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

GlossaryAdtech & ProgrammaticSupply Chain Object (schain)

Adtech & Programmatic

Supply Chain Object (schain)

An OpenRTB field listing every company that handled a bid request, letting buyers verify each hop against sellers.json.

By Brandon MinaCEO, BrandPilot AIUpdated November 2026

Appears in Lesson 7 of Programmatic 101

Short answer

The supply chain object (schain) is an OpenRTB field that lists every company that handled a bid request on its path from the publisher to the buyer. Each participant appends its own entry. Buyers cross-check these entries against sellers.json and ads.txt to verify legitimacy and identify unnecessary or unauthorized resellers.