Delivering Advertising with HTML5

This article describes how to deliver ads with HTML5 video players.

Video Cloud supports pre-roll advertising from DoubleClick for Publishers for players in HTML5 mode. This capability provides a way for you to show ads before your videos play on iPhones, iPads, and other devices that do not support Flash video players.

Availability and Requirements

This feature is currently released as Limited Availability for testing with a small number of customers. Participation in Limited Availability releases is by invitation only, so we can have an appropriately controlled test to make sure the feature is ready for release at scale. Please contact your Account Manager if you would like to learn more.

Advertising for HTML5 videos requires the following:

• A DoubleClick for Publishers ad server account. For more on setting up an account with DoubleClick for Publishers, see Ad Integrations.
• Videos with ads must play in an HTML5-enabled smart player. See Setting up smart player support.
• The video creative must be encoded in a format that supports HTML5 play, formatted as an H.264 codec in a MP4 container.

Limitations

HTML5 advertising with Video Cloud currently has the following limitations:

• DoubleClick for Publishers is the only currently supported ad server. To configure a player to connect to DoubleClick for Publishers, in the Video Cloud Studio Advertising module, set the ad source to DFP XML or DFP IMA. Video Cloud enables testing of ad servers other than DoubleClick for Publishers in advance of future support as described in Testing unsupported ad servers for HTML5 delivery.
• Support for pre-roll ads only. Video Cloud does not support onload, mid-roll and post-roll ads.
• Video Cloud currently supports only the simple policy of one ad for each video. Time-based ad policies are not supported.
• A video creative is the only supported ad format at this time. Video Cloud does not support static image videos, banners, overlay, external ads, or pod formats.
• No support for advertising on the iPad with OS 3.2 and iPhone with OS 3.0.3.
• No support for serving multiple bitrate renditions for ads. Video Cloud will select the first file in a playable format for the device, and not select further for the playable format with the optimum bitrate. 
• Some mobile devices, such as the iPhone and iPod Touch, do not support in-page playback, and therefore play ads in the native device player. For this reason, such devices might not allow for tapping an ad to navigate to product details (or "clicking through"). Also, ads played in the native player might permit rewind and fast forward scrubbing. These issues are limitations of the device operating system.
• Video Cloud offers a limited advertising API through the smart player API.
• No support for ad plugins to dynamically integrate ad servers.
• Lengthy text on labels for HTML5 player ads may truncate, and instead, spills over beyond the label area.
• The key/values specific to DFP will always be automatically appended in the same way that is done in the Flash player.  The only time this is different is in playlist players, where lnID, ttID, and video key/values are not currently added automatically.

Trafficking HTML5 ads

Set policies for HTML5 videos as you do for your ads played via Flash. For support on how to integrate ads with Video Cloud, see the extensive documentation in the Advertising Delivery section of the Video Cloud documentation, beginning with Managing Video Advertising. For details on policy setting and trafficking campaigns specific to DoubleClick for Publishers, see DoubleClick's DFP Specific Information. 

Setting up smart player support

Before you begin HTML5 ad integration, be sure that your video plays in a smart player and you have enabled HTML5 mode for that player's account. For a list of smart players, specific customization support for smart players, and instructions on how to enable smart players for HTML5 mode, see Delivering Video with HTML5 and Smart Players and Setting Your HTML5 Video Delivery Options.

Setting ad server integration specific to HTML5 ads

To set ad server integration for HTML5 ads, enable ads for the smart players where you'll play ads, and edit the ad policies for each in the Video Cloud Studio Advertising module. For instructions on these processes, see Enabling ad requests for players and Editing ad policies for players.

In the Advertising module, for the selected smart players, you can set properties which will then be used for both your Flash player and HTML5 player:

1. Set Ad Source to the default, DFP XML, or select DFP IMA.
   DFP XML and DFP IMA are the currently supported ad sources for DoubleClick for Publishers, the only ad server currently supported for HTML5 ads. 
2. Set Request Ads from this player to Yes.
   HTML5 ads support key/value pairs for ad requests both by player and by video. To set a video to request ads and set its key/value pairs, from the Media module, edit the video and select Advertising as an Economic Model on the Distribution tab.
3. Set the Ad Server URL.
   
4. Set Pre-Roll Ad Insertion to Yes.  Only pre-roll ads are currently supported for HTML5 ads.
5. Set the Ad Policy for Videos in this Player settings as you would like for your Flash player.  The HTML5 player will currently ignore these settings, behaving as if Video Based with a value of 1 for each of the settings.

Advertising APIs within the smart player API

The advertising API has been started in the smart player API with the ad start and ad complete events.  Here's an example of using these events:

var adModule = experience.getModule(brightcove.api.modules.APIModules.ADVERTISING);
adModule.addEventListener(brightcove.api.events.AdEvent.START, onAdStart); 
adModule.addEventListener(brightcove.api.events.AdEvent.COMPLETE, onAdComplete);

Dynamic configuration of ad settings

The advertising API does not yet support dynamic configuration of ad settings, but you can change the ad server URL and ad targeting parameters dynamically for each player through the usage of player configuration parameters.  Both adServerURL and additionalAdTargetingParams are supported in the same way they are supported for the Flash player and as explained in the player configuration documentation.

Testing unsupported ad servers for HTML5 delivery

Video Cloud supports HTML5 ad integration with DoubleClick for Publishers and offers partners the opportunity to test currently unsupported ad servers for successful HTML5 ad integration, for ad network and ad serving partners seeking to deliver HTML5 ads to a Video Cloud HTML5 video players. The process of testing an ad server for support involves checking to see if the ad server meets a few requirements, enabling the player for ads in the Video Cloud Advertising module, testing ad server compatibility in a browser, and evaluating player performance on supported mobile devices. See Testing Unsupported Ad Servers for HTML5 Delivery for details.