Ad Stitching

What is Ad Stitching?

Also known as “dynamic ad insertion” and “server-side ad insertion”, ad stitching combines the video creation and the video content into one. Although ad blocking immediately comes to mind as the reason why this was invented, there are many more benefits than first meets the eye.

Traditional vs. Ad Stitching Implementation

Again, the key difference between ad stitching and traditional video advertising and ad stitching is that the video content and ad are combined into one video. Notice that the content and ad are combined on the backend. Google Ad Manager explains the difference in a step by step scenario:

Traditional video advertising

1. The video player on the web page or app loads the SDK.
2. The SDK makes a request to the ad server and receives a VAST response.
3. The SDK parses VAST response.
4. The SDK retrieves inline video creatives (and companions, if needed).
5. The video player plays the ad.
6. The SDK loads impression pixels.
7. After ads are shown, the video player fetches and plays content from the CDN.

Steps 2-7 are repeated every time ads need to be shown.

Ad Stitching

1. The web page or app loads the IMA SDK.
2. The IMA SDK makes request to the Ad Manager DAI cloud service for content.
3. The cloud service returns ads and content stitched together in a single stream.
4. The video player plays the stream.
5. The IMA SDK loads impression pixels.

What are the Benefits of Ad Stitching?

• Prevent AdBlock. Because the content is stitched with the ad and the incoming domain is from “publisher.com”, ad blockers are unlikely to block the ad. If the ad were blocked, the content would inherently be blocked as well. This is one way publishers are getting around the increasing usage of adblock.
• Enable Dynamic Ads. Some more advanced platforms are able to allow for targeted ads according to the viewer.
• Reduce Buffering/Lag. With ad stitching, there is now 1 video to render instead of two separate videos, which often may have different elements and require additional buffering. With a combined video, there are fewer steps during the actual ad serving process.
• Reduce Impression Discrepancies. In some cases, impressions may be counted as the creative was sent to be served, but it was in fact blocked.

What are the Drawbacks of Ad Stitching?

• Difficult to Implement. Because ad stitching has a different format than traditional ad serving, it requires additional engineer/ad ops work to bring it up and running.
• Lack of Interactivity. Currently, VPAID has little to no support. Many platforms show a simple linear video with no interactivity, but some platforms have been able to add a rich media element.
• No Video Fallback. The video ad attached to the content is the only eligible ad to serve.
• Must be VAST Compliant and Transcoded. Video ads must follow the VAST standard communication language and be transcoded to the same format as the content before it serves.
• Difficult to Buy Programmatically. Ad stitching is best done with direct and sponsorship deals that have a preset ad in mind. Programmatic RTB environments are more difficult to implement with ad stitching due to a different layout. However, these barriers are getting reduced as time goes on and adoption increases.

Sources

• https://support.google.com/admanager/answer/6147120?hl=en
• https://digiday.com/media/wtf-server-side-ad-insertion/
• https://adexchanger.com/tv-and-video/server-side-stitching-publishers-bypassing-ad-blockers-avoiding-video-latency/
• https://www.verizondigitalmedia.com/platform/uplynk-video-streaming/server-side-ad-insertion/

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