[bjterry]

I think you are misunderstanding how second-price auctions work. In a second-price auction, the FIRST price bidder pays the bid of the SECOND price bidder. This sentence is saying that the FIRST bidder is still paying the SECOND price rate, but the publisher is only receiving the THIRD bidder's rate. For example:

* Bidder A - Bids $100

* Bidder B - Bids $90

* Bidder C - Bids $80

Under a true second-price auction, the publisher receives $90, and Bidder A pays $90. The article is alleging that Google changed it so that in this scenario, Bidder A pays $90, but the publisher receives $80.