What is SGAI aka Server Guided Ad Insertion
Server Guided Ad Insertion (SGAI) is an advanced strategy for integrating advertisements into video streaming content, distinguished by its hybrid approach that combines the strengths of both Client-Side Ad Insertion (CSAI) and Server-Side Ad Insertion (SSAI), while minimizing their drawbacks. This innovative method is designed to streamline the delivery and playback of ads within video content, enhancing viewer experience, scalability, and cost efficiency.
In CSAI, the client application determines when to play ads based on predefined rules or embedded business logic, requiring separate video players for the main content and ads, which can lead to visual latency and choppy playback. SSAI, on the other hand, involves the media server integrating ads directly into the video stream, allowing for a seamless transition between content and ads but at the expense of increased complexity and cost in server implementation.
SGAI addresses these challenges by providing a common manifest outlining ad insertion opportunities within the main content stream. The client application, upon nearing an ad insertion point, follows server instructions to request and insert the ad content from an ad-server, enabling a seamless transition between content and ads. This approach not only reduces the complexity and overhead on the client side but also offers scalability and cost-effectiveness by leveraging a unified strategy for ad delivery.
Furthermore, SGAI's versatility extends beyond traditional advertisements, applying to various types of auxiliary content like bumpers, which are short clips conveying channel, brand, or rating information. By using SGAI, streaming services can reuse a common piece of content across different regions and platforms, providing a tailored viewing experience that aligns with the specific context of the viewer, such as the title being watched, the streaming service used, and the viewer's location.
Disney Streaming's adoption of SGAI, notably for its Disney+ Basic offering—an ad-supported subscription tier—highlights the technology's potential to improve ad-supported video on demand (SVOD) platforms by ensuring a high-quality, uninterrupted viewing experience. This approach not only benefits viewers through smoother playback transitions but also offers streaming services greater flexibility, scalability, and cost savings, making SGAI a promising solution for the future of video streaming and advertising.
