--- title: "What Is a Pre-Roll Ad? Definition and Examples | RentAnOTT" description: "A pre-roll ad plays before a video starts. See how it compares with mid-roll and post-roll, how long it should be and what it does to viewer drop-off." url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/pre-roll" markdown_url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/pre-roll.md" category: "Advertising" updated: "2026-10-05" --- # What is a pre-roll ad? A pre-roll ad is a video advertisement that plays before the content a viewer chose. It is the simplest ad position to implement, since it needs no markers inside the video. ## How pre-roll works When the viewer presses play, the player requests an ad first. If one is returned, it plays, and the content begins when it ends or is skipped. If none is returned, the content starts immediately. ## Pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll - Pre-roll: before the content. Seen by everyone who starts, but risks the viewer leaving before the content begins - Mid-roll: during the content. The viewer is already invested, so completion is high and rates are usually best - Post-roll: after the content. Least intrusive and least watched ## Getting pre-roll right - Length: 6, 15 or 30 seconds are the standard durations; shorter suits short content - Proportion: a 30-second ad before a one-minute clip drives people away - Skippable or not: skippable ads lose completions but keep viewers - Frequency: do not show a pre-roll before every item in a session - Start-up delay: a slow ad request delays the content, so set a timeout ## When to use it Pre-roll suits short and medium-length on-demand video, where there is no natural place for a break. For long-form titles, a short pre-roll followed by mid-rolls earns more than a long pre-roll alone. Many services skip the pre-roll for returning viewers resuming a title. ## Pre-roll ad on RentAnOTT Advertising is included on every RentAnOTT plan as part of AVOD. For how ad-supported video earns, see the AVOD entry. [Read about AVOD](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/avod). ## Related terms - [Mid-roll ad](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/mid-roll) — A mid-roll ad is a video advertisement that plays in a break partway through the content, in the manner of a television commercial break. It is the main ad position for long-form and live video. - [Ad load](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/ad-load) — Ad load is the amount of advertising shown per hour of viewing, expressed either as minutes of ads per hour or as the number of ads per hour. It is the main lever an ad-supported service has over both revenue and viewer tolerance. - [AVOD](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/avod) — AVOD (advertising-based video on demand) is a streaming model where viewers watch on-demand video for free and the service earns from the ads shown before, during or after it. - [CSAI](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/csai) — CSAI (client-side ad insertion) is a way of delivering video advertising in which the player on the viewer's device requests each ad from an ad server and plays it itself, pausing the program while the ad runs. - [VAST](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/vast) — VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) is the industry standard, published by the IAB Tech Lab, for how an ad server describes a video ad to a player. A VAST response is an XML document that tells the player which media file to play and which tracking addresses to call. - [CPM](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/cpm) — CPM (cost per mille) is the price an advertiser pays for one thousand ad impressions. It is the standard unit for pricing video advertising, and the rate a streaming service earns for each thousand ads it shows. - [Completion rate](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/completion-rate) — Completion rate is the percentage of plays of a video that reach the end, or a defined point near it. It shows whether a title holds the people who start it. ## Further reading - [Pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing) - [OTT revenue calculator](https://www.rentanott.com/tools/ott-revenue-calculator) - [Content monetization platforms compared](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/content-monetization-platforms) ## Frequently asked questions ### How long should a pre-roll ad be? Fifteen seconds is the common default. Use six seconds before short clips and reserve thirty for long-form content. ### Do pre-roll ads cause viewers to leave? Some do, particularly before short content. Track the share of viewers who abandon during the ad and adjust length and frequency. ### Can subscribers be shown pre-roll ads? That depends on the plan. An ad-supported subscription tier shows them; an ad-free tier should not. All 163 terms: [Streaming and OTT glossary](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary). ## Book a demo Tell RentAnOTT what you are launching. The team walks through the platform and maps the path to go-live around your catalog, markets and revenue model. Book a demo: https://www.rentanott.com/contact ## More from RentAnOTT - [Home](https://www.rentanott.com/index.md) — What RentAnOTT is, what every plan includes, and how launch works - [Features](https://www.rentanott.com/features.md) — Every core feature and optional add-on - [Pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing.md) — Platform tiers, apps, add-ons, usage rates and example bills in INR and USD - [Free tools](https://www.rentanott.com/tools.md) — OTT app builder and calculators for streaming revenue, bandwidth, bitrate and pricing - [Insights](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs.md) — All streaming business articles - [Glossary](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary.md) — Definitions of streaming and OTT terms - [Book a demo](https://www.rentanott.com/contact.md) — Talk to RentAnOTT about your launch Full site in one file: https://www.rentanott.com/llms-full.txt