IAB Tech Lab Releases Updates to SIMID 1.2 and VAST 4.3 For Public Comment

IAB Tech Lab, the global digital advertising technical standards-setting body, announced the release of updates to Secure Interactive Media Interface Definition 1.2 (SIMID 1.2) and Video Ad Serving Template 4.3 (VAST 4.3). The updates are open for public comment for a 30-day period.

“IAB Tech Lab has been in deep review with the industry about simplifying video ad delivery and addressing the challenges of Advanced Television for buyers and publishers of TV content. These updates are intended to make video campaigns more scalable and reduce the costs of executing them by further automating the process,” said Shailley Singh, Executive Vice President, Product and Chief Operating Officer, IAB Tech Lab. “They will also empower advertisers to make better use of valuable CTV advertising space with improved measurement and tracking capabilities and will increase the security of publisher content.”

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VAST is a widely adopted industry standard for sending ad creatives to video players. It is a file that contains details required to execute the video ad, such as links to media assets of different resolutions, other ad creative components, measurement provider’s code, event trackers, and any other relevant information.

VAST 4.3 includes updates to minimize wasted costs for advertisers specifically in the Connected TV (CTV) environment. The update enables the system to recognize user activity by capturing whether the user has interacted with the “are you still there?” notification and take appropriate action. Additionally, VAST 4.3 makes it possible to directly access creative assets, which allows publishers to vet the creative sooner in the process of executing a VAST tag.

“One of the primary challenges of utilizing CTV as an advertising platform is ensuring ads are being served to people who are actually watching,” said Aron Schatz, Director of Product Management, Publisher Products, DoubleVerify. “By leveraging viewing confirmation signals to ensure ads are being served to an active viewer, VAST 4.3 will minimize an enormous amount of wasted spend for advertisers.”

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SIMID 1.2 is a modern communication system between a video player and an advertisement. It enables creative execution in a sandboxed frame, thus providing elevated security for publishers and their users while allowing advertisers to engage the user with interactive creative. The standard now includes updated guidance on best practices for leveraging L-shaped ads – popularly called “squeeze back” ads – where the video size is reduced to make room for display advertising without interrupting the video. It also includes support for responsive-sized ads (i.e., the size of the ad responds to the size of the screen). These updates help to further automate the process of building once and serving everywhere for interactive video ads, simplifying scalability.

SIMID 1.2 also includes updated guidance on how to implement links to directly open an app (“Deep Links”), within the device’s app store – this is necessary for effective measurement and tracking of app download campaigns. Another critical update is the use of cryptography for generating session IDs that will help protect publishers from brute force attacks.

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