Advertising with the FreeWheel Plugin

Overview

This plugin enables FreeWheel ad technology for HTML5 in Brightcove Player.

Using versions of the plugin

When using the FreeWheel plugin you will need to use versioned URLs.

For reference, the versions of the plugin are tracked in the Plugin Version Reference document.

Testing the ad server

The first thing you should do is verify the validity of the ad tag you are planning to use. Be sure you have copied its URL and browse to the following page: Ad Previewer (clicking this link will cause the page to open in a new window or tab).

Paste your ad tag URL into the indicated form input field. Click OPEN IN AD PREVIEWER. A popup titled Open In Ad Previewer will display, and you then click the OPEN button to test your ad. Click PLAY and, if functioning correctly, your ad will display interspersed with a video. If your ad tag is not working in this test environment, it will not work with Brightcove Player.

Using the correct SDK URL

The next two sections provide alternatives to implementing FreeWheel. In both sections you will use a sdkurl. In the past you could simply use http://adm.fwmrm.net/p/[]/AdManager.js for the value of the option, and know it would point to the latest version of the FreeWheel SDK. Now you will need to enter a URL pointing to a specific version, like https://mssl.fwmrm.net/libs/adm/6.24.0/AdManager.js. In addition, after initial setup, you will also need to update that value when a newer version of the SDK is released by FreeWheel, if you wish to be on the latest version. Note that after making this change, you will need to re-publish your Brightcove Player.

If you do not update the URL and continue to use the auto upgrade URL, you will forever be pointing to version 6.23.

You may want to manage your own SDK version in their Brightcove Player integration. This involves passing the Html5.sdkurl option to the FreeWheel plugin:

player.FreeWheelPlugin({
  Html5: {
    sdkurl: 'preferred-sdk-url'
  }
});

Consent/GDPR support

In Freewheel's SDK version 6.28.x, they added two new fields to the ad request: _fw_gdpr and _fw_gdpr_consent. Using 6.28.x, you had to pass these values to Freewheel via API.

In SDK version 6.30.0, all you have to do is include the link to your specific CMP (consent management platform) implementation script you are using and as of Freewheel version 6.30.0, the SDK does the rest. The SDK checks if a CMP script exists, whether the you are in a GDPR-protected country, and/or requires consent. It then calls the appropriate API to set the _fw_gdpr and _fw_gdpr_consent flags.

Steps

1. Include the link to the CMP script in the page where the player is embedded

   Example

   <script src="//your_cmp_address.net/cmp/cmp.complete.bundle.js" async></script>

2. Make sure you are using version 6.30.0+ of the Freewheel SDK by setting the sdkurl property in your Freewheel configuration to 6.30 or later:

   Example

   https://mssl.fwmrm.net/libs/adm/6.30.0/AdManager.js

Implement using Players module

To implement the FreeWheel Plugin using the Players module, follow these steps:

1. Open the PLAYERS module and either create a new player or locate the player to which you wish to add the plugin.
2. Click the link for the player to open the player's properties.
3. Click Plugins in the left navigation menu.
4. From the Add a Plugin dropdown, select Custom Plugin.

   

5. For the Plugin Name enter FreeWheelPlugin.
6. For the JavaScript URL, enter:

   https://players.brightcove.net/videojs-freewheel/3/videojs-freewheel.min.js

7. For the CSS URL, enter:

   https://players.brightcove.net/videojs-freewheel/3/videojs-freewheel.min.css

8. Enter the configuration options in the Options(JSON) text box. The options provided in the form configure playback technology where Flash and Html5 configuration sections are provided by FreeWheel. A slightly altered (for security reasons) complete configuration is shown below . A stub example is shown here:

   {
     "Html5": {
       "sdkurl": "https://mssl.fwmrm.net/libs/adm/{LATEST_VERSION}/...",
       "serverUrl": "http://cue.v.fwmrm.net/..."
       "profile": "3aaa_profile",
       ...
     }
   }

9. Click Save.
10. To publish the player, click Publish & Embed > Publish Changes.
11. To close the open dialog, click Close.

Implement using code

To implement a plugin the player needs to know the location of the plugin code, a stylesheet if needed, the plugin name and plugin configuration options. The location of the plugin code and stylesheet are as follows:

https://players.brightcove.net/videojs-freewheel/3/videojs-freewheel.min.js
https://players.brightcove.net/videojs-freewheel/3/videojs-freewheel.min.css

The name of the plugin is FreeWheelPlugin. The options configure playback technology where Flash and Html5 configuration sections are provided by FreeWheel. A slightly altered (for security reasons) complete configuration is shown below . A stub example is shown here:

{
  Html5: {
    sdkurl: "https://mssl.fwmrm.net/libs/adm/{LATEST_VERSION}/...",
    serverUrl: "http://cue.v.fwmrm.net/..."
    profile: "3aaa_profile",
    ...
}

The following shows using the In-Page Embed implementation of the player to associate the FreeWheel Plugin with a single instance of a player.

• Line 90: Uses a link tag to include the plugin's CSS in the head of the HTML page.
• Line 92: Gives the video tag an id attribute, with some value, in this case myPlayerID.
• Line 100: Uses a script tag to include the plugin's JavaScript in the body of the HTML page.
• Lines 105-125: Initialize the plugin and pass in custom options.
• Line 107: Creates a reference to the player.

<link href="https://players.brightcove.net/videojs-freewheel/3/videojs-freewheel.min.css" rel="stylesheet">

<video-js id="myPlayerID"
  data-account="1507807800001"
  data-player="default"
  data-embed="default"
  controls=""
  data-video-id="4607746980001"
  data-playlist-id=""
  data-application-id=""
  width="960" height="540"></video-js>
<script src="https://players.brightcove.net/1507807800001/default_default/index.min.js"></script>

<script src="https://players.brightcove.net/videojs-freewheel/3/videojs-freewheel.min.js"></script>

<script>
  var myPlayer;

  videojs.getPlayer('myPlayerID').ready(function() {
    // get a reference to the player
    myPlayer = this;

    // initialize the FreeWheel plugin
    myPlayer.FreeWheelPlugin({
      Html5: {
        sdkurl: "https://mssl.fwmrm.net/libs/adm/{LATEST_VERSION}/...",
        serverUrl: "http://cue.v.fwmrm.net/..."
        profile: "3aaa_profile",
        ...
      }
    });
  });
</script>

Configuration

The following settings are used to configure the FreeWheel plugin:

• adTechOrder:
  • Type: Array Default Value: ["html5"]
  • The array contains the ad integration technologies to attempt to use, in order of descending precedence.
• Flash:
  • Type: Object
  • An object for Tech specific FreeWheel configuration (provided by FreeWheel). The object contains the following options:
  • swfurl:
    • Type: string Default Value: https://players.brightcove.net/videojs-freewheel/3/videojs.freewheel.swf (compatible with FW Flash SDK v6.4.6)
    • Optional values can be used based on FreeWheel Flash Plugin Version. Those values can be found in the Using versions of the plugin section near the top of this document.
    • Must be a child property of the Flash object. This will be directly applied to the object element if the Flash ad tech is used.
  • autoplay:
    • Type: boolean Default Value: true
    • Indicates if the content is autoplayed.
    • Must be a child property of the Flash object. This will be directly applied to the object element if the Flash ad tech is used.
  • unattendedPlay:
    • Type: boolean Default Value: false
    • When autoPlay is set to true, unattendedPlay indicates whether the user is aware of the autoplaying.
    • Must be a child property of the Flash object. This will be directly applied to the object element if the Flash ad tech is used.
  • visitorCustomId:
    • Type: string Default Value: unset
    • Allows publishers to pass a custom visitor id for the ad request. When set, this value will be passed in the visitor block of the request payload as customId="CustomID_001". The id will be returned in the response to the ad request in the opening visitor tag as an attribute: customId="CustomID_001".
    • Must be a child property of the Flash object. This will be directly applied to the object element if the Flash ad tech is used.
• Html5:
  • Type: Object
  • An object for Tech specific FreeWheel configuration (provided by FreeWheel). The object contains the following options:
  • autoPlayType:
    • Type: integer Default Value: 1
    • Indicates that the content video will autoPlay and the user is aware the content is autoplaying.
    • The values passed into autoPlayType sets flags in the ad request url sent to the FreeWheel ad server and can be one of three integer values which equate to the related FreeWheel SDK constants:
      • 1: tv.freewheel.SDK.VIDEO_ASSET_AUTO_PLAY_TYPE_ATTENDED: Means autoPlay is true and unattendedPlay is false. This sets flag = +play-uapl.
      • 2: tv.freewheel.SDK.VIDEO_ASSET_AUTO_PLAY_TYPE_UNATTENDED: means autoPlay is true and unattendedPlay is also true. This sets flag = +play+uapl.
      • 3: tv.freewheel.SDK.VIDEO_ASSET_AUTO_PLAY_TYPE_NONE: means autoPlay is false and unattendedPlay is unset. This sets flag = -play.
    • Must be a child property of the Html5 object. This will be directly applied to the object element if the Html5 ad tech is used.
  • visitorCustomId:
    • Type: string Default Value: (optional)
    • The visitorCustomId option allows publishers to pass a custom visitor id for the ad request. When set, this value will be passed in the ad request URL as the queryString vcid=CustomID_001. The id will be returned in response of the ad request in the visitor JSON block as "customId" : "CustomID_001".
    • Must be a child property of the Html5 object. This will be directly applied to the object element if the Html5 ad tech is used.
  • subsessionToken:
    • Type: int Default Value: (optional)
    • The subsessionToken option allows publishers to start a subsession with the given token. When set, this value will be passed in the ad request URL as the queryString:

      ssto=1234567890

    • Must be a child property of the Html5 object. This will be directly applied to the object element if the Html5 ad tech is used.
  • compatibleDimensions:
    • Type: array Default Value: (optional)

    • The compatibleDimensions option allows publishers to pass an array of compatible dimensions. For example:

      compatibleDimensions: [ {width: A, height: B}, {width: X, height: Y} ]

      When set, this value will be passed in the ad request URL as the queryString:

      cd=widthA,heightA|widthX,heightY

    • Must be a child property of the Html5 object. This will be directly applied to the object element if the Html5 ad tech is used.
• videoAssetFallbackId
  • Type: string Default Value: none
  • Video asset fallback id. A FreeWheel video asset id when the video asset id in ad request is not recognized. Note this needs to be a "FreeWheel id", which is all digital. It is not a custom id.
• siteSectionFallbackId
  • Type: string Default Value: none
  • Site section fallback id. A FreeWheel site section id when the site section id in ad request is not recognized. Note this needs to be a "FreeWheel id", which is all digital. It is not a custom id.
• loadWithCookie:
  • Type: boolean Default Value: false
  • Enables or disables cookies for VAST requests.
• requestAdsMode:
  • Type: string Default Value: onload
  • Possible values for the property are:
    • onload: Ads are requested when the player is completely loaded.
    • onplay: Ads are requested when the video starts to play, either user initiated or autoplay.
    • oncue: Ads are requested at the start time of the cue point. When using this property, also note:
      • Only functional when the useMediaCuePoints property is also set to true.
      • Video Cloud ad cue points must be set up on content video. See the Working with Cue Points in the Media Module document for instructions on how to create cue points in the content video.
      • If there is a temporalSlots option under the Flash or Html5 properties, the setting is ignored.
• useMediaCuePoints:
  • Type: boolean Default Value: false
  • Must be set to true to use Video Cloud ad cue points to trigger ads. Must be used in conjunction with requestAdsMode: 'oncue' property and assigned value.

Ad macros

There are ad macros available to make your job easier when configuring FreeWheel. The ad macros are replaced with corresponding values anywhere in your configuration.

The following is the complete list of variable for which substituted values will be used:

cust_params={mediainfo.ad_keys}

Example configuration

"plugins": [{
  "name": "FreeWheelPlugin",
  "options": {
    "Html5": {
      "keyValues": [{
        "feature": "simpleAds",
        "module": "DemoPlayer"
      }, {
        "feature": "trackingURLs"
      }],
      "networkId": 99999,
      "profile": "global-js",
      "sdkurl": "https://mssl.fwmrm.net/libs/adm/{LATEST_VERSION}/...",
      "serverUrl": "http://cue.v.fwmrm.net/ad/h/5",
      "siteSectionCustomId": "your value here",
      "temporalSlots": [{
        "adUnit": "preroll",
        "id": "Preroll_1",
        "timePosition": 0
      }, {
        "adUnit": "postroll",
        "id": "Postroll_1",
        "timePosition": 60
      }, {
        "adUnit": "overlay",
        "id": "Overlay_1",
        "timePosition": 5
      }],
      "videoAssetCustomId": "your value here",
      "videoAssetDuration": 500
    },
    "debug": true,
    "prerollTimeout": 1000,
    "timeout": 5000
  }
}]

Events

The plugin emits some custom event types during loading, initialization, and playback. You can listen for the ad framework events just like you would any other event:

player.on('ads-ad-started', function(event) {
  console.log('event', event);
});

Dynamic server URL assignment

You can use the fw-before-ad-request event to dynamically assign the server URL. You will use the on() method to listen for the ad request, then assign the desired server URL. Of course, you will need to supply your desired server URLs for the placeholders in the code:

player.on('fw-before-ad-request', function () {
  player.FreeWheelPlugin.settings.Html5.serverUrl = '[your server url]'
  player.FreeWheelPlugin.settings.Flash.serverUrl = '[your server url]'
})

If you have configured the server URLs previously, the code shown will override the previous configuration.

Demos

This demo will play a pre-roll, a mid-roll at 5 seconds and then a post-roll. The adTechOrder is set for html5 first, as shown here:

"adTechOrder": [
  "html5",
  "flash"
],

adtech order: html5, flash

This demo uses html5 first in the adtechOder.

Following is the actual configuration used with the player. Note that this can be used for the options value in Studio.

{
  "Flash": {
    "networkId": 90750,
    "profile": "3pqa_profile",
    "sdkurl": "https://mssl.fwmrm.net/libs/adm/{LATEST_VERSION}/...",
    "serverUrl": "//cue.v.fwmrm.net/ad/g/1",
    "siteSectionCustomId": "your value here",
    "swfurl": "https://players.brightcove.net/videojs-freewheel/3/videojs.freewheel.swf",
    "temporalSlots": [{
      "adUnit": "preroll",
      "id": "Preroll_1",
      "timePosition": 0
    }, {
      "adUnit": "postroll",
      "id": "Postroll_1",
      "timePosition": 60
    }, {
      "adUnit": "midroll",
      "id": "Midroll_1",
      "timePosition": 5
    }],
    "videoAssetCustomId": "your value here",
    "videoAssetDuration": 500
  },
  "Html5": {
    "keyValues": [{
      "feature": "simpleAds",
      "module": "DemoPlayer"
    }, {
      "feature": "trackingURLs"
    }],
    "networkId": 96749,
    "profile": "global-js",
    "sdkurl": "https://mssl.fwmrm.net/libs/adm/{LATEST_VERSION}/...",
    "serverUrl": "//demo.v.fwmrm.net/ad/g/1",
    "siteSectionCustomId": "your value here",
    "temporalSlots": [{
      "adUnit": "preroll",
      "id": "Preroll_1",
      "timePosition": 0
    }, {
      "adUnit": "postroll",
      "id": "Postroll_1",
      "timePosition": 60
    }, {
      "adUnit": "midroll",
      "id": "Midroll_1",
      "timePosition": 5
    }],
    "videoAssetCustomId": "your value here",
    "videoAssetDuration": 500
  },
  "adTechOrder": [
    "html5",
    "flash"
  ],
  "debug": true,
  "prerollTimeout": 1000,
  "timeout": 5000
}

Playlist

This demo uses the HTML first configuration with a playlist. You will see for each video in the playlist a pre-roll, a mid-roll at the 5 second mark, and a post-roll.

Player Ad Libraries

The videojs/videojs-contrib-ads GitHub repository contains a plugin which provides common functionality needed by video advertisement libraries working with Brightcove Player. The plugin provides common functionality needed by video ad integrations and takes care of a number of concerns for ad integrators, reducing the code you have to write for your ad integration.

Properties

videojs-contrib-ads provides some properties that can be helpful. They are:

The following code demonstrates the use of the properties:

myPlayer.on('ads-ad-started',function( evt ){
  console.log('*****ads-ad-started event passed to event handler', evt);
  console.log('myPlayer.ads.ad.id',myPlayer.ads.ad.id);
  console.log('myPlayer.ads.ad.index',myPlayer.ads.ad.index);
  console.log('myPlayer.ads.ad.duration',myPlayer.ads.ad.duration);
  console.log('myPlayer.ads.ad.type',myPlayer.ads.ad.type);
  setTimeout(function(){
    console.log('****myPlayer.ads.ad.currentTime()',myPlayer.ads.ad.currentTime());
  },500);
  setTimeout(function(){
    console.log('****myPlayer.ads.ad.currentTime()',myPlayer.ads.ad.currentTime());
  },1000);
});

The output in the console from the above code is shown here:

Methods

videojs-contrib-ads provides some methods that can be helpful. They are:

Ad parameters

Ad parameters can be used with a GET request to the FreeWheel ad server.

Known issues

Dynamically re-using the same player with FreeWheel

If you are loading videos dynamically and re-using the same player, the FreeWheel configuration settings will contain the same values as they were set at the time the FreeWheel plugin was instantiated, with two exceptions. The first exception is if you are using ad macros. The second exception is you can update the settings using player.FreeWheelPlugin.settings.Html5 or player.FreeWheelPlugin.settings.Flash on an fw-before-ad-request event.

Resizing player during ad playback

If the player is resized during ad or video playback, ad content will not resize unless the player's dimensions function is called to resize the player. Resizing the player using other methods (for example: style width and height) will not resize the ad.

When using player.dimensions(width,height) to resize the player, you will have to trigger the fw-resizeplayer event so that the plugin will know the dimensions have changed. This is because some VPAID ads retain the default dimensions of the ad and will not automatically resize when the player resizes.

Here is an example:

player.dimensions(960,540);
player.trigger('fw-resizeplayer');

Overlay ads

If the FreeWheel plugin is rendering an ad in Flash, overlay ads are not clickable. If the FreeWheel plugin is rendering an ad in HTML5, overlays are not displayed at correct coordinates. Clicking on an HTML5 overlay ad will not pause the content player when the click-url is followed.

FreeWheel Live

FreeWheel ads in a live stream can be implemented with assistance from Brightcove Global Services (BGS).

VPAID

It is not possible to resume ads via VPAID controls if the ad control bar is enabled.

Changelog

See the FreeWheel Plugin Release Notes.

For older releases, see the changelog here.