Ads can be enabled via Productions, Distributions, or Campaigns. When enabled, this allows you to stick ads in place of where SAMs would normally go, so that you can monetize your content.
Usage
To get started, you’ll need to toggle “Enable Ads” under the “Ads in a SAM” dropdown in a Production, Distribution, or Campaign. This will be the first dropdown under the main settings.
Once enabled, you’ll need to fill out the sections below to connect and display the ads.
Publisher Information
Here’s what the settings look like for this section:
Domain
A reference to your website. Just the main page, like sourcedigital.com.
Target Page
A reference to exactly where your video will be. This should be either the same as, or a subpage of the domain you already entered, like sourcedigital.com, or sourcedigital.com/cool-video-page.
Publisher ID
This maps to your Placement or Publisher ID, which is the code we use to connect to an Advertising Partner.
In the near future, we’ll automatically fill this section out for you. But for now, you can get this from your Account Manager. This ID will generally be the same any time you enable ads on your account.
Ad Settings & Placements
Here’s what the settings look like for this section:
Advertising Partner
This is the place that actually stores and sends the ads that can be shown over your content. Right now, we only have one partner, Unruly. Soon though, we’ll support more partners that you can choose from.
SAM Size
This lets you pick the size of the ads you’d like to display. We currently support 3 sizes:
- Mobile Leaderboard (320 x 50)
- MPU (300 x 250)
- Monster MPU (300 x 600)
The most common choice is Mobile Leaderboard. These sizes will stay the same regardless of the size of the user’s screen. So even though the Monster MPU for example might not seem very big on a TV, it may look obnoxious on a small screen, like a phone.
SAM Preview Style
This section will let you select the appearance of the SAM’s preview.
Ad and Content SAM Display Settings
This section will let you decide how many ads you want to show, for how long, etc.
Duration of each SAM
How long each Ad SAM should last once it’s appeared on the screen.
SAMs displayed at the same time
How many Ads you want to be able to show at one time.
Duration between SAMs in seconds
How long of a break there should be between one Ad appearing and the next.
Position
Whether the Ads should display on the left or right side of the screen.
Set maximum number of Ad SAMs
Toggling this will let you choose a maximum number of Ads you want to show in the given Production or Distribution. If setting this on a Campaign, this maximum applies to each Production or Distribution the Campaign runs on, not the entire Campaign itself.
Interactions
The settings for Ads can be overwritten in this order, with Campaigns being the highest priority:
Campaigns → Distributions → Productions
So for example, if you say you want a maximum of 5 Ad SAMs within the Campaign, but a maximum of 3 within the Distribution, you will end up of with a max of 5, since the Campaign settings overwrite the Distribution settings.
Distributions & Productions
Ads in a SAM can be enabled from either of these levels. When creating or editing a Distribution, you can select a Production to associate it with, and that will apply the same settings you set at the Production level onto the Distribution.
If you have set any conflicting settings between a Distribution and its associated Production, the Distribution settings will take priority.
Campaigns
When creating or editing a Campaign, you can select Distributions to associate it with, and that will apply the same settings you set at the Campaign level onto the Distributions.
If you have set any conflicting settings between a Campaign and its associated Distrubutions, the Campaign settings will take priority.
Examples
Coming soon!
Examples of a Production, Distribution, and Campaign with Ads in a SAM enabled will be displayed here soon.