Report continuous play

  • The IMA SDK for HTML5 allows publishers to set the continuous play context for ad requests, signaling whether content videos will play continuously, influencing the ads served.

  • The setContinuousPlayback() method indicates if videos will autoplay sequentially, similar to a TV broadcast, while setAdWillAutoPlay() specifies if ads themselves will autoplay.

  • This distinction is crucial as continuous play impacts ad selection from the ad server, ensuring ads suitable for continuous content are delivered, while autoplay dictates ad playback behavior.

  • Publishers should align these settings with their content strategy: single videos with user interaction require neither, single autoplaying videos need setAdWillAutoPlay(true), playlists with autoplay after the first video use setContinuousPlayback(true), and fully autoplaying playlists utilize both.
Select platform: HTML5 Android iOS tvOS
The IMA SDK for HTML5 allows for setting the continuous play context for an ads request. The setContinuousPlayback() method notifies the SDK whether the player intends to continuously play the content videos one after another, similar to a TV broadcast. When set to true, the ads returned from the request are those designated by the ads server as suitable for continuous play. Not calling this method leaves the setting as unknown. The following sample demonstrates how to set continuous play in an ads request. 
var adsRequest = new google.ima.AdsRequest();
adsRequest.adTagUrl(adTagUrl);
adsRequest.setContinuousPlayback(true);
adsLoader.requestAds(adsRequest);

How continuous play differs from ad auto-play

The IMA SDK for HTML5 also allows for setting whether the player will start playing automatically or wait for user action to begin playing. This is done using the setAdWillAutoPlay() method. When set to true, the ads returned are those designated by the ads server as suitable for an auto-play environment.

This table details when to request ads for continuous play and auto-play, based on the video content the ads are paired with.

Video Content Parameter for setContinuousPlayback() Parameter for setAdWillAutoPlay()
A single content video that plays upon user interaction false false
A single content video that autoplays false true
A video playlist that plays the first video upon user interaction but autoplays the following videos true false
A video playlist that autoplays the first video and autoplays the following videos true true