Digital Video Player-Ad Interface Definition (VPAID)

Download the Digital Video Player-Ad Interface Definition (VPAID) guidelines

This document establishes a Video Player-Ad API definition (VPAID) that standardizes the communication between video players and in-stream video advertising as designed by the Digital Video Committee of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). This standard intends to meet the needs of emerging in-stream ad formats such as:

Non-linear video ads
Interactive video ads

IAB members are encouraged to show their compliance with VPAID through the IAB Compliance Seal Program.

The goal of the VPAID standard is to address known interoperability issues between publisher’s video players and different ads. Today, video ads created using a specific ad technology can only run on publisher video players that are pre-integrated with that same technology. This issue is further exacerbated when the video ad is expressed in innovative formats (such as non-linear and interactive ads) that require a high level of communication and interaction between the ad and the video player.

This standard does not exist in a vacuum. Publishers and ad technology providers who wish to participate in a more open video ad environment need to also adopt the following standards:

Digital Video Measurement Guidelines
Digital Video In-Stream Ad Format Guidelines and Best Practices
Digital Video In-Stream Ad Metrics Definitions
Digital Video Ad Serving Template (VAST)

A publisher that adopts VPAID and the above standards will be able to render any type of video advertising trafficked from any video ad provider who also adheres to the same standards.

While this document’s purpose is to develop more standardization in the most common areas of the digital video landscape, the IAB continues to encourage creativity and innovation in video ad formats. As with all IAB guidelines, this document will be updated as the dynamic digital video advertising landscape progresses and new ad formats become more widely adopted.