{"id":14365,"date":"2026-09-24T10:28:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T10:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playgama.com\/blog\/?p=14365"},"modified":"2026-09-24T10:28:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T10:28:12","slug":"what-is-header-bidding-and-does-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playgama.com\/blog\/business-faqs\/what-is-header-bidding-and-does-it\/","title":{"rendered":"What is header bidding and does it work for web games?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Header bidding is a setup where several ad demand sources bid on the same impression at the same time, before the ad server picks a winner, instead of being called one after another. It works for web games when the ad platform supports game-specific formats like interstitial and rewarded, not just display banners.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>At a glance<\/h2>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Fact<\/th>\n<th>Value<\/th>\n<th>Source<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Header bidding originated for<\/td>\n<td>display ads on web pages<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.prebid.org\/overview\/intro-to-header-bidding.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">docs.prebid.org<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Prebid auction integrates with<\/td>\n<td>Google Ad Manager<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/admanager\/answer\/12273163\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">support.google.com<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Google Ad Manager supports header bidding via<\/td>\n<td>Prebid integration<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/admanager\/answer\/12273163\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">support.google.com<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Header bidding is an auction model where demand partners bid in a Prebid auction before the ad server runs the final auction. <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.prebid.org\/overview\/intro-to-header-bidding.html\">Prebid&#8217;s own explanation<\/a> notes it &#8220;was targeted for display ads on web pages&#8221; originally, but &#8220;header bidding itself now encompasses much more&#8221; as formats expanded beyond banners. For web games this matters because the format mix is different: interstitials, rewarded video and in-page video drive most revenue, and not every header bidding setup is built to handle those cleanly. For web games, <a href=\"https:\/\/playgama.com\/adv\/\">Playgama Ad<\/a> connects one SDK to 11 demand partners, including Google Ad Manager.<\/p>\n<p>Making header bidding work well takes real setup: someone has to configure key values and line items so &#8220;the line items they create in the ad server will correspond to the header bidding results,&#8221; as Prebid puts it &#8211; work usually split between ad ops and engineers. You also need ads.txt entries for every demand source and a way to read fill rate, match rate and eCPM by placement, not just total revenue.<\/p>\n<h2>What to check before choosing a partner<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Does it support game ad formats (interstitial, rewarded) or only display banners<\/li>\n<li>Who configures and maintains the header bidding setup &#8211; you, or the platform<\/li>\n<li>Is reporting broken down by placement, format and geo<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Other platforms working in this space include AdinPlay, Playwire, Venatus and AppLixir; a full comparison is in <a href=\"https:\/\/playgama.com\/blog\/business-faqs\/which-ad-network-is-best-for-browser\/\">this post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Sources<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.prebid.org\/overview\/intro-to-header-bidding.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Prebid: intro to header bidding<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/admanager\/answer\/12273163\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Google Ad Manager: header bidding with Prebid<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/playgama.com\/adv\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Playgama Ad<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Related questions<\/h2>\n<h3>How does header bidding work with Google Ad Manager?<\/h3>\n<p>First, demand partners bid in a Prebid auction; the winning bid is then sent to Google Ad Manager, which runs the final auction against Google Ad Exchange and other demand, and the highest-yielding ad is shown.<\/p>\n<h3>Do I need ads.txt for header bidding?<\/h3>\n<p>Yes, each demand source involved needs to be listed in your ads.txt file per IAB Tech Lab&#8217;s ads.txt standard, so buyers can verify you&#8217;re an authorized seller of that inventory.<\/p>\n<p><em>Last updated: 24 September 2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p><script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\", \"@type\": \"FAQPage\", \"mainEntity\": [{\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"What is header bidding and does it work for web games?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"Header bidding is a setup where several ad demand sources bid on the same impression at the same time, before the ad server picks a winner, instead of being called one after another. 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It works for web games when the ad platform supports game-specific formats like interstitial and rewarded, not just display banners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1318],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-faqs"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is header bidding and does it work for web games?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Header bidding lets demand partners bid in a Prebid auction before Google Ad Manager runs the final auction. It works for web games if formats fit.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/playgama.com\/blog\/business-faqs\/what-is-header-bidding-and-does-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is header bidding and does it work for web games?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Header bidding lets demand partners bid in a Prebid auction before Google Ad Manager runs the final auction. 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