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I have a VAST 3 ad that I am trying to port to Vast 4.0. The problem is the interactivity through VPAID, whose specifications changed a lot between VAST 3 and 4.

According to VAST 4 docs, a VPAID script should now be included in <InteractiveCreativeFile> tag, instead of <MediaFile> as before. (Correct?)

However, when trying VAST4, the only way I can get my VPAID script to work is by including it in the <MediaFile> tag. That is, when I test it with the VAST testing tools in JWPlayer or Google Developers. In fact, they seem to completely ignore <InteractiveCreativeFile>.

To be sure, I can try the following VAST document in Google's VAST player:

<VAST version="4.0" noNamespaceSchemaLocation="vast.xsd">
    <Ad id="x">
        <InLine>
            <AdSystem version="4.0"/>
            <AdTitle>My VPAID Ad</AdTitle>
            <Description>My VPAID linear ad</Description>
            <Error>https://example.com/error</Error>
            <Creatives>
                <Creative sequence="1">
                    <UniversalAdId idValue="unknown" idRegistry="unknown"/>
                    <Linear>
                        <Duration>00:00:19</Duration>
                        <MediaFiles>
                            <MediaFile delivery="progressive" apiFramework="VPAID" type="video/mp4" width="640"
                                       height="480">
                                http://example.com/myvideo.mp4
                            </MediaFile>
                            <InteractiveCreativeFile apiFramework="VPAID" type="application/javascript">Should this raise an error?</InteractiveCreativeFile>
                        </MediaFiles>
                    </Linear>
                </Creative>
            </Creatives>
        </InLine>
    </Ad>
</VAST>

Replace the "example.com" link with an actual video and this runs without error messages in console or event log. However, change InteractiveCreativeFile to MediaFile and you will obtain appropriate VPAID error messages:

AdError 901: An unexpected error occurred within the VPAID creative.

which is what I expect from the above VAST document.

I could illustrate my case with a working example as well, but it's harder for me to create without disclosing business details -- I'd have to serve my valid VPAID from somewhere -- so I'll just tell you that with version=4.0 and a VPAID javascript link in a MediaFile tag, everything works, but in a InteractiveCreativeFile tag it doesn't, contrary to the documentation.

Question: From all this, can I draw the conclusion that both JWPlayer and Google Developers are not following the standard for VAST 4?

Emil Lundh
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  • Does the same VPAID work when you test it from a VAST3 tag? Error 901 in a "general VPAID error", perhaps that error is genuine. – Zero2 Jul 12 '18 at 11:51
  • @Zero2 Well, the script above was written in order to **provoke** a 901 error. The worrying fact is that I do **not** get an error when I have faulty content in a InteractiveCreativeFile tag. This means, afaicu, that the tag is ignored. – Emil Lundh Jul 13 '18 at 14:38
  • I see, but since there is a valid MP4 available (which leads to an impression), would it not be wrong to trogger an Error, too? An ad should either lead to an error or to an impression, not both. – Zero2 Jul 13 '18 at 16:00
  • Hm, so perhaps the example was not enough to prove my point. I can *tell* you that I also put a link to a *valid* vpaid file, and it did nothing when I put it in a InteractiveCreativeFile tag but it worked as expected when I put it in a MediaFile tag.. however, I found it hard to provide this working example without disclosing a lot of business details.. – Emil Lundh Jul 16 '18 at 18:23

0 Answers0