The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), comprised of more than 375 leading media and technology cos responsible for selling 86% of online advertising in the US, has just released the Video Player-Ad Interface Definitions guidelines (VPAID) for public comment, as part of an ongoing initiative to build a common language for buying, selling, creating and delivering digital video advertising.
The series of definitions in the VPAID guidelines help the interactive industry define a standard method for video ads to communicate with video players and enable ad compatibility across all VPAID-compliant players.
Until now, video ads could only be posted on publisher sites that supported the same technology as an agency did when creating the ads. With VPAID, publishers adhering to these standards will be able to render any type of video advertisement from any video ad-serving technology that also adheres to the standards. Likewise, advertisers that adopt the standards can be assured that the ads they create are usable by any ad-serving technology and publisher.
‘Interactive advertising is a bright spot in the current advertising environment, and digital video is one of its most promising formats,’ says IAB VP industry services Jeremy Fain, adding that VPAID is the final piece of the current Digital Video Infrastructure Initiative. ‘All five parts of the initiative help define the digital video ecosystem, reduce costs and increase efficiency for all parties and, most importantly, make it possible for advertisers to more easily reach larger online audiences.’
Members of the industry, including advertising agencies, advertisers, online publishers and technology vendors, are encouraged to read the proposed guidelines and submit comments here. The comment period closes on Mar. 5.
