Man experience ad unit failure loading watching streaming video on an iPad.
Ad unit failure can ruin an otherwise enjoyable streaming video experience for viewers and cause headaches for over-the-top (OTT) providers and advertisers. What causes ad unit failure and what can OTT providers do to minimize the chances of it happening? It's all about conquering a few technological challenges—many of which originate in the “last mile” to viewers' devices.
Quick Takeaways
OTT advertising is on the rise but ad unit failure can impact revenue generation and the viewing experience
The most common types of ad unit failure include uneven distribution, slow loading times, launch failure, rebuffering, and poor video quality
Ad unit failure can be caused by low advertiser demand, poor inventory management, sourcing ads from multiple supply-side platforms (SSPs), and using outdated client-side ad insertion
Other causes are time outs (at the stitcher and advertiser level) when rendering, technical incompatibilities, and insufficient bitrate and bandwidth
Understanding Ad Unit Failure
The number of viewers using OTTs continues to increase, and along with them the volume and importance of OTT advertising. We can readily see this effect through the rise in the number of new ad-supported OTT services.
OTT Advertising is On the Rise
According to Innovid's Global Omni-Channel Benchmarks Report, advertising on connected TVs (CTVs) accounted for 40% of all video impressions in 2020. Global programmatic ad spending hit $147 billion in 2020, with the number of programmatic impressions growing 54% overall – and 207% on CTV devices.
Overall growth of programmatic video impressions 2019-2020.
Not only is OTT advertising reaching more eyeballs, those viewers are actually watching the ads—which are typically non-skippable. According to Propellant Media, OTT advertising watch rates average between 85% - 90%, well above watch rates for both traditional and web-based advertising.
Those watch rates aren't guaranteed, however. These rates and, more importantly, revenue generation can go much lower if there are ad failures—the failure of ads to be efficiently decisioned, properly loaded, or accounted for on an OTT service.
How OTT Ads Can Fail
In a perfect world, the viewer sees one or more ads cleanly inserted into the program content at a natural program break. Ideally, the ads are related to the viewer's demographics and interests and are not unduly repetitive.
This perfect scenario is not always accomplished. The OTT’s ad monetization can be diminished in any of the following ways:
Ads delivered in unnatural program breaks (in the middle of a scene, for example)
Ad responses that are distributed unevenly across all ad pods
Ads take too long to launch (in CSAI) or are unresponsive when the ad stitcher calls them (SSAI/DAI)
Duplicated ads are shown within the same ad pod
Ads fail to launch (in CSAI)
Ads buffer or freeze
Poor picture quality
What Causes Ad Unit Failure?
These common ad unit failures can have a number of different causes. Some of these causes are technical and some are operational in nature.
1. Low Advertiser Demand
If an OTT provider has low demand for their inventory, viewers will see the same ads over and over, sometimes multiple times during the same break. In other instances, generic graphics are inserted into the blank ad spots. Viewers find either scenario unacceptable and will switch away from the host programming and view the offending advertiser negatively.
2. Poor Inventory Management
Uneven ad distribution can also arise from poor management of ad inventory. This often happens when the same advertiser wins bids on multiple ad pods in the same programming. If the ad server software doesn't have adequate frequency caps and inventory management controls, the same ads may appear too close together in the same program.
3. Sourcing Ads from Multiple SSPs
This situation can also occur if the publisher sources advertising from multiple supply-side platforms (SSPs) that may contain ads from the same advertisers. In this instance, the different SSPs may serve the same ads from the same advertisers, resulting in unnecessary ad repetition.
4. CSAI vs. SSAI
OTT providers use one of two methods to insert ad units into their video content. With the older approach, client-side ad insertion (CSAI), the publisher inserts each ad unit in real-time, forcing the video player to switch between the primary content and the ad. This can cause delays in loading the ad, sometimes cause ads not to load at all, and can “break” playback causing the entire stream to fail. Additionally, because the ads and content are encoded differently, CSAI exposes publishers to scenarios where the image quality of the content and advertising can be meaningfully different.
Client-side ad insertion (CSAI).
The newer, server-side ad insertion (SSAI) approach, stitches ad units into the primary content stream at the streaming server (called an Ad Stitcher). This delivers a single continuous stream to viewers' devices, eliminating most loading issues and providing a more seamless playback experience.
Server-side ad insertion (SSAI).
How SSAI affects the packaging of streaming ads.
5. Time Out When Rendering
Empty ad space or slow ad starts can also occur when an ad unit takes too long to render. This issue can be caused by slow or overworked ad servers or network issues between the ad and OTT services.
6. Technical Incompatibilities
In some instances, ad unit issues are caused by technological incompatibilities between the ad server and the OTT provider. The ad service must deliver ads in the formats required by specific OTT providers.
7. Insufficient Bitrate
Low bitrate can result in poor video quality and other viewing issues. This typically occurs when the OTT provider sacrifices bitrate to conserve bandwidth. It can also occur when the ad server encodes ads at a lower bitrate than the surrounding content.
8. Insufficient Bandwidth
Too little bandwidth anywhere in the chain can result in rebuffering, slow ad starts, and poor ad quality. This issue most often occurs in the last mile to the viewer's device, where bandwidth can be constrained by the viewer's ISP.
How Can OTT Providers Reduce Ad Unit Failure?
The first step in reducing ad unit failure is to identify the cause of the problem. One way of doing this is by examining error reports for each ad placement. It also helps to compare the publisher's ad request with the technical details from the ad server to make sure that all the details, such as bitrate, match.
Given this information, there are several things an OTT provider can do to reduce ad unit failure:
Increase advertiser demand to uniquely fill more ad units
Enable smarter ad placement decisions and minimize uneven ad distribution.
Switch from client-side to server-side ad insertion to eliminate ad unit loading issues
Make sure the ad units' bitrate matches the OTT provider's technical requirements to ensure adequate video quality
Build out a buffer in real-time on the viewers' streaming devices
Preposition video elements to eliminate start-up delays
The viewing experience for ad units is just as important as the viewing experience for the primary streaming content. Minimizing ad unit failure provides a more satisfying and consistent viewing experience for all streaming customers.
Turn to Penthera to Reduce Ad Unit Failure
If ad unit failure is an issue, turn to the experts at Penthera to reduce ad unit failure. Our streaming solutions eliminate last-mile issues such as buffering and startup failure that can negatively impact the ad viewing experience, and our 2nd Look solution increases fill rates and reduces uneven ad distribution on SSAI platforms. Our software is currently used by OTT services such as Paramount+, Showtime, and others and deployed on more than 100 million devices in 36 countries.