or otherwise sub-syndicating inventory to another indirect sales channel (e.g., another ad network or trading desk) is prohibited. Note that redirection to rich-media vendors and third party ad servers used by advertiser (or direct agent of an advertiser) is permitted under this policy, subject to the Third-party Ad Technology Vendors section below.

   Buyers must not use the Authorized Buyers program for buying inventory for which they directly or indirectly pay or receive a share of revenues to or from an entity that would otherwise prevent the inventory from being monetized.

2. Real-time Bidder Policy

   The Real-time Bidder is a feature of the Authorized Buyers program that allows Buyers to receive impression calls in near real time and provides a bid in response based on the Buyer's own data and information. Google may in its sole discretion modify the scope, duration, frequency and access to such information at any time without liability to Buyer.

   Buyers' implementation of the Real-time Bidder feature must comply with the Real-time Bidding Protocol.

   Google reserves the right to audit Buyer's use of the Real-time Bidder feature and investigate any related activity in order to ensure Buyer's compliance with these policies and the Authorized Buyers Terms. The audits shall be at Google's expense and will be conducted no more than once during each 12 month period, during normal business hours and without unreasonably interfering with Buyer's normal business operations. If Buyer does not permit an audit, then Buyer may not continue to use the Real-time Bidder feature.

3. Data Restrictions
   1. Disclosure of Bid Data. Sellers may restrict their advertising inventory to Buyers who consent to the disclosure of their historical bid data to such Sellers. Buyers that opt out of such disclosure (i) will be excluded, for the duration of the opt-out, from any reports of bid data to such Sellers, and (ii) authorize Google to disclose their identity to such Sellers.
   2. Restrictions on Buyer Use of Data. Unless otherwise permitted by the publisher (such permission as communicated in the bid request), Buyers may use data received from the Authorized Buyers service solely for the purpose of buying through the Authorized Buyers program or frequency capping. Where permitted, Buyers may store such data in a secure (i.e., encrypted) manner. The anonymity of the cookie or mobile advertising identifier must be respected and Buyers are prohibited from otherwise identifying the user. Buyers may not use data for ads personalization where the user or the publisher (through such means as the bid request, for example) has declined, opted out of, or otherwise indicated a desire to avoid personalized treatment. For the avoidance of doubt, “personalization” includes determining or influencing ad selection based on a user’s past behavior. 

      For clarity, Buyer’s use of any Personal Information received from the Authorized Buyers program is subject to the Data Protection section below.

   3. RTB Callout Data Restriction. Buyer may store the encrypted cookie ID and mobile advertising identifier for the purpose of evaluating impressions and bids based on user-data previously obtained by the Buyer. All other callout data except for Location Data may be retained by Buyer after responding to an ad call for the sole purpose of forecasting the availability of inventory through the Authorized Buyers program. Buyer is permitted to retain callout data only for the length of time necessary to fulfill the relevant purposes stated above, and in any event, for no longer than 18 months.

      Unless Buyer wins a given impression, it must not: (i) use callout data for that impression to create user lists or profile users; (ii) associate callout data for that impression with third party data; or (iii) share rate card data in any form, including but not limited to aggregate form, with third parties.

   4. Location Data Restriction. If Buyer receives information through the Authorized Buyers program that identifies or can be used to infer an end user’s precise geographic location, such as GPS, wifi or cell tower data ("Location Data"), then Buyer is permitted to use such information solely for the purpose of bidding on the applicable impression and Buyer is permitted to retain such information solely for the length of time necessary to fulfill that purpose.
   5. Secure Signals feature. All use of the Secure Signals feature must meet the following requirements:
      • When the feature is used to pass data through Google’s systems to a publisher’s selected bidder, the publisher must ensure that the signal collection complies with all current laws and privacy requirements.
      • Secure signals passed through Google’s systems must be obfuscated such that the signals are meaningless to Google, and can only be interpreted by the buyer selected by the publisher.

      Data passed using the feature is exempted from the Invalid Activity provision under the Platforms program policies and the Identifying users provision of the Google Publisher Policies to the same extent as HTTP cookies or user resettable mobile device identifiers designed for use in advertising.

   6. Frequency Capping. The use of IP address for the enforcement of frequency capping is permitted in connection with the Ad Manager 360 Advanced connected television features, notwithstanding the requirements of the Ads Platforms Policies.

4. Third-party Ad Technology Vendors

   Buyer's Authorized Buyers ads may only make calls to Certified External Vendors ("Certified Vendors"). Sellers may choose which Certified Vendors are allowed for their end users in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom (“EEA/UK Users”). If the RTB callout specifies which Certified Vendors are allowed for an impression that serves to an EEA/UK User, Buyer's ads for such impression may only call such allowed vendors.

5. Cookie Matching
   1. Generally. Subject to the Data Protection section below, you may associate identifiers received from the cookie match service ("Match Data") with data you already own, provided upon any User opt-out of a cookie or mobile advertising identifier, you immediately dissociate any related data linked to the Match Data. You must implement cookie matching pursuant to the Real-Time Bidding Cookie Matching Specifications.
   2. Restrictions on Match Data. You are not permitted to use Match Data for (i) data harvesting, including but not limited to augmenting data lists, including but not limited to enabling cross-session correlation across identifier resets, or (ii) circumventing user identifier resets.
   3. Requirements for Passing Ad Tags and Redirects. You are only permitted to redirect an ad match tag to fourth parties when the ad match is initiated by you. Any such redirected ad match can only be used to associate two anonymous cookies for the subsequent purpose of enabling ad targeting and reporting for a given impression. For clarity, you must own the root domain of any URL that you provide to Google for use in ad matches initiated by Google.
6. User Consent

   You must obtain legally valid user consent as required by the EU user consent policy.

7. Interest-Based Advertising

   In addition to the interest-based advertising policies in the Platforms program policies, you must also comply with the following policies:

   1. Privacy Policy. Your posted privacy policy, and the posted privacy policy of each advertiser on whose behalf you use the Service to buy advertising inventory, must include information about Google, any advertising cookies, or mobile advertising identifiers associated with a User ("User Cookie"), and an appropriate description of your or such advertiser's use of any remarketing in online advertising. The remarketing description must be included in the privacy policies of all sites that include the remarketing tag or otherwise gather information for remarketing.
   2. In-Ads Notice and Ads Modification. To clarify, you are responsible for ensuring that all of your online behavioral ads (i.e., advertisements that use or collect data for online behavioral advertising purposes including without limitation when you target advertising inventory using a remarketing list of User Cookies ("User List") provided by a Seller or otherwise obtained by you) contain notices in accordance with advertising industry guidelines and self-regulatory principles, and/or any applicable laws, rules, or regulations. You are also responsible for ensuring that your advertisers' online behavioral ads comply with the requirements set out in the previous sentence. Google reserves the right (i) to insert such notices within ads in the event that you or your advertisers have failed to do so and (ii) to insert into ads icons with controls that enable Users to manage their online advertising experience, such as the "Mute This Ad" feature. You may not modify or obscure such notices or controls.
   3. Advertising Cookies Policy. Your use of the User Cookie via a User List is also subject to the Google Advertising Cookies Policy.
   4. User List Transparency. You grant to Google the right, should Google elect to do so, to display to any User that is part of your User Lists or those of one or more of your advertisers (i) that the User is on at least one of your User Lists or those of your advertisers, and (ii) your domain or display name or that of your advertisers.
8. Data Use

   Google uses a cookie or mobile advertising identifier to serve ads placed through the Authorized Buyer program as described on the Google Advertising Privacy FAQ. Google may use and disclose any data derived from a Buyer's use of the Authorized Buyers program, subject to the terms of Google's privacy policy, the Authorized Buyers Terms and any applicable laws.

9. Data Protection

   If Buyer accesses, uses, or processes personal information made available by Google that directly or indirectly identifies an individual and that originated in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom (“Personal Information”), then Buyer will:

   1. comply with all privacy, data security, and data protection laws, directives, regulations, and rules in any applicable jurisdiction;
   2. use or access Personal Information only for purposes consistent with the consent obtained by the individual to whom the Personal Information relates; and
   3. implement appropriate organizational and technical measures to protect the Personal Information against loss, misuse, and unauthorized or unlawful access, disclosure, alteration and destruction. 
   Buyer will regularly monitor your compliance with this obligation and immediately notify Google in writing if Buyer can no longer meet (or if there is a significant risk that Buyer can no longer meet) this obligation, and in such cases Buyer will either cease processing Personal Information or immediately take other reasonable and appropriate steps to remedy the failure to provide an adequate level of protection.
10. Click-Through URLs in the Open Auction

    You and your advertisers must correctly declare your landing page URLs. Where you or one of your advertisers associates a dynamic ad with multiple customized landing pages, it is sufficient for you or such advertiser to declare the URL(s) of the root site(s).

11. Eligible Transactions in Network Bidding

    You must assume principal risk in all purchase transactions that you make through the Network Bidding Program. Unless otherwise approved by Google, you are not permitted to participate in the Network Bidding Program (i) for the purpose of buying solely on behalf of a single advertiser, or (ii) if you use an Google Ads account to buy display or video advertising for any purpose other than to advertise your own products and services.

12. Bidding

    You acknowledge and agree that Google may adjust bid(s) for ads that are served on inventory available on any exchanges that are participating in the Network Bidding Program to maximize publisher revenue by adjusting for differences in how different ad types translate from auction wins to impressions in such exchanges.

Last updated on June 26, 2023