For YouTube campaigns in Display & Video 360, creating VAST tags correctly is important to ensure there are no serving issues or delays in campaign launches.
Use the following guide to ensure your VAST tags are properly set up for trafficking.
- Use YouTube VAST tags.
- YouTube VAST tags should be used instead of the standard Display & Video 360 VAST tags for YouTube campaigns.
- Ensure Innovid tags have a Universal Ad Id and are YouTube compliant.
- For Innovid tags, YouTube requires Universal Ad ID. Standard Display & Video 360 VAST tags don't include the Universal Ad ID object within the XML.
- Confirm the click tracker is correctly placed.
- The click tracker must be added on a separate click tracking node.
- Click tags for Innovid and Campaign Manager 360 must be separated, as Innovid tags are set to "click tracking" and Campaign Manager 360 tags are set to "click through".
- Confirm the VAST tag uses a MP4/Webm asset and does not contain Geo Blockers.
- VAST tags can't use YouTube Video Link as a creative and can't contain Geo Blockers. This can cause an "Unacceptable video" error.
- Confirm media file size does not exceed 10 MB.
- Remove all non-approved Partner Pixels from the VAST tag.
- Only approved partners should be included:
- Viewability: MOAT, DoubleVerify, IAS
- Brand Suitability: DoubleVerify, IAS
- Brand Lift: Kantar, Dynata
- Only approved partners should be included:
- Alert the client when a creative refresh occurs.
- If the creative was updated in the VAST tag, it can take 24 hours for the ad to be reviewed and to start serving. As such, a drop in spend may result.
- Re-traffic the creative if a VAST tag is detected as "Invalid".
- This will typically resolve the issue.
- Check your tag!
- Use this VAST Validator Tool to check your tag's status before trafficking.