Advertising service vendors are companies that provide
advertisements to Web sites, including streaming media
advertisements. If you choose to use an advertising service vendor,
you must specify the URL of the advertising service vendor's server
at the point in the playlist
where you want the ad to appear.
Additionally, many content producers use content delivery
networks (CDNs) to distribute their content to users rather than
using their own servers to stream the content. CDNs are content
providers that own Web servers and networks. They host content from
content producers and distribute it to users. CDNs often have
existing relationships with advertising service vendors to obtain
advertising content that they can then incorporate into the Web
sites they manage in order to generate revenue. If you decide to
use a CDN to distribute advertising content, you will either need
to give the CDN the ability to modify your playlist or obtain the
relevant advertising vendor information from the CDN before you
post your content to their network.
Regardless of whether you are distributing the content from your
server or using a CDN, Windows Media Services can stream
advertisements from an advertising service vendor using the
following methods:
Static ads. In this situation, the advertisements are
the same for all users, and the content distributor is in control
of the advertising content. For example, if a content creator
produces a sports video that received funding from several
sportswear manufacturers, the content creator can specify that ads
from those companies should be streamed to users who request the
video. The distributor receives the advertising content from an
advertising service vendor and places the ads in a wrapper playlist to be played before
and after the sports video stream.
Dynamic playlists. In this situation, the advertisements
change based on the user, and the advertising service vendor
creates a playlist file that includes the requested content and the
appropriate advertisements. For example, if a user is reading an
article about animal behavior on a news Web site, and then he
clicks a link to watch a video of an interview with a noted
authority in the field, the playlist containing the interview can
also include ads that are associated with pets. The information for
creating the customized playlist can be provided to the advertising
service vendor in either a query string or as a cookie.
