How to Set Up Open Bidding in Google Ads Manager

Open Bidding in Google Ads manager allows you to invite third-party ad exchanges to compete to purchase the ads you have available. Open Bidding is a unified auction that allows for real-time interactions and allows you to connect with multiple partners at once to place more ads and get the best value for your digital assets. 

By the end of this tutorial, you will be ready to use Open Bidding to connect with third-party ad exchanges. 

How to set up Open Bidding on Google Ads manager

You will need to set up a Google Ads manager account, add an open bidding addendum, create yield groups, and add yield partners. To understand how it works, let’s break it down step by step.  

1. Create a Google Ads manager account.

On the Google Ads manager homepage, sign into Google with the account you would like to use to create an Ads manager account. You can have up to 20 Ads manager accounts associated with one email. Next, click Sign In. 

You will need to add a name for your Ads manager account that will be visible to clients, and set the time zone, currency, and other settings. 

2. Create yield partners.

You will need to add each company you signed a collaboration agreement with to your Ads manager account. The third parties you work with are “yield partners.” To add them, click Admin > Companies. 

Next, click New company > Ad network. You will need to enter a unique name to identify how the partner will appear in reports and select an ad network. You will have additional options to choose from, such as whether you will enable mediation for mobile apps for this partner or their credit settings. 

3. Add yield partner to Open Bidding.

Next, you will need to add your partner to Open Bidding. Click Delivery > Bidders.

Next, click Open Bidding > New bidder. You will need to select the bidder and the company. 

Last, you will need to click Acknowledge. Doing so indicates that you have an existing contract with the third party and will notify the partner of the changes you’ve made to their account status. 

4. Add yield groups.

Now that you have buyers added, it’s time to add something for them to buy. You will add your inventory as yield groups. To begin, click Delivery > Yield groups.

Next, click New yield group. You will also enter a name for the group, an ad format, and an inventory type. 

You can choose additional optional customization, such as device category, geography, and other targeting. Last, you will add the yield partners who will have access to this yield group. 

Open Bidding addendum

If you signed a Google Ads manager contract before January 2020, your account manager must sign an Open Bidding addendum. It only needs to happen once for each account, and you will be able to use Open Bidding two to three days after your account manager processes the contract. 

Learn more about Google Ad manager

If you’re ready to take the next step and learn more about digital marketing, consider earning your Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Professional Certificate on Coursera. This beginner-level, seven-course series will help you learn skills like display advertising, email marketing, e-commerce, and more. You could be ready for a career as a marketing coordinator or e-commerce associate in as little as six months.