Glossaryvideo advertisingad serving standards

VPAID (Video Player Ad Interface Definition)

VPAIDVASTvideo ad servinginteractive adsad interfacerich mediavideo player interactionad data collection

A piece of code that enables video ad units and video players to interact with one another.

Compared to VAST (video ad serving template), which handles the delivery of standard video ads, VPAID goes further by allowing advertisers to serve rich, interactive ads to users and collect data about how users interact with those video ads. Where VAST defines a template for serving the ad itself, VPAID introduces a communication layer that supports interactive functionality — such as clickable overlays, surveys, or engagement triggers — and tracks how viewers respond to them.

VAST (Video Ad Serving Template)
An XML schema developed by the IAB that standardizes how in-stream video ads — the kind that play inside a video player, like ads served on YouTube videos — are delivered from video ad servers and rendered across video…
VMAP (Video Multiple Ad Playlist)
VMAP allows content owners to describe the structure for ad-inventory insertion when they do not control the video player themselves — as is the case on platforms like YouTube, where creators upload content but have no…
Ad Pod
A sequenced group of ads served within a single video ad placement. Rather than showing one ad at a time, an ad pod bundles multiple creatives together — played back-to-back — in a defined order. This format is common…
Ad Tag
A piece of code inserted into an ad slot in order to display an ad. When a web page or mobile app loads, the ad tag requests the necessary information and carries out the processes required to render the creative.…