Atlas In-Stream Technical Frequently Asked Questions
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Definitions
- Codec: short for “compression/decompression”. A compression technology that compresses the video down from the larger sizes to smaller, more manageable sizes. There are hundreds available, and Atlas supports the 20 most common ones.
- Kbps: Kilobits per second. Used to measure an encoding rate for a video.
- Encoding Rate: This is the rate at which a video plays data and how much data per second a video has. A higher encoding rate allows for more data per second, which allows for a higher quality picture.
- Aspect Ratio: Aspect ratio is the dimensions (ratio). Video dimensions are in a 4:3 (standard) ratio, or 16:9 (widescreen). Near all the videos we see are 4:3. We just got our first 16:9 video last week (a Nike one). We know that most players are going to migrate to 16:9 over time, but not quite sure when. Fortunately, Atlas easily supports both.
- Frames per second: Videos are like ‘flipbooks’ and have individual frames. Common web standards are 15fps, 24, or 30. Sometimes you will see 29.97. The human eye cannot really discern rates higher than 30 per second. Atlas uses 30 as our default.
- Audio bit rate: This is the rate and the amount of audio data in the file. Higher audio data typically means better sounding audio, at the sacrifice of a higher file size. You will see this expressed in Kilobits per second.
How the URLs Work
What ad materials does the publisher receive?- One method is a single redirect URL that points to a playlist file of the publisher’s choice/need. That may be XML, ASX, SMIL, JSON, or another format. The template used is provided by the publisher to Atlas ahead of time, and it shows up as a menu option in the trafficking HTML attachment (“Tag Builder”)
- Another method is the 5 individual redirect URLs.
- “Video-Serving” for the serving of the streamed media file
- “Impression Tracking” in order to count the impression of the ad
- “Mid-Play Tracking” in order to count that the middle point of the ad was reached
- “Complete Play Tracking” in order to count the entire ad was watched
- “Click Tracking” to count clicks
- This is in accordance with the IAB guidelines, http://www.iab.net/iab_products_and_industry_services/508676/508722/1479, such that the impression is not counted “…when the buffer is initiated, rather measurement should occur when the ad itself begins to appear on the user’s browser, closest to the opportunity to see.”
- These can easily be created as additional "ad events" on the ad’s properties page. Please contact the advertiser or agency that originally sent the tags in order to obtain these in addition.
- No. Although these re-direct URLs look similar to standard ones, there are implications on the back-end that are also different. These must be constructed (and changed if needed) through the Atlas Media Console.
- wmv (Windows Media Player), rm (RealPlayer), mov (QuickTime), and flv (Flash).
- 200, 300, 500, and 700 (kilobits/second).
- The default aspect ratio is 4x3. The aspect ratio can be specified if entered into the URL after the Bit Rate value and before the Streaming value like so: …br.200;ar.4x3;strm.1… The two supported aspect ratios are 4x3 and 16x9. To use the 16x9 aspect ratio, please specify this at the point of building the ad.
- The parameter strm.1 is used for streaming ads. The parameter strm.0 is used for progressive download ads (non-streaming). This is implemented after the pf value and before the /direct/.
- This stands for “view type” and is used to track impressions or not.Vt.1 will serve the ad file and not count as an impression in reporting. Vt.2 serves a 1x1 pixel and counts the impression for the ad. If neither is used, then both will occur (the video will be served *and* an impression will be counted). This last case is non-IAB compliant.
- This stands for “click type” and has a few possible values following after it:
- Ct.1 is to track clicks. To track additional clickable areas, one would use “ct.2”, “ct.3”, etc.
- Ct.i1 is to track interactions. In the case of Atlas In-Stream video, ct.i1 is dedicated to mid-point tracking, and ct.i2 is dedicated to completion point tracking. These are when the videos reach this point in the timeline, and do not involve “clicks”. To add additional interaction events, one would use “ct.i3”, “ct.i4”, etc.
- Ct.d is used for tracking time duration in seconds. This has been removed from the interface but still works for reporting. Ct.d;ea.15; is how one would pass the reporting detail that “15 seconds of the video was watched”. The seconds must be in integers (no decimals), and 90 is the maximum value.
- These values should not be used together in the same URL, ex: “ct.d;ea.15;ct.i1”
- Yes, the tags do work independently of each other—but are intended to be used together in unison.
- One of the challenges for advertisers is to know beyond whether the ad begins displaying—to know if the ad is compelling to the customer and whether the customer is viewing the entire ad. Measuring at what point audience stops watching an ad and whether the ad is played in entirety helps the advertiser to build ads that are meaningful and compelling to the advertiser’s audience.
- Yes, you may add a custom script so that the length of time (in seconds) that the ad was viewed is returned. This number must be rounded to the nearest whole second and not use decimal points. ct.d;ea.15 = acceptable, ct.d,ea.7.5 = unacceptable.
- No, although the tags look very similar to the regular click tags, the other parts of the URLs after the “/direct” make this a URL that returns a 1x1 pixel, tracks the event (Mid-Play or Completed Play) in reports, and does not take the viewer to a different page.
- As expected, impressions will be tracked for an ad other than the one displayed—which will have an impact on both campaigns and their reporting.
- strm. is short for “stream” and indicates whether the tag will call for the Progressive Download version of the file or the Streamed version. For more information on the difference between Progressive Download and Streaming, please visit: http://www.streamingmedia.com/article.asp?id=8456&page=1. strm.0 will serve a Progressive Download file and strm.1 will serve a Streamed file. If neither is used, then the default Progressive Download will be used.
- ar. is short for “aspect ratio” and indicates which ratio to use; 4x3 or 16x9. 4x3 is the standard and will likely apply in 95% of video inventory. 16x9 is “widescreen” and is available as an option as it is an IAB supported standard. ar.4x3 is for 4x3 and ar.16x9 is for 16x9. If neither is used, then the default, 4x3, will be used.
Publisher-Related
Which publishers have been pre-verified for Atlas In-Stream ads?
- View the AIS Pre-Verified Site List here.
What ad materials does the publisher receive?
- One method is a single redirect URL that points to a playlist file of the publisher’s choice/need. That may be XML, ASX, SMIL, JSON, or another format. The template used is provided by the publisher to Atlas ahead of time, and it shows up as a menu option in the trafficking HTML attachment (“Tag Builder”)
- Another method is the 5 individual redirect URLs.
- “Video-Serving” for the serving of the streamed media file
- “Impression Tracking” in order to count the impression of the ad
- “Mid-Play Tracking” in order to count that the middle point of the ad was reached
- “Complete Play Tracking” in order to count the entire ad was watched
- “Click Tracking” to count clicks
Why does the video not click through to a site when I pre-view it in the HTML attachment? Why does it not click through when I view it as served via the video-serving URL?
- The video files are not clickable themselves and thus the separate “Click URL”. Publishers have spots in their ad templates to insert both the video URL and the click URL.
Why are there no control buttons in the video, such as pause or mute?
- These are not a property of the video file, but rather of the video player that the video is shown within. The publisher’s player provides these video controls. If you need a video from Atlas that has these controls, our Atlas Rich Media team can help you build one of these. Please contact your Atlas Rich Media sales contact or project manager.
Our publisher network offers one player type (Flash, Windows Media, etc.) but offers 3 different streaming bit rate options. Can we use the same set of redirect tags for all 3 bit rates?
- Yes—you must change the “br” value within each respective tag, so that they read “br.200;”, “br.300;” or “br.500;” for the respective option.
Our publisher network offers two player type options (ex: RealPlayer and QuickTime). Can we use the same set of redirect tags for both player types?
- Yes—but you must change the “pf” value within each respective tag, so that they read “pf.rm;” and “pf.mov;” for the respective option.
Should the publisher test that the streaming ads function after loading them into the publisher ad-server?
- Yes—it is highly recommended (and should be required) that the tags should be tested again after being pushed live.
Companion Ads
How are companion ads handled? Are companion ads included in the set of 5 URLs or the “single URL”?
- The “single URL” method allows for companion ad details to be included in the code/playlist that is returned to the player via the URL. For the “5 URL” method, companion ads are served through a separate set of Atlas tags and are implemented as normal.
How would we set up an Instream ad to display with a companion ad also displayed on the same page? Or is this something that is traditionally controlled by the publishers?
- Companion ads can be set up in Atlas using our standard iframe or jscript tags (or standard view and click re-directs) as they normally would be set-up. The publisher implements these alongside with the video and there is no synchronization between the video and companion ad.
Appearance
Will the Instream product allow us to serve full screen video ads?
- As Atlas In-Stream is now, it does allow for full page viewing of the ad--if the publisher-side player allows for and offers that. Some other third-party solutions actually *launch* full page versions which Atlas does as well, but requires additional (separate) coding.
How is the streaming of the FLV different to the streaming used in other Atlas Rich Media ads?
- The main difference is that with Atlas Rich Media ads such as expandables, the video is served separately from the tracking and is "hard-coded" within the particular ad. Streaming via Atlas In-Stream allows the advertiser to rotate ads through a streaming re-direct; a technical serving difference. This also allows for the use of creative controls like weighting, sequencing, and frequency, as well as potentially customer-targeting down the road.
Which codecs are used for the output videos?
- FLV: On2 VP6
- WMV: Windows Media Video 9
- MOV: Sorenson Video 3
- RM: RealVideo
Which video formats work best?
- Comparing the four video formats that Atlas supports, the most common format on most publisher sites’ video players today is Flash .FLV. Estimated at greater than 90%. Microsoft’s Silverlight & Windows Media Player .WMV are the second-most common.
Reliability
Is Atlas’ infrastructure reliable for serving streamed ads? What ad capacity can Atlas handle?
- Atlas currently serves roughly 200K ads/second and 10B /day. Our technology is constantly scaled to maintain a load of 50% to total capacity. Atlas has multiple fully-redundant data centers globally and leverages the world’s top Content Distribution Networks for file delivery. The servers are watched around the clock by a staffed operations center, and have engineers on call at all hours.
What is the user experience if there were to be a technical failure in the serving of an Atlas In-Stream ad?
- The tags are designed such that a failure will be unnoticeable to the end user. They will skip past the ad and go seamlessly to the next piece of video content. A failure would be very unlikely due to the multiple redundant ad-servers and around the clock monitoring.
What happens if there is a failure in the request for the streaming media (the “vt.1” tag) but the other two tags are functioning?
- The tags work irrespective of each other and will still function in the rare case if one or two were to fail. This could mean that the ad may show up while tracking zero impressions, or impressions may be tracked while the ad is not visible to the end user. It is important that the tags be implemented as designed and tested prior to pushing live to ensure the tracking is working correctly. Please contact Atlas Customer Support in these cases for additional troubleshooting.
