What Are the Three Stages of the SGAI Pipeline?

SGAI works through a three-stage pipeline: manifest creation (server signals ad opportunities via SCTE-35 markers in a cacheable manifest), ad resolution (client sends personalized ad requests when it reaches a marker), and ad playback (client renders the ad creative with full measurement beacons).

Stage 1: Manifest Creation and Distribution. The origin server or packager creates an HLS or DASH manifest that describes the content stream. Within this manifest, SCTE-35 markers indicate the location and duration of potential ad breaks. This manifest is identical for all viewers, allowing the CDN to cache and deliver it efficiently at massive scale. For live content, the manifest is generated dynamically as the broadcast progresses. Ad break markers are inserted when the production team triggers a commercial break or when an automated system detects a natural pause in the action.

Stage 2: Ad Resolution. When the player's timeline reaches a point near the upcoming ad break marker (typically 5-10 seconds before), it sends an ad request to the ad decision server (ADS). This request includes viewer-specific targeting parameters: device type and model, geographic location, content genre and program metadata, viewer profile data, ad break duration and position, and frequency capping data. The ADS processes these parameters against available demand and returns an ad pod response containing one or more ad creatives.

Stage 3: Ad Playback and Measurement. The player downloads the ad creative(s) and renders them at the appropriate point in the content timeline. Because rendering happens client-side, the player supports rich formats: interactive elements, overlay positioning, pause ad triggering, L-bar layouts, and shoppable experiences. The player fires standard IAB/VAST impression, start, quartile, and completion beacons directly from the client device.

How Does SGAI Handle Live Sports Ad Insertion?

SGAI handles live sports through Early Ad Break Notification (giving the player 3-5 seconds advance notice) and AI-powered Event Trigger Engines that detect natural game pauses in real time.

Early Ad Break Notification (EABN): For live streams, the server sends an advance signal to the player indicating that an ad break is imminent. Google's EABN API standardizes this process, giving the player 3-5 seconds of advance notice to begin the ad resolution process. By the time the content reaches the actual break point, the ad creative is already downloaded and ready for seamless insertion.

Event Trigger Engine: Advanced SGAI platforms like StreamLayer go further by analyzing the live video feed in real time using AI. The system detects game events — a timeout, a substitution, a pitching change, a penalty review — and triggers ad opportunities at these natural pauses. This creates monetizable moments that traditional scheduled ad breaks miss entirely.

The combination means SGAI can insert ads with sub-second latency into live broadcasts, maintaining the real-time viewer experience that sports fans demand.

How Does SGAI Work Across Different Devices?

SGAI behavior is consistent across devices, but implementation varies by platform — CTV uses native player SDKs, mobile leverages greater processing power for interactive formats, and web uses HTML5 video players.

CTV (Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, smart TVs): SGAI on CTV uses native player SDKs that handle manifest parsing, ad requests, and rendering. CTV devices typically have limited processing power, so ad creatives are optimized for the device's resolution and codec support. StreamLayer's native CTV SDKs render broadcast-quality ads with fluid animations that match the production quality of the underlying content.

Mobile (iOS, Android): Mobile SGAI benefits from greater processing power and direct access to user interaction (tap, swipe). Interactive ad formats perform best on mobile. Ad requests can leverage both IP-based and GPS location for precise geographic targeting.

Web: Browser-based SGAI uses HTML5 video players with JavaScript ad rendering. Web implementation offers the broadest format support but must account for browser-specific behaviors.

How Does SGAI Measurement Work?

SGAI measurement follows the IAB VAST standard with client-side beacon firing, producing measurement data that matches CSAI accuracy — a significant upgrade over SSAI's server-side inference.

The player fires beacons at standard intervals: impression (ad starts rendering), start (first frame displayed), first quartile (25%), midpoint (50%), third quartile (75%), complete (ad fully viewed), click/interaction (viewer interacts), and viewability (continuous during playback via OMID/MOAT beacons).

Because beacons fire from the client device, measurement vendors like MOAT, IAS, and DoubleVerify can verify ad delivery with the same confidence as direct CSAI implementations. This eliminates SSAI's trust-the-server measurement problem and gives advertisers the transparency they require for premium CTV buys.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is SCTE-35 and why does it matter for SGAI?

SCTE-35 is a standard for signaling ad insertion opportunities in video streams. It defines the markers that tell the player when and where ad breaks occur. SGAI relies on SCTE-35 markers in the content manifest to trigger the ad resolution process.

How fast can SGAI insert an ad in a live stream?

With the Early Ad Break Notification API providing 3-5 seconds of advance notice, and pre-cached ad creatives, SGAI can insert ads within milliseconds of the actual break point. This is significantly faster than SSAI's typical 15-30 second delay.

Does SGAI support programmatic advertising?

Yes. SGAI's client-side ad resolution is fully compatible with programmatic real-time bidding. When the player sends an ad request, it can trigger an auction across multiple DSPs, with the winning bid's creative delivered and rendered in real time.