About out-stream podding (Beta)

This article describes out-stream video ad podding, its benefits, and how to disable it in Google Ad Manager.

Out-stream ads are video ads that play automatically when they are in view on a page, even without a traditional video player. Podding refers to grouping multiple creatives together in a sequence.

Out-stream podding allows you to:

• Display a series of video ads, called a pod, in a single placement within your content.
• Monetize text-based or image-based inventory with high-value video ads.
• Increase revenue by serving multiple ads in one placement.

By default, podding is enabled on rewarded and interstitial inventory. To opt-out, disable out-stream podding in Ad Manager.

Disable out-stream podding

1. Sign in to Google Ad Manager.
2. Click Inventory, then Inventory rules.
3. Select the Video settings tab.
4. Add a "New ad format setting" or select an existing one.
5. Under "Targeting," select the inventory where you'd like to disable out-stream podding.
6. Scroll to "Out-stream pods."
7. Check "Disable out-stream podding."
8. Click Save.

Unified pricing rules for out-stream podding

Unified pricing rules (UPR) will apply to the pod as a whole, not to the individual ads within the pod. This may cause a reporting situation where the CPM appears to be below your UPR floor. This happens because the floor is met by the combined value of the pod, but the CPM is reported for each impression separately.

Reporting for out-stream podding

To provide more granular data, each ad within a placement is tracked as a separate impression. You might observe an increase in total revenue and impressions from these placements. However, the reported CPM may appear lower than expected because it reflects the CPM for each individual ad within a pod, rather than the effective CPM at the pod level.

To accurately measure the CPM of ad placements at the pod level, the Position in pod dimension is available. The Position in pod dimension indicates the sequence of an ad within a pod (for example, "Position 1 in pod" for the first ad, "Position 2 in pod" for the second ad). For standard, non-podded ads, this dimension will display "Unknown position in pod."

Calculate the effective CPM for each placement on a pod level:

1. Get Total Pod Revenue: In Ad Manager Interactive reports, filter for Position in Pod is none of "Unknown position in pod" and use the "Ad Exchange revenue" metric. This will correctly sum the revenue from all ads served within pods.
2. Get Total Pod Impressions: Filter for Position in Pod is any of "Position 1 in pod" and use the "Ad Exchange impressions" metric. This will correctly count each served pod as a single impression.
3. Calculate Pod CPM = Total Pod Revenue / Total Pod Impressions x 1000.