Your timeout has a sneaky second number

Your timeout has a sneaky second number

Besides the bidder timeout (how long you wait for bids), there's a "failsafe timeout", a hard stop that shows an ad no matter what.

Why it matters: if the failsafe is too close to the bidder timeout, slow-but-valuable bids get cut off. Too far apart, and a stuck auction leaves a blank slot for seconds.

Tiny example:
— Bidder timeout: 1000ms
— Failsafe: 3000ms
— A bid arriving at 1100ms still misses, but the slot won't hang forever

One thing to try: set the failsafe about 500-1000ms above your bidder timeout. Enough cushion to recover, not enough to bore the reader.

In plain English: one timeout collects bids, the other guarantees something shows up.