Ep 1: Instream vs outstream video

That video ad beside your article? It is not instream.

Instream means the ad plays before, during or after video the viewer chose to watch.

The IAB made this precise in twenty twenty-three, with a bid request field called PLCM-T, short for placement. Take news.example. A reader opens a video story and presses play. The ad before it is instream. Value one. Now a muted player starts between paragraphs as the reader scrolls. That’s accompanying content. Value two. A full-screen video ad with no content, say between game levels, is interstitial. Value three. A video ad in a feed or slideshow is standalone. Value four. The industry still calls two to four outstream. Buyers bid differently on each, so label honestly.

Today, find PLCM-T in a bid request from your player. Does it match what viewers see?

Next: VAST, what a video ad tag actually is.