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The Madison Avenue Field GuideA field guide to marketing & advertising, by Brandon Mina

GlossaryAdtech & ProgrammaticOpenRTB

Adtech & Programmatic

OpenRTB

The IAB Tech Lab protocol that standardizes communication between buyers and sellers in real-time bidding.

By Brandon MinaCEO, BrandPilot AIUpdated November 2026

Appears in Lesson 1 of Programmatic 101

Short answer

OpenRTB is the IAB Tech Lab protocol that standardizes how buyers and sellers communicate in real-time bidding. It defines the structure of bid requests and bid responses, including fields for impressions, devices, users, and deals. A shared standard lets DSPs, SSPs, and exchanges integrate efficiently instead of building custom connections for each partner.