What does SSAI stand for and what is it?

Photo by Yuting Gao

SSAI stands for Server-Side Ad Insertion, which is a digital advertising technique used to insert ads into streaming video content.

With SSAI, the ad insertion process is done on the server-side, rather than on the client-side where the video player is located. This allows for a more seamless ad experience for viewers, as there are no delays or buffering caused by the ad loading.

SSAI works by detecting the cue points in a video where an ad should be inserted. When a viewer reaches one of these cue points, the video stream is paused and the server inserts an ad into the video stream. The ad is then played seamlessly to the viewer without any buffering or delay, and once it’s finished, the video resumes from where it left off.

Examples of SSAI in action can be seen on various streaming services, such as Hulu, YouTube TV, and Amazon Prime Video.

These services use SSAI to insert ads into their video content, allowing for a smoother and more seamless ad experience for viewers.

For example, on Hulu, when a viewer watches a TV show or movie, the ad breaks are filled with ads that are dynamically inserted into the video stream through SSAI.

This allows for a more personalized and targeted ad experience, while also minimizing the disruption to the viewer’s overall viewing experience.

Takeaway

SSAI has become an increasingly popular technique in digital advertising because its able to provide a seamless ad experience for viewers and increase ad revenue for publishers.

Ivan Jimenez

Ivan is a professional digital marketer and advertiser.

He helps small brands and service providers, marketing managers, and big famous brands run hyper-successful ad campaigns (across multiple formats) targeting lots of diverse audiences (ex.) to meet specific goals like brand awareness, more sales, leads, etc.

He’s got lots of thoughts on the state of marketing and is deeply committed to all areas of optimization—and has no problem showing you where the massive holes are in your own campaigns!

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