Playback behavior with ads: Default and customized

The behavior of media playback is affected by seeking, pausing, and the inclusion of advertising. The PSDK provides ways for you to override the default behavior.

Note: For VOD and live/linear streaming, timeline adjustments cannot be revised once made, which means that an advertisement cannot be removed from the timeline after it has played. Therefore, if the user seeks back in the presentation, the same ad plays again even if the normal policy would have been to remove it.
Note: The PSDK does not provide a way to disable seeking during ads. Adobe recommends that your application disable seeking during ads.

The following table describes how the PSDK handles ads and ad breaks during playback.

Description Default PSDK behavior policy Customization available through PTAdPolicySelector
During normal play, an ad break is encountered.
  • PSDK plays the ad break, whether or not it has already been watched.
Specify a different policy for the ad break using selectPolicyForAdBreak.
Your application seeks forward over ad break(s) into main content. Plays the last unwatched ad break that was skipped over, then resumes playback at the desired seek position upon break(s) playback completion. Choose which of the skipped breaks to play using selectAdBreaksToPlay.
Your application seeks backward over ad break(s) into main content. No ad break plays and skips to the desired seek position. Choose which of the skipped breaks to play using selectAdBreaksToPlay.                     
Your application seeks forward into an ad break. Plays from the beginning of the ad in which the seek ended. Specify a different ad policy for the ad break and for the specific ad where the seek ended using selectPolicyForSeekIntoAd.
Your application seeks backward into an ad break. Plays from the beginning of the ad in which the seek ended. Specify a different ad policy for the ad break and for the specific ad in which the seek ended using selectPolicyForSeekIntoAd.
Your application seeks forward or backward over watched ad break(s) into main content. If the last ad break skipped has already been watched, skips to the user-selected seek position. Select which of the skipped breaks to play using selectAdBreaksToPlay, and determine which have already been watched using the isWatched property.
Your application seeks forward or backward over one or more ad breaks and drops into a watched ad break. Skips the ad break and seeks to the position immediately following the ad break. Specify a different ad policy for the ad break (with the watched status set to true) and for the specific ad where the seek ended using selectPolicyForSeekIntoAd.
Note: By default, the PSDK marks an ad break as watched immediately upon entering the first ad in the ad break.