As an app developer looking to design OTT streaming platforms that easily monetize content, you have come to loathe ad-blocking software. Ad-blockers are the gatekeepers that dismiss ads that might disrupt the viewer’s experience.
However, as personalized advertising replaces general-audience campaigns, avoiding these ad-blockers becomes a necessity. The solution to circumvent this software? Ad-stitching.
Server-Side Ad Insertion (SSAI) and Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) Explained
Researchers have discovered that impersonalized advertising is approximately 70% less effective than customized ad campaigns. Ad-stitching allows you to insert personalized ads into content using video streaming protocols that bypass ad-blockers. This ad-stitching occurs on the server-side: server-side ad insertion (SSAI), and dynamically: dynamic ad insertion (DAI).
These terms are defined as follows:
● Dynamic Ad Insertion: This technology allows brands to personalize ads per user based on viewing habits, demographics, and search inquiries.
● Server-Side Ad Insertion: This technology inserts these customized ads by stitching them seamlessly into a stream alongside other video content. This ad insertion occurs on the server-side, unlike client-side ad insertion (CSAI).
How does DAI Work with SSAI?
SSAI alters the initial streaming manifest – the set of directions for locating the video player and playing files – for every viewer. That ad gets stitched into the stream before reaching the playback client of the user.
Since there is no broken transmission, the viewer does not know the ads exist within the video content. Also, ad-blockers cannot detect advertisements to be able to prevent them.
The Benefits of Ad-Stitching with DAI and SSAI
The most significant advantage of ad-stitching with DAI and SSAI is how seamless this video content appears for the viewer, yet there are several more benefits:
● Ad-Block Prevention: This prevention guarantees that the ad will play regardless of ad-blockers used by the viewer.
● Dynamic Adaptation: Creates space for perfectly-timed ads to boost brand recognition, delivering the right content to the target audience at the right moment.
● Ideal Broadcast Viewing: This creates a positive viewing experience for the user that does not include awkward pauses, buffering, or latency between ad content and programming.
● High-Level Data Analytics: Big data and behavior analytics allow the advertiser to create focused ads that refine the audience-targeting process.
● Personalization and Multiscreen Advertising: This technology is critical in differentiating a brand’s services to attract the right customers and appeal to the viewers personally.
What to Look For in a DAI Solution
The first thing to look for in a DAI solution is the ability to identify the breaks in your ad streams. You will also want to ensure it can transcode content into the quality versions necessary for the connectivity level.
You will then make sure that it transcodes the ads into the adaptive bit-rate (ABR) format. The solution must insert and stitch the dynamic ad with the other video content and then relay communications between the manifest and the player at the correct times with the proper files.
Ad-stitching solutions for monetizing video streaming content is the best way to avoid ad-blocking software today.
Daniel Lofaso is the VP of Marketing for 43Twenty, a strategic advisory and marketing firm that accelerates growth for companies in technology, media, and entertainment.
