Innovid partners with mobile ad platforms to upgrade VAST

The VAST video ad format is used widely, but it lacks some features that marketers crave. Key among them: It doesn’t readily support third-party measurement or interactive features, such as hotspots where users can request more info or a related video.

A variety of efforts to correct this situation are underway. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), for instance, is working toward standardization of these capabilities for VAST, while some verification firms and advertising providers are implementing their own solutions.

This week, New York City-based video ad platform Innovid announced it was taking a next step toward making VAST more useful for in-app video ads. It is working with three providers of mobile app inventory — Fyber, InMobi and MoPub — to launch and utilize VAST tags that are compatible with the IAB’s and others’ efforts.

Through this integration, Innovid VP of Solutions and Partnerships Michael Tuminello told me, third-party measurement and some dynamic features are available at scale for VAST. He added that this is the first effort between multiple vendors to try out a standardized set of tags and to coordinate their use across a mobile video ad ecosystem.

[Article on MarTech Today.]

About The Author

Barry Levine

Barry Levine covers marketing technology for Third Door Media. Previously, he covered this space as a Senior Writer for VentureBeat, and he has written about these and other tech subjects for such publications as CMSWire and NewsFactor. He founded and led the web site/unit at PBS station Thirteen/WNET; worked as an online Senior Producer/writer for Viacom; created a successful interactive game, PLAY IT BY EAR: The First CD Game; founded and led an independent film showcase, CENTER SCREEN, based at Harvard and M.I.T.; and served over five years as a consultant to the M.I.T. Media Lab. You can find him at LinkedIn, and on Twitter at xBarryLevine.