Incorrect bidRequestsCount for bids with Twin AdUnits.

[Pratik733]

Type of issue

Bug

Description

bidRequestsCount shows incorrect count when a Twin-Adunit is mapped. This happens when a bidder receives multiple bids with same adUnitCode within an single auction.

Test page

Js fiddle Links :-

1. Twin Adunit - https://jsfiddle.net/wavy6t3x/
2. Normal Adunit - https://jsfiddle.net/ojq0fx3e/ Use the following code in console to get "bidRequested" event

console.table(window.pbjs.getEvents()
    .filter((ev) => ev.eventType === "bidRequested")
    .map(e => e.args.bids).flat()
    .map(({bidder, bidRequestsCount}) => ({bidder, bidRequestsCount})))

Results

bidder	normal adunit bidRequestCount	twin adunit bidRequestCount
appnexus	1	3
medianet	1	3
ix	1	3

Expected results

• The bidRequestsCount for each unique bid Object should be 1 for first Auction. If there are multiple bid Object even though they contain same adUnitCode, each should have its own counter reflecting the appropriate bidRequestsCount.

Actual results

• The bidRequestsCount value is seen to be 3 for all bids.

Proposal

1. Unique Identification for Each AdUnit (Even with Shared AdUnitCode):
   • Each adunit Code's auction count should be incremented only once for every GAM refresh() irrespective of the twinAdunits it might have.
2. Rename bidRequestsCount to adUnitAuctionCount:
   • The metric bidRequestsCount currently gives impression that it is a counter for number of bid request invocations for a given adUnit.
   • If the metric is intended to track auction participation rather than individual bid requests, renaming it to adUnitAuctionCount would improve clarity.

[patmmccann]

Unclear if this is a bug, #4448 calls it the number of requests and IX and sharethrough and Yahoo all have the ability to have multiple requests with different placements on an ad unit, without the need to even have twins.

Perhaps a third option, expose a new metric with a new name meeting your proposal item 1 definition: "Each adunit Code's auction count should be incremented only once for every GAM refresh() irrespective of the twinAdunits it might have." ?

The problem is this ties us to gam, so perhaps requestBids

[dgirardi]

If there are multiple bid Object even though they contain same adUnitCode, each should have its own counter reflecting the appropriate bidRequestsCount.

I'm not sure we can do this reliably without asking publishers some other identifier to distinguish twins of an ad unit. The second auction could have the same ad unit appear with a different set of twins.

[Pratik733]

@patmmccann @dgirardi
We, at Media.net raised this change (PR #2940) a while back, assuming the bidRequestCounter for an adUnit serves as the auctionCounter. We missed considering the twin adUnit cases, which are now leading to the erroneous scenarios mentioned above in the issue. Original idea was to increment the auction count regardless of any twin adUnits it might have.

[patmmccann]

We're not sure if anyone relies on the current definition, marking ready for dev to implement a new metric with the proposed definition

[Pratik733]

@patmmccann
Should we go ahead and raise a PR implementing a new metric i.e auctionCount at slot level?

[patmmccann]

Please do, also please document both metrics and attach the docs pr to your js pr. Thank you! 🎉