Authorized Buyers Program Guidelines
Last updated on September 09, 2024.
This product is governed by the terms set forth in your Authorized Buyers program contract. (Your contract may refer to the Google DoubleClick AdX Service, which for buyers is now known as the Authorized Buyers program.)
The Authorized Buyers program is a service for accessing multiple sources of online display advertising inventory. In the Authorized Buyers program, publishers and publisher networks are considered "Sellers," ad networks and other eligible entities as described below are considered "Buyers," and unique instances of a web browser, mobile application, or other device are considered "Users." Capitalized terms not otherwise defined shall have the meaning assigned to them in the Authorized Buyers Terms.
Buyers participating in any transaction through the Authorized Buyers program must adhere, and ensure that any third party to whom they provide access to the Authorized Buyers program under their account also adheres, to the following policies: (i) the Platforms program policies, and (ii) these Authorized Buyers Program Guidelines. Please note that any restatements of the Platforms program policies in these Authorized Buyers Program Guidelines are for clarification purposes only and do not limit the application of the Platforms program policies to Buyers.
No Sub-syndication Policy
Buyers may only purchase inventory for use directly by an advertiser (or direct agent of an advertiser) with which they have a direct relationship. Reselling, distributing or otherwise sub-syndicating inventory to another indirect sales channel (e.g., another ad network or trading desk) is prohibited. Note that redirection to rich-media vendors and third party ad servers used by advertiser (or direct agent of an advertiser) is permitted under these Authorized Buyers Program Guidelines, subject to the Third-party Ad Technology Vendors section below.
Buyers must not use the Authorized Buyers program for buying inventory for which they directly or indirectly pay or receive a share of revenues to or from an entity that would otherwise prevent the inventory from being monetized.
Real-time Bidder Policy
The Real-time Bidder is a feature of the Authorized Buyers program that allows Buyers to receive bid requests in near real time and provide a bid in response based on the Buyer's own data and information. Google may in its sole discretion modify the scope, duration, frequency and access to such information at any time without liability to Buyer.
Buyers' implementation of the Real-time Bidder feature must comply with the Real-time Bidding Guide.
Participation in the Real-time Bidder feature is subject to identity verification. Google reserves the right to request additional information from Buyer for verification purposes. If Buyer refuses to participate in this verification, then Buyer may not continue to use the Real-time Bidder feature.
Google reserves the right to audit Buyer's use of the Real-time Bidder feature and investigate any related activity in order to ensure Buyer's compliance with these policies and the Authorized Buyers Terms. The audits shall be at Google's expense and will be conducted no more than once during each 12 month period, during normal business hours and without unreasonably interfering with Buyer's normal business operations. If Buyer does not permit an audit, then Buyer may not continue to use the Real-time Bidder feature.
Data Restrictions
Restrictions on Use of Program Data.
Data, including personal data, obtained by Buyer, Advertiser, or Buyer’s or Advertiser’s agent in connection with the Authorized Buyers program (“Program Data”) may only be used for the Buyer’s or the Advertiser’s own advertising purposes (the “Permitted Data Use”).
Buyer is not permitted to share or otherwise disclose non-aggregated Program Data with third parties, other than Advertiser (or direct agent of Advertiser), and ad servers and third-party vendors used by Buyer and Advertiser in connection with the Program, and in all instances such sharing must be limited to the Permitted Data Use. In all cases, Buyer, Advertiser, and their vendors are prohibited from selling any Program Data.
Buyers must respect the data use and ad personalization restrictions conveyed in the bid request. As described in the Platforms program policies, Buyer must not select or target personalized advertising based on inferred or actual sensitive information, nor circumvent Google’s technical measures to prevent the use of sensitive information from being used for advertising.
Program Data may not be used for ads personalization or user profile building where the User or the Seller (communicated through such means as the bid request or IAB TC string, for example) has not provided consent to, opted out of, or otherwise did not allow such uses.
In addition, Program Data may be used by Buyer or Advertiser to build user profiles or associate Program Data with third party data only if the impression is won by Buyer and if allowed by the Seller (as indicated in the bid request).
Program Data must be stored in a secure (e.g., encrypted, with appropriate access controls and protections against unauthorized access or use) manner.
The pseudonymity of the cookie-based identifier, mobile advertising identifier, or other user-resettable advertising identifiers must be respected, and Buyer is prohibited from using such identifiers to identify a natural person, unless the end user provides explicit consent otherwise.
Buyer is permitted to retain non-aggregated Program Data only for the length of time necessary to fulfill the relevant purposes stated above, and in any event, for no longer than 18 months (unless otherwise required by law).
Location Data Restriction. Google does not share precise location data through the Authorized Buyer program. If Buyer otherwise receives information through the Authorized Buyers program that identifies or can be used to infer an end user’s precise geographic location, such as GPS, wifi or cell tower data, then Buyer may not use such information except for the purpose of bidding on the applicable impression and Buyer may not retain such information in excess of the length of time necessary to fulfill that purpose.
Third-party Ad Technology Vendors
For Users located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and/or Switzerland (“European Users”), Buyer and Buyer’s vendors may only share Program Data with vendors identified via the IAB TC string and/or consented_providers field. For European Users, Buyer must restrict personal data sharing (e.g., in an HTTP request, through network requests initiated by ad creatives, through notification or tracking URLs specified in the bid response, or otherwise) to vendors for which there is a valid legal basis of processing personal data, including as reflected in the IAB TC string and/or consented_providers field.
Cookie Matching
Subject to the Data Protection section below, Buyer may associate identifiers received from the cookie match service (“Match Data”) with data they already own, provided upon any User opt out of a cookie or mobile advertising identifier, Buyer immediately dissociates any related data linked to the Match Data.
Buyer must implement cookie matching pursuant to the Real-Time Bidding Cookie Matching Specifications.
Restrictions on Match Data. Buyer is not permitted to use Match Data for (i) data harvesting, including but not limited to augmenting data lists, including but not limited to enabling cross-session correlation across identifier resets, or (ii) circumventing user identifier resets. Match Data is also subject to the Restrictions on Use of Program Data.
Requirements for Passing Ad Tags and Redirects. Buyer is only permitted to redirect an ad match tag to fourth parties when the ad match is initiated by the Buyer. Any such redirected ad match can only be used to associate two pseudonymous cookie-based identifiers for the subsequent purpose of enabling ad targeting and reporting for a given impression. For clarity, Buyer must own the root domain of any URL that it provides to Google for use in ad matches initiated by Google.
User Consent
You must obtain legally valid User consent as required by the EU user consent policy.
Interest-Based Advertising
In addition to the Interest-based advertising policies in the Platforms program policies, Buyers must also comply with the following policies:
In Ads Notice and Ads Modification. Buyer must ensure that all of its online behavioral ads (e.g., advertisements that use or collect data for online behavioral advertising purposes including without limitation when Buyer targets advertising inventory using a remarketing list) contain notices in accordance with advertising industry guidelines and self-regulatory principles, and/or any applicable laws, rules or regulations. While it is the explicit responsibility of the Buyer to insert such notices, Google reserves the right to (a) insert such notices within ads including when a Buyer has failed to do so, and (b) insert into the ads icons with controls that enable Users to manage their online advertising experience. Buyer may not modify or obscure such notices or controls.
User List Creation. Subject to the Third-party Ad Technology Vendors and Data Protection sections of these Authorized Buyers Program Guidelines, Buyer may use pixel tracking within its ads for the purpose of creating a remarketing list. Buyer, however, may not create a user list of Users of a single site, whether through pixel tracking or any other means, without the applicable Seller's written consent.
Conflicts. To the extent there is any conflict between these Interest-Based Advertising Policies and the Third-Party Ad Serving Policy, Buyer needs to comply with the version of the conflicting provision in these Interest-Based Advertising Policies.
Data Use
Google may use and disclose any data derived from a Buyer's use of the Authorized Buyers program, subject to the terms of Google's privacy policy, the Authorized Buyers Terms and any applicable laws.
Data Protection
For all Program Data, Buyer must, to the extent applicable:
- comply with all privacy, data security, and data protection laws, directives, regulations, and rules in any applicable jurisdiction;
- process it only for purposes for which it was collected as disclosed to Users;
- implement appropriate organizational and technical measures to protect the Personal Information against loss, misuse, and unauthorized or unlawful access, disclosure; and alteration and destruction; and
- comply with the EU User Consent Policy.
Buyer will regularly monitor its compliance with this obligation and immediately notify Google in writing if Buyer can no longer meet (or if there is a significant risk that Buyer can no longer meet) this obligation, and in such cases Buyer will either cease processing Personal Information or immediately take other reasonable and appropriate steps to remedy the failure to provide an adequate level of protection.
Programmatic Guaranteed Deals Policies
Buyers who participate in Programmatic Guaranteed deals commit to purchasing a pre-defined number of impressions from the Seller in accordance with the Programmatic Guaranteed service level agreement, which Google may amend on notice from time to time. Buyers who fail to meet these commitments may be suspended from using the Programmatic Guaranteed feature.
Buyer will ensure that ad specifications and other information entered into its service by its advertisers are true and correct in all material respects.
Open Auction Policies
In addition to the above policies, Buyer participating in the Open Auction must also comply with the following:
Click-Through URLs in the Open Auction. Buyer must correctly declare their landing page URLs and enable Google to track clicks by inserting the appropriate Google click macro. Where a Buyer associates a dynamic ad with multiple customized landing pages, it is sufficient for the Buyer to declare the URL(s) of the root advertised site(s). For VAST video and native ads, a buyer is not required to use Google click macro, and instead can include their click trackers either into a VAST wrapper, or native ad specification in the bid response, respectively.