Roku Direct Publisher

[JonathanSabin]

Hello, here's my question. I recently published two Direct Publisher channels using Vimeo Showcases. Maybe I'm wrong, but when I set up my Roku account I thought it said that they would provide ads for my videos and I'd get part of any revenue from them. Now that my channels are published, under the 'monetization' heading when it asks if you want to monetize with ads, "No" is selected by default. I want to monetize them, but when I click "Yes" it requires an ad server URL. How do you get one? Or if leave it on "No", will the channel still be monetized anyway, but using Roku's ad server? It's confusing and I thought ads were included with no additional effort. Thank you in advance folks.

[Baradanikto · Accepted solution]

It appears that they have changed the monetization framework.  In the past, you did not need to provide an ad server if you wanted to run ads through Roku.  It now appears that you do:  From Roku,

Getting started

To get started with your RAF integration, do the following:

• If you don't have an ad server, contact adsupport@roku.com for recommendations or alternative ad serving solutions.

• Read monetizing a channel with video advertisements for monetization options.

• Read the certification requirements for ad-supported channels.

• Review the RAF integration guide.

[JonathanSabin]

Thanks for confirming. Are ad servers all in one, ie provide the ads and insert them, and is that usually something that has to be paid for regularly?

[Baradanikto]

In order to use an ad server with DP, you must use the 'adBreak' object in your JSON feed file to indicate where you would like and ad break to appear. Having said that, however, there's no guarantee that an ad will appear. It's dependent upon whether there are any ads available in the pool. If the ad server does not have a sufficient supply of ads, you may not see an ad. This is somewhat of an over simplification, but, you should understand that just because you request an ad, does not mean that one will be served. Additionally, you should never have to pay for an ad server. More on that later.

Now for the brutally honest assessment of monetization, in my experience/opinion. The one thing that will be instrumental in determining if you receive any money from serving ads is your content. Most ad servers only payout after serving thousands of ads. And at that, they typically pay pennies per thousands of ads served. You must make sure that your content is viewed thousands and thousands of times in order to receive any payout. There are two potential ways to do that. Make sure your content is desirable and cannot be viewed elsewhere, and, market your channel to drive traffic to it. Failure to do both will result in slow or non existent payment from the ad server companies. If you're a small independent channel developer, the odds are stacked against you if your content cannot drive interest in your channel. That's the case for many channel developers on this forum.

If you browse this forum, you'll notice plenty of complaints from other channel developers regarding monetization payment, or, lack thereof. You'll also see some ad server companies trolling these forums promising better and more consistent payout. Most will not charge you because the more channels they have under their umbrella, the more likely they are to receive their payment from advertisers. Think of them as the “middle man” between you and any ads shown on your channel. They get paid by selling advertising, but, you only get paid if enough people view the ads. It all still boils down to whether your content is viewed enough times for the ad server companies to justify paying you.

Sorry for the long winded explanation/rant...Hope it helped.

[JonathanSabin]

Thank you very much for the detailed reply, I appreciate it. 👍

[nverecords]

is it possible to charge a subscription fee as a direct publisher or even charge for a rental fee for a movie / show

[Baradanikto]

@nverecords DP does not support a subscription model.  You'll need to use the SDK for that.