Next Generation Advertising
Workflows and Server-Side
Ad Insertion with VAST 4.0
Stefan Lederer, CEO - Bitmovin
Server-side and
client-side
advanced
advertisement
Agenda
● State of the Industry
○ Bitmovin Developer Survey
○ How ads are sold
○ Ad Standards
● SSAI vs CSAI
○ Compatibility, Features, Value
○ Triggering
○ Challenges
● Further Resources
● Q&A
2017 Video
Developer Report
● 380 Submissions
● 50 Countries
● 75% in technical
roles
2017 Video Developer Report
What type of ad
standard tech are
you using today?
How Ads are Sold ● Direct-Sold○ Conventional Ad deals
○ May be insufficient to fill available inventory
● Programmatic○ Buyers & Sellers programmatically connected
○ Unknown Content Sources
■ Video Quality Issues
■ Content Issues
● Holistic○ Both Direct-Sold and Programmatic
○ Optimizes for maximum value
The Advertising
Industry
● Interactive vs Noninteractive
● Broadcasters vs Publishers○ Companion
○ C3 & C7
● OTT vs Web○ Tracking viewability
○ Above the fold on web, but no fold in OTT
● Ad Decisioning○ Geolocation
○ DMP
○ Campaign Targets
○ Category matching
○ ...
One of the main
intersections between
technology and business
The Advertising
Industry One of the Main Intersections between
Technology and Business
● Interactive vs Noninteractive
● Broadcasters vs Publishers
○ Companion
● OTT vs Web
○ Tracking viewability
○ Above the fold on web, but no fold in OTT
Ad Standards
● Video Ad Serving Template (VAST)
● Video Player-Ad Interface Definition (VPAID)
Interactive and
Noninteractive
VPAID
● Video Player-Ad Interface Definition
(VPAID)○ 1.0 - Flash
○ 2.0 - JavaScript
● Intended for engaging, interactive
content
● Primarily used for:○ Tracking
○ Analytics
○ Verification
○ Conditional Ads
VASTVideo Ad Serving Template (VAST)
● XML format
● 3.0 - In-Market Standard
● 4.0 - Released January 2016
VAST 3.0VAST 3.0
● In-market standard
● Designed mainly for publishers, did not take into
account OTT
● Typically a progressive MP4
● Limited viewability data
● Added vs 2.0: Linear Ads, NonLinear Ads,
Skippable Linear Ads, Linear Ads with
Companions, and Ad Pods (sequenced group of
ads), VAST Wrapper
Released July 2012
VAST 4.0
VAST 4.0 ● Includes Ready-to-serve multiple qualities
● Includes Mezzanine File
● Separates Interactivity
● Designated space for Viewability
● Additional Metadata
○ Ad Categories
○ Conditional Ad Attribute
○ Universal ID
○ Performance Improvements
Released January 2016
CSAI Workflow
CSAI Architecture
What are Client-
Side Advantages?
● Easier ad targeting
● More analytics
● Conditional ads
● Interactive ads
What are Client-
Side Drawbacks?
● Easy to block
● Negative user experiences
● Inconsistent environments
Non-SSAI Anti-
AdBlocking
Domain Obfuscation:● Most AdBlockers use shared blacklists of
addresses for ads
● Domain Obfuscation regularly changes the
domains that proxy the ad call to new, every
changing domains not on the list
● Can slow ad loads
● Requires constant updating
● Not always effective
https://myFamousAdServer.com/myAd
https://fooBar.com/notAnAdButReallyAnAd
SSAI Workflow
SSAI Architecture
What are Server-
Side Advantages?
● Bypasses many ad blockers
● Better viewing experience (like linear TV)
● Better device compatibility
What are Server-
Side Drawbacks?
● Hard to scale
● Hard to target
● Hard to track
● Many different standards and methods
In-Band
Ad Triggering
● SCTE-35
○ Digital Program Insertion Cueing Message for Cable
Standard by the Society of Cable Telecommunications
Engineers
○ Inline insertion of cue tones in MPEG-TS streams
○ Used for inserting e.g., ads or local TV programs
● DASH Inband Event Stream
○ Signalled via the presence of the InbandEventStream
attribute (ISO/IEC 23009-1:2014 | 5.10.3.2)
○ Event streams multiplexed with Representations
→ EMSG box (Event Message Box) if encapsulated in
ISO BMFF
● HLS ‘Inband Events’
○ ID3 tags
○ Metadata stream is added to the MPEG Transport
Stream in the same way as audio and video
○ ID3 metadata is self-describing and needs no
configuration information
Out-of-Band
Ad Triggering
● DASH MPD Events
○ Events signalled in the MPD via the EventStream
element (ISO/IEC 23009-1:2014 | 5.10.2.1)
● HLS Playlist Events
○ Extension of m3u8 playlist: EXT-X-CUE-IN, EXT-X-
CUE-OUT, EXT-X-CUE-OUT-CONT, EXT-X-SCTE-35
(experimental tags)
○ Used to carry SCTE-35 data e.g., for ad signalling
Ad Triggering
● Media Content
● Ad Content
○ XLink
○ Default
● Media Content
DASH IF Interoperability
Points Advertising
Architecture
Examples
Client-Side Ad Insertion
Q&A
Additional
Ressources
● IAB
○ VAST 3.0
■ https://www.iab.com/guidelines/digital-
video-ad-serving-template-vast-3-0/
○ VAST 4.0
■ https://www.iab.com/guidelines/digital-
video-ad-serving-template-vast-4-0/
○ VPAID 2.0
■ https://www.iab.com/guidelines/digital-
video-player-ad-interface-definition-
vpaid-2-0/
● DASH IF IOP
○ http://dashif.org/wp-
content/uploads/2015/12/DASH-IF-IOP-
v3.2.pdf
○ Sections:
■ 5.3: Server-based Architecture
■ 5.4: App-based Architecture
■ 5.5: Extensions for ad insertion
■ 5.6: Interoperability Aspects