OpenRTB 3.0
What this release is
OpenRTB 3.0 is not an upgrade of 2.x but a layered redesign: an Openrtb envelope carrying Request and Response transport objects, with all domain objects (what is for sale, what the ad is) delegated to AdCOM. It formalized billing and loss event notifications and specified ads.cert signed requests. Adoption remains narrow; most production traffic still runs 2.6.
Validation note: RTBlint validates the full 3.0 transport layer (envelope, Request, Item, Deal, Source, Response, Seatbid, Bid) and the AdCOM 1.0 domain objects under item.spec, bid.media, and request.context.
Available coverage
- Release documentation
- Available
- Extracted object catalog
- Available
- JSON Schemas
- Available
- Exact-snapshot validation
- Supported
What changed in 3.0
| Change | Kind | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| inventory_authentication.ads.cert | Added behavior | OpenRTB 3.0 added signed bid request and inventory-authentication guidance via ads.cert. |
| event.pending | Added object | OpenRTB 3.0 formalized pending, billing, and loss event notifications. |
| request.item | Structural shift | OpenRTB 3.0 replaced the 2.x impression-centric payload shape with Item objects inside the request. |
| response.macro | Added object | OpenRTB 3.0 introduced a Macro object within the response model. |
| openrtb | Structural shift | OpenRTB 3.0 introduced the Openrtb root object as the container for transport and payload metadata. |
| request | Structural shift | OpenRTB 3.0 split the transaction into Request and Response payload objects under the layered architecture. |
| header.x-openrtb-version | Added header | OpenRTB 3.0 retained explicit version headers as part of the transport layer. |
Validate against 3.0
The tester can pin validation to this exact revision, so deprecated, moved, and not-yet-available findings reflect what 3.0 actually says. The same pin works in the CLI: rtblint validate --version 3.0 request.json.
Adjacent versions
- Previous: OpenRTB 2.6-202606
- All versions: version index
- Migrating across the big steps: 2.5 vs 2.6 and 2.6 vs 3.0