Heard: dropping HB timeout from 3000ms to 1200ms raised revenue 7%

Heard: dropping HB timeout from 3000ms to 1200ms raised revenue 7%
Counterintuitive one. A finance publisher cut their Prebid auction timeout by more than half.
— Bidders responding after 1200ms were timing out anyway 80% of the time
— Faster page = lower bounce on first ad slot, more viewable impressions
— Viewability on above-fold rose from 61% to 72%
Net programmatic revenue up 7% over the test, despite slightly fewer bid responses, because viewable-CPM buyers paid more.
Impact: Long timeouts often buy latency, not demand.
Confidence: rumor