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Real‑Time Bidding (RTB)

Advertising

An auction that decides which ad you see in milliseconds.

Definition

Real‑time bidding is a fast auction where advertisers bid to show you an ad when a page loads.

In plain English An auction that decides which ad you see in milliseconds.

Why this matters

Why it matters: The auction can involve sharing data about you with many companies.

Example

Example: When you open a news site, a bidding system picks an ad based on your profile.