Martech: Martech is Marketing Logo
  • Topics
    Transformation
    Operations
    Data
    Experience
    Performance
    Management
    Special Reports
    All Topics
  • Conference
  • Webinars
  • Intelligence Reports
  • White Papers
  • What is MarTech
    Mission
    Team
    Newsletter
    Search Engine Land
    Third Door Media

Processing...Please wait.

MarTech » Performance Marketing » MarTech Landscape: VAST vs VPAID

MarTech Landscape: VAST vs VPAID

-Short answer: VAST and VPAID help to make the video ad ecosystem possible.

Barry Levine on February 20, 2017 at 10:46 am

button representing types of video ads publishers use when using a progromatic format

“I need more acronyms in my life,” said no digital marketer ever.

And, in the sea of initials in which marketers swim, two acronyms often float by and are compared with each other: VAST vs VPAID. In this article, part of our MarTech Landscape Series, we look at these two specifications for video ads.

The Video Ad Serving Template spec (VAST) was introduced by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) in 2008.

It employs XML script to describe how programmatic ads will be served to digital video players in websites and apps, so the player knows what to do. By letting video players and video ad servers speak common phrases, it allows the servers to provide a single ad type to many kinds of players.

As IAB recalls:

Before VAST, there was not a common in-stream advertising protocol for video players, which made scalable distribution of ads impossible for ad servers. In order to serve ads to multiple publishers using disparate proprietary video players, ad-serving organizations had to develop slightly different ad responses for every publisher/video player targeted. This approach was expensive and didn’t easily scale.

The VAST protocol describes such parameters as which ad to play, how long it should play and whether viewers can skip it, plus it contains some tracking capabilities.

The latest version of VAST is the fourth one. Version 3.0 allowed video players to declare the formats they would support, including Linear Ads, NonLinear Ads, Skippable Linear Ads, sequenced groups of ads (called Ad Pods) and Linear Ads with Companions. Not all publishers support the latest version, but each new version is backwards compatible.

While VAST is the foundational protocol for the wide distribution of video ads to sites and apps, it’s only one of three specs for in-stream video ad formats in IAB’s Digital Video Suite, or V-Suite. The three specs can be used separately or in some combinations.

A second spec, VPAID (Video Player-Ad Interface Definition), was also initially released in 2008 and is designed to specify more interactive video features for video ads. These can include various responses to a click by a user, such as forms that appear as overlays or expanded video. This spec, which is sometimes used instead of the VAST ad tag, also includes measurements of engagement and viewability.

In 2012, IAB added its third standard, the Video Multi-Ad Playlist (VMAP). It allows a content publisher or an ad network to schedule ad insertions in the program content if the publisher doesn’t control the player, such as pre-roll, mid-roll, or post-roll. While ads can be scheduled in other ways, VMAP allows mass scheduling.


New on MarTech

    Freeing agile marketing from its software development roots

    Marketing budgets climb in 2022

    Pega addresses accelerating business complexity

    Why we care about AR and VR: A guide for marketers

    Webinar: Overcome third-party data challenges for CX success

About The Author

Barry Levine
Barry Levine covers marketing technology for Third Door Media. Previously, he covered this space as a Senior Writer for VentureBeat, and he has written about these and other tech subjects for such publications as CMSWire and NewsFactor. He founded and led the web site/unit at PBS station Thirteen/WNET; worked as an online Senior Producer/writer for Viacom; created a successful interactive game, PLAY IT BY EAR: The First CD Game; founded and led an independent film showcase, CENTER SCREEN, based at Harvard and M.I.T.; and served over five years as a consultant to the M.I.T. Media Lab. You can find him at LinkedIn, and on Twitter at xBarryLevine.

Related Topics

Customer & Digital ExperiencePerformance Marketing

Get the daily newsletter digital marketers rely on.

Processing...Please wait.

See terms.

ATTEND OUR EVENTS

June 7, 2022: Master Classes

September 28-29, 2022: Fall

Start Discovering Now: Spring

Learn More About Our MarTech Events

June 14-15, 2022: SMX Advanced (virtual)

November 14-15, 2022: SMX Next (virtual)

March 8-9, 2022: Master Classes (virtual)

Learn More About Our SMX Events

Webinars

Take a Crawl, Walk, Run Approach to Multi-Channel ABM

Content Comes First: Transform Your Operations With DAM

Dominate Your Competition with Google Auction Insights and Search Intelligence

See More Webinars

Intelligence Reports

Enterprise SEO Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Identity Resolution Platforms

Email Marketing Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Sales Enablement Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Digital Experience Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Call Analytics Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

See More Intelligence Reports

White Papers

Reputation Management For Healthcare Organizations

Unlock the App Marketing Potential of QR Codes

Realising the power of virtual events for demand generation

The Progressive Marketer’s Ultimate Events Strategy 2022 Worksheet

CMO Guide: How to Plan Smart and Pivot Fast

See More Whitepapers

Receive daily marketing news & analysis.

Processing...Please wait.

Topics

  • Transformation
  • Operations
  • Data
  • Experience
  • Performance
  • Management
  • All Topics
  • Home

Our Events

  • MarTech
  • Search Marketing Expo - SMX

About

  • What is MarTech
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Marketing Opportunities
  • Staff

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletters
  • RSS

© 2022 Third Door Media, Inc. All rights reserved.