Google Video Policies
- Yahel Galili
Introduction
Google enforces certain policies on publishers who want to monetize AdX in their video demand stack.
Some of these policies are meant to protect users, some are meant to protect advertisers, and some are meant to protect Google.
The full scope of these policies can be found in Google’s documentation, and video ads are mostly affected by these three articles:
While it’s recommended to keep an eye on the above articles, and follow them for changes, we gathered some key points in this article as well.
It’s important to remember these policies are specific to Google - some of them should only be adhered to if you want to monetize AdX (including via Open Bidding, Header Bidding etc.)
When Google is not part of you demand stack, your player experience can be adjusted for more effective monetization while being compliant with wider industry standards.
Player settings
The following policies apply to video advertising specifically:
Instream player
In-article player:
Placement may not be at the bottom of the page
Width and Height must be at least 256 px
Sticky player:
Should not be displayed before the user has scrolled to the in-article player’s location. To clarify, it is ok for the sticky player to be displayed if the user scrolls to the in-article player and then back up.
Must be at least 256 px wide
The close button must not overlap with the player itself
The player’s audio must start muted
Outstream player
Google’s policies for web-based outstream players are so limiting, that in most cases it is more feasible to run outstream without Google’s demand.
Crucially, a sticky player is not allowed in this context, leading to very low viewability and fill rates.
As a result, we recommend using an instream player if you intend to use your Google demand.
Domain compliance
Some things are beyond Browsi’s control when trying to comply with Google’s policies.
These include:
Content - may not be harmful, i.e. violent, sexual, related to drugs, alcohol or gambling, etc.
Only one player may be implemented on a single page (our in-article and sticky player is considered a single player as it alternates between the two states).