IMA SDKs make it easy to integrate multimedia ads into your websites and apps. IMA SDKs can request ads from any VAST-compliant ad server and manage ad playback in your apps. With IMA DAI SDKs, apps make a stream request for ad and content video—either VOD or live content. The SDK then returns a combined video stream, so that you don't have to manage switching between ad and content video within your app.
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Pod serving DAI
This guide demonstrates how to play a DAI Pod Serving live or VOD stream, using the IMA DAI SDK for iOS with a simple video player. If you would like to follow along with a completed sample, download the pod serving example.
IMA DAI Pod Serving overview
Implementing pod serving using the IMA DAI SDK for iOS involves two main components:
StreamRequest
: An object that defines a stream request to Google's advertising servers. Must be created using eitherIMAPodStreamRequest
orIMAPodVODStreamRequest
to enable pod serving. Both methods require a Network Code andIMAPodStreamRequest
also needs a Custom Asset Key. An API Key is optional.IMAStreamManager
: An object that handles communication between the video stream and the IMA DAI SDK, such as firing tracking pings and forwarding stream events to the publisher.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, you need the following:
- Xcode 13 or later.
- CocoaPods (preferred), Swift Package Manager, or a downloaded copy of the IMA DAI SDK for iOS.
- An iOS app already set up with the IMA DAI SDK to play video streams with DAI ads. If you don't already have such an app, we recommend using the iOS DAI BasicExample as a starting point. The BasicExample has the codebase referenced in this guide. For more information about how to implement the IMA DAI SDK, see the Quick Start Guide.
Set up your pod serving variables
All changes needed for pod serving are done in ViewController.swift in swift or ViewController.m in Objective-C. The snippets in this guide default to using the Swift language. The first step is to update the constant variables.
Here are the ad pod stream request constants to be added:
STREAM_URL
(Only used for livestreams): The video stream URL provided by your manifest manipulator or third-party partner using pod serving. It should require you to insert the stream ID provided by the IMA DAI SDK, before you make a request. In this case, the stream URL includes a placeholder,"[[STREAMID]]"
, which is replaced with the stream ID, before making a request.NETWORK_CODE
: The network code for your Ad Manager 360 account.CUSTOM_ASSET_KEY
(Only used for livestreams): The custom asset key that identifies your pod serving event in Ad Manager 360. This can be created by your manifest manipulator or 3rd party pod serving partner.API_KEY
(Only used for livestreams): An optional API key that can be required to retrieve a stream ID from the IMA DAI SDK.
Change the example's variable section to match the following:
...
class ViewController:
UIViewController,
IMAAdsLoaderDelegate,
IMAStreamManagerDelegate,
AVPlayerViewControllerDelegate
{
static let streamUrl =
"https://encodersim.sandbox.google.com/masterPlaylist/9c654d63-5373-4673-8c8d-6d92b66b9d46/master.m3u8?gen-seg-redirect=true&network=51636543&event=google-sample&pids=devrel4628000,devrel896000,devrel3528000,devrel1428000,devrel2628000,devrel1928000&seg-host=dai.google.com&stream_id=[[STREAMID]]"
static let networkCode = "51636543"
static let customAssetKey = "google-sample"
static let APIKey = ""
static let backupStreamURLString =
"http://googleimadev-vh.akamaihd.net/i/big_buck_bunny/bbb-,480p,720p,1080p,.mov.csmil/master.m3u8"
var adsLoader: IMAAdsLoader?
...
Create either a live or VOD pod stream request
Live stream pod serving
Modify the requestStream
method to create a live Pod Stream request by
instantiating IMAPodStreamRequest
.
...
func requestStream() {
guard let playerViewController = self.playerViewController else return
guard let adContainerView = self.adContainerView else return
guard let adsLoader = self.adsLoader else return
self.videoDisplay = IMAAVPlayerVideoDisplay(avPlayer: playerViewController.player)
adDisplayContainer = IMAAdDisplayContainer(
adContainer: adContainerView, viewController: self)
// Create a podserving stream request.
request = IMAPodStreamRequest(
networkCode: self.networkCode,
customAssetKey: self.customAssetKey,
adDisplayContainer: adDisplayContainer,
videoDisplay: self.videoDisplay,
userContext: nil)
adsLoader.requestStream(with: request)
}
...
VOD stream pod serving
Modify the requestStream
method to create a VOD Pod Stream request by
instantiating IMAPodVODStreamRequest
.
...
func requestStream() {
guard let playerViewController = self.playerViewController else return
guard let adContainerView = self.adContainerView else return
guard let adsLoader = self.adsLoader else return
self.videoDisplay = IMAAVPlayerVideoDisplay(avPlayer: playerViewController.player)
adDisplayContainer = IMAAdDisplayContainer(
adContainer: adContainerView, viewController: self)
// Create a podserving stream request.
request = IMAPodVODStreamRequest(
networkCode: self.networkCode,
adDisplayContainer: adDisplayContainer,
videoDisplay: self.videoDisplay,
userContext: nil)
adsLoader.requestStream(with: request)
}
...
Edit and set the stream URL
Live stream pod serving
Modify the IMAAdsLoaderDelegate
methods, using streamManager.streamId
to
get the stream ID. Then insert the stream ID into the STREAM_URL
, replacing
"[[STREAMID]]"
. Once this change has been made, the new stream URL can be
set using videoDisplay.loadStream()
.
...
// MARK: - IMAAdsLoaderDelegate
func adsLoader(_ loader: IMAAdsLoader!, adsLoadedWith adsLoadedData: IMAAdsLoadedData!) {
let streamManager = adsLoadedData.streamManager
let streamId = streamManager.streamId
let urlString = streamUrl.replacingOccurrences(of: "[[STREAMID]]", with: streamId)
let loadedStreamUrl = URL(string:urlString)
self.videoDisplay.loadStream(loadedStreamUrl, subtitles:@[])
self.videoDisplay.play()
streamManager.delegate = self
streamManager.initialize(with: nil)
self.streamManager = streamManager
}
...
VOD stream pod serving
Modify the IMAAdsLoaderDelegate
methods, using streamManager.streamId
to
get the stream ID. Then, request a stream URL from your video technology
partner (VTP). Then call IMAStreamManager.loadThirdPartyStream()
to have IMA
load the stream URL and any subtitles returned by your TVP.
...
// MARK: - IMAAdsLoaderDelegate
func adsLoader(_ loader: IMAAdsLoader!, adsLoadedWith adsLoadedData: IMAAdsLoadedData!) {
let streamManager = adsLoadedData.streamManager
let streamId = streamManager.streamId
// 'vtpInterface' is a place holder for your own video technology partner
// (VTP) API calls.
let streamUrl = vtpInterface.requestStreamURL(streamID)
self.streamManager.loadThirdPartyStream(streamUrl, streamSubtitles:@[])
streamManager.delegate = self
streamManager.initialize(with: nil)
self.streamManager = streamManager
}
That's it! You're now requesting and displaying ads in a pod serving stream with the IMA DAI SDK for iOS. To see other examples of the IMA DAI SDK being used, look to the samples on GitHub.