Chrome is keeping third-party cookies: what it means for buyers
Google said in April 2025 that Chrome keeps its cookie choice and adds no new prompt. What is true as of October 2, 2026, and why buyers still plan ahead.
Insights: programmatic standards in plain English
Short, sourced explainers on the standards and signals behind programmatic buying, from OpenRTB and ads.txt to GPP and viewability. Every figure links to its source, and every article carries its date.
Privacy and identity
Cookies, consent signals and identity tokens, and what each one means for a buyer.
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Privacy Sandbox is winding down: which Chrome APIs go and which stay
Google is retiring Topics, Protected Audience and Attribution Reporting while CHIPS, FedCM and Private State Tokens stay. Status as of October 2, 2026.
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Global Privacy Protocol (GPP): one signal for many privacy laws
GPP carries privacy and consent signals for many laws in one format. How sections work, the 2025 rename, and state updates still in draft as of October 2, 2026.
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Identity without cookies: how a DSP handles UID2 tokens
A DSP gets UID2 tokens in bid requests, decrypts them to raw UID2 values with a server-side SDK and must skip any opted-out UID2. The flow, step by step.
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Seller-defined audiences: publisher cohorts inside the bid request
Seller-defined audiences let publishers send taxonomy IDs in OpenRTB, and segtax names the taxonomy. How cohorts are built and read as of October 2, 2026.
Standards
The specifications that bids and bid requests are built on.
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OpenRTB 2.6 in plain English: pods, DOOH and structured user agents
OpenRTB 2.6 is the current 2.x line. Learn what it added for ad pods, channels, user agents and out-of-home screens, and how the 2.6-YYYYMM releases work.
Supply chain
How ads.txt, sellers.json and the SupplyChain object show who sold an impression.
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ads.txt 1.1 and app-ads.txt: the fields a DSP actually reads
ads.txt 1.1 lists who may sell a publisher's inventory. See how DSPs read DIRECT and RESELLER records, OWNERDOMAIN, MANAGERDOMAIN and app-ads.txt for CTV.
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sellers.json and the SupplyChain object: following a bid request back to the seller
sellers.json and the SupplyChain object let a DSP trace a bid request to its seller. See how ads.txt, sellers.json and schain nodes cross-check in one example.
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SupplyChain v1.1 draft: from payment path to technical custody
IAB Tech Lab proposed SupplyChain v1.1 to add custody-taking entities as hp=0 nodes. See where the draft stands as of October 2, 2026 and what it may change.
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Supply path optimization: fewer hops, better evidence
Supply path optimization steers spend to shorter, verified routes to inventory. See the Tech Lab definition, the evidence a DSP uses and what ANA studies found.
Measurement
What the viewability standards actually say.
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Viewability, defined: what the MRC thresholds actually say
The MRC counts display ads as viewable at 50 percent of pixels for one second and video ads at two seconds. Here is the rule, its exception and its limits.
Trust and safety
Programs and definitions for fraud, brand safety and made-for-advertising sites.
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TAG seals decoded: Fraud, Malvertising, Brand Safety and Transparency
TAG runs four seal programs: Fraud, Malvertising, Brand Safety and Transparency. Here is what each seal covers, what Platinum means and what a buyer can check.
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Made-for-advertising sites: the definition and what the data shows
Made-for-advertising sites are built to sell ads. Here is the ANA, 4A's, WFA and ISBA definition and the 2023 and 2026 ANA figures, with each study's scope.
Channels
Buyer-level primers for connected TV and digital out-of-home.
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CTV buying basics: pods, VAST and server-side ad insertion
A CTV ad break is a pod of slots. This primer covers pod types, the ssai signal, app-ads.txt checks for CTV apps and newer ad format signals a buyer will see.
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DOOH buying basics: when one screen play is many impressions
In programmatic DOOH, one screen play can count as many impressions or a fraction of one. See how the DOOH object and Qty multiplier carry and price it.
Want to see these standards at work in a console?
Request a demo and bring your own questions about channels, supply paths or privacy signals.