Video Ad Serving Template
VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) is a specification defined and released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) that sets a standard for communication requirements between ad servers and video players in order to present video ads.
It is a data structure declared using XML.
VAST has 8 versions: 1.0 (deprecated), 1.1 (deprecated),[1] 2.0, 2.0.1(The schema version as the official VAST 2.0 schema)[2], 3.0[3], 4.0[4], 4.1 and 4.2.
Request
In order to play a video ad in a video player, the video player sends a request to a VAST ad server.
It is a simple HTTP based URL that typically appears as follows: http://www.example.com/?LR_PUBLISHER_ID=1331&LR_CAMPAIGN_ID=229&LR_SCHEMA=vast2-vpaid
Response
The ad server responds with a VAST data structure that declares these parameters:
- The ad media that should be played
- How the ad media should be played
- What should be tracked as the media is played
For example, the above request returns the following response (trimmed):
1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
2 <VAST version="2.0">
3 <Ad id="229">
4 <InLine>
5 <AdSystem version="4.9.0-10">LiveRail</AdSystem>
6 <AdTitle><![CDATA[LiveRail creative 1]]></AdTitle>
7 <Description><![CDATA[]]></Description>
8 <Impression id="LR"><![CDATA [http://t4.liverail.com/?metric=impression&cofl=0&pos=0&coid=135&pid=1331&nid=1331&oid=229&olid=2291331&cid=331&tpcid=&vid=&amid=&cc=default&pp=&vv=&tt=&sg=&tsg=&pmu=0&pau=0&psz=0&ctx=&tctx=&coty=0&adt=0&scen=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.longtailvideo.com%2Fsupport%2Fopen-video-ads%2F23120%2Fwhat-is-vast%2F&cb=1259.192.118.68.5.0.690&ver=1&w=&wy=&x=121&y=121&xy=0b79&z2=0]></Impression>
9 .......
10 <Creatives>
11 <Creative sequence="1" id="331">
12 <Linear>
13 <Duration>00:00:09</Duration>
14 <TrackingEvents>
15 <Tracking event="firstQuartile"><![CDATA [http://t4.liverail.com/?metric=view25&pos=0&coid=135&pid=1331&nid=1331&oid=229&olid=2291331&cid=331&tpcid=&vid=&amid=&cc=default&pp=&vv=&tt=&sg=&tsg=&pmu=0&pau=0&psz=0&ctx=&tctx=&coty=0&adt=0&scen=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.longtailvideo.com%2Fsupport%2Fopen-video-ads%2F23120%2Fwhat-is-vast%2F&cb=1259.192.118.68.5.0.690&ver=1&w=&wy=&x=&y=&xy=]></Tracking>
16 <Tracking event="midpoint"><![CDATA [http://t4.liverail.com/?metric=view50&pos=0&coid=135&pid=1331&nid=1331&oid=229&olid=2291331&cid=331&tpcid=&vid=&amid=&cc=default&pp=&vv=&tt=&sg=&tsg=&pmu=0&pau=0&psz=0&ctx=&tctx=&coty=0&adt=0&scen=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.longtailvideo.com%2Fsupport%2Fopen-video-ads%2F23120%2Fwhat-is-vast%2F&cb=1259.192.118.68.5.0.690&ver=1&w=&wy=&x=&y=&xy=]></Tracking>
17 .......
18 </TrackingEvents>
19 <VideoClicks>
20 <ClickThrough><![CDATA [http://t4.liverail.com/?metric=clickthru&pos=0&coid=135&pid=1331&nid=1331&oid=229&olid=2291331&cid=331&tpcid=&vid=&amid=&cc=default&pp=&vv=&tt=&sg=&tsg=&pmu=0&pau=0&psz=0&ctx=&tctx=&coty=0&adt=0&scen=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.longtailvideo.com%2Fsupport%2Fopen-video-ads%2F23120%2Fwhat-is-vast%2F&cb=1259.192.118.68.5.0.690&ver=1&w=&wy=&x=&y=&xy=&redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fliverail.com%2F]></ClickThrough>
21 </VideoClicks>
22 <MediaFiles>
23 <MediaFile delivery="progressive" bitrate="256" width="480" height="352" type="video/x-flv"><![CDATA [http://cdn.liverail.com/adasset4/1331/229/331/lo.flv]></MediaFile>
24 ......
25 </MediaFiles>
26 ......
27 </Linear>
28 </Creative>
29 </Creatives>
30 </InLine>
31 </Ad>
32 </VAST>
References
- Grenager, Teg (2012-07-19). "Video Ad Serving Template (VAST) Version 3.0" (PDF). Interactive Advertising Bureau: 8. Retrieved 2015-05-14.
- "Digital Video Ad Serving Template (VAST) 2.0". IAB - Empowering the Marketing and Media Industries to Thrive in the Digital Economy. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
- https://www.iab.com/guidelines/digital-video-ad-serving-template-vast-3-0/
- https://www.iab.com/guidelines/digital-video-ad-serving-template-vast-4-0/