Monetization with Ads

Shaka Player provides an API for serving ads to make monetization easier for apps. Our current API is tailored for our integration with the Interactive Media Ads SDKs, but we plan to extend our support to other ad providers in v3.1+. Please note that the current API is likely to undergo significant changes as our support extends.

IMA SDK Integration

Shaka Player provides an integration with the Interactive Media Ads SDKs. We support both Client Side and Server Side ad insertion.

Both the Client Side and the Server Side ad insertion experiences are available through the shaka.extern.IAdManager object on the Player.

const adManager = player.getAdManager();

First, you'll need to include the IMA SDK(s) on your HTML page:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <!-- Shaka Player ui compiled library: -->
    <script src="dist/shaka-player.ui.js"></script>
    <!-- Shaka Player ui compiled library default CSS: -->
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="dist/controls.css">
    <!-- IMA HTML5 SDK (for serving Client Side ads): -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src="https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/sdkloader/ima3.js"></script>
    <!-- IMA DAI SDK (for serving Server Side ads): -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src="https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/sdkloader/ima3.js"></script>
    <!-- Your application source: -->
    <script src="myapp.js"></script>
  </head>
</html>

Streaming with Client Side Ads Insertion

To integrate Client Side ads into a presentation, you need to have your ad tag URIs. If you're not using Shaka's UI library, you will also need to create a <div> over your video element to serve as an ad container.

Start by initializing the client side logic. With Shaka UI:

const adManager = player.getAdManager();
const video = document.getElementById('video');
const ui = video['ui'];
// If you're using a non-UI build, this is the div you'll need to create
// for your layout.
var container = video.ui.getControls().getControlsContainer();
adManager.initClientSide(container, video);

With the client side logic initialized, you can request ads at any time during the presentation.

var adsRequest = new google.ima.AdsRequest();
// Your ad tag url should go here. We are using a sample ad tag from the
// IMA HTML5 SDK implementation guide for this tutorial.
adsRequest.adTagUrl = 'https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?' +
    'sz=640x480&iu=/124319096/external/single_ad_samples&ciu_szs=300x250&' +
    'impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&' +
    'cust_params=deployment%3Ddevsite%26sample_ct%3Dlinear&correlator=';
adManager.requestClientSideAds(adsRequest);

See: google.ima.AdsRequest for details on the request object.

Streaming with Server Side Ads Insertion

To integrate Server Side ads into a presentation, you need to have a Google Ad Manager account and host your streams on Google Ad Manager's servers. To find out more about the Google Ad Manager service or sign up for an account, visit https://admanager.google.com/

If you're not using Shaka's UI library, you will also need to create a <div> over your video element to serve as an ad container.

Start by initializing the server side logic. With Shaka UI:

const adManager = player.getAdManager();
const video = document.getElementById('video');
const ui = video['ui'];
// If you're using a non-UI build, this is the div you'll need to create
// for your layout.
var container = video.ui.getControls().getControlsContainer();
adManager.initServerSide(container, video);

With server side logic initialized, you can request and load streams with dynamically inserted ads.

Requesting a VOD stream:

var streamRequest = new google.ima.dai.api.VODStreamRequest();
// Your stream information will go here. We are using IMA's sample stream info
// in this tutorial.
streamRequest.contentSourceId = '2528370';
streamRequest.videoId = 'tears-of-steel';
const uri = await adManager.requestServerSideStream(streamRequest);
player.load(uri);

shaka.extern.IAdManager.requestServerSideStream() returns a Promise with a manifest URI that points to a stream with ads inserted.

See google.ima.dai.api.VODStreamRequest for details on the request object.

Requesting a LIVE stream: Please note that we don't support ad tracking information for DAI LIVE streams at the moment. It is on our road map for a future release.

var streamRequest = new google.ima.dai.api.LiveStreamRequest();
// Your stream information will go here. We are using IMA's sample stream info
// in this tutorial.
streamRequest.assetKey = 'sN_IYUG8STe1ZzhIIE_ksA';
const uri = await adManager.requestServerSideStream(streamRequest);
player.load(uri);

See: google.ima.dai.api.LiveStreamRequest for details on the request object.

If you are using Shaka's UI library, we will automatically hook up our ad UI.

Custom Ad Manager Implementations

Our architecture supports custom ad manager implementations. Every ad manager should implement the shaka.extern.IAdManager interface. To make the player use a custom ad manager implementation, invoke the code to set it before instantiating the player.

// myapp.CustomAdManager is a placeholder name for your ad manager implementation.
shaka.Player.setAdManagerFactory(() => new myapp.CustomAdManager());

Continue the Tutorials

Next, check out Plugins and Customizing the Build.