AppNexus and Rubicon Project have announced the creation of an independent organisation dedicated to the development and promotion of open-source header bidding solutions and other open-source tools to drive publisher monetisation.

A collaborative effort of industry partners, Prebid.org is open to all parties advocating for unbiased and efficient monetisation solutions and a digital advertising ecosystem that thrives through fair competition.

In joining Prebid.org, partners commit to a Code of Conduct containing directives for header bidding wrapper mechanics, data and transparency, and user experience.

Written to ensure best practices for fair market competition, the Code of Conduct supports improved performance for publishers and user experience for consumers.

Header bidding is a technique created to offer publishers a more efficient way of working with programmatic vendors, equipping them to improve their monetisation strategies in an unbiased environment.

As opposed to proprietary technologies, open-source header bidding solutions are updated on a continuous basis by a multitude of industry players.

The Prebid.org community currently spans 81 demand partner adapters, five analytics providers, and 191 individuals who contribute code to the project.

Tom Kershaw, chief technology officer at Rubicon Project and a director of Prebid.org, said the new organisation marks a crucial step forward in the push for industry-wide adoption of open-source header bidding technologies.

“Today’s announcement demonstrates a collaborative commitment to buyers, sellers, and the advertising ecosystem as a whole as we continue to blaze this trail of sharing and openness in an effort to promote continued growth and monetisation opportunities for all parties,” he said.

Michael Richardson, product line manager at AppNexus and chairman of Prebid.org, said: “A fragmented header bidding landscape poses a great risk to the industry.

“Rather than independently competing, duplicating efforts, and wasting resources, we can push for fair competition and better results as a team. The collaboration around Prebid.org by industry partners has been incredible, showing it to be the pragmatic path forward.”

The launch of Prebid.org as an independent organisation does not alter the functionality of existing Prebid products, but rather bolsters support for their development and adoption within the industry.

Amongst the products currently contributed to Prebid.org are client-side wrapper solution Prebid.js, server-side header bidding solution Prebid Server, as well as Prebid Mobile, Prebid Video, and Prebid Native. The solutions support all device types.