In the Online Video Player, a line item allows you to connect an Ad Unit to ad system demand through a VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) URL. An Ad Unit is a configurable ad placement that defines where and how ads appear in or around your player (see Instream Ad Unit General Settings or Outstream Ad Unit General Settings for more information).
Multiple line items can be assigned to an Ad Unit, ordered by priority. Each line item is checked for a viable ad to display and the first that delivers a valid ad will run.
1.0 | Create a Line Item
To create a new line item:
- Click “Ad Services” in the left menu panel
- Select “Line Items”
- Click “Create New Line Item”
- Enter a title and a VAST URL
- Toggle the switch on the top right to Enabled
- Click Save
2.0 | Customize a Line Item
2.1 | General Settings
- Title: Enter a unique title for your line item
- Code: By default a code is automatically generated based on the title
- Description: Enter a description for easy identification
- Timeout: The maximum time (in seconds) the line item is allowed to take to start an ad. If it does not deliver within this time, the player will move on to the next line item if available, or play the main content.
2.2 | Creative
- VAST subtype: An advanced field. Leave blank unless instructed otherwise by Blue Billywig support.
- VAST URL: Enter the full VAST URL to your ad system.
2.3 | Conditions
Use the “Conditions” section to add conditions that need to be met before the line item will load. Currently, the only available condition is device type: use it to restrict the line item to mobile, tablet, or desktop devices only.
2.4 | Behaviour
- Load VAST URL from same domain: When enabled, the player sends the VAST request directly from the page’s domain rather than from Blue Billywig’s servers. Some ad systems check the HTTP referrer (the domain the request originates from) to verify the request is coming from the expected site. Enable this option when your ad source requires the referrer to match the publisher’s domain.
- Commercial behaviour: Override the Ad Unit’s frequency settings to control how often this line item’s pre-roll or post-roll is shown: Once per load (every time the player initialises on the page), Once per session (once per browser session, even across multiple page loads), or Once per clip (once each time a new clip starts).
- Minimum clip duration for pre-roll: Set a minimum duration of the media clip (in seconds) in order for the line item to be allowed to run for pre-roll positions. Example: set to 30 seconds to prevent ads for media clips shorter than 30 seconds. This only applies to line items targeted to instream ad units.
- Minimum clip duration for post-roll: Set a minimum duration of the media clip (in seconds) in order for the line item to be allowed to run for post-roll positions. This only applies to line items targeted to instream ad units.
- Allow Skipping: Enable to allow viewers to skip the ad after the specified number of seconds. Optionally, provide a custom countdown and skip button text. Please note: the player also respects the “skippable” setting in Google Ad Manager (GAM). If GAM marks an ad as skippable, viewers will be able to skip it even when this setting is disabled.
2.5 | Display Settings
- Disable controls: Enable to overrule the Ad Unit’s player controls setting. This is useful when the VAST URL returns a VPAID ad — an interactive ad format that runs as a script inside the player and renders its own playback controls. Disabling the player’s controls prevents duplicate controls from appearing on top of the ad.
3.0 | VAST Inspector
Use the VAST Inspector tool to test how your VAST tag behaves in the Blue Billywig Player before going live.
Enter a VAST URL or paste VAST XML directly into the inspector. Select a position: pre-roll (before the main content), mid-roll (during), or post-roll (after) and click play to test your ad.
During playback, the player logs its own events and those of IMA (Interactive Media Ads, the Google SDK used to render VAST ads in the player). It will also fire any tracking URLs embedded in the VAST tag, so make sure your ad server is prepared to receive test traffic.
Check out the VAST Inspector.