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.
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: Dictates the maximum time 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: While uncommon, you may need to specify a VAST subtype on your line item.
- VAST URL: Enter the full VAST URL to your ad system. You can use the following macros, which will be replaced by our player:
| Macro | Explanation | Value |
|---|---|---|
[url] | The url the player is placed on. If the player is placed in an iFrame and the option “attempt iFrame breakout” is not used, the [url] will be the url of the iFrame. | a URL encoded string |
[deeplink] | The deep link of the mediaclip (is the same as [url] if not set) | a URL encoded string |
[timestamp] | The timestamp that the VAST request was done. | a number |
[correlator] | Same as [timestamp] | a number |
[playerwidth] | The width of the player in pixels. When responsive sizing is used the width will return the width of the player at the moment of requesting the ad. | a number (in pixels) |
[playerheight] | The width of the player in pixels. When responsive sizing is used the width will return the width of the player at the moment of requesting the ad. | a number (in pixels) |
[clipTitle] | The title of the clip. Only available for in-stream | the URL encoded title string |
[clipID] | The ID of the clip. Only available for in-stream | the ID string |
[playmode] | The playmode selected by the player. Useful for example when using key/value targeting in combination with DfP | “html5” or “flash” |
[format] | The format selected by the player. Almost the same as playmode, but returns another value. Useful in combination with liverail ( LR_FORMAT ). | “application/x-shockwave-flash” or “application/javascript” |
Optionally: add custom parameters or key values to the embed code while embedding the player, which will be passed to the VAST URL. By substituting %%<key>%% with the value part of the macro_<key>=<value> embed-code parameter.
An example: If you place %%foo%% in an ad tag url:
https://testsuite.acc.bbvms.com/mediaclip/692.xml?output=vast&targeting=%%foo%%
and book it in your line item, then embedding the player with:
https://testsuite.acc.bbvms.com/p/default/c/213.js?macro_foo=bar
results in the player requesting the VAST URL:
https://testsuite.acc.bbvms.com/mediaclip/692.xml?output=vast&targeting=bar
2.3 | Conditions
Use the “Conditions” section to add conditions that need to be met before the line item will load. Specify a device type to only allow certain demand to apply to mobile, tablet or desktop devices
2.4 | Behaviour
- Use prebid.js: When enabled, the line item prompts a Prebid auction to run. In most cases: don’t enter a VAST URL when using this option.
- Load VAST URL from same domain: This option attempts to call the VAST URL from the same domain that the player is embedded on. Use this option when the ad source relies on the referrer property to be the original domain.
- Commercial behaviour: Override the settings in an Ad Unit to decide how frequently a pre-roll or post-roll should display: once per load, once per session or once per clip.
- Minimum clip duration for pre-roll/post-roll: Set a minimum duration of the media clip (in seconds) in order for the line item to be allowed to run. Example: set to 30 seconds to prevent ads for media clips shorter than 30 seconds. This only applies to line items that are targeted to instream ad units.
- Allow Skipping: Enable to allow viewers to skip the ad after the specified amount of seconds. Optionally: provide a custom countdown and skip button text. Please note: the player respects the GAM setting “skippable” even when the “Allow skipping” setting is disabled in this setting.
2.5 | Display settings
- Disable constrols: Enable to overrule the Ad Unit’s settings to display controls. This setting is useful if you know that the VAST URL booked on the line item will return a VPAID player which has its own controls.
3.0 | VAST Inspector
Use our VAST Inspector tool to test how your VAST tag behaves in the Blue Billywig Player in various positions.
The player will start to log its own and the IMA’s events. It will also attempt to hit any tracking URLs specified in the VAST tag.
Enter a VAST URL or XML into the inspector, configure your position and test your ad. Check out our VAST Inspector here.