LimelightREACH supports video advertisements and content media files in a variety of formats. Advertisements and content can be created using different encoding software, at different sizes and resolutions, and the LimelightREACH system will automatically normalize the advertisement media to match the content media in the resulting merged file. Below are specifications and recommendations for the supported formats.

For more information about the MPEG-4 specification, refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG-4. For information about Flash video, refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flv.

Specifications

You can produce video files in a variety of container formats. Within those containers, the video and audio data can be encoded in a number of encoding formats using multiple versions of encoding software. We recommend that you use up-to-date audio and video encoders to create your source video files. Below are more specific recommendations and requirements based on the combinations of containers and stream formats we have qualified.

Audio and Video Streams

Content media and ad media files must contain one video stream and one audio stream. There is no support for files that contain multiple video or audio streams or that contain only a video stream or only an audio stream. Time code information must be present in the video stream and must not be encoded in a separate time code (tmcd) stream.

Video Dimensions

We recommend that the frame size of ad video to either be the same as the frame size of the content video OR to be a larger multiple of the content video. For example, if the content frame size is 320X240 then the ad frame size should be 320X240 or 640X480. When the ad frame size does not match or is not a larger multiple of the content frame size, the ad will appear with black fill bands to make up the difference.

Content Video Formats

Limelight Networks has qualified a number of video containers with specific audio and video formats created using specific audio and video codecs. Other container and encoder types may also work, but below are the combinations that have been tested together.

Ad Creative Video Formats

The following container types and audio/video formats are supported for advertisement media files.

LimelightREACH/ADS can export data to Omniture SiteCatalyst for reporting purposes. The LimelightREACH/ADS system exports data using the SiteCatalyst Data Sources interface, and includes information about each media request. The information included in the exported data is configurable, and Limelight works with the publisher to define the specific data mappings to the variables used in SiteCatalyst.

Omniture integration is a valuable extension to LimelightREACH/ADS because it:

• allows analytics data to be processed and shared with the Omniture tools already in use by the publisher
• includes publisher-defined metadata that is not included in the standard LimelightREACH/ADS reports
• produces data on a per-request basis, providing a finer level of reporting granularity than is included in the standard LimelightREACH/ADS reports

This document describes the LimelightREACH/ADS Omniture interface, and the process that Limelight and the publisher use to define and implement the data mapping and export. While this interface is applicable to both LimelightREACH and LimelightADS, the data logged by these two products differs, so the data mapping options may also differ. For more information about the Omniture SiteCatalyst Data Sources interface, refer to the document SiteCatalyst Data Sources in the Omniture Resource Center.

Report Generation Data Flow

LimelightREACH/ADS processes requests for media files, potentially causing an alternate form of the file to be delivered based on advertising policies and capabilities of the requesting device. A component in the LimelightREACH/ADS system records the transaction data for each request, and this log is used to generate reports. An export module processes the request log and periodically generates an export file that it uploads to the Omniture Data Sources interface via FTP. Omniture processes the export files it receives, and ingests the data for display in the SiteCatalyst portal.

Data Mapping

LimelightREACH/ADS receives the following information when a media file is requested:

• IP address of the requester
• Requested URL
• Timestamp of the request
• User Agent of the requesting client

From this information, it is able to correlate the requested media file to a content collection within the publisher’s REACH/ADS account and calculate information such as the geographic location and device type of the requestor. Policies associated with the content collection are used to determine ad delivery and media adaptation actions.

For reporting purposes, LimelightREACH/ADS can include any information received in the media request, along with metadata associated with the corresponding content collection. For each content collection in a LimelightREACH account, the publisher supplies an RSS feed referencing published videos. Publishers may include in the feed arbitrary metadata elements associated with each item. Any of these RSS element values can be included in the report data generated by LimelightREACH and exported to Omniture. Note that this metadata is not necessarily available when LimelightADS is used without LimelightREACH, since an input RSS feed is not always used in a LimelightADS content collection.

Limelight and the publisher work together to define the variable names that will be used in the export files produced by LimelightREACH/ADS. The publisher determines which data available from LimelightREACH/ADS should be included in the export file, and to which variables these data values should be assigned. The LimelightREACH/ADS export module is configured to produce export files corresponding to this mapping. The export files are tables, with columns representing the variables and rows representing every media request processed by LimelightREACH/ADS.

Export File Delivery

When the publisher defines an Omniture Data Source, they also establish an FTP site to which the export data files are uploaded. Limelight configures the LimelightREACH/ADS export module to deliver export files to this FTP hostname using the associated credentials supplied by the publisher.
LimelightREACH/ADS produces export files on a regular basis, typically once per hour. The export files are uploaded to Omniture as soon as they are generated. It is the responsibility of the publisher to ensure that Omniture processes the export files in a timely manner so that the import queue does not exceed limitations imposed by Omniture.

Getting Started

To integrate Omniture SiteCatalyst with LimelightREACH/ADS, contact your Limelight sales representative. We will schedule a kick-off meeting where we review the overall integration process, and begin gathering the data mapping information we need to configure report generation. You will need to establish a Data Source within Omniture, and provide us with the FTP hostname and login credentials for report file upload. We will work with you to verify that the report files we generate correctly implement the data mapping you defined, and that the export file upload process is successful.

Version 4.1 provides new capabilities for publishers working with third party ad sales and operations teams. If you use an external ad server like DoubleClick DFP or 24/7 Real Media Open AdStream, you can work in conjunction with a third party, allowing the third party to traffic ads to inventory not filled by your ad server.

Additionally, this version adds some helpful new info to the Content List to let you spot check your content collection setup at a glance.

New OpsCenter Login URL

The link you use to log in to OpsCenter, the LimelightREACH/ADS portal, has changed. Please update your bookmarks to use https://kiptronic.com/ops. Note that the old login should redirect to this new address, but if you are not redirected automatically, use this new link instead.

Multiple External Connectors

LimelightADS provides the ability to connect to external ad servers like DFP and OAS. You can traffic ads in these systems that cause pre and post-roll creatives to be placed with the content processed through your LimelightADS account. With Version 4.1, you can now create multiple ad server connectors in LimelightADS, and specify their relative priority when associated with a content collection. When a user requests a media file, LimelightADS calls the ad server represented by the first connector. If no creative is returned by the first ad server, LimelightADS calls the second ad server, using the creative it returns. If no creative is returned, no ad is placed.

Application

The multi-connector features of LimelightADS Version 4.1 allow you to work with third parties who may sell your remnant inventory. You can configure your own ad server as the primary connector, allowing you to have the option of filling as much inventory as your internal ad sales team can sell. You can configure a third party partner as the secondary connector, allowing them the opportunity to traffic ads across all the inventory that you don’t fill yourself. Since LimelightADS calls the secondary ad server only when the primary one does not return a creative, the secondary ad server does not have to calculate the percentage of ad calls to fill—all calls to the secondary ad server are available for ad delivery.

Content List Enhancements

The Content List now shows the insertion slots and tags associated with each content collection. This lets you easily verify that your content collection configurations are correct. Since content collections may now potentially be associated with multiple connectors, the connectors column lists all the connectors and their targeting data.

More Info

If you have questions about using one or more external connectors in your LimelightADS account, contact your Limelight Sales Representative. For technical questions and issues, contact mms-support@llnw.com.

If you traffic ads using OpsCenter’s built-in Campaign Manager within LimelightADS, it is useful to understand the ad selection, pacing, and campaign prioritization logic that controls ad delivery. This application note describes how LimelightADS uses the information you specify in your campaign, along with media request data, to determine which ads should be delivered with your content. If you are using an external ad server like DoubleClick DFP or 24/7 Real Media Open AdStream, the logic in those systems dictates the ad delivery behavior.

Ad Delivery Overview

When a media file is requested by a consumer, LimelightADS makes a decision about ad placement for each position (slot) within the file where ads may be inserted. You define those insertion slots in the content collection, meaning all media files associated with the content collection have the same positions where ads may be inserted. This is consistent with the advertising practice of selling the pre-roll ad unit, for example, across all episodes of a particular TV show or video series.

Slots are targeted individually by a campaign flight, although a single campaign may contain multiple flights, each targeting a different slot. Flights run for a particular duration, and are programmed to meet a particular impression goal. During the course of a flight, LimelightADS attempts to deliver the specified number of ads as evenly as possible. Ideally, for each day of the flight, the same number of ads are delivered, until the last day when the impression goal is met. LimelightADS tracks the number of media requests and ad deliveries over time, so the pace with which ads are delivered can be adjusted to satisfy this goal.

LimelightADS determines which ad to place in a slot for a given media request by first creating a list of eligible insertions from all campaigns targeting the content collection associated with the requested media file. The following logic is used to select from that list of eligible ads:

• if multiple campaign flights target the same content, consider the priority of each flight, picking the flight with the highest priority
• if multiple flights with the same priority target the content, consider the impression goals for each flight, picking the flight with the greatest pacing need to fulfill its goal
• if the selected flight has multiple ad creatives associated with it, consider the weight value associated with each creative to determine which will be inserted

This selection logic is dependent on the flight and ad creative settings in your campaign. It is also impacted by delivery pacing data that LimelightADS continuously calculates as media files and ads are delivered.

Campaign Parameters

In LimelightADS, campaigns target one or more content collections (content targets), and for each content target, define one or more flights. Ad creatives (referred to as insertions in the OpsCenter Campaign Manager) are listed in the campaign, and may apply to one or more flights.

You specify several parameters that impact ad delivery when you create a campaign in OpsCenter. Those parameters are described here.

Flight Settings

You specify targeting and delivery goal data in the flight. These parameters directly impact ad delivery.

Insertion Slot

Flights target insertion slots defined within the targeted content collection. Since flights are specific to an insertion slot, the ad delivery decision is also slot-specific. Consider each slot as a separate ad unit—it is therefore possible for a single media file with multiple insertion slots (a pre-roll and post-roll slot, for example), to carry an ad from one campaign in the pre-roll position, and an ad from another campaign in the post-roll position.

Geography

Flights can be geo-specific. If you specify a geography other than “world wide”, the number of potential ad deliveries is reduced, because only media requests from the specified geographical region will be considered for this flight. Therefore, when LimelightADS builds the list of eligible insertions for a given request, an ad will only be considered when the geography of the requester matches the geo-target of the ad.

Date Range

Flights indicate ads to be delivered over a specific time period. LimelightADS attempts to deliver all the ads defined in a particular flight evenly over the course of the specified time period. Assuming more media requests occur over that time period than are reserved by the flight, LimelightADS will pace the delivery of ads so that the last ad impression is recorded on the last day of the flight’s date range.

Reservations

You reserve a number of impressions to be delivered for a flight. This is the impression goal—the specified number of ads to be delivered with the targeted content, inserted into the designated slot. It is possible to reserve more ads than can be delivered over the specified date range—if the number of media requests is fewer than the number reserved, or if other campaign flights compete for the same content, therefore reducing the available inventory.

Priority

A flight’s priority impacts the ad delivery decision when more than one campaign flight targets the same content. In that case, the flight with the higher priority is always given preference. If the flight priority is set to 5, pacing calculations are ignored, and every request for targeted content is delivered with an ad until the flight’s impression goals are met (even if that occurs before the flight’s end date). If multiple flights with priority 5 target the same content, ad delivery is split evenly among them.

Ad Creative Settings

Ad creatives (insertions) also contain parameters that impact delivery.

Slot Type

Creatives can be applied to specific slot types, or they can apply to any slot type. For example, if you have a special version of a creative that is to be used only in the pre-roll position, you can designate that creative specific to the pre-roll slot type. If, however, you have a creative that can be placed in either the pre or post-roll position, the slot type is specified as any. This impacts ad delivery because it affects the list of eligible ads for a given slot. When a request occurs for content that has a pre-roll slot to fill, only ads eligible for that position will be considered.

Geography

While campaign flights can be geo-specific, so can ad creatives. This allows different versions of a creative to be delivered based on the geo-location of the requester. Creatives won’t be considered for insertion if the location associated with the request does not fall within the geographic region specified in the creative.

Date Range

Creatives can also specify a date range independent of the flight date range. This allows a single flight to deliver different versions of a creative at various points in time during the overall flight date range. Creatives won’t be considered for insertion if the date of the media request does not fall within the date range specified with the creative.

Weight

You define a weight value with each creative associated with a campaign. If there are multiple creatives with the same targeting information, LimelightADS uses the weight values of those creatives to proportion the delivery between them. For example, if two creatives have identical targeting parameters and the same weight value, each would be included in half the deliveries that carry ads from the campaign. If the weight value for one creative was twice the weight value for the other, the creative with twice the weight would be delivered twice as often.

Parameters

You can specify one or more key/value pairs associated with each creative in the campaign. LimelightADS matches any URL parameters included on the video link to the parameters associated with the eligible creatives. Only creatives with matching parameters will be considered for delivery. You can use this capability to have request-specific criteria influence ad selection.

Request-Time Calculations and Delivery Pacing

When a campaign flight begins, LimelightADS counts the number of media requests made for targeted content. It also counts the number of times an ad is delivered for each flight. This information, along with the number of impressions required to meet the flight goal, is used to calculate a pacing value for the flight—a number between -1 and 1. If the number is 0, the flight is on target to deliver all impressions by the end date. If the value is less than 0, the flight is behind schedule, and LimelightADS will accelerate delivery to catch up. If the value is greater than 0, them the flight is ahead of schedule, and LimelightADS will slow down delivery.

The pacing value comes into play in two scenarios:

• when multiple ads are eligible for delivery with a requested media file
• when determining whether a request should carry an ad for a single flight

In the case of competing campaign flights, assuming the flights have the same priority, the pacing value determines which flight gets selected for delivery (the flight with the lower pacing value).

In the case of a single flight, the pacing value is used to determine how frequently an ad must be delivered to keep the flight on target, meeting the impression goal while delivering ads evenly over the flight duration. If a flight is on pace or ahead of pace, it is possible that a media request will be delivered without an ad.

In order to provide our customers the best video quality possible on the widest array of devices, we are constantly analyzing the data we gather along with industry trends and developments.

This newsletter shares with you recent additions to the devices for which we’ve optimized video preparation, and the list of devices we’re targeting next.

Please let us know if you have any questions or requests for new devices not listed here by emailing mms-support@llnw.com.

Devices added during May and June 2010

Optimized support was added for the following devices:

Device Road Map

The following devices, listed by carrier, are the ones we’re actively working on or plan to begin work on next. Many of these devices already play back video produced by LimelightREACH, but we may optimize the videos we deliver to these devices to maximize quality.

Version 4.0 represents a significant enhancement of the LimelightREACH/ADS platform. With this release, LimelightREACH supports the Apple HTTP Live Streaming protocol for video delivery to compatible iPhones, iPads and ipod Touch devices. We will begin enabling Apple HTTP Live Streaming delivery on a per-account basis—stay tuned for the roll out to your LimelightREACH account.

These release notes answer some common questions about Apple HTTP Live Streaming and how LimelightREACH supports it.

What is Apple HTTP Live Streaming?

Apple HTTP Live Streaming is a video delivery protocol that dynamically adjusts the quality of the video on-the-fly during playback, based on available bandwidth. When connectivity is good, very high quality video can be delivered, and when connectivity is poor, the stream gracefully degrades to a lower quality without buffering or otherwise interrupting playback based on available bandwidth.

Apple HTTP Live Streaming involves the preparation and delivery of multiple streams of video content, each encoded at different bitrates optimized for various bandwidth conditions. These streams are not continuous media files—they are a sequence of short video segments. The QuickTime Player on the mobile device requests the segments over HTTP. When the player detects a change in available bandwidth, it requests segments from an alternate stream encoded at an appropriate bitrate. The end-user experience while the QuickTime Player adjusts the streams is transparent. The quality of the video changes automatically based on what the current bandwidth can support.

Apple iPhones, iPads and ipod Touch devices with OS version 3.0 or greater support Apple HTTP Live Streaming. iPhones and ipod Touch devices with older OS versions still require video delivery using progressive download.

You can learn more about the details of this protocol from this page on the Apple developer site.

Do I Need Apple HTTP Live Streaming?

To be accepted on the iTunes App Store, any iPhone or iPad apps that include video will be required to use the new Apple HTTP Live Streaming protocol to deliver video. If you are developing a video application for the iPhone or iPad, the video delivery solution you use must support this protocol.

Apple explicitly states on their development site “Important: iPhone and iPad apps that send large amounts of audio or video data over cellular networks are required to use HTTP Live Streaming.”

The term “Apple HTTP Live Streaming” suggests that this protocol is only applicable to live video streams. Despite its name, on-demand video like that delivered by LimelightREACH also benefits from this protocol, and applications delivering on-demand video must also comply with Apple’s requirements to be accepted into the App Store.

How Does LimelightREACH Support Apple HTTP Live Streaming?

LimelightREACH provides a layer of intelligence and adaptive delivery so publishers can produce a single version of their source video, and refer to the prepared video using a single, universal URL. This does not change with Apple HTTP Live Streaming. When you request a video prepared by LimelightREACH from an Apple device compatible with Apple HTTP Live Streaming, LimelightREACH will automatically deliver the appropriate stream to the QuickTime Player. Requests from Apple devices running OS versions that don’t support this protocol will continue to receive video using progressive download. Requests from non-Apple devices continue to receive video delivered using the protocol appropriate for those device capabilities.

When a LimelightREACH account is enabled for Apple HTTP Live Streaming, all active videos are automatically prepared for delivery using this protocol. LimelightREACH creates a number of segmented video streams at bitrates optimized for various bandwidth levels. Once the video is prepared, the introduction of new ad creatives requires no reprocessing of the source content, so the impact to video availability is minimal.

When Will Apple HTTP Live Streaming be Rolled Out to My Account?

We will select publisher accounts for deployment of Apple HTTP Live Streaming video profiles based on the number of active videos in the account, and known plans for application submission to the Apple Store. We will notify you before we deploy these profiles to your account, and again after all video preparation is complete. We expect to complete this process in the weeks following the LimelightREACH/ADS Version 4.0 release. Once your existing videos are prepared with these profiles, LimelightREACH will prepare newly published videos automatically. Contact mms-support@llnw.com if you have any questions about the roll out plan.

In order to provide our customers the best video quality possible on the widest array of devices, we are constantly analyzing the data we gather along with industry trends and developments.

This newsletter shares with you recent additions to the devices for which we’ve optimized video preparation, and the list of devices we’re targeting next.

Please let us know if you have any questions or requests for new devices not listed here by emailing mms-support@llnw.com.

Devices added during March and April 2010

Optimized support was added for the following devices:

Device Road Map

The following devices, listed by carrier, are the ones we’re actively working on or plan to begin work on next. Many of these devices already play back video produced by LimelightREACH, but we may optimize the videos we deliver to these devices to maximize quality.

With LimelightREACH/ADS Version 3.20, publishers now have greater targeting capabilities when using Campaign Management within OpsCenter. If you are using an external ad server like DoubleClick for Publishers, 24/7 Open AdStream, or Microsoft Atlas, you can now cause a tracking resource to be requested every time a particular ad creative is delivered with content media. We’ve also cleaned up the OpsCenter user interface, removing obsolete fields that cluttered up content target selection and content collection details.

Using URL Parameters for Ad Targeting

It is now possible to use URL parameters with your video links to influence which creatives are delivered by the LimelightADS Campaign Manager. If you append one or more URL parameters to a video link presented on your mobile website or application, you can target those parameters in your campaign. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Open a campaign from the Campaign Manager page in OpsCenter.
2. Click the Manage Insertions button in the campaign detail page. The Insertion List is shown.
3. Add a new insertion or pick an existing insertion from the list. The insertion detail page is shown.
4. In the Parameter List panel on the page, click the New Parameter button to define a new URL parameter and value. Add the new parameter to the list.

When a request is made for a video containing the specified URL parameter and value, the creative with the matching target will be delivered with the video. You can define alternate targets with different ad creatives that will be delivered when the URL parameter matches the specified value.

Ad Delivery Tracking with External Ad Servers

Even prior to Version 3.20 of LimelightADS, you could specify a link to a tracking resource that is requested each time a particular ad creative is delivered. This is specified in the LimelightADS Campaign Manager—the tracking URL is an attribute of the creative (insertion). With Version 3.20, you can now perform similar tracking when using external ad servers (DoubleClick for Publishers, 24/7 Open AdStream, or Microsoft Atlas).

When a click-through URL is provided in the creative definition in the external ad server, LimelightADS makes a request for that URL when the creative is included with a requested media file. Depending on the ad server you use, the format for the creative definition will vary. If you are interested in using this feature, contact us for details on setting up creatives in your ad server.

OpsCenter Clean-Up

Several obsolete parameters have been removed from the OpsCenter user interface. Keywords and ratings are no longer used by the system, and have now been removed from OpsCenter. This simplifies content target selection in the campaign editor and forecast pages in the Campaign Manager.

Output Feed Generation

Prior to Version 3.20, the RSS feeds generated by LimelightREACH would omit videos that were being processed with new ad creatives, even if the creatives were associated with campaigns in the future. Now, items are not removed from the output feed while they are being processed with creatives from campaigns with future start dates. This allows you to schedule campaigns in the future, prepare the videos with the corresponding creatives, without disrupting the items that appear in the output feed. This is useful if your presentation layer relies on items in the output feed for display purposes.

In order to provide our customers the best video quality possible on the widest array of devices, we are constantly analyzing the data we gather along with industry trends and developments.

This newsletter shares with you recent additions to the devices for which we’ve optimized video preparation, and the list of devices we’re targeting next.

Please let us know if you have any questions or requests for new devices not listed here by emailing mms-support@llnw.com.

Devices added during January and Febuary 2010

Optimized support was added for the following devices:

Device Road Map

The following devices, listed by carrier, are the ones we’re actively working on or plan to begin work on next. Many of these devices already play back video produced by LimelightREACH, but we may optimize the videos we deliver to these devices to maximize quality.

LimelightREACH/ADS Version 3.19 introduces support for the Open AdStream ad server from 24/7 Real Media. Integration with OAS provides publishers another choice in how they traffic ads to their mobile video, and allows existing OAS users to leverage the process they already have in place for display ad delivery. In addition to OAS support, Version 3.19 gives developers more control over the format used to deliver video to custom applications. And finally, there is now a way for you to provide contact info in your profile in OpsCenter so that we can notify you of video processing errors, service advisories and software updates (like this one!).

Open AdStream Support

Many publishers use Open AdStream to traffic display ads on their websites. Now those publishers can use OAS to traffic pre, mid, and post-roll ads to their mobile video delivered by LimelightREACH. As with our support for DoubleClick DART for Publishers and Microsoft Atlas, configuring LimelightADS to use OAS is simple and requires no software integration. If you would like to use OAS with LimelightADS, please contact us at MMS Support.

Contact Info

When LimelightREACH processes your video, errors that occur can be sent to you in an email alert. The email address used for these alerts is now configurable in the Profile section of OpsCenter. Click on the Profile link in the upper-right corner of the OpsCenter screen to access it. Additionally, you can enter email addresses we use for service advisories and software upgrade notices. We encourage you to add your email addresses to these fields right away so we can contact you efficiently when important events occur.

Video Formatting for Custom Applications

LimelightREACH delivers video to a wide variety of video-capable mobile devices. Application developers who are building custom systems that may not be identifiable by LimelightREACH can now cause a specific format to be used when video is delivered to their application. If you are building a custom mobile application that cannot be identified by LimelightREACH, contact us about using this new facility.

In order to provide our customers the best video quality possible on the widest array of devices, we are constantly analyzing the data we gather along with industry trends and developments.

This newsletter shares with you recent additions to the devices for which we’ve optimized video preparation, and the list of devices we’re targeting next.

Please let us know if you have any questions or requests for new devices not listed here by emailing mms-support@llnw.com.

Devices added during November and December 2009

Optimized support was added for the following devices:

Device Road Map

The following devices, listed by carrier, are the ones we’re actively working on or plan to begin work on next. Many of these devices already play back video produced by LimelightREACH, but we may optimize the videos we deliver to these devices to maximize quality.

Publishers using external ad servers like DoubleClick DART for Publishers (DFP) are accustomed to serving multiple ad units on one web page with creatives from the same advertiser. These associated companion ads are sold as a bundle to advertisers, and typically garner a higher CPM than a single ad unit on a page. Using functionality in DFP and LimelightREACH/ADS, it’s possible to associate a banner ad on a mobile web page with an in-stream ad unit on videos linked to from that page. This note discusses techniques for implementing companion ads in this way.

Passing URL Parameters to External Ad Servers

The key to implementing companion ad functionality lies in the ability of the client (the mobile web page or application) to add parameters to the video URL at the time the page is rendered. LimelightREACH/ADS has a feature associated with Connectors (links to external ad servers like DFP) that causes all URL parameters to be passed in the ad call made to the ad server when the video is requested. Those parameters can be targeted in the ad server and therefore influence the creative that is returned.

To enable URL parameter passing in the Connector, perform the following steps:

1. In the Content Manager screen, click the Connectors menu at the top of the page.
2. Select the connector to edit from the list or click New Connector.
3. In the Connector settings, check the box that enables passing of URL parameters as key/value pairs.
4. Click the Update/Add Connector button to save your changes.

Passing Advertiser Information in Your Banner Ad Response

When your mobile web page invokes your ad server to display a banner ad, ad servers like DFP can return both the banner image, clickthrough link, and alternate text associated with the banner. You can use this alternate text field to include the keyword you wish to associate with the advertiser.

When the page is rendered, it will contain the banner in response to the ad call made by the tag you’ve placed on the page. You can include javascript on the page to extract the alternate text from the banner ad and append it to the video links you present on the page. For example, if the advertiser ID you included in the alternate text was advertiserX, javascript in your page can append it to video links like this:

<a href="http://my.limelightREACHdomain.com/myvideo.mp4?ad=advertiserX">Video Link</a>

There are many techniques you can use to dynamically alter the video link on your page—use whatever mechanism makes sense for your presentation environment.

Using the Advertiser Information for your Video Ad Targeting

In the example above, the ad=advertiserX URL parameter will get passed to your ad server as a key/value pair when the consumer clicks the video link. You can then use the key/value pair when you specify the targets for the video creative in your ad server. In this way, when the video is requested, the ad included with the video is from the same advertiser as the banner ad on the page.

This guide contains the following sections:

• Key Concepts—the terms and constructs that are core to the LimelightREACH and LimelightADS systems. This is a technical overview of the fundamental aspects of how the system works.
• Content Management—this section discusses how to manage your video in the LimelightREACH/ADS system. It is intended for users who are familiar with the location of video assets in the CDN environment and will be responsible for administering that content in this system. Traffic reporting is also covered in this section.
• Campaign Management and Ad Trafficking—this section is specific to LimelightADS, and covers ad trafficking, campaign reporting and inventory forecasting from within OpsCenter, A brief overview of trafficking ads using an external ad server is given, but detailed instructions on external ad server use is provided in separate documents.

LimelightREACH/ADS Version 3.18 improves the overall efficiency of video processing, reducing the time it takes to present a video you’ve published. We’ve made it easier to access the RSS feed LimelightREACH generates, and added search features to some of the most frequently used tables in OpsCenter. We’ve also provided a way to configure your account to accommodate variations in the format of the input RSS feed you produce. This document describes the details of these new features.

Video Processing Improvements

When you publish a new source video, you inform LimelightREACH by updating the RSS feed registered in one of your content collections. LimelightREACH periodically checks these RSS feeds, and when a new item is found, triggers the ingestion and preparation process of the corresponding video. In Version 3.18, the rate with which new videos are discovered has been increased, so updates in your RSS feed are picked up by LimelightREACH faster. We’ve also increased the rate that the output RSS feed generated by LimelightREACH is updated (after all processing is complete and the video is ready for mobile viewing). No changes are required in your publishing or presentation process to benefit from these improvements.

In OpsCenter, it is now possible to cause LimelightREACH to read your source RSS feed immediately. To do so, click the Refresh button in the Content List. Also note that the Content List contains a new link to the output RSS feed generated when your video has been processed.

There now is a programmatic way to cause LimelightREACH to read your source RSS feed immediately. You do so by invoking a service using similar parameters as you use when you request the output RSS feed for a content collection. Contact MMS Support for details on the URL formatting for this service if you require it.

Table Search Enhancements

Search capabilities were added to the Content List, Campaign List, and Video Status tables. In the Content List and Campaign List, you can now enter the begining of the content collection or campaign name, click the Update button, and see only matching results. In the Video Status table, you can enter specific search criteria to match the media URL and the failure reason code.

RSS Video Link Flexibility

If the RSS feed you generate for a content collection does not refer to your videos using an <enclosure> tag, you can now configure your account to use an alternate tag for your video links. For example, if you are using the media RSS standard, video links will be specified in the <media:content> element within the <media:group> element (both of which are within the <item> element). If you wish to use an element other than <enclosure> for your video links, please contact MMS Support.

In order to provide our customers the best video quality possible on the widest array of devices, we are constantly analyzing the data we gather along with industry trends and developments.

This newsletter shares with you recent additions to the devices for which we’ve optimized video preparation, and the list of devices we’re targeting next.

Please let us know if you have any questions or requests for new devices not listed here by emailing mms-support@llnw.com.

Devices added during October 2009

Optimized support was added for the following devices:

Device Road Map

The following devices, listed by carrier, are the ones we’re actively working on or plan to begin work on next. Many of these devices already play back video produced by LimelightREACH, but we may optimize the videos we deliver to these devices to maximize quality.

Version 3.17 of the LimelightREACH/ADS products brings significant enhancements to the online reports available in OpsCenter, the web portal you use to manage your account. In addition to the standard traffic and insertion reports previously available in the system, you can now view traffic organized by client type. This new report gives you insight into your consumer population and the devices and client software they use to access your content.

Content Reports

The content reports accessed in OpsCenter under the Reports tab have been enhanced to give you greater viewing flexibility and data manipulation. For all report types, you first select the content collection or tagged group of content collections from the drop down boxes at the top of the page. You select a date range by editing the start and end date boxes. If you change these values, the Update button becomes enabled so you can recalculate the data displayed in the reports below.

Along the left side of the reports page is a panel allowing you to select the report type displayed on the page. When you pick a report type from the panel, the data represented by the content and date range selected above is rendered on the page.

Summary Report

The summary reports shows both a graphical and tabular view of media requests. You switch between the chart and numerical data by selecting the tab in the viewing area. You can browse the data set by selecting the time ranges in the chart, or by sizing the data range in the lower portion of the chart. Pointing to the chart displays the numerical value corresponding to the point on the line.

Requests by Country, State/Province, and US Market

You can view media requests by geography, displayed as a pie-chart or a numerical table. Select the geographical breakdown from the report type panel on the left side of the page, and select whether you wish to see the data in chart form or numerical form from the tabs in the report area.

Client Report

Version 3.17 of LimelightREACH/ADS introduces a new type of content report—a breakdown by client type. There are three levels of client report, showing client by device brand, model, and individual device ID. Like the geographical reports, you can view the data in the form of a pie chart, or as a numerical table.

Note: the data presented in the client reports is based on matching the requesting user agent against our database of client types. Prior to the Version 3.17 release, this database did not contain entries for non-mobile devices, and therefore report data from date ranges prior to the date of the release will not necessarily have this information.

In order to provide our customers the best video quality possible on the widest array of devices, we are constantly analyzing the data we gather along with industry trends and developments.

This newsletter shares with you recent additions to the devices for which we’ve optimized video preparation, and the list of devices we’re targeting next.

Please let us know if you have any questions or requests for new devices not listed here by emailing mms-support@llnw.com.

Devices added during September 2009

Optimized support was added for the following devices:

Device Road Map

The following devices, listed by carrier and ordered by priority, are the ones we’re actively working on or plan to begin work on next. Many of these devices already play back video produced by LimelightREACH, but we may optimize the videos we deliver to these devices to maximize quality.

Limelight Networks is excited to bring you the latest version of our Mobility and Monetization platform. The most visible change in this release is the new Limelight look and feel of OpsCenter—the web application portal you use to manage your LimelightREACH and LimelightADS account. Additionally, for LimelightREACH customers, there are new features that give you more control over the order in which newly published content is prepared for delivery, and also the extent of your archive content that is processed. These features help speed your most valuable content from publication through presentation to consumers.

New Support Email Address

To better serve our customers, we have changed the email address you use to open a support ticket with the Limelight MMS team. This new email address is integrated with the Limelight issue tracking system, so all interactions are centrally logged and managed. Please send your support emails to mms-support@llnw.com. You will receive a reply containing a ticket number in the subject line. Simply reply-all to this email to send follow-up information, or reply to follow-up emails from Limelight MMS support with this ticket number in the subject.

New Color Scheme

In Version 3.16 of the Limelight MMS platform, you still access OpsCenter through this link, but now the user interface reflects the Limelight brand.

Content Collection Priority

You can now specify the order in which videos from various content collections are processed once they are published.

When you publish a new video, you notify LimelightREACH of the publication event by adding an item to the RSS feed registered with the content collection with which the video is associated. LimelightREACH then ingests the new video asset and prepares it for mobile delivery. When mulitple new videos are published in multiple content collections, the order in which the videos are processed is now based on the priority of the content collection. This way, you can make sure that highly popular or time-sensitive collections are processed before other content in your catalog.

Setting the Priority

To set the content collection priority, perform the following steps:

1. In the Content Manager portion of OpsCenter, select a content collection from the Content List. The Content Detail page is shown.
2. In the Content panel (upper-left portion of the page), click the Edit icon to edit the content details. The Edit Content page is shown.
3. Select the video processing priority from the drop-down list.
4. Click on the Update Content button at the bottom of the page. Your changes are saved.

Processing Archived Content

The Limelight MMS system keeps track of all videos you have published associated with your content collections. Even after a video is no longer referenced in the RSS feed registered for a content collection, the system (by default) will continue to prepare it for delivery when new ad creatives are scheduled to run. This is desirable when you offer your entire back-catalog of content to your consumers.

If you limit the content you present to consumers to only items currently in your RSS feed, the work that LimelightREACH/ADS performs on previously published items is not necessary. Now you can limit the content that the system prepares using your RSS feed.

Setting the Archived Content Limit

To limit the video content processed by LimelightREACH to only videos referenced in your RSS feed, perform the following steps:

1. In the Content Manager portion of OpsCenter, select a content collection from the Content List. The Content Detail page is shown.
2. In the Content panel (upper-left portion of the page), click the Edit icon to edit the content details. The Edit Content page is shown.
3. Check the box labeled Only process videos referenced in this feed.
4. Click on the Update Content button at the bottom of the page. Your changes are saved.

Disabling Video Processing for Specific Content Collections

You may wish to maintain content collections in your account, but disable processing of associated videos for a period of time. By disabling video processing for a content collection, the Limelight MMS system does not perform work when new ad creatives or episodes are introduced, and therefore can speed through more relevant material more quickly.

Setting the Disabled Value

To disable video processing for a content collection, perform the following steps:

1. In the Content Manager portion of OpsCenter, select a content collection from the Content List. The Content Detail page is shown.
2. In the Content panel (upper-left portion of the page), click the Edit icon to edit the content details. The Edit Content page is shown.
3. Select lowest (no video processing) as the video processing priority from the drop-down list.
4. Click on the Update Content button at the bottom of the page. Your changes are saved.

Kiptronic has released Version 3.13 of the Media Services Platform. This release includes a number of features that support kipMobile, Kiptronic’s new mobile video solution, and kipTraffic, Kiptronic’s integration with DoubleClick DART for Publishers and Microsoft Atlas. Additionally, this release includes some useful reporting enhancements.

kipMobile

Kiptronic will soon be formally announcing the kipMobile product, and Version 3.13 of the Media Services Platform includes many capabilities that power that offering. With kipMobile, publishers can now traffic advertising into video streams delivered to virtually any video-capable mobile phone. kipMobile is an over-the-top, carrier-independent solution, offering you virtually unlimited reach. kipMobile automatically detects the handset and ensures that the appropriately formatted video and advertising are delivered to the device.

kipMobile is:

• Carrier independent
• No change to publishing process, use your existing CDN
• No change to ad ops process, DART and Atlas support
• Supports streaming and HTTP delivered content
• Works with the native player on the device and with iPhone apps

Unlike other mobile solutions, kipMobile keeps the publisher in control of their content and hosting by leveraging the power and convenience of high perfornance CDNs already being used by major media. And with kipTraffic, you can even use DoubleClick’s DART for Publishers or Microsoft’s Atlas AdManager to traffic your video ads into your mobile video content.

If you are interested in more information about kipMobile, please contact your Kiptronic Sales Representative.

kipTraffic Enhancements

Ads trafficked externally in DFP or Atlas are now visible in the Campaign Manager in Kiptronic OpsCenter. To view external campaigns, select External Campaigns from the Display drop-down in the Campaign List on the Campaign Manager page. The external campaigns are listed by the name of the content collection they target. Click on the name of the campaign to display details. In the details page, click on the View Insertions link to show the ad creatives you have specified in your external ad trafficking system. Those creatives can be previewed directly from the OpsCenter interface.

Note that external ad campaigns are not editable from within OpsCenter.

Report Enhancements

All tabular reports presented in the Kiptronic OpsCenter user interface now include a row that totals the values in the appropriate columns. This allows you to determine overall traffic and ad delivery numbers at a glance without copying and pasting the data into a spreadsheet.

The following tabular reports now contain a totals row:

• Traffic Summary Report
• Requests by Country Report
• Requests By State/Province Report
• Requests By Market Report
• Insertion Report
• Campaign Status Report
• Campaign Activity Reports

Ongoing Support

Kiptronic provides ongoing technical, operational, and strategic support for your digital media programs. Please contact your Kiptronic sales representative or email us at support@kiptronic.com for assistance with any of the following.

Technical Support

The Kiptronic support team is always available to answer technical and operational questions about the system. Kiptronic works closely with your hosting provider to ensure that content and ad delivery is smooth and optimal.

Refresher Training

As your team changes and grows, it may be helpful to extend training to new team members. We are available to provide refresher training on both content management and ad operations.

Version 3.14 of the Media Services Platform includes major new functionality in the following areas:

• enhanced visibility of video processing status
• reporting data updated hourly rather than once per day
• programming interface to list RSS feeds for all content collections in your account

Enhanced Video Processing Status

If you are processing video feeds using Kiptronic, you now have the ability to monitor video splicing status from OpsCenter. To view the new status page, perform the following steps.

1. From the Content Manager screen, click the Status tab. The Video Splicing Status page is displayed.
2. Select the start date and end date to list, plus the state of the jobs you wish to see. You may select Pending, Failed, and Succeeded jobs.
3. Select Update Status to show the status of jobs over the selected date range with the selected status values.

The status table lists the following columns:

• Checkbox—shown for failed jobs, check this box and select the Retry Selected Jobs button at the bottom of the list. This action will reset the error count on the job and attempt to reprocess.
• ID—an internal ID number for each job
• Time—the time/date stamp for the job
• State—the status of the job, either Pending if the job is being processed, Failed if the job was not successful after 3 attempts, or Succeeded if the job completed successfully
• Tries—the number of times the job was attempted. If a job fails, it will be retried up to 3 times.
• Content—the content collection corresponding to the video file that was processed
• Media URL—the URL of the video file that was processed
• Profile—the device profile used to process the file, or blank if the source video dictates the output format
• Insertions—the slots into which the ad(s) was/were spliced

Splice Error Notifications

You may elect to receive email notifications when video splice jobs fail, and when there are errors encountered reading the RSS feed associated with a content collection. Version 3.14 enhances the information in these notifications to include the name of the content collection corresponding to the asset that failed to splice, along with a root cause error code. This information is helpful to determine the conditions under which the video splice operation failed so that corrective action can take place. Similarly, error notifications for the RSS feed now contain the name of the corresponding content collection.

Reduced Reporting Data Latency

Prior to Version 3.14, content traffic and campaign status data was updated in OpsCenter daily. With this software release, this data is updated in OpsCenter hourly. You will now see up-to-the-hour traffic and ad delivery data reflected in all online reports.

Programming Interface for RSS Feeds

With the KipMobile product, the Media Services Platform generates an RSS feed for each content collection in your account. These RSS feeds contain items that have been prepared for mobile delivery. The links in the RSS feed can be presented to consumers in mobile web pages and applications. With Version 3.14, you can obtain a list of all RSS feeds generated by the platform for your account. This list is generated by invoking the same URL you use for each content collection feed, but omitting the name of the content collection. When you request this URL, you are returned a list of RSS feed URLs in OPML format.

Version 3.15 of the Media Services Platform provides new functionality for publishers using external ad server integration and mobile video delivery, along with a number of internal enhacements that improve system performance.

Enhanced Video Processing Status

If you are processing video feeds using Limelight MMS, you now have additional information presented in the video status display in OpsCenter. An additional column has been added to this tabular display—Reason. The Reason column includes a description of the reason for a video processing failure. This is the same information that is provided in the email error notification text.

URL Parameters Passed to External Ad Server

If you are using DoubleClick DART or Microsoft Atlas for ad trafficking, you may now pass parameters to the ad server that are based on URL parameters and values.

For example, if the URL to a media file is:

http://www.myserver.com/videos/myvideo.mp4?myparam=foo

The parameter myparam=foo will be passed to the external server in the ad call. This key/value pair can then be used for targeting in the ad server.

Applications for this feature include companion ads—where a banner ad on a web page can correspond to the pre-roll ad in a video linked to from that page. The “parent” page may contain an ad tag that invokes the ad server, which returns code used to render a banner ad. You can use a field from the response code as a URL parameter in the link to the video on that page. When the video is requested by the consumer, the MMS system passes the code to the ad server. Therefore, the value returned from the first ad call is passed on the second ad call, and this value can be used to select creatives from the same advertiser.

To enable this feature for a particular external ad server connector, edit the connector properties:

1. Click the Connectors tab in the Content Manager portion of the OpsCenter application.
2. Select the connector from the list for which you wish to enable URL parameter passing.
3. Click the Edit icon for the Connector panel on the page.
4. Check the box labeled Send URL parameters to ad server as key/value pairs
5. Click the Update Connector button to save the change.

Influencing Video Profile Selection from the Client

With the MMS mobile product, the MMS system detects the device requesting a video asset and returns to the client a version of the requested video adapted to the capabilities of the device. In version 3.15, the client may include a URL parameter on the video link that influences the bitrate of the video that is returned.  This is useful, for example, if you are writing an iPhone application that wishes to request a high bitrate file when connected over WiFi, and a lower bitrate file when connected over the 3G network.

If you wish to use this new feature, contact Limelight MMS technical support at support@kiptronic.com for more details.