IMA SDK picks lower resolution mp4 variants when several higher quality variants are available in the VAST response

[Geethu Rajasekharan]

Hi,

I'm integrating VAST ads into our application and I see that for some of the ads, the SDK picks up the lowest variant (the first in the list of mediafiles) instead of picking a better quality mp4 variant. Most ads work fine playing good variants. The only difference in the VAST responses that I could notice was that the poor variants are picked when the VAST response has an additional GoogleHostedMedia extension with MuxedMediaUrls inside it(See a screen snippet attached).
For the txt file that is attached, we see a relatively good quality playback of ad. 
Please note that this issue exists on HTML and Exo player versions of the SDK.

Could you please let me know how I could ensure that a good quality variant is picked always? 

Thanks and Regards,

Geethu

[IMA SDK]

Hi Geethu,

Thank you for contacting the IMA SDK support team.

The SDK selects the optimal bitrate based on the device's network conditions. However, for the Android and HTML5 SDK, you can use [setBitrateKbps || Specifying bitrate and video format inHtml5] to define a maximum bitrate. The SDK will choose media with a bitrate below the specified limit, and the platform will play media files compatible with the specific player. If the maximum bitrate is set to the default value of -1, the SDK automatically selects the bitrate. Note that the built-in bandwidth detection feature currently works only with Google ad servers.

To investigate the issue, could you please share the VAST URL and response containing the mentioned tags via the "Reply to Author" option?

This message is in relation to case "ref:!00D1U01174p.!5004Q02vH05o:ref" (ADR-00287032)

Thanks,
 

IMA SDK Team

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[IMA SDK]

Hi Geethu,

The VAST URL that you have sent is not from Google or GAM. All Google ad traffic URLs starting with https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/. Kindly share the sample VAST tag URL that reproduces the issue. Refer to the sample tags. 

[Geethu Rajasekharan]

Hi,

This is the corresponding GAM url for the request I shared in the previous response:
https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=1920x1080&iu=/21775445232/directsold_video&ss_req=1&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&vpos=pre-roll&vad_type=linear&cust_params=partnerName%3DTivo%26videoType%3Dpre-roll%26appName%3DTiVo%26appType%3DEntertainment%26appVer%3D%26uxLoc%3DHOMEPAGE_TAKEOVER%26mvpd%3Dmobi%26format%3Dxml%26contenttype%3Dlinear%26icons%3D0%26lineitem%3D6904514847%26usid%3Da7fc31be-73c6-46b6-ad3f-baee02cb8fd5-20250210112908755-26860024236926961514&rdid=a7fc31be-73c6-46b6-ad3f-baee02cb8fd5&ppid=a7fc31be-73c6-46b6-ad3f-baee02cb8fd5&is_lat=0&idtype=stb-other&ip=54.87.189.227&correlator=78545

This URL however is not returning a VAST response today. We get this poor video issue only intermittently, today's ads are not blurred. I can send you the GAM url when the blurring happens the next time. Meanwhile would this URL help?

Thanks and Regards,

Geethu

[IMA SDK]

Hi Geethu,

Thank you for providing the VAST URL but an empty response is being returned.

I have checked your screenshot and shared logs. I observed with GoogleHostedMedia extension you are using videoCodec, audioCodec and bitrate configurations which means the player will decide the URL to play by first matching videoCodec then audioCodec and then near bitrate value. Without GoogleHostedMedia extension you are not using videoCodec  and audioCodec configurations in media files which means the player will match only the near bitrate. 

I would suggest using GoogleHostedMedia extension to use multiple bitrate configurations in every videoCodec and audioCodec configuration. 

For example:

<MediaUrl delivery="progressive" itag="0" mimeType="video/mp4" videoCodec="avc1.4d001f" audioCode="mp4a.40.2" width="640" height="360" contentLength="1022464" bitrate="544">https://redirector.gvt1.com/video………</MediaUrl>
<MediaUrl delivery="progressive" itag="0" mimeType="video/mp4" videoCodec="avc1.4d001f" audioCode="mp4a.40.2" width="640" height="360" contentLength="1022464" bitrate="1656">https://redirector.gvt1.com/video………</MediaUrl>
<MediaUrl delivery="progressive" itag="0" mimeType="video/mp4" videoCodec="avc1.4d001f" audioCode="mp4a.40.2" width="640" height="360" contentLength="1022464" bitrate="3336">https://redirector.gvt1.com/video………</MediaUrl>
‹MediaUrl delivery="progressive" itag="0" mimeType="video/mp4" videoCodec="avc1.640029" audioCodec="mp4a.40.2" width="1280" height="720" contentLength="3109640" bitrate="544">https://redirector.gvt1.com/vide…….</MediaUrl>
‹MediaUrl delivery="progressive" itag="0" mimeType="video/mp4" videoCodec="avc1.640029" audioCodec="mp4a.40.2" width="1280" height="720" contentLength="3109640" bitrate="1656">https://redirector.gvt1.com/vide…….</MediaUrl>
‹MediaUrl delivery="progressive" itag="0" mimeType="video/mp4" videoCodec="avc1.640029" audioCodec="mp4a.40.2" width="1280" height="720" contentLength="3109640" bitrate="3336">https://redirector.gvt1.com/vide…….</MediaUrl>

In case you are still facing the issue then share the VAST URL with and without GoogleHostedMedia extension for further investigation.

You can provide the following details via reply privately to the author option

[IMA SDK]

Hi Geethu,

I will check with our team regarding your query and one of my team members will reach out to you once we have an update on this. Meanwhile, your patience is highly appreciated.

Thanks,
 

IMA SDK Team

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[2025-02-20 18:51:43Z GMT] This message is in relation to case "ref:!00D1U01174p.!5004Q02vH05o:ref" (ADR-00287032)

[IMA SDK]

Hello Geethu,

This is Jackson from the IMA SDK team to help with your issue. I was able to reproduce the issue, where IMA is choosing the lowest bitrate media file, even in cases where a higher bitrate should be feasible. We are looking into a fix for the issue and I will let you know on this thread about any progress with the issue.

Thanks,
 

Jackson Sui IMA SDK Team

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[2025-02-24 14:31:16Z GMT] This message is in relation to case "ref:!00D1U01174p.!5004Q02vH05o:ref" (ADR-00287032)

[IMA SDK]

Hello Geethu,

I wanted to confirm with you, if you were testing with production ad tags. When investigating, we think the issue may be being caused by the VAST not being correctly formatted.

If so, would it be possible to share another VAST url the reproduces the error? The previously shared GAM url is no longer returning ads.

Thanks,
 

Jackson Sui IMA SDK Team

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[2025-02-27 19:32:58Z GMT] This message is in relation to case "ref:!00D1U01174p.!5004Q02vH05o:ref" (ADR-00287032)

[Geethu Rajasekharan]

Hi Jackson,

We dont have a lot of production ads at the moment, but we have enabled the same ad that previously had this issue. Here's the GAM url for the same:

https://serverside.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=1920x1080&iu=/21775445232/directsold_video&ss_req=1&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&vpos=pre-roll&vad_type=linear&cust_params=partnerName%3DTivo%26videoType%3Dpre-roll%26appName%3DTiVo%26appType%3DEntertainment%26appVer%3D%26uxLoc%3DHOMEPAGE_TAKEOVER%26mvpd%3Dmobi%26format%3Dxml%26contenttype%3Dlinear%26icons%3D0%26lineitem%3D6919846948%26appstoreurl%3Dhttps%3a%2f%2fwww.tivo.com%26usid%3Da7fc31be-73c6-46b6-ad3f-baee02cb8fd5-20250217055330082-75887782118370117151&rdid=a7fc31be-73c6-46b6-ad3f-baee02cb8fd5&ppid=a7fc31be-73c6-46b6-ad3f-baee02cb8fd5&is_lat=0&idtype=stb-other&ip=34.125.29.235&correlator=89785558985&ssss=tivo&msid=tivo.entertainment&an=TiVo&ipd=&url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.tivo.com&description_url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.tivo.com

This is currently not a paid production ad, but I hope this helps?

Thanks and Regards,

Geethu