Glossary

Pre-bid Verification

Brand safety and viewability checks that run before a bid is placed, evaluating the ad placement and blocking the bid entirely if it fails the check.

Verification, Quality & Brand SafetyPractitionerSource: Industry consensus — no single standards body defines pre-bid vs. post-bid, but MRC accredits the underlying viewability measurement both rely on.

Definition

Brand safety and viewability checks that run before a bid is placed, evaluating the ad placement and blocking the bid entirely if it fails the check.

Why it matters

Pre-bid adds latency to the auction and typically costs more per verified impression, but it prevents spend on bad placements outright rather than just reporting on them afterward. If a junior trader is deciding between pre-bid and post-bid settings on a verification tag, this tradeoff, speed and cost versus prevention, is the actual decision, not a checkbox.

Key consideration

Pre-bid adds latency to the auction and typically costs more per verified impression than post-bid — it is a prevention tool, not a reporting tool. Confusing the two is the most common junior mistake with verification settings.

Related terms

Related technologies

Practitioner notes

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