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One format is available on the oRTB path today: sponsored message — a native card rendered inline in the chat stream. The impression is always a single Native 1.2 unit. Full asset spec in BidRequest. The card renders in one of two modes depending on which image asset you return:
  • image — hero product photo + copy
  • text — advertiser logo + copy, no hero image

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Which mode applies

The Native request offers two image assets:
Asset idimg.typeRole
43 (main)Hero/product image
51 (icon)Advertiser logo
Both are optional in the request. Which one you populate determines the render:
Asset 4 (main)Asset 5 (icon)Rendered as
PopulatedAnyimage — full card with the product photo. Logo (if sent) appears as a small brand mark.
Empty / omittedPopulatedtext — compact card with the logo + copy.
Empty / omittedEmpty / omittedBid rejected — no visual to render.
Rule of thumb: send the product photo in asset 4 if you have one; otherwise send the logo in asset 5.

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image

Sponsored message rendered with a hero product image
{
  "native": {
    "assets": [
      { "id": 1, "title": { "text": "Check out the Nike Air Zoom Alphafly" } },
      { "id": 2, "data": { "value": "The marathon record-holder's shoe." } },
      { "id": 3, "data": { "value": "Nike" } },
      { "id": 4, "img": { "type": 3, "url": "https://cdn.nike.com/alphafly.png" } },
      { "id": 5, "img": { "type": 1, "url": "https://cdn.nike.com/logo.png" } },
      { "id": 6, "data": { "value": "Shop Now" } }
    ],
    "link": { "url": "https://example.com/track/click/abc123" }
  }
}

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text

Sponsored message rendered with logo only
{
  "native": {
    "assets": [
      { "id": 1, "title": { "text": "Best Running Shoes 2026" } },
      { "id": 2, "data": { "value": "Get 20% off premium running shoes today." } },
      { "id": 3, "data": { "value": "Acme Sports" } },
      { "id": 5, "img": { "type": 1, "url": "https://cdn.acmesports.com/logo.png" } },
      { "id": 6, "data": { "value": "Shop Now" } }
    ],
    "link": { "url": "https://example.com/track/click/abc123" }
  }
}

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Publisher constraints

The mode the publisher accepts is encoded in imp[].tagid — there is no separate ext.thrad.config flag to parse:
  • *_image_v1 — publisher accepts both modes. Asset 4 (main image) is optional; asset 5 (logo) is optional. Image preferred.
  • *_text_v1 — publisher cannot render images. The Native request omits asset 4 entirely and marks asset 5 (logo) as required. If your response includes image_url (asset 4) on a text-mode request, the SSP drops it server-side before render — your bid still wins on the logo if asset 5 is populated, otherwise the bid is silently lost.
The simplest contract that keeps you eligible across every placement: always populate asset 5 (the logo), and add asset 4 (the hero image) whenever you have one. Sending the logo is cheap and lets the SSP fall back to text-mode rendering when needed.

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Coming soon

Multi-tile formats (carousel) are not available on the oRTB path yet. They will be rolled out progressively.