Conflicting standards in Transaction IDs fuel doubts about transparency in programmatic operations

In a recent turn of events, the programmatic advertising industry is embroiled in a controversy surrounding transaction identifier standards. This dispute, which has generated substantial industry discussion, centers on the disagreement between demand-side platforms (DSPs) and supply-side platforms (SSPs) over bid request transparency.

The controversy emerged from recent changes in Prebid's implementation of transaction ID standards, which the IAB Technology Laboratory declared as violating the OpenRTB specification. Brian O'Kelley, Co-Founder and CEO at Scope3, has been a vocal critic in this matter, specifically targeting the IAB Tech Lab's CEO Anthony Katsur on LinkedIn. O'Kelley views the changes as materially noncompliant with the OpenRTB specification and risky to the integrity of open technical standards in programmatic advertising.

At the heart of the controversy is DSPs' desire to optimize bid strategies through predictive algorithms that assess supply path efficiency. However, publishers and SSPs express concerns about DSP optimization potentially reducing bid values and compromising revenue streams. The implementation changes ensure each bidder receives different transaction identifiers, eliminating cross-exchange visibility that the OpenRTB specification originally intended to provide.

The dispute highlights fundamental tensions between DSP optimization goals, publisher revenue protection, privacy considerations, and technical standards coordination. Publishers using Prebid Server integration face particular challenges, as the same logic must be implemented server-side due to limited location options for source.tid and ext.tid in Prebid Server requests.

The controversy may accelerate market consolidation and direct relationships, with major platforms developing proprietary solutions, as predicted by Brian O'Kelley. This could potentially lead to monopolistic behaviors, prompting regulatory intervention. O'Kelley predicts the Department of Justice will recognize these behaviors and implement remedial measures.

The regulatory implications appear significant, with potential recognition of monopolistic behaviors and implementation of remedial measures by regulatory authorities. This controversy occurs amidst growing programmatic advertising investment, with 72% of marketers planning increased investment in 2025.

The dispute has significant implications for header bidding implementations, Prebid Server integrations, and OpenRTB-compliant platforms across the global programmatic advertising ecosystem. It underscores broader challenges related to programmatic advertising transparency, with concerns about duplicate bids, wasted spend, and higher costs for advertisers.

The controversy was publicly addressed on August 29, 2025, with O'Kelley's LinkedIn post following the IAB Tech Lab's statement on August 27, 2025. As the industry approaches $700 billion in annual ecosystem value, addressing these issues becomes increasingly important to maintain trust and ensure a level playing field for all participants.