Sovrn Server to Server Bidding & OpenRTB Integration Guide

Up until now, publishers using header bidding have used browser or client-side header bidding. This specific kind of header bidding involves advertisers bidding on the inventory inside of the header of the publisher's web page. Now, publishers now have another option - server-side header bidding.

Server to Server bidding involves bidding from the server, as opposed to bidding from a browser. This is often seen as a solution to excessive latency issues, as server to server bidding consolidates all ad calls in the header into a single ad call drastically reducing loading time.

What is Sovrn Server to Server / OpenRTB Integration?

The Sovrn S2S Solution is an API endpoint (lijit.com/bidder) that allows publishers to make bid requests from their server instead of from the browser. S2S (server to server) is an alternative to traditional C2S (client to server). 

Who is it for?

We only recommend S2S for publishers with the technical knowledge and bandwidth for implementation and maintenance. C2S is much simpler to implement and maintain, while S2S is quite a bit more labor intensive.

Why use it?

Latency. In general, a setup with S2S will experience less latency than a setup with C2S.

The Technical Stuff

The Sovrn implementation follows OpenRTB 2.5 specification. If you are seriously considering an S2S setup, please reach out to Sovrn publisher support for information about what parameters you need to include. 

Important Things to Consider about Server to Server Bidding

Besides setting up an S2S connection that successfully returns bid responses, you will need to execute a nurl response on the delivery of a creative. Info on firing the nurl can be found in the link above. We still recommend firing the nurl client side.

A cookie sync is also recommended to maximize bid values. For an outline of our cookie sync process, please reach out to Sovrn publisher support.

If you are interested in integrating S2S with Prebid, please reach out to the Sovrn Support team to learn about the next steps!