Trafficking ads is the process of setting up ads in the ad server, so that when an ad request is made to the ad server, the correct ad will be returned and played based on the ad policies and ad targeting information in the ad tag.
Before you begin trafficking ads, you need to:
Once you have completed these tasks, you are ready to traffick ads:
Verify ad creatives meet Brightcove ad specifications
To verify that the ad meets the Brightcove ad specifications:
- Launch the video ad in an FLV player to view it. Verify the http:// or http:// video path of the video ad and the duration (length) of the video ad. Record this information as you will need the video path and duration of the ad during trafficking.
- If you are using Third Party Ad Serving, verify that you are third party redirect ad tags that are supported. Brightcove supports third party redirect ad tags for SWF, JPG, GIFs, and FLVs to run inside a Brightcove player, provided that the agency or third party supplies a single redirect URL (http:// or https:// path) to the asset file and has met all the required advertising specifications.
Note: IFRAME, ILAYER, JavaScript, HTML, etc. tags are not supported because Flash does not support these ad tags and Brightcove is a Flash environment. If you are synchronizing companion banner assets outside the Brightcove player with a video ad instead the Brightcove player, then third party IFRAME, JavaScript, HTML, etc. tags can be used for the companion banners being served on the HTML page.
Brightcove also supports 1x1 impression third party tracking pixel and click tag URLs. Place 1x1 tracking pixels in either trackStartURL, trackMidURL, trackEndURL, and/or trackPointURLs depending on what you want to track. For more information on each tracking point, see Ad Format XML Elements and Attributes.
- Brightcove supports a variety of ad formats that help you harness the full potential of your content through innovative and flexible Internet video advertising, including video ads, overlay ads, expanding banners, and banners. To verify that the video ads meets the specifications of the selected ad format, view the SWF ad creatives in a SWF Decompiler to ensure that the code compiles with the specifications for the following ad formats:
Ensure the ad server has the Brightcove XML code for your ad formats
Responses from ad requests are returned to Brightcove players in XML format. Each ad format has specific XML code associated with it and you must ensure that the responses are returned in the correct XML format so that responses can be processed by the Brightcove player.
If you are using DFP or DFP Video and Rich Media, the XML code for each ad format is provided in XML templates. These templates are uploaded once, when you start using a DFP ad server, and then the appropriate format can be selected during the trafficking process. If you use any other ad server, you must verify that the correct XML code for each ad format is being returned to Brightcove in response to ad requests.
Click on the ad formats below to view a visual example and the XML specification for each ad format:
For DFP customers only: Click here for information on uploading the Brightcove XML templates into DFP.
Trafficking ads
The process of trafficking ads is unique for each ad server. For detailed information on trafficking ads for your ad server, click on the appropriate link below: