Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) Pod Serving is Google's solution to enable third-party Server-Side Ad Insertion (SSAI) servers to stitch Google-provided ads. It lets third-party manifest manipulators request preconditioned ads from Google Ad Manager, either as segment redirects or preassembled ad break manifests.
  1. The app or web page sends targeting parameters to Google Ad Manager and requests a livestream user session.
  2. Google Ad Manager responds with a livestream user session, including a unique stream ID.
  3. The app or web page begins requesting the livestream manifest from the manifest manipulator, passing the stream ID. This continues throughout playback.
  4. For DASH streams only, the manifest manipulator requests a manifest template from Google Ad Manager.
  5. For DASH streams only, Google Ad Manager returns a manifest template containing macros that are populated by the manifest manipulator. This template must be requested once, then cached and reused for all ad breaks in the stream.
  6. The manifest manipulator returns a dynamic manifest containing media segments that are either publisher content or ad calls to the segment redirect API. Playback begins.
  7. The app or page polls Google Ad Manager regularly for upcoming ad event metadata.
  8. During ad playback, the app or page requests media segments from Google Ad Manager through the segment redirect API, and receives a 301 redirect to the ad media.
  9. The app or page listens to instream metadata and associates it with the event metadata to trigger ad events.
  10. The app or page sends activity pings to Google Ad Manager.

For detailed instructions to implement the segment redirect API, check out our segment redirect guides:

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  1. The app or web page sends targeting parameters to Google Ad Manager and requests a VOD stream user session.
  2. Google Ad Manager responds with a new VOD stream session, including a unique stream ID.
  3. The app or page requests the VOD stream manifest from the manifest manipulator, passing the stream ID.
  4. The manifest manipulator requests a set of ad pods from Google Ad Manager.
  5. Google Ad Manager returns a set of ad pods as complete manifests to the manifest manipulator.
  6. The manifest manipulator stitches the ad pod manifests into the content stream and returns the final stream to the app or page.
  7. The app or page retrieves the ad event metadata from Google Ad Manager and begins playback.
  8. The app or page listens to instream metadata and associates it with the event metadata to trigger ad events.
  9. The app or page sends activity pings to Google Ad Manager.

For detailed instructions to implement the VOD API, check out our VOD guides:

HTML5 Android iOS tvOS Roku Other platforms