VAST integration

1. What is VAST

VAST(Video Ad Serving Template) — IAB standard for passing video ad metadata from ad server to player. Version 4.0 is current.

Works like this:

1. Before the main content video the player fetches the VAST URL
2. Receives XML with ad description: where the mp4 is hosted, duration, how many seconds until skip is allowed, where to send on click
3. Plays an ad (pre-roll)
4. Sends an impression-tracking pixel to confirm the view was counted
5. Includes main video

Advantage over our JS widget:works in your existing player. No need to change anything in the UI.

2. Where to get a VAST URL

VAST format availableonly for blocks of formatvideo(in-stream 16:9). On the widget page/pub/zones/{id}you will see a pink banner "🎬 VAST URL - for your video player":

https://sladu.net/vast/{subid}.xml

Example:https://sladu.net/vast/tvid9234f7.xml

3. VAST Response Structure

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<VAST version="4.0" xmlns="http://www.iab.com/VAST">
  <Ad id="impression-uuid-here">
    <InLine>
      <AdSystem version="1.0">Sladu Network</AdSystem>
      <AdTitle><![CDATA[Заголовок креатива]]></AdTitle>
      <Impression><![CDATA[https://sladu.net/openrtb/imptracker/impression-uuid]]></Impression>
      <Creatives>
        <Creative id="creative-id" sequence="1">
          <Linear skipoffset="00:00:05">
            <Duration>00:00:30</Duration>
            <MediaFiles>
              <MediaFile delivery="progressive" type="video/mp4" width="640" height="360">
                <![CDATA[https://cdn.advertiser.com/video.mp4]]>
              </MediaFile>
            </MediaFiles>
            <VideoClicks>
              <ClickThrough><![CDATA[https://sladu.net/c/impression-uuid/tracking-token]]></ClickThrough>
            </VideoClicks>
          </Linear>
        </Creative>
      </Creatives>
    </InLine>
  </Ad>
</VAST>

4. VAST fields

• - creative title
• - impression pixel URL. The player fires it when the ad is actually shown.
• — MP4 video URL, dimensions (always 16:9), MIME type
• - video duration in HH:MM:SS format
• skipoffset="00:00:05"- after 5 sec you can show the Skip button
• - URL to send the user to on click. Already contains our redirect to the advertiser + click tracking.

5. Empty VAST (no_match)

If no suitable creative is found (no active campaigns for your geo, anti-fraud filter) — we return a valid empty VAST:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<VAST version="4.0"></VAST>

The player should treat this as "no ad" and immediately start the main content. All normal players do this.

6. JW Player 8+

jwplayer("player").setup({
    file: "your-content.mp4",
    advertising: {
        client: "vast",
        tag: "https://sladu.net/vast/abc12345.xml"
    }
});

For midroll / postroll:

advertising: {
    client: "vast",
    schedule: {
        preroll: { offset: "pre",  tag: "https://sladu.net/vast/abc12345.xml" },
        mid:     { offset: "50%",  tag: "https://sladu.net/vast/abc12345.xml" },
        postroll:{ offset: "post", tag: "https://sladu.net/vast/abc12345.xml" }
    }
}

7. video.js + videojs-ima

8. Google IMA SDK (universal)

9. HLS.js + Google IMA

HLS.js has no built-in VAST support. Use a combination of HLS.js (for content) + IMA SDK (for ads):

if (Hls.isSupported()) {
    const hls = new Hls();
    hls.loadSource('your-stream.m3u8');
    hls.attachMedia(videoElement);
}

// VAST через IMA SDK как в примере выше
const adsRequest = new google.ima.AdsRequest();
adsRequest.adTagUrl = "https://sladu.net/vast/abc12345.xml";
adsLoader.requestAds(adsRequest);

10. Plyr / Flowplayer / Bitmovin / Brightcove

• Plyr- no built-in VAST, you needplyr-adsplugin with Google IMA support
• Flowplayer- VAST is supported out of the box in the Commercial version, pluginflowplayer-ima
• Bitmovin Player- built-in AdsModule, config:{ ads: [{ tag: { url: "https://sladu.net/vast/...", type: "vast" }, position: "pre" }] }
• Brightcove- via pluginbc-vast-ads-plugin
• Shaka Player - shaka-player-imaadds Google IMA

11. Testing

Just open the VAST URL in your browser

Should show XML. If empty () - means there is no suitable creative for your geo.

Google IMA Sample Player

googleads.github.io/googleads-ima-html5/vsi— paste a VAST URL, hit Play — see how IMA SDK processes our VAST.

IAB VAST Inspector

vasttester.iabtechlab.com- official IAB inspector. Validates XML against the specification.

curl

curl -v "https://sladu.net/vast/abc12345.xml" \
     -H "Referer: https://yoursite.com/page" \
     -H "User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux) Chrome/120"

12. Event tracking

Currently in the VAST response we send a minimal set of trackers:

• - impression counted
• - URL with our click tracking

We can add upon requestfor:

• start— video started playing
• firstQuartile, midpoint, thirdQuartile- 25/50/75% viewed
• complete- video watched to the end
• skip- user clicked skip
• mute, unmute, pause, resume, fullscreen

By default they are not required for billing — we count the impression itself. If the advertiser pays CPV (cost per view, 100% completion) — enable via a support ticket.