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Digital Screens (DOOH)

Applies to: Publishers · needs the matching permission on your account

A Screens zone puts ads on a digital screen in the real world: a display in a shop window, a gym, a waiting room or a station. The screen's player fetches a playlist of ads, plays them one after another, and confirms every ad it has played.

What this is#

Screens is an ad zone type for banner ads. One zone is one screen.

  • The screen plays a playlist. It asks for a few ads at a time, shows each for a set number of seconds (a video until it ends) and then asks for the next list.
  • Every play is confirmed. An ad only counts once the player reports it has really been on screen.
  • A play reaches more than one person. You set how many people see one play. An advertiser pays their CPM price times that number, and your earnings follow the same way.
  • Only campaigns made for screens play here. An advertiser has to switch on screens in their campaign, so ordinary website banners never end up on your screen.
  • Opening hours: outside them the screen gets no ads.

If Screens is not in the Type list when you create a zone, it has not been switched on for your network yet. Ask your account manager.

When you'll use this#

  • You run screens in venues and want to sell their airtime.
  • You want one screen to run on its own: any browser in full-screen mode can be the player.

Set it up#

  1. Create a zone of type Screens under Ad Zones and pick the banner size that matches the screen, for example 1920x1080.
  2. On the zone's Settings tab, fill in:
    • Venue type: where the screen hangs. Advertisers can choose venue types.
    • Audience per play: how many people see one play.
    • Latitude and Longitude (or Use my location when you are at the screen). Advertisers can limit a campaign to screens near a place; a screen without coordinates never gets those campaigns.
    • Seconds per image, Ads per pull, Opening hours (like 08:00-22:00) and the Time zone.
  3. Save. The Player part of the settings now shows three links:
    • Web player: open it full screen in a browser on the screen. That is all a simple screen needs.
    • Playlist (JSON) and Playlist (VAST): for signage software. It plays each item and calls the item's proof of play address afterwards.
  4. Check that the screen shows ads during opening hours.

The links contain the screen's key. If a link leaks, tick Issue a new screen key on save: the old links stop working and you set up the player again.

For advertisers#

In a banner campaign, step Advanced Targeting has Run on digital screens (DOOH):

  • Only on screens keeps the campaign off websites.
  • Venue types: none selected means every venue.
  • Latitude, Longitude and Radius (km): only screens within that distance play the campaign. Radius 0 means anywhere.

Use a CPM campaign with a creative in the screen's size. Day parting works for screens too.

Good to know#

  • Leave frequency capping off for screen campaigns. A screen counts as one viewer, so a cap would stop the ad after a few plays.
  • In the statistics, impressions are plays. The cost of a play already includes the audience.
  • The same playlists are available through the API: see the zone's Code tab or /api/v1/adspaces/{id}/code.