Video Ad Serving Template

Video Ad Serving Template is a specification released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) that sets a standard for communication requirements between ad servers and video players.

It is a data structure declared using XML.

VAST has 5 versions: 1.0 (depreciated), 1.1 (depreciated), 2.0, 2.0.1, and 3.0.[1]

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://ad4.liverail.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:

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.                                 </Linear>
  27.                         </Creative>
  28.                 </Creatives>
  29.         </InLine>
  30.     </Ad>
  31.  </VAST>

References

  1. ↑ http://www.iab.net/vast