IMA Web SDK - Mid- and post-roll preload happening too soon

[Alberto Nantiat]

Hello team, 

Here is our use case, please let us know if anything further is needed to analyse the case:

Overview
As an implementer, I want to only preload the mid-rolls and especially the post-rolls only once it is highly likely they are going to be played. This is meant to reduce the discrepancy between the loaded ads (especially post-rolls) and the actual ads views.
(Please note this is an active case with some of our customers)

Current behaviour

•  Mid-rolls are loaded 8 seconds before the adBreak is scheduled.
•  Post-rolls:
  • if no adsRequest.contentDuration is declared, the post-roll is preloaded just after the last mid-roll ends  
  • if adsRequest.contentDuration is declared, the post-roll is preloaded 8 seconds before the end of the content (similarly to mid-rolls)

Expected behaviour

Midrolls and post-rolls are preloaded 4 seconds before the ad start time (see this page of the IMA documentation)

Reproduction

Reproducible on: 

• the IMA VSI using a VMAP (e.g.: this sample tag) 
• the sample project linked on the IMA VSI page, when using a VMAP tag, and adding the contentDuration in ads.js when testing that case

Steps: 
Play the linked VMAP on the VSI or the project anche check when, in relationship to the actual adbreak, the ads are preloaded. Using the ima3_debug library also in the project (as in the VSI) helps getting the related logs.

Questions

1. Is the preload supposed to happen 4 or 8 seconds before the start of the adBreak?
   1. If 4, is this a bug?
   2. if 8, can the documentation be corrected?
   3. Is there any way to configure how many seconds in advance the preload happens? 
2. Is it expected behaviour that without contentDuration the post-roll is preloaded right after the last midroll? (We can't find this mentioned anywhere in the documentation, so we believe that the 4 seconds mentioned here should apply)
3. In your release history (see 3.442.0 - 2021-02-17), some special values are mentioned for contentDuration, but we can't find them anywhere in a complete list: if they still apply (the last mention of this is in 2021) what are such values and what do they do?

Kind regards,
Alberto

[IMA SDK]

Hi Alberto,

Thank your for contacting us.

I've checked this scenario and found the same result and raised this issue in team, i'll update here once get any update on this, meanwhile your patience is important.
 

This message is in relation to case "ref:!00D1U01174p.!5004Q02tPHe5:ref" (ADR-00232253)

Thanks,
 

IMA SDK Team

 

[IMA SDK]

Hi Alberto,

Mid-rolls are pre-loaded 8 seconds before the ad and post-rolls are pre-loaded directly after the last mid-roll. If you set AdsRequest.contentDuration, the post-roll will then be loaded 8 seconds prior to the end of content.

[Alberto Nantiat]

Hello team, 
Thank you for your answers. I understand from your last message that 8 seconds is the expected behaviour and I see you updated the documentation to reflect that.

Regarding my other questions (currently unaddressed) on the same topic, I'll repeat them here for better visibility:

1. Is there any way to configure how many seconds in advance the preload happens (or is it an unmutable 8 seconds)?
2. When I don't set the contentDuration, the post-roll is preloaded right after the last midroll. Is this expected behaviour? If so, why, and can it be documented?
3. In your release history (see 3.442.0 - 2021-02-17), some special values are mentioned for contentDuration, but we can't find them anywhere in a complete list: if they still apply (the last mention of this is in 2021) what are (all) such values and what do they do?

(Reproduction details, if necessary, are in my first message on this thread)

Kind regards,
Alberto

[IMA SDK]

Hi Alberto,

Thanks for contacting us again.

If you don't set the contentDuration, the post-roll will preload right after the last midroll- It is an expected behavior.

Regarding the other point, I have raised this concern to higher team. I will inform you as soon as I receive any updates on this matter.

[Alberto Nantiat]

Hello team, 
Thank you for the prompt reply. 

Regarding the preloading of the postroll, may I ask: 

-  what is the rationale behind that behaviour (post rolls are seldom watched and preloading them so much in advance seems in many cases a wasteful use of resources)?

-  where it is documented (we could not find a mention of it)?

Thank you for following up on the remaining questions from before as well.

Kind regards,
Alberto

[IMA SDK]

Hi Alberto,

As i said. i already raised this thing to higher team, I will answer your all questions as soon as I receive any updates on this matter.
Thanks

[IMA SDK]

Hi Alberto,

There is only a unique value of -3 available which is now documented.

Certainly. The loading of the post-roll after the completion of the last mid-roll is considered standard behavior. The value of 8 seconds is a predetermined standard preloading value implemented by the software development kit (SDK) to ensure that ad calls are executed without any delay at the end of the loading process.

The contentDuration parameter denotes the duration of the content to be displayed in seconds. It is utilized in two primary scenarios: 1) AdX ad targeting and 2) determining the appropriate moment to preload the VMAP post-roll.

Kindly do reach out to us in case you are facing any other issue related to IMA SDK.

[Alberto Nantiat]

Hello team, 
Thank you for the answers and for documenting the special value for contentDuration and the fact that the postroll is loaded right after the last midroll, both here.

I also understand from your answer that there is no way to change/customise the 8 seconds value - should this assumption be wrong, please let us know.

Otherwise, our best wishes and kind regards,
Alberto

[IMA SDK]

Hi Alberto,

Thats's correct, The 8-second value for loading mid-roll cannot be customized through the IMA SDK, as it is managed internally and Post-rolls are preloaded following the last mid-roll, or 8 seconds before the end of content if AdsRequest.contentDuration is used to set the duration.

Kindly get back to us again in case facing other issue related to IMA SDK.