Get started with SGAI

Server guided ad insertion (SGAI) provides an ad pod manifest ready for stitching on client devices. If you have enabled Pod Serving DAI in your Google Ad Manager network, you have access to use SGAI. If you don't have Pod Serving DAI enabled, contact your account manager.

With SGAI, you use the Pod serving API endpoints for creating a stream retrieving ad metadata and the ad pod manifests.

If you have a manifest manipulation server, you can generate the ad pod manifest URLs and insert ad markers that carry the ad pod manifest information in your content stream, according to your preferred specification.

Alternatively, you can schedule an ad break using a different mechanism other than the ad markers in the stream manifest. In these cases, your app can listen to other events, for example, user interaction with the stream, the app itself, or a push notification. After these events, the app can generate the ad pod manifest URLs and tell the player to begin loading the ad pod manifest.

Prerequisites

Before continuing, ensure you have the following:

• The DAI Pod serving enabled on your Google Ad Manager network.
• A livestream event with type Pod serving manifest. To create the event, see Set up a livestream for DAI.

Follow recommendations

Before you generate the ad pod manifest URL, we recommend you call the Early Ad Break Notification (EABN) API to specify the expected duration, targeting information, and other parameters of each ad break.

For production and test streams, call the EABN API, especially if your ad network has any programmatic campaigns. For more information, see Features and guidelines for Programmatic Direct.

Make a stream registration request

When a user starts a content stream in your video player app, you make a stream registration request with targeting parameters to create a streaming session on Ad Manager. For details on making a stream registration request, see Method:stream. Afterwards, you receive response data from the request.

The following examples make a stream registration request:

Plain text HTTP

• Request:

authority: dai.google.com
method: POST
path: /ssai/pods/api/v1/network/51636543/custom_asset/hls-podserving-manifest/stream
scheme: https
content-type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

cust_params=customID%253D1543216789%2526anotherKey%253Dvalue1%252Cvalue2

• Response:

{
    "manifest_format": "hls",
    "media_verification_url": "https://dai.google.com/view/p/service/linear/stream/24fd4e7c-95a0-42be-8874-00625139b9db:TUL/loc/TUL/network/51636543/event/TFyZF0IoSpqvCLtLv8JdCw/media/",
    "metadata_url": "https://dai.google.com/linear/pods/hls/pa/event/TFyZF0IoSpqvCLtLv8JdCw/stream/24fd4e7c-95a0-42be-8874-00625139b9db:TUL/metadata",
    "polling_frequency": 10,
    "session_update_url": "https://dai.google.com/linear/v1/pa/event/TFyZF0IoSpqvCLtLv8JdCw/stream/24fd4e7c-95a0-42be-8874-00625139b9db:TUL/session",
    "stream_id": "24fd4e7c-95a0-42be-8874-00625139b9db:TUL"
}

Shell

• Command line:

curl \
-H "Host: dai.google.com" \
-H "content-type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
  --data-binary "cust_params=channelID%253D1543216789%2526anotherKey%253Dvalue1%252Cvalue2" \
  --compressed "https://dai.google.com/ssai/pods/api/v1/network/51636543/custom_asset/hls-podserving-manifest/stream"

• Output:

{
    "manifest_format": "hls",
    "media_verification_url": "https://dai.google.com/view/p/service/linear/stream/24fd4e7c-95a0-42be-8874-00625139b9db:TUL/loc/TUL/network/51636543/event/TFyZF0IoSpqvCLtLv8JdCw/media/",
    "metadata_url": "https://dai.google.com/linear/pods/hls/pa/event/TFyZF0IoSpqvCLtLv8JdCw/stream/24fd4e7c-95a0-42be-8874-00625139b9db:TUL/metadata",
    "pod_manifest_url": "https://dai.google.com/linear/pods/v1/hls/event/TFyZF0IoSpqvCLtLv8JdCw/pod/$pod-id$.m3u8?stream_id=24fd4e7c-95a0-42be-8874-00625139b9db%3ATUL",
    "polling_frequency": 10,
    "session_update_url": "https://dai.google.com/linear/v1/pa/event/TFyZF0IoSpqvCLtLv8JdCw/stream/24fd4e7c-95a0-42be-8874-00625139b9db:TUL/session",
    "stream_id": "24fd4e7c-95a0-42be-8874-00625139b9db:TUL"
}

Javascript

• Using Fetch API:

const response = await fetch("https://dai.google.com/ssai/pods/api/v1/network/51636543/custom_asset/hls-podserving-manifest/stream", {
  "headers": {
    "content-type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded",
  },
  "body": "cust_params=channelID%3D1543216789%26anotherKey%3Dvalue1%2Cvalue2",
  "method": "POST",
});

  const stream = await response.json();
  console.log(stream);

• Console log:

{
    "stream_id": "24fd4e7c-95a0-42be-8874-00625139b9db:TUL",
    "media_verification_url": "https://dai.google.com/view/p/service/linear/stream/24fd4e7c-95a0-42be-8874-00625139b9db:TUL/loc/TUL/network/51636543/event/TFyZF0IoSpqvCLtLv8JdCw/media/",
    "metadata_url": "https://dai.google.com/linear/pods/hls/pa/event/TFyZF0IoSpqvCLtLv8JdCw/stream/24fd4e7c-95a0-42be-8874-00625139b9db:TUL/metadata",
    "session_update_url": "https://dai.google.com/linear/v1/pa/event/TFyZF0IoSpqvCLtLv8JdCw/stream/24fd4e7c-95a0-42be-8874-00625139b9db:TUL/session",
    "polling_frequency": 10,
    "pod_manifest_url": "https://dai.google.com/linear/pods/v1/hls/event/TFyZF0IoSpqvCLtLv8JdCw/pod/$pod-id$.m3u8?stream_id=24fd4e7c-95a0-42be-8874-00625139b9db%3ATUL",
    "manifest_format": "hls"
}

Poll for ad break metadata

After you make a stream registration request, poll for the ad metadata. To poll, you set a timer using the polling_frequence in the stream response at the registration step to call the ad metadata. For each poll, you might receive a partial list of ads with metadata as they become available.

Generate the ad pod manifest URL

Construct a URL for the pod resource of the Pod Serving API. Afterwards, pass the URL to a video player to start loading the ad pod.

The following example demonstrates the structure of the ad pod manifest URL:

https://dai.google.com/linear/pods/v1/hls/network/51636543/custom_asset/pod_serving_hls_manifest_mp4/pod/101.m3u8?stream_id=24fd4e7c-95a0-42be-8874-00625139b9db:TUL&pd=120000

Note: The ad break parameters, such as pod_id, duration, cust_params and scte35 must be the same for all clients watching the same livestream, while the stream ID is unique for each client. If you choose to generate the ad pod manifest URL on the server side and insert the generated URLs in the stream manifest, follow your manifest manipulator server documentation on sending the stream ID from the clients and generate the other ad break parameters.

You can calculate the ad pod manifest URL parameters based on the ad break information retrieved from the video player or a server notification. For requirements of these parameters, see Method: pod manifest.

Play the ad pod manifest

On the client video player app, begin content stream playback with a primary video player and follow your video player's documentation on observing the playback and ad schedule, if relevant.

If you generate the ad pod manifest URLs and insert those in the manifest on the server side, observe the video player's upcoming ad break events, and ensure to subscribe to id3 events during each ad break playback. If you schedule the ad break events from the client side, subscribe to the id3 events on creation.

Report impressions and ad events

When a video player plays the ad pod and encounters id3 timed metadata, listen to ad events that the video player triggers and process them to send media verification pings.

Important: Don't delay the ping to the media verification URL. We recommend you ping immediately and not longer than one minute.