Google is migrating Open Auction blocks to Protections. Here’s how to prepare

Ad Exchange Policy, News & Updates
July 18, 2019 | by Kean Graham
google migrating open auction blocks to protections

Google Ad Exchange is moving the eligible Open Auction rules that block Semi-Transparent, Branded, or Anonymous bids to Protections. This change is expected in July 2019.

pricing and blocking

It is critical that publishers take action as soon as possible to avoid impact on ad serving and ad optimization strategies. One thing to remember is that the way Google Ad Exchange would prioritize Open Auction versus Protections completely differ:

Open Auction

Here, rules are applied sequentially by Priority # specified. The lower the number, the higher the priority. For example, rule with priority 1 is applied first before the rule with priority 2.

open auction rules

Protections

Here, rules are additive. If multiple rules match targeting, all of them will be applied on every ad request. There’s no option to set priority levels, and there’s a limit:

  • 300 protections per network
  • 200 advertisers/brands per protection
  • 200 general categories per protection
  • 25,000 advertiser URLs per protection

In line with this update, Google has added some new layers of Protections giving publishers more control on their ad inventory:

#1 – Block ads from specific buyers

screenshot show you to block ads from buyers

#2 – Block Open Auction Ads

block open auction ads

#3 – Merge advertiser/brand Protections with other Protections (excluding Custom labels)

Advertiser/brand protections are applied immediately per Google’s timeline.

blocking advertisers and brands

Take action!

  1. For the rules that have been migrated, review them under the Protections tab and update them as necessary.
  2. If there are Open Auction rules not yet migrated, you may create new Protections for them. As of writing, Open Auction rules were migrated only if ALL three branding types were blocked.

rules table

Conclusion

Be sure to take action as soon as possible to avoid any negative impacts on ad serving and your ad optimization strategies.

If you’re unsure how to proceed with this latest change from Ad Exchange and need help, why not let the ad ops experts take care of it for you? Sign up to MonetizeMore today, and we’ll help you set up protections correctly!

Ad Ops Tips & Guides, Industry News, Latest Tech and Success Stories - right in your inbox.

We are committed to protecting you Privacy Data

Here’s the course that 300+ pubs used to scale their ad revenue.

Enroll today

Book Banner

"Working with MonetizeMore has been a transformative experience as they helped to increase my overall revenues by over 180%"

4.9

$100M+

Paid to Publishers

3B+

Ad Requests Monthly

1500+

Happy Publishers

Recommended Reading

advanced-ads-vs-ads-insertor
Blog
September 29, 2023

Advanced Ads vs Ad Inserter

Read More
best-video-ad-formats
Video Ad Optimization
September 28, 2023

The Best Video Ad Formats (STOP missing out on these!)

Read More
how to implement adsense auto ads
AdSense Ad Optimization
September 27, 2023

How to best implement AdSense Auto Ads

Read More

Trusted by 1,500+ publishers worldwide

10X your ad revenue with our award-winning solutions.

Let's Talk

Close

Ready to 10X your ad revenue with the #1 ad management partner?

Start Now