Integrating DAX with PlayoutONE

DAX - short for Digital Ad Exchange - is a service from Global which allows stations and audio producers to earn additional revenue from their content by replacing commercials with programmatic adverts targeted towards the person currently listening.

This allows linear radio stations to broadcast local adverts within their broadcast area, but anyone listening online can hear ads that are more relevant to them.

✍️ Joining DAX

To use DAX programmatic ads for your station's online streams, you must sign up through Global or one of its approved partners.

Your station may have to meet certain minimum criteria regarding listening figures or agree to certain terms and conditions before being accepted.

Once your station has joined DAX, you can set up ad replacement within PlayoutONE.

📻 Programmatic ad breaks

DAX and other programmatic ad services work by opting out of your regular stream audio and playing different ads for online listeners.

In practice, this takes the form of two triggers - start and stop - which will bookend your regular ad break or filler ads.

To set these up, go to Type Manager and create a new type:

Start

• Name your type something recognisable like 'DAX Start'
• Check the 'Billboard' tick box
• Under 'Metadata Override', type 'ADBREAK_LENGTH_[duration]'

Stop

• Name your type something recognisable like 'DAX Stop'
• Check the 'Billboard' tick box
• Under 'Metadata Override', type 'ADBREAK_END'.

Make sure you set the Scheduler Type to 'Production', then create a cart of each type containing one second of silence.

These will allow time for DAX to opt gracefully and ensure there is no overlap between the programmatic adverts and the regular content being played from PlayoutONE.

🗓️ Scheduling your ad breaks

Once you have created your break triggers, you will need to schedule them around your regular adverts or filler content.

If we use the example above, your log would need 60 seconds' of content between the two triggers, such as two 30-second ads or three 20-second ads.

When these 'ADBREAK' billboard messages are detected by your DAX-enabled streaming service, they will opt in and out of the audio being fed by PlayoutONE and insert alternative commercials.

📡 Transmission

While Global or its partners will provide you with a DAX-enabled stream, it is recommended you only use this to power your website, mobile apps, or other online services where the listener accesses the stream directly.

If you use internet streams to feed any transmission infrastructure like FM masts or DAB multiplexes, you should use an alternative non-DAX stream to avoid issues. (For example, if your DAB provider is based in another part of the country, local ads for that region may be inserted in place of your own).