VAST 4.0 represents the first opportunity for a fully integrated, standards-based, Server-Side Ad Insertion workflow. Join this sessions to learn how it will impact your workflows and enable you to maximize your revenue by circumventing ad blockers, reaching more devices and improving viewers' experience. Presented during Streaming Media West 2017 Discovery Track Sessions by Stefan Lederer, CEO of Bitmovin. Learn more about monetization with the Bitmovin Video Player & Encoding Service - https://bitmovin.com/video-advertising/

2. Next Generation Advertising
Workflows and Server-Side
Ad Insertion with VAST 4.0
Stefan Lederer, CEO - Bitmovin

3. 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

4. 2017 Video
Developer Report
● 380 Submissions
● 50 Countries
● 75% in technical
roles

5. 2017 Video Developer Report
What type of ad
standard tech are
you using today?

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. Ad Standards
● Video Ad Serving Template (VAST)
● Video Player-Ad Interface Definition (VPAID)
Interactive and
Noninteractive

10. 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

11. VAST
Video Ad Serving Template (VAST)
● XML format
● 3.0 - In-Market Standard
● 4.0 - Released January 2016

12. VAST 3.0
VAST 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

13. 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

14. CSAI Workflow

15. CSAI Architecture

16. What are Client-
Side Advantages?
● Easier ad targeting
● More analytics
● Conditional ads
● Interactive ads

17. What are Client-
Side Drawbacks?
● Easy to block
● Negative user experiences
● Inconsistent environments

18. 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

19. SSAI Workflow

20. SSAI Architecture

21. What are Server-
Side Advantages?
● Bypasses many ad blockers
● Better viewing experience (like linear TV)
● Better device compatibility

22. What are Server-
Side Drawbacks?
● Hard to scale
● Hard to target
● Hard to track
● Many different standards and methods

23. 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

24. 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

25. Ad Triggering
● Media Content
● Ad Content
○ XLink
○ Default
● Media Content
DASH IF Interoperability
Points Advertising
Architecture

26. Examples
Server-Side Ad Insertion
Demo

27. Examples
Client-Side Ad Insertion

28. Examples
Client-Side Ad Insertion
Demo

29. Q&A

30. 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