Mediation.

Mediation is a waterfall system that sends ad requests to multiple sources (external networks and AdPluga) and picks the response with the highest eCPM. Instead of relying on a single network, the publisher diversifies demand sources and increases competition for every impression.

The real link to external demand is the generic OpenRTB 2.6 adapter (the «OpenRTB» kind), which works with any SSP/exchange exposing a server-to-server OpenRTB 2.6 endpoint. The branded networks (AdMob, Meta, InMobi, Unity, Liftoff) appear in the list but have no dedicated adapter yet — for those sources use the OpenRTB kind pointed at the relevant endpoint. Each network has credentials, priority and an eCPM floor.

OpenRTB is the IAB programmatic protocol. This adapter is server-to-server (S2S): AdPluga sends a 2.6 BidRequest to the SSP endpoint and serves the winning bid. It is last-resort external demand — it runs after your own ads, DIRECT and POOL, and before HOUSE. All you need is the «OpenRTB 2.6 (generic)» kind pointed at an SSP; any exchange with an OpenRTB endpoint works with no dedicated adapter.

Today mediation serves banner/HTML creatives (images), Video (VAST) and native. Set the eCPM floor in the currency contracted with the SSP.

Fields in the «New mediation network» form:

• endpoint_url — Absolute https:// URL of the SSP's OpenRTB 2.6 endpoint (required).
• auth_scheme / auth_value — How to authenticate with the SSP: none (public), bearer, basic or header. auth_value is the token/secret; for header also provide the header name.
• publisher_id — The site.publisher.id the SSP assigns you. Recommended by most SSPs to match inventory.
• seat_id — Internal SSP seat/buyer (optional).
• site_domain — Fallback domain used when /serve does not know the request's site.
• currency — ISO-4217 code (default USD). It is the bid and eCPM-floor currency — use the one contracted with the SSP.
• user_agent — User-Agent sent to the SSP. Empty uses the adapter default.
• gzip — Send the BidRequest with Content-Encoding: gzip. Enable only if the SSP supports it.

Credentials are serialized to JSON and encrypted at rest (AES-GCM). Once saved they are never echoed back — to replace a value, rotate it.

Before you start, get the technical contract from the SSP/exchange: the OpenRTB 2.6 S2S endpoint, the auth scheme and credential, your publisher_id (the site.publisher.id they assign), the currency and whether they support gzip.

1. Inventory → Mediation → «New mediation network» and pick «OpenRTB 2.6 (generic)».
2. Fill in endpoint_url (required) and authentication; add publisher_id, seat_id, site_domain, currency and user_agent per the SSP contract (see the fields section above).
3. Set the Priority (lower tries first), the per-adapter Timeout and the minimum eCPM (floor) in the SSP currency. Leave «Active in waterfall» on.
4. Brand safety: in Inventory → Slots, edit the slot and fill in the blocked categories and blocked advertiser domains — they are sent as bcat/badv and filter the mediation response.
5. Save. Credentials are encrypted at rest and the network joins the waterfall on the next snapshot refresh (seconds).
6. Test first with the «mock» kind (deterministic fill) to see the ad appear in your layout, then point it at the real SSP.

The OpenRTB adapter is generic: it brings no demand of its own. You need a partnership with an SSP/exchange that accepts OpenRTB 2.6 server-to-server integration. Register as a Publisher; once approved, the SSP dashboard gives you the endpoint_url and publisher_id you enter in the AdPluga form.

The SSP form usually asks for: your site/app URL, monthly volume (some premium SSPs require minimum traffic — e.g. 5 to 10 million pageviews/month — to enable S2S connections) and an authorization line to add to your ads.txt. Until you have an account, validate your layout with the «mock» kind using placeholder values (test endpoint_url and publisher_id) and swap in the real ones once approved.

In the dashboard, go to Inventory → Mediation. Add external networks with their credentials and set the priority order in the waterfall. AdPluga is automatically included as the internal network. Requests traverse the waterfall from highest to lowest priority until a network responds above the floor.

Each network in the waterfall has a priority (1 = highest) and a minimum eCPM floor. If the priority-1 network does not respond or its bid is below the floor, the request moves to the next network. This ensures every impression is sold at the best possible price.

The mediation dashboard shows, per network: impressions served, fill rate, average eCPM and revenue. Compare external network performance against AdPluga to optimize your waterfall configuration over time.