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Is VAST Past Its Prime in Streaming Adtech?

VAST (video ad serving template) is an XML-based standard developed by the IAB Tech Lab that defines how video players and ad servers communicate to deliver video ads. It is designed to allow for the consistent and dynamic delivery of video ads across different platforms and devices. But in the ever-shifting and fast-evolving world of adtech, has VAST grown long in the tooth? Ring Digital’s Brian Ring, SVTA’s David Hassoun, Eventually a Castle’s Andrew Baritz, and IAB Tech Lab‘s Raymond Holton discuss the issue in this clip from May’s Streaming Media Connect.

Evolving Beyond VAST

Ring Digital llc Principal Analyst Brian Ring raises concerns about VAST’s complexity and its relevance today, questioning if it has become too cumbersome despite its previous success and traction in the industry. He notes that VAST 4.0 was “a big deal” when it released, but that’s not the case anymore. He asks Co-Chair of the SVTA Advertising Working Group David Hassoun to answer the questions, “Is VAST now getting too big for its britches? Is there something else that needs to be looked at to help smooth out some of these workflows? You tell me what you would answer if someone said, Where’s VAST today?”

Hassoun replies, “I agree that I think VAST has had its time.” Its growing complexity over the years convoluted the standard, he notes. “It still has value, but I do think that as we look towards the future, there’s the potential for revolution, innovation, [or] whatever you want to call that, on how we can evolve into something other than what VAST was and more towards what we need,” he asserts. 

‘Is Good the Enemy of Perfect?’

Ring asks Eventually A Castle CEO Andrew Baritz to answer the same questions. 

Baritz responds, “I think [it] was very well said by David. VAST continues to hold a really strong place, but I would look at it similar to the adoption of OpenRTB within various ad-serving platforms that used to use VAST, and similar to OpenRTB, it’s only as good as the custom extensions that your upstream partners have integrated and your downstream partners have integrated. And I think that holds true for any transaction standard that’s being used between these different pieces of technology.” He notes that customization is always present to account for different business models, technologies, and custom solutions, and there are a lot of questions surrounding VAST’s iterations (2.0–4.0 and so on). What you choose to implement should be dependent on your adtech solution, what your buyers upstream are using and where across your ecosystem that’s been leveraged, and what features you’re looking for, he advises. 

Baritz continues, “I think in many cases it’s still plenty good, and in other cases it’s not quite anymore. But with any standards and kind of large-scale ecosystem of this nature, there’s a very regular conversation: Is good the enemy of perfect? And I think VAST is still good in many cases. It’s definitely not perfect. And I’m curious to see where we go with OpenRTB direct XML integrations, deeper integrations into publisher technology in what we’ve seen within mediation layers, integrating with exchange and ad server technology.” This results in more data and more IDs being utilized, which is important to publishers, advertisers, and technology platforms alike, and it’s good for customers too because publishers aren’t playing the same ads back-to-back, he explains. 

The Mediation Layer

Ring has a follow-up question based on Baritz’s mention of the mediation layer’s role in publisher control over ad content. “Help me understand, Where does this term come from and what is it today?”

Baritz tracks the timeline of how publishers connect with ad solutions, noting that the original mediation layer was the SSP, but as CTV developed and adtech solutions grew, “that layer shifted downstream with more control to the publisher, being able to make decisions, being able to control that layer in a different way. I think that’s going to continue to shift.”

He defines the mediation layer as “the final layer that the publisher controls to determine what ads are viewed by the end consumer and why. So that’s where rules are set, standards are determined, and the controls are triggered for brand safety, for customer experience, for all of the variety of different use cases, and where Ray’s IDs are going to end up being the most powerful for the publisher in terms of that customer experience.”

Small Changes to Move Forward 

“Ray” is IAB Tech Lab Senior Director, Advanced TV, Raymond Holton, who chimes in with his take that video advertising has moved beyond a one-size-fits-all or even a one-size-fits-many approach due to fragmentation. “There’s this two-way communication between the viewer, the device, and the publisher and the advertiser that allows for a more robust and flexible model. So yes, VAST has been around a long time and it is a strong building block, but ... because there are so many use cases tied to it with different priorities, to make giant steps forward isn’t going to work for every organization or every supply chain.”

So he’s advocating for small changes that will allow for greater flexibility, customization, and adoptability across the industry. He cautions that no one should be discounting what’s already been done; the industry should expand upon it with additional standards or use cases. “So for instance, we have our SIMID standard, which is used for interactivity. So it’s still working part with VAST, but also having this additional feature set that’s built upon a widely deployed platform,” he clarifies. 

Join conference chair Andy Beach and other streaming media experts in person Oct. 6–8 in Santa Monica, CA, for more thought leadership, actionable insights, and lively debate at Streaming Media 2025. Registration is open! 

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