Video Advertising Growth Is Strong. The Limitations of VPAID Are Limiting Greater Growth

It’s been roughly eight years since the IAB first put a stake in the ground and announced that a major shift in interactive video ad serving was at hand.

It’s been a slow shift from VPAID (Video Player-Ad Interface Definition) to VAST (Video Ad Serving Template). While the original version of VAST actually predates VPAID, enhancements to VAST released in 2019 caused it to leapfrog ahead. Concurrently, the IAB launched SIMID (Secure Interactive Media Interface Definition), a VAST-delivered protocol “born from the desire to support interactive ads in a safe and secure environment for publishers and also to enable better cross-platform support by supporting mobile, SSAI, and OTT devices.”

And things continue to change dramatically. For example, the IAB’s Advanced TV Working Group recently released the VAST CTV Addendum 2024, as ad-supported OTT video becomes more widely adopted. But it’s time for even faster and more seamless integration of VAST and SIMID, given the mainstreaming of interactive video among audiences and established networks. After all, one of the reasons interactive video advertising’s rise has struggled to gain traction is the reliance on outdated technologies like VPAID. While it allowed for some level of interactivity, VPAID was plagued by security issues, instability, and lack of publisher support. Publishers were wary of allowing the use of VPAID because it involved injecting JavaScript and HTML into their video players, which posed significant risks.

At Infillion, we learned from these challenges and chose a different path. In particular, our newly released IDVx product does not rely on VPAID. Instead, IDVX was developed as a secure and stable solution that publishers can trust. By working directly with publishers and supply partners, we ensure that our interactive video ads are safe and perform well across various platforms. But we can’t change the industry alone.

To start, it’s best to understand the complexities and values between the two ad serving formats.

The VAST Difference

The difference between VPAID and VAST are … well, vast.

VAST ads are pre-rendered. That allows publishers to preview them, ensuring they meet content and technical standards before being served. This reduces the risk of disrupting the site’s functionality or user experience.

The result is that VAST gives publishers the wherewithal to better control the ad environment, ensuring compliance with content guidelines and avoiding conflicts between competing advertisers. VAST’s simpler, more restrictive format also reduces security risks, since it does not allow for the same level of dynamic content insertion as VPAID as well as limits interactive creative capabilities since VAST creatives are purely video.

Lastly, with predefined content, VAST ads are less likely to introduce performance issues. Publishers have a greater degree of certainty that the ads on their sites meet size and loading time requirements, providing a smoother user experience.

Key advantages of VAST include:

1. Better Publisher Control: VAST gives publishers more control over the ad environment, ensuring compliance with content guidelines and avoiding conflicts between competing advertisers.
2. Enhanced Security: VAST’s simpler, more restrictive format reduces security risks, as it doesn’t allow for the same level of dynamic content insertion as VPAID.
3. Improved Performance: With predefined content, VAST ads are less likely to introduce performance issues. Publishers can be more confident that the ads on their sites meet size and loading time requirements, providing a smoother user experience.
4. Cross-Platform Compatibility: Unlike VPAID, which was primarily designed for web environments, VAST is better suited for mobile in-app and Connected TV (CTV) platforms, opening up new opportunities for advertisers.

Preparing for the Transition

For publishers and advertisers alike, now is the time to prepare for this significant shift in video advertising technology:

1. Explore Open Measurement: Investigate the benefits of the IAB’s Open Measurement SDK and how it can improve your video ad performance.
2. Assess Current Performance: Analyze your current video ad error rates and understand the potential improvements VAST and Open Measurement can offer.
3. Update Video Players: Ensure your video players support the latest VAST versions to take full advantage of new interactive features.
4. Embrace Cross-Platform Solutions: Look for video ad solutions that work seamlessly across web, mobile, and CTV environments. SIMID doesn’t solve everything – it only works on HTML5-supported devices, which some CTV devices can’t handle. But it’s a massive expansion of the playing field nonetheless.

Winning the Peace With VAST

The battle between VPAID and VAST is essentially over. As we noted above,the IAB has been working deliberately on phasing out VPAID due to those security and stability issues. Instead, it’s promoting updated VAST versions (VAST 4.2 and above) with SIMID, which support interactive features without the associated risks of VPAID.

So at the moment, publishers are strongly encouraged to update their video players to support these newer VAST versions, which offer enhanced interactivity while maintaining security and stability.

The challenge is that too many publishers don’t know about these necessary updates until they encounter a problem. The virtues of solutions like IDVx is that the transition from VPAID to VAST is more seamless than past format changes. And that’s a win for consumers and advertisers, as well as publishers.

Want to learn more about IDVx? Reach out to Infillion today.