VAST: Why Video Ad Response Standards Are Important

This post will cover what VAST is, why this standard is so important, and what's happening with VAST 2.

What is VAST?

VAST, or Video Ad Serving Template, is the standardized way to deliver an ad response to a video player. This is done with XML which contains information about the type of ad, where the ad creative is located, events to fire when certain things happen, and much more. The VAST specification explains in detail what all can be done.

VAST was created by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). The IAB put together this specification by talking with a lot of ad server companies, video platforms, ad agencies, and other people interested in getting a standard format. Brightcove was one of the companies who helped with this specification, and we used our knowledge from the Brightcove ad XML to suggest changes to the specification.

Why is VAST Important?

Having this standard ad response allows for ad servers to work very differently. Instead of spending a lot of time worrying about the differences between different video players and the types and formats of responses they are expecting, the ad server can ideally return the same ad XML to all places.

More importantly, ad servers often talk to each other, grabbing ads from different places as needed and requested. This is the real power of VAST, which is that it allows third-party ad serving to happen easily. This makes things like the real-time bartering of video ads possible.

What is Happening with VAST 2?

The first version, VAST 1, had some support in the industry, but VAST 2 has completely overtaken it. Many ad servers, like DoubleClick's platform have announced supported for VAST 2. And a growing number of video players, including Brightcove's player, allow its use.

Besides the wider support, VAST 2 also has a lot more of the elements and attributes that are needed for ad responses. There are a number of limitations in the VAST 1 specification, which does not allow ad creatives in certain places, misses some events that people wanted to know about, and has elements that need to be clarified.

While VAST 2 is now recommended, Brightcove implements both VAST 1 and VAST 2 specifications. We are also continuously adding new features to the player to allow for more of the VAST 2 elements to be used.