Geo.lat

Latitude in decimal degrees, from -90.0 to 90.0, with southern latitudes negative.

CurrentfloatOptionalSince 2.0

Field facts

Path: device.geo.lat, user.geo.lat
Object: Geo
Type: float
Requirement: Optional
Added: OpenRTB 2.0
Spec section: 3.2.19

How it is used

Send coordinates only when they are as precise as type and accuracy claim; the center of a postal code or city is not a location fix. Precise coordinates are personal data in many regimes, so sellers often round them (two decimal places is about one kilometer of latitude) or drop them when consent is missing. The 2.5 COPPA guidance recommends removing lat and lon for child-directed traffic.

Example

Where the field sits in a payload, with everything else left out:

{
  "id": "req-1",
  "device": {
    "geo": {
      "lat": 37.7749
    }
  }
}

Common mistakes

Swapping lat and lon. A latitude outside -90 to 90 is a sure sign.
Sending a postal code centroid with type 1, which claims GPS precision for a guess.
Sending coordinates as strings.

Version history

Added in OpenRTB 2.0, and present in the latest snapshot. The table shows how each version's spec text types the field.

Versions	Type in the spec	Required	Deprecated
2.0 to 2.1	float	No	No
2.2	float a	No	No
2.3 to 2.3.1	float	No	No
2.4	float	No	No
2.5 to 2.6-202606	float	No	No