Video plugin: troubleshoot
Overview
This document explains how to leverage the Video Showcase to troubleshoot in-stream video integrations, for example:
- Verify the correct parsing of VAST ad responses.
- Verify the correct firing of the events, such as quartiles, or interaction events.
- Configure and test Equativ’s Video plugin in various video players.
Access
Click here to access the In-stream Video Showcase.
VAST Inspector
On the VAST Inspector tab, paste the URL of a VAST ad or an entire VAST XML. Alternatively, select one of the samples to test the VAST inspector. Choose from: Inline Linear Skippable, Inline Linear Companions, Wrapper Linear Skippable, Wrapper Linear Error, and Inline Linear OMSDK.
The Output tab shows the fired VAST events as well as events specific to Equativ.
In the Player panel, you can interact with the video ad—for example click on Mute—and the according interaction events will be logged on the Output tab.
The Share Link option allows you to share the Video Showcase, with the current VAST ad you are testing.
Note that the Share Link option is only available if the VAST source field contains a VAST URL. If you paste an entire VAST XML, the Share Link option is greyed out.
Plugin Settings
On the Plugin Settings tab, you can configure Equativ’s Video plugin.
The following table describes the fields:
| Fields | Description |
|---|---|
| Ad rules settings | Ad rules are used to define multiple content duration ranges and to specify the frequency and size of ad breaks for each duration range. Typically, you will want to play more/longer video ads for long video content and less/shorter video ads for short content. For more information, see Video plugin: manage ad rules and Set video ad rules. |
| Configuration | Used to configure the Video plugin, including player, format, or VPAID settings. For more information, see Video plugin: configure and customize. |
| Other settings |
User Settings: Used to enrich the ad call with a first-party user identifier that Equativ can leverage for user-related features. For more information, see Video plugin: send user IDs. Content Data Settings: Used to pass data describing the video content. For more information, see Video plugin: send content metadata. |
| Placement Data |
Video Settings: Used to specify the video ad call parameters which define the video placements within your inventory. For more information, see Create in-stream video insertion (for video placements) and Set keyword targeting (for targeting criteria). Banner Settings (Optional): Used to specify a format ID and targeting criteria for a non-video banner ad which is shown when the player is paused. For more information, see “Configure banner ads” in Video plugin: configure and customize. |
Once you are done with the all plugin settings, click on Start Test to call an in-stream video ad.
The Output tab shows the fired VAST events as well as events specific to Equativ. You can interact with the video ad on the Player panel—for example, click on Mute—and the according interaction events are logged on the Output tab.
The Share Link option allows you to share the Video Showcase, including all the current video plugin settings.
Player panel
The player plays a piece of content with the video ads, as configured on the VAST Inspector / Plugin Settings tab.
You can play video ads and content with the JW Player or Flowplayer. Alternatively, select the Simple video tag option to play the video in the browser's native video player, using the <video> tag.
Companion ad preview
The Companion ad preview displays a companion ad from an in-stream video insertion. You can adjust the width and height of the companion ad slot. In case of multiple eligible companion ads from an insertion, the Video plugin (and the Video Showcase) will automatically select the companion ad that fits best in the defined ad slot size.