Video Ad Serving Template (VAST) 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] 2.6, 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
- The companion ad that should be displayed alongside the master ad
For example, the above request returns the following response (trimmed):
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<VAST version="2.0">
<Ad id="229">
<InLine>
<AdSystem version="4.9.0-10">LiveRail</AdSystem>
<AdTitle><![CDATA[LiveRail creative 1]]></AdTitle>
<Description><![CDATA[]]></Description>
<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>
.......
<Creatives>
<Creative sequence="1" id="331">
<Linear>
<Duration>00:00:09</Duration>
<TrackingEvents>
<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>
<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>
.......
</TrackingEvents>
<VideoClicks>
<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>
</VideoClicks>
<MediaFiles>
<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>
......
</MediaFiles>
......
</Linear>
</Creative>
</Creatives>
</InLine>
</Ad>
</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.
- ↑ "Digital Video Ad Serving Template (VAST)".
- ↑ "Digital Video Ad Serving Template (VAST)".