Ads & Ad Policies | WS.WebTV Documentation | WebTV Solutions

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About Ads

An Ad is a special kind of (clickable) Clip which is inserted automatically at the beginning, during and/or the end of playback of Clips and Channels. It can be:
Pre-Roll: Inserted at the beginning of Clips and/or Channels.
Mid-Roll (Channel-only): Inserted between the Clips of a Channel's playlist.
Post-Roll: Inserted at the end of Clips and/or Channels.

Ad Policies:
The behavior of Ads is controled through "Ad Policies"; these policies can be set either globally or individually (per Channel and Clip). If a Clip or Channel does not have a specific Ad Policy then the system will use the global one (Configuration > Ads). Policies control the amount of inserted Ads, as well as the insertion patterns. See below for more info.

Relating Ads with Clips and Channels
Ads are related with Clips and Channels generically (global) and/or though Category and Channel relationships.
- Clips: In order to relate Ads with Clips, Ads must be Global or Related (with Clips) though Categories.
- Channels: In order to relate Ads with Channels, Ads must be Global or Related (with Channels) though direct Channel association.
In any case, the Ad Policy will determine if the Ads displayed for a Clip or a Channel will be strictly related, globals, both or none. For example, if you want a particular Ad to be used as Pre-Roll and Mid-Roll of a single Channel, then you must create an Ad configured as Pre-Roll and Mid-Roll "by relationship" and directly relate it with the Channel. Then, the Channel Ad Policy must only allow "related" Ads (in order to exclude any "global" Ad).

Examples

Ad (configured as Pre/Roll and Mid-Roll, related with "My Channel")

Channel: "My Channel" (playlist):


Example 1 (Channel with Mid-Roll): Channel with the following Ad Policy:
- Pre-Rolls: Disabled.
- Mid-Rolls: Enabled. Type "Related", insert 1, after 1 Clip(s).


Example 2 (Channel with Pre-Roll + Mid-Roll): Channel with the following Ad Policy:
- Pre-Rolls: Enabled. Type "Related", insert 1.
- Mid-Rolls: Enabled. Type "Related", insert 1, after 1 Clip(s).


Example 3 (Channel with Pre-Roll + Mid-Roll + Post-Roll): Channel with the following Ad Policy:
- Pre-Rolls: Enabled. Type "Related", insert 1.
- Mid-Rolls: Enabled. Type "Related", insert 1, after 1 Clip(s).
- Post-Rolls: Enabled. Type "Related", insert 1.

Creating an Ad

1. Goto to the Ads page...

2. Once on the Ad list...
(A) To create an Ad click on "New Ad..." button and select "Standard".
(B) To edit an existing Ad click the corresponding "pencil" icon.


Since WS.WebTV 1.8.5, when creating an Ad you will only be asked to enter the title first. ...After entering it, click Continue


3. The Properties Tab...
On the Properties tab is where you enter the basic Clip information:
• Title: Enter the Ad title (normally, the word "Ad" or "Publicity" is included on Ad titles).
• Image: Supply an image to use as thumbnail (optionally).
Drag and Drop Tip:
If you are using recent versions of Chrome/Safari, Firefox or Opera, you can drag and drop your image file to the image field. You can use the sample image, temporarily, to complete this tutorial.
• Aspect: Select the aspect ratio of the Ad (4:3, 16:9, etc.).
• Duration: Approximate duration of the video (for informative purpose only).


Like a Clip, on the Media tabs you will be able to upload the corresponding video files.
For more information, check the Clip creation and Interactivities tutorials.

4. The Settings Tab...
On the Settings tab is where you configure the Ad:

» Use VAST: Yes...
WS.WebTV 1.8.5+ supports VAST video Ads. When using VAST, the Media tab will hide and you won't be able to specify a link for the Ad.
• URL(s) Tag VAST: Enter the VAST Tag URL into this field. Note that you can supply several fallback URLs, separated with commas (in order to increase the fill rate). Example: http://vast_tag_url1,http://vast_tag_url2,http://vast_tag_url3.


» Use VAST: No...
The Media tab will show and you will be able to specify the Link for the Ad..
• Link: The URL that will open when the Ad is Clicked.


• Allow Skipping: To select whether the Ad can be skipped (by using the previous/next buttons) or not. If it is allowed to skip, you can specify the amount in seconds that Users need to wait before the skip buttons are enabled.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
All Ads are skippable when previewed from the Back-End. In order to see the effect of the "Allow Skipping" option, visit the WebTV from the Front-End (by clicking the "Visit" button located next to the WebTV title, at the top of the page). • Clip Pre-Roll: Whether you want the Ad to be used as Clip Pre-Roll.
• Channel Pre-Roll: Whether you want the Ad to be used as Channel Pre-Roll.
• Channel Mid-Roll: Whether you want the Ad to be used as Channel Mid-Roll.
• Clip Post-Roll: (WS.WebTV 2.3+) Whether you want the Ad to be used as Clip Post-Roll.
• Channel Post-Roll: (WS.WebTV 54pf1) Whether you want the Ad to be used as Channel Post-Roll.

Pre/Mid/Post Roll options:
» No: If you don't want the Ad to be used as that kind of "Roll"
» Yes, By relationship: The Ad will be inserted on Clips/Channels whose Ad Policy restricts the Ads to "related" ones, keep in mind that Ads are related with Clips through Categories (Categories tab) and with Channels through direct Channel association (Channel tab).
» Yes, Global: The Ad will be inserted on Clips/Channels whose Ad Policy allows global Ads.
» Yes, By relationship + global: The Ad will be inserted on Clips/Channels whose Ad Policy allows Ads either by relationship and/or globals (related Ads will have preference over global ones).

NOTE: If your Ad is not VAST, don't forget to upload the video files from the Media tab...

5. Activating a new Ad...
New Ads are inactive by default. In order to activate the Ad, return to the Ad list and click the "gray light bulb" icon (it will turn to yellow when active).

Ad Policies

As explained above, Ad Policies control the Ads behavior.
Besides the global Ad Policies (Configuration > Ads) you can define specific Policies per Channel and per Clip (when there is no specific Policy the system will use the global ones).

The following Ad Policy settings apply to Pre-Rolls:
• Enable: Whether to enable Pre-Rolls or not.
• Probability: The probability of appearance (percentage).
• Type:
» Global: Only global Ads will be displayed.
» Related: Only related* Ads will be displayed.
» Related + Global: Related* and global Ads will be displayed (related Ads will have preference).
*Ads are related to Clips through Categories and to Channels through direct Channel association.
• No. Ads: Maximum number of Ads to display.
• Sorting: Random|Views (less viewed first).
• Play Again: When No is selected, the Pre-Rolls will only be played once per page view (they will be displayed again after a page refresh).


The following Ad Policy settings apply to Mid-Rolls:
• Enable: Whether to enable Mid-Rolls or not.
• Type:
» Global: Only global Ads will be displayed.
» Related: Only related* Ads will be displayed.
» Related + Global: Related* and global Ads will be displayed (related Ads will have preference).
*Ads are related to Channels through direct Channel association.
• No. Ads: Maximum number of Ads to be inserted.
• Insert after: n Clip(s). The insertion pattern.
• Sorting: Random|Views (less viewed first).


The following Ad Policy settings apply to Post-Rolls:
• Enable: Whether to enable Post-Rolls or not.
• Probability: The probability of appearance (percentage).
• Type:
» Global: Only global Ads will be displayed.
» Related: Only related* Ads will be displayed.
» Related + Global: Related* and global Ads will be displayed (related Ads will have preference).
*Ads are related to Clips through Categories and to Channels through direct Channel association.
• No. Ads: Maximum number of Ads to display.
• Sorting: Random|Views (less viewed first).
• Play Again: When No is selected, the Post-Rolls will only be played once per page view (they will be displayed again after a page refresh).