21923 - SCTE Broadband Aug2023 COMPLETE v1 (1)

91 Vol. 45 No. 3 - September 2023 Issue technical achieved with technology referred to as manifest manipulation. The role of a manifest manipulator is to dynamically insert ads in HLS and DASH streams for live, VOD and catch-up content. Based on a wide range of targeting mechanisms, SSAI technology receives information from ad decisioning systems (ADS) for each insertion opportunity, ensures ads are in the right formats and resolutions via a transcode process, and then stitches them into outgoing HLS and DASH clients’ manifests before content is delivered to viewers. SSAI offers major benefits for operators, content owners, advertisers and viewers that are highlighted within subsequent sections of this white paper. But before exploring the details, here is a list of key business questions that you as a service or content provider should thoroughly study before embarking on an SSAI journey: 1. How much revenue uplift should I expect from SSAI? 2. Will advertisers favour my inventory because it is SSAI- enabled? 3. Will SSAI help open new inventory that was previously not monetisable? 4. Can SSAI help improve viewers’ experiences and keep them loyal to my service? 5. What is the role of first-party data in advertising? And how can it be utilised to maximise revenue? The purpose of this paper is to give you insightful answers to all these questions. It provides an in-depth analysis of key reasons why SSAI should be first on your priority list. SSAI vs. CSAI Client-side ad insertion (CSAI) is a mechanism that relies on video players to retrieve an ad decision from the ad server and insert the ads for the viewer. The major difference between CSAI and SSAI is that in CSAI the insertion process happens on the client side, while in SSAI the insertion is done on the server-side. While CSAI is relevant for inserting banner and image-based ads, it isn’t the best technology to deliver video ads. Figure 2 Figure 3