Ad Schedules

Contents

Ad schedules allow you to create ad pods (groups of one or more ads that play together in a single break) that can be assigned to one or more playouts. Using a schedule, you can choose to add any combination of pre, mid, and post-rolls to your content.

To get started with ad schedules:

Click Ad Services in the left menu panel
Select Ad Schedules
Click Create new ad schedule

1.0 | General Settings

Title: The name of your schedule.
Playouts: Used to assign the schedule to one or more playouts.

2.0 | Ad Break Settings

Each ad break position (pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll) has its own independent settings. Configure them separately for each position you want to use:

Minimum content length: Only display the pod of ads when clips are longer than this duration (in HH:MM:SS format). For mid-rolls, it is recommended to always set a minimum content length to prevent ads from firing on short clips such as trailers or bumpers (e.g. set 00:01:00 to restrict mid-rolls to clips of at least one minute).
Allow skipping: Allows viewers to skip the entire pod of ads.
Interval / Interval Unit: The interval, in seconds or as a percentage of the clip duration, at which mid-roll ad pods appear. (Mid-roll only)
VAST URL: Add the first VAST tag in the ad pod.
Note:
If you are using a Google Ad Manager (GAM) VAST tag, append &ad_rule=0 to the URL. Without it, GAM may return a VMAP response instead of plain VAST, which conflicts with the ad schedule and will cause the ad not to play.
Note:
Always use a plain VAST URL here. Do not paste a VMAP URL: The Blue Billywig ad schedule handles scheduling itself, and a VMAP from the ad server will conflict with it and prevent ads from playing.
Note:
VAST URLs must use https://. An http:// URL will be blocked by the browser and no ad will play.
Waterfalling: Each item in an ad pod can be set to waterfall mode. When enabled, multiple VAST URLs or auctions are chained in sequence; if the first tag returns no ad, the player falls through to the next.
Add VAST URL: Add an additional VAST tag to the ad pod.
Assign Auction: Assign a header bidding auction to the ad pod instead of, or alongside, a VAST URL.

3.0 | Appearance Settings

The Appearance tab controls how the player looks and behaves during ad playback.

Controls Visibility: Controls whether the player controls are shown during ad playback.
Show Play/Pause Button: Show or hide the play/pause button during ads.
Show Mute/Unmute Button: Show or hide the mute/unmute button during ads.
Show Progress Bar: Show or hide the progress bar during ads.
- Progress Bar Color: Sets the color of the progress bar during ads. Only available when the progress bar is enabled.
Time Display: Choose to hide the time or show the remaining ad time.
Skip Countdown Text: Custom text shown during the skip countdown. Leave blank to use the default translation.
Skip Button Text: Custom text for the skip button. Leave blank to use the default translation.
Show Upcoming Video Thumbnail: Show or hide a notification displayed to the viewer during the ad break, previewing the video content that will play next.
- Upcoming Video Text: Custom text for the upcoming video notification. Leave blank to use the default translation. Only available when Show Upcoming Video Thumbnail is enabled.