Player Performance and Timing Tuning

Owned by
Itay Nave
Last updated: Mar 23, 2020
3 min read

This article explains how to tune the player performance and how to control the number and frequency of the calls

Instructions

The Aniview player support running the player in loop and continuously search for ads. There are multiple parameters and options that help controlling the player in order to create a balance between revenue and avoiding too many calls.

Controlling the number of waterfall runs

What is waterfall run

In a channel, its possible to add multiple ad sources. The system will automatically select the best ad sources to be served for each supply opportunity. A call to all ad sources in the waterfall is considered a waterfall run. A waterfall run is counted as inventoryRequest in the system reports.

Controlling the number of waterfall runs

There are multiple parameters that can be used to control the number of times the waterfall will run. All are explained in

Player Configuration

The below parameters can be configured in the player adConfig

  • vastRetry: vastRetry is the number of immediate retry of the calls to the waterfall. If vastRetry = 1, the waterfall will be called once and after finishing calling all ad sources it will immediately retry again.

  • errorLimit: The erroLimit parameter is used in order to limit the number of waterfall runs that do not generate an impression in a player session.
    Definition: the total number of subsequent retry runs of (vastRetry + 1) runs of the waterfall without impression.
    For example, if vastRetry=2 and errorLimit=3, this will be the flow:

    • (1+2) runs

    • (1+2) runs

    • (1+2) runs

    • (1+2) runs

    • If there is no impression in any of the runs, the player will stop. If there is an impression, the errorLimit counter will reset to 0

  • maxImp: Maximum number of impressions in the session. When this number is reached, the player will stop after the impression.

  • maxRun: Total number of waterfall runs - no meter if its generating an impression or not

  • midrollfunc: Midroll function can be used in order to fully control the number and frequency of waterfall runs. This function will be called every time the waterfall runs and will wait for the callback to be called. This way its possible to fully control the timing of the waterfall runs.

Ad Source Configuration

Per ad source, in the Player Settings tab, it is possible to set some controls that can influence the number and frequency of the calls to a specific ad source

  • Maximum Impression Per Session: The maximum impressions per player session that is allowed for this specific ad source

  • Maximum Requests Per Session: The maximum requests per player session that is allowed for this specific ad source

  •  Max Requests per Minute: Maximum number of requests of this ad source per minute in a player session in a page.For example, 2 means that at least 30 sec will pass between requests

    Its recommended to use midrollTime when using this option otherwise the waterfall may finish running very fast

Controlling the frequency of calls

There are multiple ways to control the frequency of calls in the page. This is typically required in order to avoid loading the page with multiple calls very fast.

  • midrollTime: midrollTime is the number of seconds to wait between (vastRetry + 1) waterfall runs. So taking the above example of vastRetry=2 and errorLimit=3, this will be the flow if midrollTime=10

    • (1+2) runs

    • wait 10 sec without any calls

    • (1+2) runs

    • wait 10 sec without any calls

    • (1+2) runs

    • wait 10 sec without any calls

    • (1+2) runs

    • If using Max Request Per Minute of lets say 2 on an ad source and lets assume a waterfall run takes 2 sec, it will be called in the first run. than 2x2sec will pass, 10 sec of midroll time, 3x2 sec, 10 sec of midroll time and only than it will be called once again

  • midrolldelay: Sometimes the publisher may require to avoid calls in the first N seconds when the page is loading. Set this parameter to delay the start of the calls of the player

  • startmidroll: Sometimes, it is required to avoid showing ad impressions fast one after the other. For example, when running with a video content, it may be required to wait N seconds after the end of an ad before showing the next one. This parameter can be set with the minimal number of seconds to wait

  • startdelay: Sometimes, it is required to allow the player to play content at least N seconds before showing a midroll ad. This parameter can be set with the minimal number of seconds to wait.