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Real‑Time Bidding (RTB)

Advertising

Cookie Syncing Behavioral Advertising Data Broker Third‑Party Tracking

Programmatic advertising auction with bid requests carrying user and context signals.

Definition

RTB is a programmatic ad mechanism where publishers send bid requests to multiple bidders/exchanges, often including device IDs, cookies, location, and page context. Bidders respond with bids and creatives.

In plain English Programmatic advertising auction with bid requests carrying user and context signals.

Why this matters

Why it matters: Bid-request broadcast increases data dissemination and privacy risk, even when no ad is won.

Example

Example: Bid request includes advertising ID and approximate location to multiple bidders.