Get started with the IMA DAI SDK

IMA SDKs make it easy to integrate multimedia ads into your websites and apps. IMA SDKs can request ads from any VAST-compliant ad server and manage ad playback in your apps. With IMA DAI SDKs, apps make a stream request for ad and content video—either VOD or live content. The SDK then returns a combined video stream, so that you don't have to manage switching between ad and content video within your app.

Select the DAI solution you're interested in

Full service DAI

This guide demonstrates how to integrate the IMA SDK into a simple video player app. If you would like to view or follow along with a completed sample integration, download the BasicExample from GitHub.

IMA DAI overview

Implementing IMA DAI involves four main SDK components as demonstrated in this guide:

  • StreamDisplayContainer: A container object that sits on top of the video playback element and houses the ad UI elements.
  • AdsLoader: An object that requests streams and handles events triggered by stream request response objects. You should only instantiate one ads loader, which can be reused throughout the life of the application.
  • StreamRequest: An object that defines a stream request. Stream requests can either be for video-on-demand or live streams. Requests specify a content ID, as well as an API key or authentication token and other parameters.
  • StreamManager: An object that handles dynamic ad insertion streams and interactions with the DAI backend. The stream manager also handles tracking pings and forwards stream and ad events to the publisher.

Prerequisites

Download and run the sample video player app

The sample app provides a working video player that plays HLS video. Use this as a starting point for integrating the IMA Android SDK's DAI capabilities.

  1. Download the sample video player app and extract it.

  2. Start Android Studio and select Open an existing Android Studio project, or if Android Studio is already running, select File > New > Import Project. Then choose SampleVideoPlayer/build.gradle.

  3. Run a Gradle sync by selecting Tools > Android > Sync Project with Gradle Files.

  4. Ensure that the player app compiles and runs on a physical Android device or an Android Virtual Device using Run > Run 'app'. It's normal for the video stream to take a few moments to load before playing.

Examine the sample video player

The sample video player doesn't contain any IMA SDK integration code yet. The sample app consists of two major parts:

  1. samplevideoplayer/SampleVideoPlayer.java: An ExoPlayer-based HLS player that serves as the basis for IMA DAI integration.

  2. videoplayerapp/MyActivity.java: This activity creates the video player and passes it a Context and SimpleExoPlayerView.

Add the IMA Android SDK to the player app

You must also include a reference to the IMA SDK. In Android Studio, add the following to your application-level build.gradle file, located at app/build.gradle:

repositories {
  google()
  mavenCentral()
}

dependencies {
    implementation 'androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.6.1'
    implementation 'androidx.media3:media3-exoplayer:1.3.1'
    implementation 'com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3:interactivemedia:3.33.0'
}

Integrate the IMA SDK

  1. Create a new class called SampleAdsWrapper in the videoplayerapp package (in app/java/com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.samples/videoplayerapp/) to wrap the existing SampleVideoPlayer and add logic implementing IMA DAI. To do this, you must first create an AdsLoader which is used to request ads from ad servers.

    videoplayerapp/SampleAdsWrapper.java
    package com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.samples.videoplayerapp;

import android.annotation.TargetApi;
import android.content.Context;
import android.os.Build;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.webkit.WebView;

import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.AdErrorEvent;
import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.AdEvent;
import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.AdsLoader;
import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.AdsManagerLoadedEvent;
import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.CuePoint;
import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.ImaSdkFactory;
import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.ImaSdkSettings;
import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.StreamDisplayContainer;
import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.StreamManager;
import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.StreamRequest;
import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.player.VideoProgressUpdate;
import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.player.VideoStreamPlayer;
import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.samples.samplevideoplayer.SampleVideoPlayer;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.List;

public class SampleAdsWrapper implements AdEvent.AdEventListener,
        AdErrorEvent.AdErrorListener, AdsLoader.AdsLoadedListener {

    // Livestream asset key.
    private static final String TEST_ASSET_KEY = "sN_IYUG8STe1ZzhIIE_ksA";

    // VOD content source and video IDs.
    private static final String TEST_CONTENT_SOURCE_ID = "2548831";
    private static final String TEST_VIDEO_ID = "tears-of-steel";

    private static final String PLAYER_TYPE = "DAISamplePlayer";

    /**
     * Log interface, so you can output the log commands to the UI or similar.
     */
    public interface Logger {
        void log(String logMessage);
    }

    private ImaSdkFactory sdkFactory;
    private AdsLoader adsLoader;
    private StreamDisplayContainer displayContainer;
    private StreamManager streamManager;
    private List<VideoStreamPlayer.VideoStreamPlayerCallback> playerCallbacks;

    private SampleVideoPlayer videoPlayer;
    private Context context;
    private ViewGroup adUiContainer;

    private String fallbackUrl;
    private Logger logger;

    public SampleAdsWrapper(Context context, SampleVideoPlayer videoPlayer,
                            ViewGroup adUiContainer) {
        this.videoPlayer = videoPlayer;
        this.context = context;
        this.adUiContainer = adUiContainer;
        sdkFactory = ImaSdkFactory.getInstance();
        playerCallbacks = new ArrayList<>();
        createAdsLoader();
        displayContainer = sdkFactory.createStreamDisplayContainer(
            this.adUiContainer,
            videoStreamPlayer
        );
    }

    private void createAdsLoader() {
        ImaSdkSettings settings = new ImaSdkSettings();
        adsLoader = sdkFactory.createAdsLoader(context);
    }

    public void requestAndPlayAds() {
        adsLoader.addAdErrorListener(this);
        adsLoader.addAdsLoadedListener(this);
        adsLoader.requestStream(buildStreamRequest());
    }
}

  2. Add a buildStreamRequest() method to the AdsLoader so it can request a stream with ads. This is either a livestream with ads (set by default) or a video-on-demand(VOD) stream that plays prerecorded content with ads. To enable the VOD stream, comment out the livestream request and uncomment the VOD stream request.

    To work with DAI, a player must pass ID3 events for livestreams to the IMA SDKs. In the following sample code, this is done by the callback.onUserTextReceived() method.

    videoplayerapp/SampleAdsWrapper.java
    private StreamRequest buildStreamRequest() {
    VideoStreamPlayer videoStreamPlayer = createVideoStreamPlayer();
    videoPlayer.setSampleVideoPlayerCallback(
            new SampleVideoPlayer.SampleVideoPlayerCallback() {
                @Override
                public void onUserTextReceived(String userText) {
                    for (VideoStreamPlayer.VideoStreamPlayerCallback callback :
                            playerCallbacks) {
                        callback.onUserTextReceived(userText);
                    }
                }

                @Override
                public void onSeek(int windowIndex, long positionMs) {
                    // See if you would seek past an ad, and if so, jump back to it.
                    long newSeekPositionMs = positionMs;
                    if (streamManager != null) {
                        CuePoint prevCuePoint  =
                                streamManager.getPreviousCuePointForStreamTime(positionMs / 1000);
                        if (prevCuePoint != null && !prevCuePoint.isPlayed()) {
                            newSeekPositionMs = (long) (prevCuePoint.getStartTime() * 1000);
                        }
                    }
                    videoPlayer.seekTo(windowIndex, newSeekPositionMs);
                }

                @Override
                public void onContentComplete() {
                    for (VideoStreamPlayer.VideoStreamPlayerCallback callback : playerCallbacks) {
                        callback.onContentComplete();
                    }
                }

                @Override
                public void onPause() {
                    for (VideoStreamPlayer.VideoStreamPlayerCallback callback : playerCallbacks) {
                        callback.onPause();
                    }
                }

                @Override
                public void onResume() {
                    for (VideoStreamPlayer.VideoStreamPlayerCallback callback : playerCallbacks) {
                        callback.onResume();
                    }
                }

                @Override
                public void onVolumeChanged(int percentage) {
                    for (VideoStreamPlayer.VideoStreamPlayerCallback callback : playerCallbacks) {
                        callback.onVolumeChanged(percentage);
                    }
                }
            });

    // Livestream request.
    StreamRequest request = sdkFactory.createLiveStreamRequest(
            TEST_ASSET_KEY, null, displayContainer);

    // VOD request. Comment the createLiveStreamRequest() line above and uncomment this
    // createVodStreamRequest() below to switch from a livestream to a VOD stream.
    // StreamRequest request = sdkFactory.createVodStreamRequest(TEST_CONTENT_SOURCE_ID,
    //        TEST_VIDEO_ID, null, displayContainer);
    return request;
}

  3. You also need a VideoStreamPlayer to play the stream, so add a createVideoStreamPlayer() method, which creates an anonymous class that implements VideoStreamPlayer.

    videoplayerapp/SampleAdsWrapper.java
    private VideoStreamPlayer createVideoStreamPlayer() {
    VideoStreamPlayer player = new VideoStreamPlayer() {
        @Override
        public void loadUrl(String url, List<HashMap<String, String>> subtitles) {
            videoPlayer.setStreamUrl(url);
            videoPlayer.play();
        }

        @Override
        public void addCallback(
            VideoStreamPlayerCallback videoStreamPlayerCallback) {
                playerCallbacks.add(videoStreamPlayerCallback);
        }

        @Override
        public void removeCallback(
            VideoStreamPlayerCallback videoStreamPlayerCallback) {
                playerCallbacks.remove(videoStreamPlayerCallback);
        }

        @Override
        public void onAdBreakStarted() {
            // Disable player controls.
            videoPlayer.enableControls(false);
            log("Ad Break Started\n");
        }

        @Override
        public void onAdBreakEnded() {
            // Re-enable player controls.
            videoPlayer.enableControls(true);
            log("Ad Break Ended\n");
        }

        @Override
        public VideoProgressUpdate getContentProgress() {
            return new VideoProgressUpdate(videoPlayer.getCurrentPosition(),
                    videoPlayer.getDuration());
        }
    };
    return player;
}

  4. Implement the required listeners and add support for error handling.

    Note the AdErrorListener implementation, as it calls a fallback URL if the ads fail to play. Since the content and ads are in one stream, you must be ready to call a fallback stream if the DAI stream encounters an error.

    videoplayerapp/SampleAdsWrapper.java
    /** AdErrorListener implementation **/
@Override
public void onAdError(AdErrorEvent event) {
    // play fallback URL.
    videoPlayer.setStreamUrl(fallbackUrl);
    videoPlayer.enableControls(true);
    videoPlayer.play();
}

/** AdEventListener implementation **/
@Override
public void onAdEvent(AdEvent event) {
    switch (event.getType()) {
        case AD_PROGRESS:
            // Do nothing or else log are filled by these messages.
            break;
        default:
            log(String.format("Event: %s\n", event.getType()));
            break;
    }
}

/** AdsLoadedListener implementation **/
@Override
public void onAdsManagerLoaded(AdsManagerLoadedEvent event) {
    streamManager = event.getStreamManager();
    streamManager.addAdErrorListener(this);
    streamManager.addAdEventListener(this);
    streamManager.init();
}

/** Sets fallback URL in case ads stream fails. **/
void setFallbackUrl(String url) {
    fallbackUrl = url;
}

  5. Add in code for logging.

    videoplayerapp/SampleAdsWrapper.java
    /** Sets logger for displaying events to screen. Optional. **/
void setLogger(Logger logger) {
    this.logger = logger;
}

private void log(String message) {
    if (logger != null) {
        logger.log(message);
    }
}

  6. Modify MyActivity in videoplayerapp to instantiate and call SampleAdsWrapper.

    videoplayerapp/MyActivity.java
    import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.widget.ScrollView;
...
public class MyActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
...
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_my);
        View rootView = findViewById(R.id.videoLayout);
        videoPlayer = new SampleVideoPlayer(rootView.getContext(),
                (SimpleExoPlayerView) rootView.findViewById(R.id.playerView));
        videoPlayer.enableControls(false);

        final SampleAdsWrapper sampleAdsWrapper = new SampleAdsWrapper(this, videoPlayer,
            (ViewGroup) rootView.findViewById(R.id.adUiContainer));
        sampleAdsWrapper.setFallbackUrl(DEFAULT_STREAM_URL);

        final ScrollView scrollView = (ScrollView) findViewById(R.id.logScroll);
        final TextView textView = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.logText);

        sampleAdsWrapper.setLogger(new SampleAdsWrapper.Logger() {
            @Override
            public void log(String logMessage) {
                Log.i(APP_LOG_TAG, logMessage);
                if (textView != null) {
                    textView.append(logMessage);
                }
                if (scrollView != null) {
                    scrollView.post(new Runnable() {
                        @Override
                        public void run() {
                            scrollView.fullScroll(View.FOCUS_DOWN);
                        }
                    });
                }
            }
        });

        playButton = (ImageButton) rootView.findViewById(R.id.playButton);
        // Set up play button listener to play video then hide play button.
        playButton.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View view) {
                sampleAdsWrapper.requestAndPlayAds();
                playButton.setVisibility(View.GONE);
            }
        });
    }
...
}

  7. Modify the Activity's layout file activity_my.xml to add UI elements for logging.

    res/layout/activity_my.xml
    ...
    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/playerDescription"
        android:text="@string/video_description"
        android:textAlignment="center"
        android:gravity="center_horizontal"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="0dp"
        android:layout_weight="0.1"
        android:textSize="@dimen/font_size" />
    <!-- UI element for viewing SDK event log -->
    <ScrollView
        android:id="@+id/logScroll"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="0dp"
        android:layout_weight="0.5"
        android:padding="5dp"
        android:background="#DDDDDD">

        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/logText"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content">
        </TextView>
    </ScrollView>
...

Congrats! You're now requesting and displaying video ads in your Android app. To fine tune your implementation, see Bookmarks, Snapback, and the API documentation.

Troubleshooting

If you're experiencing issues playing a video ad, try downloading the completed BasicExample. If it works properly in BasicExample then there's likely an issue with your app's IMA integration code.

If you're still having issues, visit the IMA SDK forum.