A Shopify RTB House integration runs on Display Ad Connector, RTB House's official free app on the Shopify App Store. It installs the web pixel automatically and syncs your product catalog, with no developer needed. Setup takes five steps: add the app, approve permissions, sign in to RTB House, wait for the catalog sync and set campaign goals.
Most Turkish e-commerce brands know RTB House as "a retargeting company", but very few know the technology behind it. In our ad integration projects at Nodus Works, we have seen brands choose RTB House assuming it is simply an equivalent of Criteo, without ever questioning the differences between them (model structure, creative generation). In this guide, we explain what RTB House is, how it has grown since 2013, how its deep learning model personalizes an ad, what its official Shopify app, Display Ad Connector, actually does, which campaign types it supports and when it makes sense to choose RTB House over Criteo.
What Is RTB House?
RTB House is a Poland-based advertising technology company that runs ad campaigns with end-to-end deep learning models instead of rule-based algorithms. The company positions itself as a "Next-generation Performance DSP" (a new-generation, performance-focused demand-side platform). In other words, it is not just an add-on that reminds people of abandoned carts, but a system that uses deep learning to run the entire logic of a campaign: bidding, targeting and creative generation.
The company was founded in Warsaw in 2013 by Paweł Chodaczek, Robert Dyczkowski, Bartłomiej Romański and Daniel Surmacz. In 2017, RTB House dropped rule-based retargeting entirely across all its products and moved to a system based on the LSTM (Long Short-Term Memory) neural network architecture. This shift moved the company's position in the industry from "a retargeting provider" to "an ad tech company specializing in deep learning". Since then, RTB House has operated in more than 90 markets and continues to grow, with over 1,500 employees in more than 30 offices.
Important note: The 2017 move to deep learning was not a cosmetic update. To back it up, RTB House published a technical paper explaining how a user's on-site behavior can be modeled with an LSTM neural network without human intervention. This shows that the company uses the term "deep learning" not as a marketing slogan but as the real foundation of its product architecture.
How Does Deep Learning Retargeting Work?
A rule-based retargeting system works with predefined rules such as "show an ad for this product to a user who viewed it but did not buy". RTB House's LSTM-based model, on the other hand, does not define rules in advance. It processes the order of a user's clicks, browsing and product views on the site as a sequence, and uses that sequence to statistically predict which product the user will be interested in next. This difference explains why two different users who abandon the same cart can be shown ads with different products and different creatives.
The more behavioral data the model is fed, the more accurate its predictions become. That is why, in a new store with low traffic, the model is still in its "learning" phase and results may stay more generic in the first few weeks.
RTB House Campaign Types
RTB House's ad products fall into three main campaign types, each targeting a different stage of the customer journey.
All three campaign types share the same deep learning infrastructure; the only difference is which user segment and which goal the model is optimized for.
What Is RTB House Display Ad Connector?
RTB House Display Ad Connector is the official app published on the Shopify App Store, developed by RTB House's own corporate entity, RTB Marketing & Tech Services Limited. Launched in August 2025, the app has a 5.0/5 rating; it is free to install and requires no developer or technical knowledge.
The app automates the following: it installs the web pixel automatically, syncs your product catalog to RTB House's system and completes campaign setup within minutes. No manual pixel installation or separate feed integration is required; this is the key difference that removes the need for a developer in most retargeting setups.
How to Set Up the Shopify RTB House Integration
- In the Shopify admin, go to Apps → App Store and search for the "RTB House Display Ad Connector" app.
- Add the app and approve the required permissions (web pixel editing, access to products and collections).
- Sign in with your RTB House account; if you do not have one, you can create a new account through the app.
- Wait for your product catalog to sync automatically.
- Define your campaign goals (Prospecting, Retargeting, Upsell/Cross-sell) in the RTB House dashboard.
Post-Setup Checks
After adding the app, checking three things before launching the campaign keeps the setup from silently ending up half-finished.
- Confirm the pixel is firing: In your browser's developer tools (Network tab), check whether there is a request going to RTB House; place a test order to confirm that the purchase event is recorded.
- Check the catalog sync: Confirm that the number of products in the RTB House dashboard matches the number of active products in Shopify; if it does not, some products will never appear in your ads.
- Measure page speed again: Compare page load times before and after installing the pixel; if there is a noticeable slowdown, review the script's loading priority with RTB House support.
What Data Does RTB House Access?
The app requests access to device/activity data, store owner information, customer browsing behavior, products and collections; it also asks for permission to edit the web pixel and online store script tags. This level of access is needed so that the deep learning model can model user behavior accurately; the less behavioral data goes into the model, the more generic the targeting it produces.
Tip: Every app you give permission to edit web pixels and script tags can potentially affect your page load speed. If several retargeting or ad apps (RTB House, Criteo, Google Ads, TikTok pixel) are installed at the same time, we recommend checking regularly how much load each script adds to page speed.
RTB House vs. Criteo: Which Is the Right Choice, and When?
Criteo and RTB House solve the same problem (abandoned carts, product-based remarketing) with different technological approaches. The table below compares the two platforms on four criteria.
Neither platform is definitively "better". The deep learning model needs enough traffic volume and behavioral data to work properly, so in new stores with low traffic, this advantage shows up more slowly. If you would like to look at the Criteo integration in detail, take a look at our guide to connecting Shopify and Criteo.
rtb.com: A New Door for Small and Medium-Sized Brands
In 2026, RTB House launched a self-serve platform called rtb.com. It opens up the technology of RTB House, which has traditionally sold to large enterprise brands with big budgets, to small and medium-sized e-commerce brands as well. This matters for Shopify stores, because deep learning-based retargeting, which used to be available only by talking to an enterprise sales team, can now be tried with a much lower barrier to entry.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the RTB House Shopify app official?
Yes. RTB House Display Ad Connector is developed by RTB House's own corporate entity, RTB Marketing & Tech Services Limited; it is not an independent third-party connector.
Are RTB House and Criteo the same thing?
No. Both offer retargeting services, and both use deep learning: RTB House has used end-to-end deep learning (LSTM) across all its products since 2017, while at Criteo most campaigns are run by models such as the Criteo AI Engine and DeepKNN. The difference is not in the label but in details such as model structure and creative generation.
Does setting up RTB House require a developer?
No. The app handles pixel installation and product catalog sync automatically; its Shopify App Store page also clearly states that no developer or technical knowledge is required.
Is RTB House suitable for small stores?
With the rtb.com self-serve platform it launched in 2026, yes, it is now more accessible. However, the deep learning model needs a certain volume of traffic and behavioral data to work efficiently; in stores with very low traffic, results take longer to become clear.
What data does RTB House access?
It accesses device/activity data, customer browsing behavior, and product and collection information; it also requires permission to edit web pixels and script tags. This access is needed so that the deep learning model can learn user behavior accurately.
What are RTB House's campaign types?
There are three main types: Prospecting (acquiring new users), Retargeting (winning back abandoned carts and inactive users) and Upsell/Cross-sell (recommending complementary products after a purchase). All three use the same deep learning infrastructure for different goals.
Does the RTB House pixel slow down page speed?
Like any third-party script, it adds some load; whether that load is noticeable has to be checked by comparing page speed measurements before and after installation. If several ad pixels run at the same time, the combined effect can become more visible.
How do I verify that the campaign is working after setup?
You can verify it by checking in your browser's developer tools that the pixel is sending requests to RTB House, that the number of products in the RTB House dashboard matches the number of active products in Shopify, and that a test order is recorded as a purchase event.
Conclusion
RTB House is more than "a retargeting company": it is an ad tech company that has focused on deep learning since 2013 and extended this approach across its entire product range in 2017. On the Shopify side, access to this technology is set up within minutes through the official Display Ad Connector app, without a developer. If you are choosing between it and Criteo, the deciding factor should not be the name, but your store's traffic volume and the amount of behavioral data the deep learning model can learn from.
If you would like to set up your RTB House or Criteo integration and track your campaign performance in one place alongside Google Ads and Meta, get in touch with our team about our social media and advertising management service. If you want to compare RTB House's real contribution with your Google Ads and TikTok campaigns, Peakmerce brings all your channels together in a single dashboard.
