Ever since YouTube started experimenting with Ad Pods in 2018, we’ve had the feature in our sights as we recognized its potential. And now, we have some fantastic news for you — it’s finally here! As of our latest update, all our Brid.TV users can now try out a variety of different ads with our brand-new Ad Pod feature!
What Are Ad Pods?
If you haven’t heard of Ad Pods before, they are a concept first introduced alongside IAB’s VAST 3.0. They are, in essence, several ads played in a sequence on a video, which simulates a TV-like experience. And the best part is, they can be played as pre-, mid-, or post-rolls — whatever your preference.
How Our Ad Pods Work
As of this update, you will be able to assign several pre-, mid-, or post-roll ads from our Brid.TV CMS instead of just one. And by several, we mean as many as you desire! The way it will work is straightforward — all you’ll have to do is click on the “add pre-roll” button as many times as you want (the same applies to mid-roll and post-rolls — you can find the steps here).
After that, you’ll be able to add as many ad tags to the ad waterfall as you desire for each of your Pod elements. And how will this play out? Well, once the playback begins, the player will proceed to play ads in your predetermined sequence, starting from the first element in the Pod and ending with the last. At the same time, the ad waterfall that you’ve set in place for each of the Pod elements will make sure you don’t miss out on any monetization opportunities if some of the ad tags in the waterfall fail to load.
Overall, the player will play the Pod returned from the ad server in your set sequence and will run as many of the ads as it can fit. However, it may not play all the ads in a few cases:
- If all the ads can’t fit in the broadcast
- If the Ad Pod returned by the server exceeds any limits predetermined by the calling video player
- If all the ad tags from a single waterfall fail to load
Why Is Ad Podding Beneficial for You?
Let’s return to layman terminology and explain in brief how this new feature can enhance your advertising endeavors.
- Pods are a better monetization method for longer content by maximizing efficiency and fill — Ad Pods provide users with a familiar experience by mimicking that of traditional TV commercials.
- Pods let you control what ads are going to play better — If you were to monetize multiple ad slots without Ad Pods, you’d likely encounter the problem of duplicate ads playing within a single ad break. However, with Pods in place, an ad call is performed for each part of the Pod separately, but with the entire Pod in mind. That way, there will be no more duplicate ads played within a single commercial break.
- Pods enhance user experience — Aside from removing duplicate ads, the familiar TV-like experience is what sets Pods apart from traditional online ads.
- Pods let you try out a variety of different ad creatives — By employing Ad Pods, you’re able to make different ad groupings to test the waters. In the end, you can compare the effectiveness of each group and then make deductions based on the results.
When Can You Get the Most Out of Ad Pods?
As we’ve already touched upon above, Ad Pods are most effective in long-form content, such as VODs or live streams. However, they are better suited for longer on-demand content than its live counterpart. So all of you focusing on that type of content will adore this feature! The reason behind that is simple — on-demand streams have more advertising room with much less impact on user experience. Namely, you don’t have as much control of when the Pod will run during a live broadcast. For all you know, it may play at the wrong moment, making your viewers miss out on a crucial piece of information. So make sure to keep that mind before you set up Ad Pods!
Get Started With Ad Pods at BridTV
We at Brid.TV strive to bring you the best product out there, and our new Ad Pods feature is a testament to that. As of today, all of our premium users can take advantage of this feature to increase their fill rates and monetization! All of you focusing on long-form content will be particularly thrilled by this addition. And the best part is that the Pods are extremely easy to set up — you can find a detailed guide on that here.
Do you have any questions or feedback for us? What do you want to be added next? Send us an email! We’d be thrilled to hear from you.
Best of luck with our new feature!
