Overview

Equativ's out-stream video solution allows you to create, deliver and report VAST video campaigns on websites of virtually any type, integrating seamlessly into the rest of your content. Unlike in-stream video, the out-stream video solution can be used independently from video content on the page - any non-video format can be used (medium rectangle format, interstitial format etc.)

Creating a campaign

Go to Campaigns > Campaign list. 

Click the New campaign button located in the top-right corner, you will see the following window:

• select Direct, RTB or Mediation; depending on your selection, the insertions you will create in this campaign will be either Direct, RTB or Mediation insertions
• define a Name
• define the Start and end date (the time frame should cover all the time frames of the insertions in this campaign)
• select an existing advertiser or create a new one (you can also create a new advertiser under Administration > Advertisers); in case of a new advertiser, define the Name, User group (more details in Manage users and user groups) and - optionally -  the Agency/Agencies the advertiser is associated with (agencies can be created under Administration > Agencies)
• set the Booking status to Sold

Creating out-stream video insertions

In the Insertion list view of your campaign, click the New insertion button located in the top right corner. 

General settings

• Name - name of the insertion
• Ad type - select the impression type Out-stream and the environment Web or App
• Additional information
  • Type for reports - assign a type to the insertion that is available as a reporting dimension; custom insertion types can be defined under Administration > Types of Insertions
  • External ID - assign a numeric ID to the insertion (e. g. the ID this insertion has in a third party system)
  • External description - assign an alphanumeric description to the insertion (e. g. the description this insertion has in a third party system) 
• Priority level - assign a priority to give this insertion a higher or lower priority compared to other insertions; more details in  Create direct insertion: priorities.
• Start and end date / Start and end time / Time zone - fill in the appropriate information
• Volume - define the impression volume; alternatively, enter a VAST event volume to make the insertion reach a VAST event target (e. g. 1 million "Complete" videos) instead of an impression target; available VAST events:
  • Start - video started playback
  • Ad expand - user expanded video
  • First quartile - user has seen first quartile of video
  • Midpoint - user has seen first half of video
  • Third quartile - user has seen three quarters of video
  • Complete - user has seen complete video
  • Player expand - player expanded
• CPM - enter the cost (CPM) data for the insertion; the Targeting cost fields cannot be edited in the General settings tab; they are based on the audience targeting and semantic targeting criteria selected in the Targeting section
• Delivery mode
  • Even – the insertion will be regulated depending on the delivery criteria and available traffic to ensure balanced delivery.
  • As soon as possible – the insertion will be delivered continuously until either the end date or the maximum volume is reached.

Placement

• select a Format; once selected, the site/page/pack tree will update to show the sites/pages/packs where the selected format is available
• select one or multiple Site(s), Page(s) and/or Pack(s)
• use the Selected placements toggle switch to show the currently selected sites and pages only

Creative template

In the Creative template section, the following script templates are preselected:

• In-read (web) in case of direct insertions in environment Web 
• In-read (web) in case of RTB insertions in environment Web
• Video interstitial (app) in case of direct insertions in environment App
• Video interstitial (app) in case of RTB insertions in environment App

Available options:

• Pencil icon - access to the Creative template editor
• Library - library to select an alternative creative template (more details in Use creative template library;
• Parameters - access to the parameters of the selected creative template; to get more details about the parameters of each creative template, search for its name in the search box of this Help Center.

Creatives

• click Add creative
• select from these options:
  • From computer - to upload the creative file; the max. file size for videos is 50 MB; this allows for HD video ads with a duration of up to 30 seconds 
  • Paste URL - URL to a remote VAST creative hosted in a third party system. If supported, the VAST URL is formatted automatically. Read more about this process in section "Automatic VAST URL formatting".
• define a Name
• enable the Encode video option to automatically encode the video file at different quality levels (bitrates); more details in Encode video creatives; in case of the Paste URL option, an error is shown and encoding is discarded if a remote video is greater than 50 MB
• Click Import a video or drop the video file 
• paste the clickthrough URL into the Click URL field

Automatic VAST URL formatting

VAST URLs are formatted automatically: all required macros are inserted. The automatic formatting occurs in the following cases:

• If an out-stream video insertion uses the template "[VIDEO] VAST x - WRAPPER LINEAR" or “[VIDEO] VAST x - NONLINEAR”, select Add creative > Paste URL and paste the VAST URL into the Creative URL field. Once pasted, the VAST URL is formatted automatically.
• If an out-stream video insertion uses another official creative template, such as Smart Video-Background or Smart Video-Read, select Add creative > Paste script and paste the VAST URL into the Creative script field. Once pasted, the VAST URL is formatted automatically.

Automatic formatting is supported for a limited number of third-party systems, including Google Campaign Manager 360, Integral Ad Science (IAS), Adform, and other systems.

Pasting the third-party VAST URL can have three outcomes:

1. The VAST URL is supported by Equativ’s automatic formatting feature and the macros are inserted automatically. In this case, simply save the creative and you are done.
2. The VAST URL is not supported by Equativ’s automatic formatting. In this case, insert the macros manually, following the Macros documentation and the documentation of the third party system the given VAST URL originates from. Additionally, reach out to your contact at Equativ to have the VAST URL formatted automatically in the future. 
3. The VAST URL is supported by Equativ’s automatic formatting feature but no macros were inserted because there is no need to do so. In this case, simply save the creative and you are done.

The following example shows a Google Campaign Manager 360 VAST URL that was formatted automatically:

The most frequently used macros to format the VAST URL include the following:

 For a complete reference of all macros, see Use macros.

Targeting

You can choose from a variety of targeting criteria (see Set general targeting criteria for the full list).

Save and put online

Once you are done with the setup of the insertion, click Save and put online.