DV360 Accepts The IAB Tech Lab’s New Video Guidelines. How Will That Impact Buyer Demand For Video Ads?

Buyers will soon have far more transparency into video ad inventory sold through Google’s platform.

Google confirmed to AdExchanger that DV360, its demand-side platform, has already adopted the IAB Tech Lab’s new video.plcmt field in OpenRTB bid requests. This field is where publishers and SSPs categorize their inventory based on the Tech Lab’s new video classification guidelines.

According to Google, DV360 has been ingesting the video.plcmt field since last year. An agency source that requested anonymity confirmed to AdExchanger that buyers are able to see how a publisher classifies its inventory in DV360 so long as the seller’s SSP is sending the video.plcmt value in bid requests.

On April 1, therefore, when Google begins requiring publishers to include the video.plcmt field in all AdX bid requests, buyers will already be set up to adjust their bids in DV360 based the new standard definitions.

But these developments have publishers and video platforms worried that Google demand will no longer bid on large chunks of their reclassified video inventory – although the change could eventually attract higher bids for certain video placements.

DSP adoption

But, while DV360 will be ready to ingest the new video classifications when AdX begins passing them next month, plenty of other DSPs haven’t yet solidified their plans for accommodating the new OpenRTB values.

“No DSP has fully implemented the Tech Lab’s new video guidelines,” said Luca Bozzo, director of programmatic operations and partnerships at Connatix, a video platform that has long specialized in what’s now considered accompanying content.

“The Trade Desk (TTD) and DV360 are only ingesting the new values, but buyers are not able to bid specifically on accompanying content through any DSP right now,” he said. “While it’s likely that TTD is seeing a good amount of demand for accompanying content as buyers change their strategies, they are not able to take any action.”