Block IAB category(is) in request

[Vanda Gordovskaya]

Hello,

Could you please explain how works blocking category(bcat) in requests? If I need to block the whole category with its sub-categories, can I specify just the category's IAB or do I need to add all IABs related to this category? E.g., I want to block all subcategories of IAB9, can I specify just IAB9 or do I need to set IAB9, IAB9-1, IAB9-2,...?

Thank you!

[Authorized Buyers API Forum Advisor]

Hello Vanda,

Thanks for reaching out, although I'm having some difficulty figuring out what you're asking. Google's implementation of OpenRTB supports BidRequest.bcat, where it is populated with values based on the conversion of the following fields from Google's proprietary protocol:

• BidRequest.AdSlot.excluded_sensitive_category
• BidRequest.AdSlot.excluded_product_category

The point I'm trying to make here is that bidders are not the ones who decide how BidRequest.bcat is populated, but are instead responding to how the exchange (in this case Google) populated it. This is used to communicate to bidders which categories are blocked–bidders don't decide that themselves, and must adjust their bidding logic based on what categories the bid request suggests are blocked.

Regards,
Mark

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[Vanda Gordovskaya]

Thank you Mark for trying to understand my question!

I will try to paraphrase it: OpenRTB has "Content Categories" section with primary and secondary categories in a list. My question is related to BidRequest. Can I use a primary category to block all related to its secondary categories?

Thanks,

Vanda

вторник, 2 августа 2022 г. в 00:08:30 UTC+3, authorizedbuyersapi:

[Authorized Buyers API Forum Advisor]

Hello Vanda,

I think I understand what you're asking better–it sounds like you're asking whether a top-level category appearing in BidRequest.bcat indicates that the categories under it are also blocked. For example, if Pets (IAB16) were blocked, so would its sub-categories like Birds (IAB16-2). This behavior is consistent with the OpenRTB spec, so my expectation is that it would work like that, and I can investigate further with the engineering team if you have evidence that is not the current behavior.

It's worth noting however that what is happening in Google's OpenRTB implementation is that fields like BidRequest.AdSlot.excluded_product_category (values found in ad-product-categories.txt) are being translated into OpenRTB's content categories. Google's product categories are not structured in an identical way, and so I'd expect you should see less of the top-level categories appearing in OpenRTB bid requests, and instead see more granular use of sub-categories.

[Vanda Gordovskaya]

Yes! You correctly understand my question. We noticed some requests with such a situation as was described. We send a request which includes a top-level category like IAB9 and get the response with IAB9-30. I cannot find any information on the internet on how it should work so decided to ask you directly. 

It would be great if you with the engineering team can provide some explanations.

Thanks,

Vanda

вторник, 2 августа 2022 г. в 19:47:18 UTC+3, authorizedbuyersapi:

[Authorized Buyers API Forum Advisor]

Hello Vanda,

It looks like this support case wasn't picked up in my absence, so I thought I'd follow up to let you know that I'll file a bug internally to investigate the specifics of this with the engineering team. Just to set expectations: it might not get immediately prioritized because there does not appear to be an issue that is breaking customers related to this report.

There are some details about your example that could benefit from some clarification before I include it in my internal filing. You mention sending a "request" with IAB9, and receiving a "response" with IAB9_30. It doesn't seem like the "request" and "response" you're mentioning are referring to RTB bid requests and responses, because bidders would not have direct control over what is sent in the bid request. My best guess is that you also function as a seller, and are initiating an ad request that blocks certain categories, where the "response" is the bid request your bidder receives as a result. Is that correct? In that case, it does seem undesirable that you would want to block all categories related to Hobbies & Interests, but instead only block Video & Computer Games. That would be more along the lines of a bug, but I just want to confirm if that is the case.