Meet Our OTT Advertising Platform
Welcome to our Blog Series! We’re excited to share more information with you about a particular facet of our holistic omnichannel OTT advertising platform. This week, we’re exploring ad pods and slots, and ad pod construction.
What are Ad Pods?
Ad pods are groups of ads played back-to-back, just like a commercial break on TV. Now that we’ve shifted into the digital era, you can simply think of ad pods as commercial breaks, but for OTT-served content.
What’s the Difference Between an Ad Pod and an Ad Slot?
An ad pod is the framework that contains the ad slots. Each advertisement in a pod is called an “ad slot.” When multiple ad slots are grouped together as a single unit, you’ve got yourself an ad pod.
How are Ad Pods Constructed?
Ad pod construction depends a lot on how you’re monetizing your video inventory.
At Smaato, we want publishers to have as much control as possible over their inventory, so we offer lots of ways to construct ad pods. That way, publishers can create ad pods to their unique specifications. For VOD content, they can even control exactly where ad pods occur – whether set intervals, via percentage completion, or timestamps.
We go into all the details of ad pod construction in our white paper. Learn about VOD Automated Construction, automated fill for Live Content, and VOD manual construction.
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Because publishers get to choose how they construct their ad pods with the Smaato platform, they get to set different floor prices for different placements. That way, publishers can offer premium placements at more competitive price points.
What is Creative Deduplication?
When an audience has to sit through the same ad over and over again, it can hurt their perception of your brand. This negative user experience translates to frustration with the platform, and distaste for the advertiser. Luckily, creative deduplication – the process of ensuring that the same ad won’t run more than once during an ad pod – offers a simple and straightforward solution.
What is Competitor Separation?
Similarly, if multiple ads in the same product category run during the same ad pod, it dilutes the message for all. Competitor separation keeps ads with the same IAB category from running together in a pod. This keeps ad breaks diverse and interesting, and gives brands an opportunity to showcase their message.
At Smaato, we offer both creative deduplication and competitor separation to ensure that no two ads or ads of the same IAB categories run in the same pod.
Next time, we’ll tackle ad pod bidding and exposure. Stay tuned for more!
Ready to Learn More About Ad Podding?
Check out our complete guide: OTT/CTV Advertising eBook to get started.
