2024 was a pivotal year for Prebid, marked by technical advancements, expanded capabilities, and growing industry influence. Maintaining and enhancing a community of this scale is no small feat. It takes the concerted effort of engineers, PMC members, volunteers and business leaders dedicated to building and maintaining the infrastructure that powers the open web. This year, we made measurable progress in empowering the publisher community and advancing programmatic innovation.
Here’s how Prebid evolved in 2024—and how we’re preparing for what’s next.
Technical Advancements: Strengthening the Ecosystem
This year, Prebid’s engineering efforts focused on refining core systems and breaking new ground to meet the demands of a rapidly shifting programmatic landscape.
- Prebid Server: Added 40 new bid adapters, three modules, and more than 960 pull requests— a staggering 18 per week on average. Advanced Audio/CTV integrations and ad-podding design laid the groundwork for future innovation, complemented by continued growth in Audio/CTV PMC capabilities.
- Prebid.js: Delivered critical improvements, including enhanced rendering, advanced consent mechanisms, measurement, and analytics tools.
- Identity Solutions: Identity took a major focus with advanced cookieless targeting through PAAPI’s top-level seller framework and seamless support for JS and Server environments. Established clear guidelines for ID bridging and fingerprinting to ensure transparency and compliance.
- CTV/OTT: Rebooted PMC with two new chairs, prioritizing innovation and fostering greater collaboration with audio.
- Mobile/SDK: Saw major achievements with the 3.0 SDK roadmap, highlighting significant progress in third-party rendering capabilities and expanded functionality.
- Video: Released revised documentation for developers and stakeholders, ensuring clarity and ease of implementation, while providing consistent support to video PMCs.
- Measurement: Released methodology for executing measurement, developed an RTD module, and conducted publisher tests to validate technical viability.
- Emerging Channels: Achieved significant progress in supporting DOOH functionality with core updates and functionality tests, while deepening audio integrations by publishing GET and VAST requirements for seamless integration into the core. Additionally, updated measurement methodologies to enhance reliability and accuracy across new formats.
These innovations underscore our commitment to keeping Prebid the backbone of open-source ad tech, driving scalability and adaptability across all channels. This coming year, we remain focused on providing publishers with the tools they need to succeed, including PAAPI functionality in Prof Prebid and the launch of a Product Integration Monitor MVP. Additionally, we will continue to prioritize sustainability by creating best-practices and case studies to support industry efforts at a more sustainable digital ecosystem.
Global Events: Building Collaboration and Connection
2024 was as much about collaboration as it was about technology. Through events spanning the globe, Prebid strengthened its ties with the publisher community:
- POSSIBLE Miami kicked off in April.
- Prebid Ascent: London marked our debut European event, diving into privacy, identity, measurement, and CTV.
- Cannes Lions brought strategic discussions to the forefront at our “Perspectives” event.
- DMEXCO in Cologne expanded our global presence and community.
- Prebid Summit in October gathered 400+ attendees and 65+ speakers to tackle programmatic’s pressing challenges.
- IAB International Summit & Beeler Basecamp capped the year by reinforcing Prebid’s evolving industry leadership.
These events weren’t just gatherings; they were strategic touchpoints for knowledge-sharing and advancing the future of programmatic.
Looking Ahead to 2025
The momentum from 2024 sets the stage for an ambitious 2025, with Prebid focusing on measurement, emerging channels, and tools that empower publishers in an increasingly complex ecosystem. Case studies, pre-bid frameworks, and RTD modules will enhance measurement capabilities, while advancements in PAAPI functionality and integration monitors will streamline operations for publishers and advertisers alike. Emerging channels remain a key priority, with significant progress in supporting DOOH functionality through core updates and functionality tests. Updated measurement methodologies will further enhance reliability and accuracy across these emerging formats.
We’re also investing in the future with key hires to accelerate server-side innovation, platform reliability and continuing to build out emerging channels. Prebid recently just hired our first Fractional CTO, Zach Savishinsky.
As the programmatic landscape continues to evolve, Prebid will remain at the forefront, delivering solutions that support independent publishers and advance a transparent, sustainable, and thriving open web.
Get Involved
Prebid’s growth and success are driven by its community. The contributions of engineers, PMCs, volunteers and members are the engine that powers everything we do. As we look ahead, we invite you to get more involved. The demands on the system are growing, and so is the need for fresh ideas and collaboration.
The future of programmatic is being built today. Let’s build it together.
Mike Racic & Garrett McGrath