Technology
What Are VAST Tags? A Guide for Publishers
Ankitesh Thakur
Video advertisements have seen tremendous growth in recent years, which can be due to the widespread adoption of VAST Tags.
In reality, the spending on video ads is expected to hit $106.9 billion in 2018 and then increase to $162.2 billion in 2026. Many websites are making use of the power of video advertising to create ways to increase the amount of money they earn.
A VAST Tag (Video Ad Server Template) is a program that lets video players and ad servers talk with one another efficiently. Ad servers create these VAST tags.
A VAST tag tells video players how to access an advertisement, the time to render the ad and the type of media, and the length of the advertisement, duration, format, tracking details and price.
Utilizing XML schemas, VAST transfers data from the master ads slot source to a format that is readable by computers and humans, which makes them an easily accessible tag type for ads on video.
If a player can understand VAST, it can be capable of playing third-party video ads, regardless of the publisher’s ad server or advertising network, thereby simplifying the process of displaying a video.
First, a request is sent by the video player’s player server, which will get the video advertisement.
Then, the ad server responds to the request with an inline reply containing the media file along with tracking URLs.
After the video starts playing, the player will initiate a URL tracking (or tracking pixels) to begin logging impressions for that particular video.
All VAST tags point to a file which is ad creative for the advertiser. Most often, it’s an internet link that leads to the URL which opens the video advertisement. In certain instances attributes can generate a link to the ad server that will retrieve the video advertisement.
VAST tags also determine the format for the creative. The format for video can be Flv or mp4, or GIF.
The monitoring of the effectiveness of advertisements is a crucial element of the video advertising process. The VAST tag typically includes a URL link to a web resource that is part of the advertisement server. The link will contain the tracking pixel, which records the number of impressions received by an ad and other details to allow the advertiser to assess the video ad’s effectiveness.
Apart from the three elements, publishers can also include other components within their tag descriptions. These advanced tags typically determine how ads will appear and can include but aren’t limited to:
Creating a VAST tag is an easy process, especially for developers and publishers in the digital media field.
There are three methods to design VAST tags, and it’s the responsibility of the publishers to choose which one is the best fit for their particular ad:
If you are a publisher well-versed in XML and familiar with predefined parameters, manually creating a VAST tag is a relatively simple task.
Although advertisers can utilize any VAST-compatible ad server in order to build an advertisement tag Google is the most used by advertisers looking to make videos for their ads.
To generate a VAST Tag to create a VAST tag Google Ad Manager publishers must first be sure that they have a dedicated Google Ad Manager account.
A variety of third-party tools apart from Google can be utilized for creating VAST tags. But, advertisers must make sure they have a video program that meets all the specifications that are required. This will help avoid unnecessary errors in the display of advertisements.
Since VAST tags utilize XML to markup their content, there’s always a possibility that some tags could have a flaw.
This could range from a problem with the companion sizes to not being able to locate the media file or if the response to an advertisement is compatible with SDK. But, advertisers can make sure that a video advertisement is functional with the help of a tag validator.
Developers can utilize the IAB validator to verify the VAST tag they have created and to test it. You’ll need to sign up for access to this.
Created by Google developers The Video Suite Inspector is recommended by Ad Manager to validate VAST tags.
Created by Springserve the VAST Tag Tester is a well-known option.
Validators are responsible for implementing as well as testing code. They will contact the appropriate URL’s to make sure that the videos are functioning in the way they are expected to.
Although there is no perfect technology, VAST has made quite a way since its first introduction, and using VAST tags can ultimately improve the performance of your video ads across all of your websites.
At Performoo, we help digital publishers to take advantage of the most advanced technologies to ensure optimal efficiency and expansion.
Performoo assists digital publishers in getting the most value from the advertisements on their sites. Performoo is able to help its customers achieve an average 55% growth in their revenues from ads since the beginning of 2019 with the help of the most advanced programmatic advertising technology coupled with ethical and impartial advice.
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