Session video ad rules allow you to set when and how pre-rolls appear within multiple video streams. They apply to a user's entire visit to your network's content. For example, you may want to show an ad with the first video in a user's visit to your site and then every three videos after, no matter where the videos are shown.
Standard ad rules allow you to set when and how video ads appear with a single stream.
Learn about the requirements to use video ad rules.
Specific requirements for session video ad rules
Session video ad rules can only be applied to pre-roll ads.
They require the availability of a user identifier, such as a cookie, AdID, IDFA, or PPID. If no identifier is present, session ad rules are not considered, and a lower priority standard rule is selected for serving instead.
If a PPID is provided, and Display & Video 360 programmatic creatives are eligible to serve for ad requests controlled by a session ad rule, the frequency cap can sometimes fail to be applied, in which case users keep receiving ads after reaching it.
By default, session video ad rules only work if an impression is pinged. However, it's possible for a request-based session ad rule to allow the session counter to increment on a request/code-serve rather than an impression. This might be helpful if your network uses tight timing windows or if requests are scattered geographically and cannot be matched in time for the next ad rules request.
To learn more about request-based session ad rules, contact your account manager.
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Create a session video ad rule
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Sign in to Google Ad Manager.
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Click Video
Ad rules
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Enter a name, select Session as the type, and select a priority.
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Configure your rule based on the session ad rule options.
- Define date settings and optionally choose to delay applying the rule or set a limit on the number of days it will apply based on the publish date.
- Configure targeting to apply this rule to particular ad requests. Ad rules without specific targeting apply to all ad requests, in order of priority.
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Click Save.
Both standard and session rules cannot apply to the same request. If rules of both types are eligible, the higher priority rule applies. This might be helpful if you only want to show ads every few videos, but also want to ensure that a video with a sponsorship always shows an ad.
Session ad rule options
Pre-roll display frequency| Frequency |
Displays pre-roll ad pods at either the video or minute interval you set, per session. For example, set "3 videos" to show pre-rolls every three videos (even if the user watches from different streams on the page), or set "3 minutes" to show ads every three minutes (even if the user is watching a single stream). |
| First pre‑roll | Displays the first video pre-roll at either the minute or video value you set, depending on whether your frequency is set to minutes or videos. |
| Pod type |
Ad pods are groups of ads shown in sequence. Standard pods allow you to specify the maximum number of ads and the maximum duration for each ad. Optimized pods allow you to additionally specify the maximum pod duration. |
| Max ads | The limit on the number of ads that can be shown in a pod. The "No max" option is only available for optimized pods. |
| Max ad duration | The duration limit for each ad in the pod. If no ads of the specified duration are available to fill a required ad slot, that slot is not filled. |
| Max pod duration | The duration limit for the entire pod, which is the duration sum of all of the ads that can serve in the pod. This option is only available for optimized pods. |
| Break template | For optimized pods, define how ads should serve with ad spots. You can configure a maximum of 10 ad spots per break template. |
