CTV ads outside the ad break, standardized end to end
Pause, Screensaver, Overlay, Squeezeback and In-Scene — the five IAB-ratified non-linear CTV formats — supported across the Elemental TV Ad Server, DSP and delivery. Buyers get new moments on the TV screen, publishers monetize them with one signaling change, and nothing serves where it was not explicitly allowed.
One content scene, five ways a brand can join it — switch formats and variants, or let it rotate
YOUR BRAND
NOW PLAYING · DRAMA SERIES S2 E5
PAUSED
AD
YOUR BRAND
The break is yours. So is the screen.
Scan to get 20% off — or press OK to learn more
21:34
WEDNESDAY · AUGUST 26
YOUR BRAND
Still here. Still beautiful.
Idle screens become brand canvases
PRESS ANY BUTTON TO RESUME
YOUR BRAND — Game night deal
Content keeps playing. Your message rides along.
YOUR BRAND
Game night deal — scan or press OK
YOUR BRAND
Share the screen, not the attention
Content never stops — it makes room for your message.
YOUR BRAND
The story stays in frame — your message surrounds it
YOUR BRAND
Two boxes. One story.
Content and creative side by side — nothing covered
Pause
What you can do
Non-linear is a first-class citizen of the platform — not a linear campaign wearing a costume
Set up
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Two creative types — Non-Linear Image and Non-Linear Video sit in the DSP next to linear video, each configured for one format: Pause, Screensaver, Overlay, Squeezeback or In-Scene.
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Placement control per creative — you set the screen positions (fullscreen, partial, corners, lower third, L-shape, frame, double box) and playback methods each creative may serve into, using the ratified value sets.
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Upload your way — file upload, ingest from a URL, or an externally hosted asset URL: the same flow as linear video.
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Campaign targeting — target placement and position with the full ratified enumerations, like any other targeting dimension.
Deliver
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Matched, not sprayed — a creative serves only into slots whose format, position and playback method it explicitly allows.
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Standards-clean VAST — responses go out as <NonLinearAds> with StaticResource (image) or MediaFiles (video), and the signaling is echoed in VAST <Extensions> so the player can verify what it renders.
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Tracking intact — impressions, delivery and reporting work like any campaign; partner click and event tracking travels through untouched.
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Open-market demand too — the Ad Server accepts non-linear bids from connected programmatic demand, validated against the request before anything serves.
Opt-in by design. Non-linear runs on dedicated creative types and explicit signaling. A linear campaign never slips onto a pause screen, and non-linear demand never buys a mid-roll by accident.
How to get started
For buyers on the Elemental TV DSP — from first email to first pause ad
Talk to us. Email support@elementaltv.com with the formats you want and your timing; we enable non-linear on your account.
Upload creatives. Add a Non-Linear Image or Non-Linear Video creative per format, and set its allowed positions and playback methods.
Set targeting. Pick placements and positions on the campaign — the same ratified values the slot will send.
Launch and measure. The campaign delivers into matching non-linear slots and reports like any other.
The signaling, at a glance
Bid request OpenRTB 2.6 imp.video + ratified AdCOM enums — no new RTB fields
linearity=2 · plcmt=5–9 · pos per format · playbackmethod where relevant
Response VAST <NonLinearAds> → StaticResource (image) | MediaFiles (video)
Verification signaling echoed in VAST <Extensions> · SIMID-aware (VAST 4.2+)
The five formats
Ratified signaling as our Ad Server validates it — IAB CTV Ad Format Guidelines v2.0, Signaling Implementation Guidelines, AdCOM 1.0
Format
plcmt
pos
Typical creative
Pause
5
7 fullscreen · 8 partial
Static image, cinemagraph or video shown while the viewer pauses
Screensaver
6
7 fullscreen · 8 partial
Image or motion visual when the device idles
Overlay
7
9/10/14/15 corners · 5 lower third
Banner image or video over playing content, transparency-aware
Squeezeback
8
16/17 L-shape · 11 frame · 12/13 double box
Underlay image or video while content resizes
In-Scene
9
—
Virtual billboard composited into the scene, silent
Menu and tile placements (home-screen units) are transacted via the Native API and sit outside this VAST path.
For publishers
Your player renders the format; the demand side is our job — the signaling change on your side is one line
What we do
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Validate every <NonLinearAds> response against your request — format, position, resource type — before it serves.
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Deliver our impression beacon as a standalone<Impression> — never hidden inside your tracking events.
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Preserve your click and event tracking verbatim; we add nothing to your creative-view events.
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Bring demand: campaigns from the Elemental TV DSP and non-linear bids from connected programmatic demand.
What you provide
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A player that renders the format — the pause canvas, overlay layer, squeeze layout or in-scene surface.
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Send linearity=2 with plcmt and pos on your video bid request — that is the whole signaling change.
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Render what comes back: an image or video from a standard VAST <NonLinearAds> document.
One call to agree formats and floors, one field change in your requests, and your pause screens start earning. Write to support@elementaltv.com.
Why non-linear, and what is next
New surface, not more interruptions
CTV sessions are full of moments the ad break never touches — a pause, an idle screen, a scene with an empty billboard. The IAB CTV Ad Format Guidelines make those moments transactable with standard signaling, so they can be bought and sold like any other impression instead of through custom integrations. We built that path end to end: ratified enums in, validated <NonLinearAds> out, with the viewer's content never covered and never stopped.
What we are building next
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Menu and tile placements — home-screen units transacted through the Native API.
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Deeper interactivity on QR and OK-button creatives, building on SIMID.
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Automated creative pipelines on the upload API — generate format-fit variants at scale.
Why it matters
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Publishers monetize screen time that used to earn nothing, without adding a single ad break.
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Buyers reach viewers in uncluttered moments — one brand on screen, no pod competition.
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Standard signaling means every compliant player and DSP can participate — no bespoke work per partner.
Changelog
This page is kept current as non-linear support evolves
Non-linear formats live end to end. All five IAB formats supported across the Ad Server, DSP and delivery: ratified signaling accepted and validated, Non-Linear Image and Video creatives with per-creative position and playback control, campaign targeting on placement and position, validated <NonLinearAds> VAST out with tracking preserved.
All product updatesAnnouncements for every Elemental TV product live on updates.elementaltv.com.
