Define ad rules (iOS v3)

Configure how often a viewer sees ads while watching your video content in an iOS app.


After adding ads to your content, you can define ad rules that control how often a viewer sees ads while viewing your video content. Ad rules can be used only when using a VAST (JWAdClientVast / JWAdClient.vast) ad client.

  • If you are publishing playlists that consist of short-duration videos, like tutorials or product reviews, you can define startOn (the first playlist item allowing ad playback) and frequency (the regularity of ads within a playlist).
  • If you are publishing long-form content, like webinars or interviews, you can define startOnSeek (which determines if a returning visitor is served a pre-roll before resuming content playback) and timeBetweenAds (which sets the minimum time that must elapse between ads playback).

You can read Ad rules reference to learn more about how each ad rule impacts a user's experience.



Implementation

Use the following steps and code samples to define ad rules for the player you added to your view with an ad schedule.

  1. Create an JWAdRules object named adRules.
  2. Configure the properties of the adRules object for your use case.
  3. Assign adRules to the rules property of the JWAdConfig. This adds the ad schedule to the player's config property.


Examples

Example 1: Short-form content

The following example illustrates a short-form media item with a pre-roll. The first ad plays before the first playlist item (startOn: 1). Then, subsequent pre-rolls appear for every third playlist item (frequency: 3), starting with the fourth playlist item.

@property (nonatomic) JWPlayerController *player;
@property (nonatomic, weak) IBOutlet UIView *playerContainerView;
@end

@implementation ObjCViewController


- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];

    JWAdBreak *adBreak = [JWAdBreak initWithTags:@"https://www.domain.com/adtag.xml" offset:@"pre"];

    JWAdRules *adRules = [JWAdRules new];
    adRules.startOn = 1;
    adRules.frequency = 3;

    JWPlaylistItem *item1 = [[JWPlaylistItem alloc] init];
    item1.file = @"http://example.com/hls1.m3u8";
        
    JWPlaylistItem *item2 = [[JWPlaylistItem alloc] init];
    item2.file = @"http://example.com/hls2.m3u8";
        
    JWPlaylistItem *item3 = [[JWPlaylistItem alloc] init];
    item3.file = @"http://example.com/hls3.m3u8";
        
    JWPlaylistItem *item4 = [[JWPlaylistItem alloc] init];
    item4.file = @"http://example.com/hls4.m3u8";
        
    JWPlaylistItem *item5 = [[JWPlaylistItem alloc] init];
    item5.file = @"http://example.com/hls5.m3u8";

    JWConfig *config = [JWConfig configWithContentURL:@"http://example.com/hls.m3u8"];
    config.advertising = [JWAdConfig new];
    config.advertisting.client = JWAdClientVast;
    config.advertising.schedule = @[adBreak];
    config.advertising.rules = adRules;
    config.playlist = @[item1, item2, item3, item4, item5];
    self.player = [[JWPlayerController alloc] initWithConfig:config];
}

- (void)viewDidAppear {
    [super viewDidAppear];
    [self.view addSubview:self.player.view];
}
class ViewController: UIViewController {
    @IBOutlet weak var playerContainerView: UIView!
    var player: JWPlayerController?

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()

        var adBreak = JWAdBreak(tag: "https://www.domain.com/adtag.xml", offset: "pre")

        var adRules = JWAdRules()
        adRules.startOn = 1
        adRules.frequency = 3

        var item1 = JWPlaylistItem()
        item1.file = "https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/123acb4e-Zy98xW76.mp4"
                
        var item2 = JWPlaylistItem()
        item2.file = "https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/123acb4e-Ty98xW76.mp4"
        
        var item3 = JWPlaylistItem()
        item3.file = "https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/234acb5f-Uvw98X76.mp4"
        
        var item4 = JWPlaylistItem()
        item4.file = "https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/345gcb6f-Xpw91X77.mp4"
        
        var item5 = JWPlaylistItem()
        item5.file = "https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/rsjqlp4T-poiy5QyW.mp4"
        item5.title = "Origami birds"
        item5.image = "https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/7gH89ij0-Q13r56ST.mp4"

        var config = JWConfig(contentURL: "http://example.com/hls.m3u8")
        config.advertising = JWAdConfig()
        config.advertising.client = .vast
        config.advertising.schedule = [adBreak]
        config.advertising.rules = adRules
        config.playlist = [item1, item2, item3, item4, item5]
        player = JWPlayerController(config: config)
    }

    override func viewDidAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
        super.viewDidAppear(animated)
        playerContainerView.addSubview(player!.view)
    }
}

Example 2: Long-form content

The following example illustrates a long-form media item with multiple ad breaks. The startOnSeek and timeBetweenAds (set to 300 seconds) ad rules have been defined.

@property (nonatomic) JWPlayerController *player;
@property (nonatomic, weak) IBOutlet UIView *playerContainerView;
@end

@implementation ObjCViewController


- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];

    JWAdBreak *adBreak = [JWAdBreak initWithTags:@"https://www.domain.com/adtag.xml" offset:@"pre"];

    JWAdBreak *adBreak2 = [JWAdBreak initWithTags:@"https://www.domain.com/adtag-mid-roll1.xml" offset:@"10"];

    JWAdBreak *adBreak3 = [JWAdBreak initWithTags:@"https://www.domain.com/adtag-mid-roll2.xml" offset:@"00:00:15:000"];

    JWAdBreak *adBreak4 = [JWAdBreak initWithTags:@"https://www.domain.com/adtag-mid-roll3.xml" offset:@"25%"];

    JWAdBreak *adBreak5 = [JWAdBreak initWithTags:@"https://www.domain.com/adtag-post-roll.xml" offset:@"post"];

    JWAdRules *adRules = [JWAdRules new];
    adRules.startOnSeek = JWAdShownPre;
    adRules.timeBetweenAds = JWAdShownPre;

    JWConfig *config = [JWConfig configWithContentURL:@"http://example.com/hls.m3u8"];
    config.advertising = [JWAdConfig new];
    config.advertising.client = JWAdClientVast;
    config.advertising.schedule = @[adBreak,
        adBreak2,
        adBreak3,
        adBreak4,
        adBreak5];
    config.advertising.rules = adRules;
    self.player = [[JWPlayerController alloc] initWithConfig:config];
}

- (void)viewDidAppear {
    [super viewDidAppear];
    [self.view addSubview:self.player.view];
class ViewController: UIViewController {
    @IBOutlet weak var playerContainerView: UIView!
    var player: JWPlayerController?
    
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        
        var adBreak = JWAdBreak(tag: "https://www.domain.com/adtag.xml", offset: "pre")

        var adBreak2 = JWAdBreak(tag: "https://www.domain.com/adtag-mid-roll1.xml", offset: "10")

        var adBreak3 = JWAdBreak(tag: "https://www.domain.com/adtag-mid-roll2.xml", offset: "00:00:15:000")

        var adBreak4 = JWAdBreak(tag: "https://www.domain.com/adtag-mid-roll3.xml", offset: "25%")

        var adBreak5 = JWAdBreak(tag: "https://www.domain.com/adtag-post-roll.xml", offset: "post")
        
        var adRules = JWAdRules()
        adRules.startOnSeek = .pre
        adRules.timeBetweenAds = 300
        
        var config = JWConfig(contentURL: "http://example.com/hls.m3u8")
        config.size = CGSize(width: 400, height: 300)
        config.advertising = JWAdConfig()
        config.advertising.client = .vast
        config.advertising.schedule = [adBreak, adBreak2, adBreak3, adBreak4, adBreak5]
        config.advertising.rules = adRules
        player = JWPlayerController(config: config)
    }
    
    override func viewDidAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
        super.viewDidAppear(animated)
        playerContainerView.addSubview(player!.view)
    }
}