Ad podding for publishers

An ad pod specifies a sequenced group of video ads that are played back-to-back within a single video placement. In traditional television, an ad pod would correlate to a commercial break during an episode. Ad Pods can be scheduled in pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll placements, as shown in the following diagram.

Ad pods are delivered using VMAP 1.0.1. VMAP is a wrapper for VAST ads. The following diagram shows the structure of a VMAP document.

Video bumpers

Video bumpers are small video ads (usually 3-10 seconds in length) at the very beginning, or at the end of an ad pod. As a Publisher, you will also be able to add bumpers to your video placements. The following diagram shows how bumpers work within an ad pod.

By default, video placements do not have bumpers associated with them. Bumpers must be explicitly added to video placements. As a Publisher, you can set a default creative for bumpers. At this time, only managed campaigns can bid on bumpers.

API

The /vmap endpoint is available for VMAP responses (use /ssvmap for server-side requests). /vmap is similar to /ptv, but the response is VMAP instead of VAST. When using Prebid Server Premium, you can use /vmap or /ssvmap or, see the documentation for Long-Form Video Service.

To enable video placements for ad podding:

• On the placement, make sure that maximum_number_ads is greater than 1 and the max_duration_secs is greater than 0.

  Note

  The max_duration_secs, max_num_ads, and max_ad_duration fields do not apply to bumpers.

• If the video context is mid-roll, set the start_delay_secs attribute on the placement to greater than 0.

• Use either the /vmap or /ssvmap endpoint.

Warning

If you are making a secure call to the /vmap endpoint, any ad break placement that does not also support a secure url will be eliminated from the /vmap response.