Untitled UI logotext
Solutions
Arrow down icon
Products
Managed with Fuse
Fuse Enterprise
Technology
Fuse icon in black
Fuse
Fuse Platform
Use Cases
Using AdSense
Retail Media
Existing Ad Management
Direct and programmatic
Case Studies
Auto
Forum
Puzzle
Weather
Editorial
News
Tool
All
See all
Resources
Arrow down icon
Resources
AdTeach
Blog
Ad Formats
Ultimate Core Web Vitals Guide for Publishers
We chat with James Nielsen, Publift's Head of Onboarding, about Core Web Vitals (CWV), why it's important for publishers, and what they can do to optimize their CWV health.
Watch now
Forward arrow icon in white with black background
Best Highest Paying CPM Ad Networks for Publishers in 2025
Wondering which is the best high CPM ad network? Here is a list of the best high CPM ad networks in 2025.
Read now
Forward arrow icon in white with black background
About
Arrow down icon
About
About Publift
How It Works
Customer Experience
Careers
Newsroom
Book a demo
User iconSearch icon
Solutions
Down arrow icon
Products
Managed with Fuse
Fuse Enterprise
Technology
Fuse technology icon in white
Fuse
Use Cases
Using AdSense
Retail Media
Existing Ad Management
Direct and programmatic
Case Studies
Auto
Forum
Puzzle
Weather
Editorial
News
Tool
All
Resources
Down arrow icon
Resources
AdTeach
Blog
Ad Formats
Ultimate Core Web Vitals Guide for Publishers
We chat with James Nielsen, Publift's Head of Onboarding, about Core Web Vitals (CWV), why it's important for publishers, and what they can do to optimize their CWV health.
Watch now
Forward arrow icon in white with black background
Best Highest Paying CPM Ad Networks for Publishers in 2025
Wondering which is the best high CPM ad network? Here is a list of the best high CPM ad networks in 2025.
Read now
Forward arrow icon in white with black background
About
Down arrow icon
About
About Publift
How It Works
Customer Experience
Careers
Newsroom
Book a demo
Book a demo
User iconSearch icon
Book a demo
User iconSearch icon
Close icon to exit the modal
Search icon
Close icon to exit the modal
Sign up to Publift Scoop
Subscribe to the Publift newsletter for all the latest news, updates and insights from across the industry.
Adtech Industry
All

Did Header Bidding Twist Google’s Arm?

Did the rapid adoption of header bidding and its impact on revenue blindside Google? Find out more about Google's response.

Brock Munro
4
mins read
September 18, 2024
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
Facebook
Editorial Policy
Learn more
Our content is crafted through collaboration amongst our team of experts, or "Publifters," combined with ongoing research into the latest industry updates. To effectively support publishers, we follow a meticulous process for every piece of content we create, whether it's a blog, case study, or video.
contents
Contents

Header bidding, which allows publishers to offer ad inventory to multiple ad exchanges simultaneously before making calls to their ad servers, was a technology that had been coming for some time. However, its rapid adoption and revenue impact blindsided Google. One of Google Ad Exchange’s (Google adx) key selling points is the direct integration to Google’s ad server – DoubleClick For Publishers (DFP).

Having direct access to the world’s most popular ad server meant that Google’s Display Network reach (access to global ad impressions) was incomparable. This was much to the annoyance of other ad providers (ad networks, Supply-Side Platforms and other Exchanges like Tribal Fusion, AOL, Pubmatic, Rubicon Project, Index Exchange, etc.) who didn’t have a level playing field to compete with Google for display impressions. Google adx took the best impressions via Dynamic Allocation and whatever they didn’t want fell back to other ad suppliers. This made the other ad provider’s performance look bad – they were only getting access to lower value impressions, subsequently the eCPM (Revenue per 1000 impressions) they generated was much lower than Google’s. This uneven competition was one of the reasons Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick in 2007 took almost a year to complete – Microsoft and other key players in the market argued that if Google owned DoubleClick they would have an unfair advantage in the digital advertising space and essentially run a monopoly. European Union regulators and the FTC didn’t agree that was the case and approved the acquisition after an 11 month investigation.

Header bidding was the technology that developed from that frustration. If those other providers couldn’t compete fairly in the ad server with real-time bids – they would find a way to compete before the ad impression reached the ad server. Yes, header bidding is hacky, messy to implement and very difficult to troubleshoot. But the results speak for themselves. On the publisher’s sites that we implemented header bidding – we saw an average uplift in eCPMs of over 30%. If you are making more than $100k per month in remnant ad revenue, those numbers are not insignificant. 6-12 months down the line – the ROI from the decision to go with header bidding is big and only getting better.

DoubleClick First Look

With 70% of the top 100 US publishers using header bidding – it was clear Google needed to respond. DoubleClick First Look (DFL) was the initial response and somewhat of an extension of a feature that had been in Beta (Enhanced Dynamic Allocation). DFL allowed google adx access to premium impressions previously reserved for direct campaigns. To use DFL you set a floor price that Google adx needs to beat in order to win impressions ahead of your direct campaigns (typically you set the floor price around the same rate as your direct sales rates so as not to cannibalise them), then when Google adx has a bid above that floor price it can compete with standard and sponsorship line items in dfp. This meant Google adx could take impressions ahead of direct campaigns for the first time. More often than not, the direct campaigns still delivered – just later in the day – so those direct orders didn’t lose money. This did help Google adx win back some impressions it had lost to header bidding. Google took more premium direct impressions and also won some of the more valuable impressions that had been going to header bidders. But the high DFL floor price meant there was still a big chunk of impressions going to header bidders that had previously been going to Google adx (any higher value impressions that Google adx wasn’t willing to pay more than the DFL floor price for).

"If those other providers couldn't compete fairly in the ad server with real-time bids, they would find a way to compete before the ad impression reached the ad server."

Google Exchange Bidding

Google’s second and more complete response to header bidding is Google Exchange Bidding. This allows selected other ad providers (Rubicon Project and Index Exchange at the time of writing this post) to enter into Google AdX’s ad auction directly. This means those providers compete in the Google Display Network auction in Google adx with real-time bids. Not in the ad server with static bids. Google Exchange Bidding then removes the need to add header bidding code to the web page, slow down page/ad load and troubleshoot empty ad units/price discrepancies/etc. Sounds great. You may be asking why those other ad providers weakened the strength of header bidding technology by agreeing to integrate into Google adx. I believe they never really invested in header bidding as a long-term solution. It was a means to an end. It gave Google enough discomfort to make them reconsider their stance on allowing real-time competition with adx in DFP. They twisted Google’s arm. To be fair to Google – the decision to allow those ad providers to compete in Google adx was also made for user experience (page speed and stability) reasons, not just for Google’s display revenue. Good user experience has always been one of Google’s central pillars of development.

So now with Exchange Bidding we will have a safe and reliable platform for real-time competition between adx and other exchanges/SSPs. Win win surely? Well in theory yes – Google says it will take care of ad quality, reliability and make the whole process much easier, safer and more stable to setup. Which is great for the publisher. No more lengthy header bidding code implementations, ad response timeout testing, discrepancy checking between DFP and the header bidder, different payment terms and revenue shares. But the big question we can’t answer until Google Exchange Bidding goes live is…..will it generate the same revenue as header bidding? Only time will tell.

Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
Facebook
Written by
Brock Munro
Brock is the Head of Product & Yield at Publift. He has been a pioneer in the business since he began his adtech journey in 2016. From starting as an Account Manager to now leading the Yield Management team, direction of our Product, and being in the industry for close to a decade, Brock has been able to observe the evolution of adtech and hone a deep understanding of the ecosystem.
Follow
Linkedin

Are you ready to power-up?

Get started

Related

Data-Driven Curation: Leveraging Audience Insights for Superior Ad Performance

Looking for improved ad results? Data‑driven curation optimizes your inventory and targets your audience effectively.

Insights
All
All
All
Brock Munro
16
mins read
Traffic Shaping: The Antidote to Bidstream Bloat

Discover how traffic shaping reduces bidstream bloat, boosts efficiency, and drives higher revenue in programmatic advertising.

All
All
Publishers
All
Brock Munro
14
mins read
Back to all articles

Publift Scoop

Publift Scoop

Sign up to the Publift newsletter for all the latest news, updates and insights from across the industry.
Sign up
Publift logo
Where you'll find us
Dublin

Level 2, Park House, 

Frascati Road,
Blackrock,
Dublin, Ireland
Sydney
Level 1, Building 5, 

The Mill 41-43 Bourke Rd

Alexandria, NSW 2015,
Australia
Product
Fuse TechnologyManaged with FuseFuse Enterprise
Use Cases
Direct and programmatic
Existing Ad Management
Retail Media
Using AdSense
Resources
AdTeachBlogAd FormatsCase StudiesJargon GlossaryFAQs
About
About PubliftHow It WorksCustomer ExperienceCareersNewsroomBook a DemoContact Us
Calculators
Conversion Rate Calculator
eCPM Calculator
CPM Calculator
CPA Calculator
CPC Calculator
CTR Calculator
Follow Us
LinkedInX(Twitter)FacebookInstagramYouTube
Privacy PolicyCookie NoticeTerms of Service