Auction Logic

There are a few key rules regarding auctions:

1. Eligible bids above the floor for Guaranteed Deals always take precedence over eligible bids for Non-Guaranteed or Open Auction bids, even if the latter returns a higher price.

Bids are prioritized in two tiers:

• Guaranteed deals
• Non-Guaranteed deals and Open Auction

Within each tier, the system ranks bids from highest to lowest price. The highest price always wins, regardless of whether it represents a Deal or an Open Auction bid.

2. Bids made against specific deals are valid only if the bid price is equal to or greater than the deal.bidfloor.

The system evaluates fixed-price (at=3) deals based on the publisher-provided deal bidfloor, rather than the submitted bid price.

3. All bids are checked against the publisher adapproval status, restrictions, bidfloor settings, format compatibility, etc.
4. The system selects the winning bid from valid auction entries based on the following criteria:
   • the "bid price" of a bid on deals (or open auction) with 1st and 2nd price
   • the "fixed-price" of a deal for bids on deals that are fixed_price

If two or more bids tie for the highest price, the system randomly selects the winning bid from the tied entries.

5. The system determines the clear price following the selection of the winner based on the auction type of that bid:
   • 1st Price: the bid price
   • 2nd Price: the 2nd highest bid price + $.01 (or Floor + $.01 if there is no other bid)
   • Fixed Price: the "Fixed Price" as entered into the deal.bidfloor on the relevant deal

The system determines the second-highest bid based solely on the submitted price. While the platform accounts for guaranteed deals when selecting the auction winner, it excludes them when calculating the clearing price for a second-price auction.

To help visualize how the system determines auction winners and clearing prices, see the following sample auction scenarios.

If this page does not cover your specific scenario and you require clarification before you send traffic to Place Exchange, email help@placeexchange.com.

Sample Place Exchange Auction

In a first-price auction, Bid 1 wins because it represents the highest bid, and the transaction clears at a $5 CPM.

Note: In a 2nd price auction, Bid 1 still wins and clears at $4.01 CPM.

Sample Place Exchange Auction

The system determines the auction outcome based on the specific auction type of Deal #1:

• If DEAL #1 is a fixed price deal (the most common case):
  • Because Bid 2 and Bid 4 tie, the system randomly selects the winner, and the transaction clears at a $4 CPM. The platform ignores the submitted bid price and uses the deal's fixed price of $4 CPM to determine the winning entry.
• If DEAL #1 is a 1st-price deal:
  • Bid 4 wins and clears at a $5 CPM.

Sample Place Exchange Auction

Bid 3 wins the auction and clears at a $3 CPM. The system prioritizes the Guaranteed Deal status, allowing this entry to override higher submitted bids.

Sample Place Exchange Auction

Bid 1 wins the auction and clears at $6 CPM.

Sample Place Exchange Auction

Bid 3 wins the auction and clears at a $3 CPM. The system prioritizes the first-price Guaranteed Deal status, which allows this entry to override higher submitted bids.

Sample Place Exchange Auction

Bid 1 wins the auction and clears at $5.

Although Bid 2 exceeds the winning bid price, the winner holds a guaranteed deal status. Consequently, the system caps the clearing price at the winning guaranteed deal's submitted price.

Sample Place Exchange Auction

Bid 3 wins the auction and clears at $4.01 because it is the highest bidder.