View a markdown version of this page

MediaTailor server-guided ad insertion feature compatibility matrix - AWS Elemental MediaTailor
Compatibility details

MediaTailor server-guided ad insertion feature compatibility matrix

AWS Elemental MediaTailor offers two ad insertion methods with different feature compatibility. Server-guided ad insertion works differently from server-side ad insertion, which affects compatibility with some MediaTailor features. Use this table to understand which features work with each ad insertion method.

Feature compatibility by ad insertion method
Feature Server-side ad insertion (SSAI) Server-guided ad insertion (SGAI)
Ad prefetching ✓ Supported Not yet supported
Ad suppression ✓ Supported Not applicable
Pre-roll ad behavior Controlled by MediaTailor configuration Controlled by MediaTailor configuration
Client-side ad tracking Uses GetTracking API Uses TRACKING section in asset list (GetTracking API is not used)
Server-side ad tracking ✓ Supported — beacons fire based on /v1/segment requests using the session ID ✓ Supported (HLS only) — uses sessionless beaconing with encrypted beacon data embedded in ad URIs via #EXT-X-DEFINE:QUERYPARAM. Requires HLS v11 or later. DASH is not yet supported.
Ad-ID decoration ✓ Supported ✗ Not compatible

Compatibility details

Ad prefetching

Ad prefetching isn't currently supported.

Ad suppression

Ad suppression isn't supported with server-guided ad insertion methods because players only fetch ads they're going to play.

Pre-roll ad behavior

Pre-roll ad timing works differently between insertion methods:

  • Server-side ad insertion: MediaTailor controls when pre-roll ads play based on configuration settings

  • Server-guided ad insertion: MediaTailor inserts pre-roll ads at the top of the manifest. Your player shows these ads first, then starts your content

Ad tracking

Client-side tracking uses different mechanisms depending on the ad insertion method:

  • Server-side ad insertion (SSAI): Uses the GetTracking API endpoint

  • Server-guided ad insertion (SGAI): MediaTailor provides tracking information in the TRACKING section of each asset list response. The GetTracking API endpoint is not used. The session initialization response does not include a trackingUrl.

Server-side tracking also differs between methods:

  • Server-side ad insertion (SSAI): MediaTailor fires beacons when the player fetches stitched ad segments through /v1/segment/ using the session ID.

  • Server-guided ad insertion (SGAI): MediaTailor uses sessionless beaconing. MediaTailor embeds encrypted beacon data (awsBeaconData, awsBeaconDomain, awsConfigurationName) in the ad manifest URIs that it returns in the asset list. The ad manifest uses #EXT-X-DEFINE:QUERYPARAM tags so the player substitutes these values into segment URLs. When the player requests each ad segment, MediaTailor decrypts the data, fires the appropriate beacon, and redirects to the content segment. When server-side reporting is active, MediaTailor omits the TRACKING section from the asset list response. For details, see Server-side tracking with server-guided ad insertion (SGAI).

Ad-ID decoration

Ad-ID decoration is not compatible with server-guided ad insertion because the fields that populate X-AD-CREATIVE-SIGNALING headers are only known when the asset list is fetched, not when the manifest is written.