DOOH: Digital Out Of Home
Architecture Overview
Adhese supports DOOH through dedicated endpoints, which allow:
- Media asset distribution
- Playlist generation for screens/players
- Proof-of-play tracking
- Player-level targeting and reporting
A typical DOOH setup contains the following components:
- Screens
- Digital Signage CMS / Player
- Adhese Ad Server
- Server-side data mapping
- Reporting and Proof-of-Play Tracking
Implementation prerequisites
Before starting, ensure that the following are available:
Adhese Requirements
- Active Adhese account
- DOOH feature enabled by Adhese support
- Configured Inventory & templates
- Configured player ID target
prefixes
Player / CMS Requirements
- Ability to perform HTTP GET requests
- JSON parsing support
- Local asset caching support
- Video/image playback support
- Ability to fire tracking URLs
Adhese DOOH endpoints
Assets Download Endpoint (Heads-up)
Ensure that the Use in headsup setting is activated for all your DOOH formats. You can perform this action in the admin UI.
This is used to retrieve and cache all active creative assets for a DOOH position. The response structure is fixed and cannot be customised.
Request example
https://headsup-[customer].adhese.org/api/headsup/download-list/sl[positioncode]
Response example
{
"media": [
{
"ad": {
"id": "https://pool-demo.adhese.com/pool/lib/ad1.mp4",
"mime": "video/mp4",
"curl": "https://pool-demo.adhese.com/pool/lib/ad1.mp4",
"checksum": "abc123"
}
}
]
}
Detailed information on the headsup endpoint can be found here
Playlist Endpoint
Adhese provides two stack endpoints for retrieving a playlist.
- The /m/stack/ endpoint, which retrieves a list with a limit on the number of ads in the response
- The /e/stack/ endpoint, which doesn't have a predefined limit
Request example
/m/stack/: https://ads-[customer].adhese.com/m/stack/sl[positioncode]/pi[player ID]?max_ads=[amount]
/e/stack/: https://ads-[customer].adhese.com/e/stack/sl[positioncode]/pi[player ID]
Example response
{
"ads":[
{
"id":"https://pool-demo.adhese.com/pool/lib/562_2nd_1.mp4",
"dur":28.07,
"proofOfPlay":"https://ads-demo.adhese.com/track/3474/sl357/tlnone/piplayer_id/A2?1746011926824",
"error":"https://ads-demo.adhese.com/track/3474-PLAY_ERROR_[ERRORCODE]/sl357/tlnone/piplayer_id/A2/?1746011926824"
},
{
"id":"https://pool-demo.adhese.com/pool/lib/561_2nd_1.mp4",
"dur":11.45,
"proofOfPlay":"https://ads-demo.adhese.com/track/3444/sl357/tlnone/piplayer_id/A2?1746011926824",
"error":"https://ads-demo.adhese.com/track/3444-PLAY_ERROR_[ERRORCODE]/sl357/tlnone/piplayer_id/A2/?1746011926824"
},
{
"id":"https://pool-demo.adhese.com/pool/lib/560_2nd_1.mp4",
"dur":18.85,
"proofOfPlay":"https://ads-demo.adhese.com/track/3455/sl357/tlnone/piplayer_id/A2?1746011926824",
"error":"https://ads-demo.adhese.com/track/3455-PLAY_ERROR_[ERRORCODE]/sl357/tlnone/piplayer_id/A2/?1746011926824"
}
]
}
The response structure consists of an array of ads, each containing several objects. The object structure is linked to the Advar template that was used to create the campaigns. This template is maintained either in Adhese itself or in the configured GitHub repository for your account.
Detailed information on the stack endpoint can be found here
Player ID target
You can provide extra target information through the request by adding extra target sections to the URL: /[prefix][value]/. One example of such a target is the player ID, which has the prefix 'pi', as shown in the above example. This ID can be used for:
- Player/screen level targeting and reporting
- Location-based targeting and reporting
Location and other custom metadata can be provided server-side by uploading a player:metadata mapping in Adhese.
Each metadata property will be linked to its own target prefix. This data will be mapped automatically to incoming requests based on the player ID and will become available for targeting and reporting purposes.
Adhese requires the player ID prefix - or any other target prefixes - to be configured by support.
Important Fields
| Field | Description |
| id | Creative URL |
| dur | Duration in milliseconds |
| proofOfPlay | Tracking URL after playback |
| error | Tracking URL for playback errors |
Operational Recommendations
Asset Caching
Always cache assets locally to:
- Reduce bandwidth
- Avoid playback interruptions
- Improve offline resilience
Offline Mode
Players should continue playback using:
- Last valid playlist
- Cached creatives
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Possible Cause |
| Empty media array | No active campaigns or targeting-related issues |
| Endpoint redirects | DOOH endpoints not enabled |
| Headsup endpoint empty | No active campaigns or Use in heads-up format config disabled |
| Playback errors | Unsupported codec or corrupt file |
| No reporting | Proof-of-play URL not triggered |