Start delay modes

Start Delay Modes defines how Video.startdelay and Audio.startdelay say where an ad plays relative to the content: 0 for pre-roll, a positive number of seconds for a mid-roll at that offset, -1 for a mid-roll at an unstated offset, and -2 for post-roll.

List: Start Delay Modes4 valuesUsed by imp.audio.startdelay, imp.video.startdelay

Values

Value	Name	What it means
`>0`	Mid-Roll (the value is the start delay in seconds)	Any positive integer: a mid-roll that starts that many seconds into the content, such as 600 for a break at ten minutes.
`0`	Pre-Roll	Pre-roll: the ad plays before the content starts.
`-1`	Generic Mid-Roll	Generic mid-roll: the ad plays during the content at an offset the seller does not state.
`-2`	Generic Post-Roll	Generic post-roll: the ad plays after the content ends.

Fields that use this list

How to use it

This is the one list where most valid values are not rows in the table: any integer above 0 is a mid-roll start time in seconds. The meanings have not changed since OpenRTB 2.0. Placements without content, such as interstitials and standalone outstream units, have no content timeline, so the field has nothing to describe there and leaving it out is clearer than sending 0. Values below -2 are invalid, and RTBlint reports them as openrtb.value.invalid on 2.6 snapshots.

Common mistakes

Sending 0 on outstream placements because an ad server defaults to pre-roll. 0 claims a content pre-roll that does not exist.
Sending the mid-roll offset in milliseconds. The unit is seconds.
Sending -1 for every mid-roll when the break time is known. A real offset tells buyers how far into the content the viewer is.

Validation

On OpenRTB 2.6 snapshots, RTBlint reports a value outside this list as openrtb.value.invalid. Paste a request into the tester to check the values you send.

Related lists

All lists are on the enumerated lists index.