playbackmethod 5 means Initiates on Entering Viewport or scrolling into view with Sound On

When to send it

Send 5 when playback starts automatically once the player becomes visible, for example when the reader scrolls it into view, and the sound is on. OpenRTB 2.5 added the value. AdCOM 1.0-202607 added the scrolling wording so it fits feeds and TV interfaces as well as web pages; the earlier label was Initiates on Entering Viewport with Sound On.

Buyers like viewport-triggered starts because the ad begins when it can be seen, but audible autoplay on scroll is rare on the web, where browsers usually block it, so buyers may question 5 on web traffic. It is confused with 6, the muted version, and with 1, which starts regardless of visibility.

Example

{
  "imp": [
    {
      "video": {
        "playbackmethod": [
          5
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

Fields that carry it

• imp.video.playbackmethod

Other values in playback methods

The playback methods list page explains the whole list and its common mistakes.