IAB proposes video ad serving template

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (USA) has put forward a proposal that it says will standardize video ad serving communications to enable digital ad servers and digital video players to speak the same language.

by Helen Leggatt

The IAB recently released a “Digital Video Ad Serving Template” (VAST) designed to standardize communication protocol between digital video players and digital ad servers.

Publishers who use the standard will be able to plug into multiple third-party digital video ad servers and networks without additional development, opening up the marketplace to “a wider spectrum of companies”.

“Digital video is one of the most exciting platforms to emerge within the interactive advertising ecosystem,” said Randall Rothenberg, president-CEO of the IAB. “VAST is a critical industry accomplishment because it lays out a much-needed mechanism for standardization in one of the hottest areas of interactive advertising.”