Understanding MediaTailor ad insertion behavior

AWS Elemental MediaTailor stitches ads into live or video on demand (VOD) content by either replacing or inserting ads into the origin manifest. Whether ads are inserted or replaced depends on how the ad breaks are configured in the origin manifest, and whether the content is VOD or live.

• With ad replacement, MediaTailor replaces content segments with ads.

• With ad insertion, MediaTailor inserts ad content where segments don't exist.

For information about how MediaTailor stitches ads into live and VOD content, select the applicable topic.

Ad stitching behavior for VOD

MediaTailor inserts or replaces ads in VOD content based on how ad markers are configured in the origin manifest, and if the ad decision server (ADS) sends VMAP responses.

For ad behavior by marker configuration, see the following sections.

If ad markers are present

AWS Elemental MediaTailor inserts ads where SCTE-35 ad markers are present in the origin manifest. Ad markers with an EXT-X-CUE-OUT value of 0 duration indicate ad insertion.

HLS ad marker guidelines

Follow these guidelines for post-roll and ad pod SCTE signaling:

Pre-roll ads

For HLS post-rolls, CUE-OUT/IN markers must precede the last content segment. This is because the HLS spec requires tag decorators to be explicitly declared before a segment.

For example, consider the following declaration.

#EXT-X-CUE-OUT: 0
#EXT-X-CUE-IN
#EXTINF:4.000,
Videocontent.ts
#EXT-X-ENDLIST

AWS Elemental MediaTailor inserts a post-roll like the following.

#EXTINF:4.000,
Videocontent.ts
#EXT-X-DISCONTINUITY
#EXTINF:3.0,
Adsegment1.ts
#EXTINF:3.0,
Adsegment2.ts
#EXTINF:1.0,
Adsegment3.ts
#EXT-X-ENDLIST

Example 2: Ad pods

CUE-OUT/IN tags must be explicitly attached to a segment. You can't use multiple CUE-OUT/IN tags in succession to mimic ad pod behavior.

For example, the following declaration is a valid use of CUE-OUT/IN to portray an ad pod.

#EXT-X-CUE-OUT: 0
#EXT-X-CUE-IN
#EXTINF:4.000,
Somecontent1.ts
#EXT-X-CUE-OUT: 0
#EXT-X-CUE-IN
#EXTINF:4.000,
Somecontent2.ts
#EXT-X-CUE-OUT: 0
#EXT-X-CUE-IN
#EXTINF:4.000,
Videocontent.ts

The preceding declaration results in an output like the following.

Ad 1
Somecontent.ts
Ad 2
Somecontent2.ts
Videocontent.ts
Post-Roll Ad 3

The following declaration is invalid.

#EXT-X-CUE-OUT: 0
#EXT-X-CUE-IN
#EXT-X-CUE-OUT: 0
#EXT-X-CUE-IN
#EXT-X-CUE-OUT: 0
#EXT-X-CUE-IN
#EXTINF:4.000,
Videocontent.ts

If no ad markers are present

Ad markers are the recommended way of signaling ad breaks in a manifest. However, ad markers aren't required. If the manifest doesn't contain ad markers, MediaTailor makes a single call to the ADS and creates ad breaks based on the response:

• If the ADS sends a VAST response, then MediaTailor inserts all ads from the response in an ad break at the start of the manifest. This is a pre-roll.

• If the ADS sends a VMAP response, then MediaTailor uses the ad break time offsets to create breaks and insert them throughout the manifest at the specified times (pre-roll, mid-roll, or post-roll). MediaTailor uses all ads from each ad break in the VMAP response for each ad break in the manifest.

  Note

  When a segment overlaps an insertion point with VMAP for VOD content, MediaTailor rounds down to the nearest insertion point.

  Tip

  If you want to create mid-roll ad breaks but your ADS doesn't support VMAP, then ensure that there are ad markers in the manifest. MediaTailor inserts ads at the markers, as described in the following sections.

Live ad stitching behavior

In live streams, AWS Elemental MediaTailor always performs ad replacement, preserving the total time between the ad markers as closely as possible. When ad markers include the DURATION attribute, MediaTailor uses the value to determine the duration of the ad break. Every CUE-OUT indicator must have a matching CUE-IN indicator in live workflows.

MediaTailor performs ad replacement for HLS and DASH live content. For information on how MediaTailor calculates ad break placement and timing, see HLS supported ad markers and DASH ad markers.

Ad selection and replacement

AWS Elemental MediaTailor includes ads from the ad decision server (ADS) VAST response as follows:

• If a duration is specified, MediaTailor selects a set of ads that fit into the duration and includes them.

• If no duration is specified, MediaTailor plays as many ads as it can until it encounters an ad marker that indicates a return to the main content.

AWS Elemental MediaTailor adheres to the following guidelines during live ad replacement:

• MediaTailor tries to play complete ads, without clipping or truncation.

• Whenever MediaTailor encounters an ad marker that indicates an end to the ad break, it returns to the underlying content. This can mean shortening an ad that is currently playing.

• At the end of the duration, MediaTailor returns to the underlying content.

• If MediaTailor runs out of ads to play for the duration of an ad break it either plays the slate, if one is configured, or resumes playback of the underlying content stream. This usually happens when there aren't enough transcoded ads to fill up the duration of the ad break.

  Tip

  You can define the limit of unfilled ad time allowed in an break with the personalization threshold configuration setting. For more information, see the PlaybackConfiguration reference.

Examples

• If the ad break has a duration set to 70 seconds and the ADS response contains two 40-second ads, AWS Elemental MediaTailor plays one of the 40-second ads. In the time left over, it switches to the configured slate or underlying content. At any point during this process, if MediaTailor encounters a cue-in indicator, it cuts immediately to the underlying content.

• If the ad break has a duration set to 30 seconds and the shortest ad provided by the ADS response is 40 seconds, MediaTailor plays no ads. If an ad slate is configured, MediaTailor plays that for 30 seconds or until it encounters a cue-in indicator. Otherwise, MediaTailor plays the underlying content.