SSAI Beacon Tester
Paste an HLS manifest snippet to extract SSAI tracking beacons and EXT-X-DATERANGE markers.
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Server-Side Ad Insertion (SSAI) stitches ad creative directly into the content stream at the server level, delivering a single continuous HLS or DASH manifest to the player. From the player's perspective, there is no ad break — the stream is seamless. This eliminates the client-side ad request latency that causes buffering during breaks and removes the opportunity for client-side ad blockers to intercept ad requests. SSAI is the standard ad delivery method for premium CTV publishers: it enables precise pod timing, prevents ad skipping via client manipulation, and delivers the clean viewing experience that CTV audiences expect.
Tracking in SSAI works differently from client-side VAST ad delivery. In client-side VAST, the player fires tracking beacons directly based on playback milestones. In SSAI, the player fires beacons via HLS manifest cue points — specifically EXT-X-DATERANGE markers embedded in the HLS playlist. Each ad break has a corresponding DATERANGE marker with a SCTE-35 cue containing the start time, duration, and associated tracking beacon URLs. The SSAI beacon tester parses these markers from an HLS manifest segment and extracts the tracking URLs, making it possible to audit your SSAI beacon configuration without running a full end-to-end ad delivery test.
SCTE-35 is the standard used to signal ad insertion points in broadcast and streaming video. A SCTE-35 splice_insert command marks the beginning of an ad opportunity; a splice_insert with out_of_network_indicator=false (or a splice_insert with a duration) marks the end of the break and the return to content. CTV SSAI systems consume SCTE-35 cues from the encoder output to determine where to stitch ads. SSAI systems that receive malformed or missing SCTE-35 cues either skip the break entirely or insert at incorrect timestamps, causing visible frame-level artifacts at the content/ad boundary. The beacon tester validates that your HLS manifests contain correctly formatted DATERANGE markers corresponding to SCTE-35 cue points.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between SSAI and CSAI in CTV?
SSAI (Server-Side Ad Insertion) stitches ads into the video stream at the server before delivering the manifest to the player. The player receives one continuous stream — no client-side ad requests, no buffering at break boundaries. CSAI (Client-Side Ad Insertion) requires the player to pause content, make a VAST request to an ad server, buffer the ad creative, then play it. CSAI is standard on desktop web video; SSAI is the norm for CTV because it eliminates break latency, prevents ad blocking, and provides a consistent viewing experience across all CTV devices. SSAI requires SCTE-35 cues in the encoder output and an SSAI service that handles ad decisioning.
What are EXT-X-DATERANGE markers in HLS?
EXT-X-DATERANGE is an HLS tag that marks a range of content by a start date, duration, and associated metadata. In SSAI ad delivery, DATERANGE markers with SCTE35-OUT and SCTE35-IN attributes signal the start and end of ad breaks. The markers carry the SCTE-35 binary splice command, the break duration, and can include URI attributes with tracking beacon URLs. The SSAI beacon tester parses DATERANGE markers from HLS playlist content and extracts beacon URLs and cue attributes for validation.
How do I test SSAI tracking beacons without running a live campaign?
Paste a segment of your HLS manifest content (the .m3u8 playlist text, not a URL) into the SSAI beacon tester. The tool parses EXT-X-DATERANGE markers and EXT-X-CUE-OUT/-IN tags, extracts beacon URLs and cue metadata, and validates that URLs are HTTPS and structurally correct. For end-to-end validation of beacon firing, you need a live SSAI session with a test creative — use the beacon tester for pre-flight configuration audit, and confirm actual beacon delivery in your reporting dashboard after a test ad pod.