AD_Server Plugin

The AD_Server plugin allows you to create advertisements using the videos in your libraries. It is based on VMAP and VAST standards, ensuring a structured and effective way to manage and deliver video ads on your AVideo platform.

Make sure you know all types of ads possible on the AVideo Platform, click here.

VMAP (Video Multiple Ad Playlist)

VMAP stands for Video Multiple Ad Playlist, a format used to define how and when ads should be played during a video. It’s an XML-based format used to schedule ad breaks within a video, enabling complex advertising setups like regional targeting or audience-specific ads.

VAST (Video Ad Serving Template)

VAST stands for Video Ad Serving Template, a standard for structuring ad tags that serve ads to video players. VAST includes metadata about an advertisement, such as the length, video format, and click-through URL. It ensures that ads are displayed correctly across different video players and devices.

Why These Standards Are Important

VMAP and VAST provide a standardized approach for ad delivery across various platforms and devices. VMAP defines when ads should be displayed during a video, while VAST ensures the ads are served correctly. These standards are crucial for publishers who need to scale their ad delivery effectively.

Requirements

1. You must use HTTPS.
2. Campaigns can only contain videos that you host. Embedded videos are not supported.

Limitations

Campaigns can now play ads on both VOD (Video on Demand) and live videos. Previously, ads were limited to VOD videos only, but the latest version also supports preroll ads on livestreams, broadening the scope of ad delivery.

Global Campaigns and Campaigns per User

All campaigns are site-wide. Currently, we do not support user-specific campaigns, so only admins can create and manage campaigns.

Paid Users

By default, ads will not be shown to users who have paid subscriptions (PPV or subscription models).

How to Use the Plugin

To access the plugin configuration screen, click on the red Advertising Manager button at the top of the videos manager, or click on the Plugin button next to the AD_Server plugin in the plugin manager.

To have your ad videos play, you need to do two things:

1. Create a campaign.
2. Add videos to your campaign (MUST BE MP4 videos).

Create a Campaign

Fill out all the fields on the left side and click the Save button. You can now set a Reward per Impression for each campaign. This field allows automatic payment to the channel's wallet whenever an ad is played on their channel.

• Max Prints: Once the ad reaches the number of views specified in this field, it will no longer compete in the display ads queue.
• Reward per Impression: Set a monetary reward that will be paid to the channel owner each time an ad is displayed on their channel.

Campaign List

On the right side, you can see a list of campaigns with buttons to:

• Add Videos: Select and add videos to the campaign.
• View Report: Generate a detailed report showing where and when the ad was played.
• See Campaign Progress: View a simple chart of the campaign’s performance.
• Edit Campaign: Modify campaign settings.
• Delete Campaign: Remove the campaign.

Add Videos

In the first field, type the name of a video. A list will appear below—choose a video, fill in the other fields, and click the green Add Video button. The videos chosen here will randomly appear in your campaign.

Sample Site

You may have noticed we have a plugin called AdsForJesus. This plugin automatically adds ads to your videos, and it is powered by the website https://videos.forjesus.tv/.

Here’s how the site’s plugin configuration looks:

Plugin Parameters

Video Positions

• start: Display an ad at the beginning of the video or livestream.
• mid25Percent: Display an ad when the video reaches 25% of its total length.
• mid50Percent: Display an ad when the video reaches 50% of its total length.
• mid75Percent: Display an ad when the video reaches 75% of its total length.
• end: Display an ad at the end of the video.

Frequency

• showAdsOnEachVideoView: Defines how often ads appear. For example, if set to 2, ads will show every 2 videos; if set to 1, ads will show on every video.
• showAdsOnRandomPositions: Choose random positions for ad display based on the selected positions. For example, if you want two random positions but do not want ads at the start, uncheck the start position.

Other Settings

• skipoffset: Percentage of the video watched before the skip button appears.
• showMarkers: Show yellow markers on the video timeline where ads will appear.

Ad Performance Reports

Once you have set up your campaigns and started delivering ads, you can monitor ad performance using the Video Ad Events Report. This report provides insights into how ads are performing, including data on event types and campaigns. You can find the tutorial for the report here:
Video Ad Events Report Tutorial.