Automating Video Ad Management in WordPress

I built a WordPress plugin to solve a pretty specific monetization problem: running pre-roll video ads inside Elementor without bolting on an external ad stack. A lot of WordPress sites still rely on display banners, but video inventory usually pays better. The catch is integration friction. Traditional video ad workflows assume VAST tags, third-party players, custom theme work, and a dashboard that lives completely outside the publishing flow. For Elementor users, that means monetization is disconnected from the place where content is actually managed. My approach was to extend the existing Elementor Video widget instead of introducing a separate builder or player. The plugin adds ad controls directly to the widget, so I can attach a pre-roll video, define skip timing, and optionally set a click destination. When the page renders, the ad plays before the main video, then hands off to the original content automatically. Under the hood, I also added a global configuration layer in wp-ad