HTLM5 SDK + iPhone ads issue

[Arnaud Leyder]

Hi, 

I am having a weird behavior on iPhone iOS8 with the HTML5 SDK.

1/ When I touch my custom play button the ads plays as expected (pre-roll). The ads then goes fullscreen as expected on iPhone. When I click the ok or resize button within the fullscreen iPhone player the ads pause and go back to window mode.

Problem: each time I re-touch the ads play button, instead of resuming the ads it opens the link for the ads and I cannot resume the content or the ads. The only way to get something to work is then to reload the page and back to square 1/.

2/ I have found a workaround for that to force z-index my custom playback when the ads is paused sniffing the iPhone user agent. But doing this cause the ads to skip and the content to start where I would like the ads to resume.

I have a link to show you 1/ https://www.radiantmediaplayer.com/test/example-video-ads.html

This is my adTag: 

//pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=400x300&iu=%2F6062%2Fiab_vast_samples&ciu_szs=300x250%2C728x90&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=xml_vast2&unviewed_position_start=1&url=[referrer_url]&correlator=[timestamp]&cust_params=iab_vast_samples%3Dlinear

Question: is this expected behavior because of the specificity of the iPhone? Is there a known workaround or is there something I need to fix?

Thanks

Arnaud

[Vu Chau (IMA SDK Team)]

Hi Arnaud,

I was able to confirm this behavior on my device, and I think the reason for it has something to do with the custom click tracking element (see more in the API) being rendered on top of your video player.  Due to the specific setup in iOS, doing that will result in a bad user experience, as you've noticed.  

We recommend setting up a custom click tracking element outside of the video player area.  For example, have a div that whenever the user taps on it, you can appropriately fire AdEvent.Type.STARTED and AdEvent.Type.CONTENT_RESUME_REQUESTED.  If you take a look at our implementation (see attached screenshot), you will see we have the actual play/pause button on the side of the video player.

For best practice, see Tracking Mouse Clicks.

Vu Chau

IMA SKD Team

[Arnaud Leyder]

Hi Vu,

Thanks for your reply. Can you send me this screenshot again I have not received any attachment with your previous mail.

Are you saying that it would be better to have the controls of the player outside of the viewing area for an ima compatible HTML5 video player?

Many players on the market (including the new youtube) provide controls as an overlay within the viewing area while still providing video ads support. I only have this issue on iPhone because of the specific layout. iPad and Android phones do work fine.

I will have a closer look at the docs tomorrow.

Thanks

Arnaud

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[Vu Chau (IMA SDK Team)]

Hi Arnaud,

My apologies.  Please find the attached screenshot in this response.

You are correct that this is a custom implementation due to the special way iOS renders videos on iPhones.  On iPhones, the SDK renders both ad and content in the same video player because of not being able to create a separate player (for buffering purposes).  Therefore, a tap/click on the video screen can be interpreted by both the player and the SDK, leading to a bad user experience.  On other mobile platforms, the SDK can use native rendering and overlays the ad player on top of the video player during ad playback.  

You can find more info in Changes to Custom Playback in the IMA HTML5 SDK, and IMA HTML5 Rendering.

Vu Chau

IMA SKD Team