Troubleshoot video disapproval reasons

Understand why a creative is disapproved for “Video VAST is Malformed” in the Creatives UI. 
To discover which disapproval reason applies to your creative:

1. Sign in to Authorized Buyers.

2. Navigate to Troubleshooting > Creatives.

3. Filter "Network policy topics" and select Video VAST is malformed.

4. Click the creative and click the dropdown button next to “Video VAST is malformed” to view a more detailed explanation. 

Each of the following corresponds to a reason for disapproval.

Expand all  Collapse all

VAST version was not specified

Issue
A creative was disapproved for failing to specify the VAST version.

Learn more about what you can do
Ensure that the VAST version is specified when uploading VAST video creatives. 

Could not fetch VAST from server

Issue

This can be caused by a number of things, including but not limited to:

• VAST URL points to a non-existent VAST XML response.
• Ad server response did not not include required HTTP CORS headers.
   

Learn more about what you can do
To prevent future video creatives from being disapproved, please ensure that the VAST URL provided when uploading a creative points to a VAST XML response.

Unexpected root node

Issue

URL specified by <VASTAdTagURI> redirects to a blank web page.

Learn more about what you can do
To prevent future video creatives from being disapproved, please make sure that VASTAdTagURI redirects point to another VAST XML response.  

Failed to parse integer from string (for example, bitrate or width)

Issue

This occurs when the bitrate specified by a <MediaFile> element is not an integer. Typically this occurs because the bitrate value includes either a comma (that is 1,234 instead of 1234) or a dot (that is 1.234 instead of 1234).

Learn more about what you can do
To prevent future video creatives from being disapproved, please specify the bitrate using only number values when uploading your creative. 

Found invalid syntax while parsing XML file

Issue

This occurs when the xmllib XML parser fails when parsing the VAST XML response, meaning the bidder uploaded a creative with invalid XML.

Learn more about what you can do
To prevent future video creatives from being disapproved, please validate the structure of the XML before uploading your creative.

Invalid VAST version

Issue

The VAST version provided is invalid. Google currently supports VAST 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0.

Learn more about what you can do
Update your VAST creative to use a supported VAST version.

Failed to parse an XML node

Issue

VAST is invalid due to failure to parse the XML document because the XML document is not well-formed. This could be due to a number of reasons, such as missing tags, incorrect tag nesting, or invalid characters.

Learn more about what you can do
Identify and correct the errors in the XML document. A VAST validator, such as IAB VAST Validator, can be used to help identify the errors.

Empty XML file

Issue

VAST requires a non-empty XML file.

Learn more about what you can do
Create a VAST XML file with the required tags. The IAB VAST specification provides a list of the required tags.

Found mutually exclusive child nodes while parsing XML

Issue

There are two or more child nodes of the same parent node that cannot be present at the same time. For example, a <VAST> element cannot have both a <Linear> child node and a <NonLinear> child node.

Learn more about what you can do
Remove one of the mutually exclusive child nodes. You can use a VAST validator, such as the IAB VAST Validator, to help you identify the mutually exclusive child nodes.

Only one child of a type allowed in node

Issue

Your VAST is invalid because it contains a node with more than one child of the same type. This means that there are two or more child nodes of the same parent node that have the same tag name. For example, a <Creative> element cannot have two <Linear> child nodes.

Learn more about what you can do
Remove one of the duplicate child nodes. You can use a VAST validator, such as the IAB VAST Validator, to help you identify the duplicate child nodes.

Unexpected root node name

Issue

VAST XML documents must have a root node named <VAST>. If the root node has a different name, the VAST XML document is invalid.

Learn more about what you can do
You will need to update the name of the root node to <VAST>. Once you have changed the name of the root node, you need to validate the VAST creative using a VAST validator, such as the IAB VAST Validator.

No XML tags found

Issue

VAST is an XML-based markup language and all XML documents must have a specific structure, including required tags.

Learn more about what you can do
You can use a VAST validator to identify the missing tags. There are many VAST validators available online, such as the IAB VAST Validator.

VAST version is unsupported

Issue

The VAST version provided is unsupported. Google currently supports VAST 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0.

Learn more about what you can do
To fix the issue of an unsupported VAST version, you need to update your VAST creative to a supported version. Google currently supports VAST 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0.

VAST ad does not have a valid inline VAST

Issue

VAST document does not have a valid inline VAST. This means that the VAST XML document does not contain a complete VAST ad within the <Inline> element.

Learn more about what you can do
Add a complete VAST ad to the <Inline> element. You can use a VAST validator, such as the IAB VAST Validator, to help you identify the errors in the inline VAST.

VAST redirect chain forms a loop

Issue

One of the redirects in the VAST points back to a previous redirect, which causes the ad to load infinitely.

Learn more about what you can do
Identify and remove the redirect that is causing the loop.