Overview

The monetization with VAST partners, previously referred to as “Video Exchange”, lets publishers integrate third party SSPs with whom the publisher has a direct contract. The terms and conditions are negotiated directly between the publisher and the third party SSP.

Technically, the integration is implemented with a VAST ad tag: a URL that calls a VAST ad.

The monetization with VAST partners is relevant in the following cases:

• You are using a third party system as your ad decisioning system (ad server) and want to plug additional demand from Equativ’s Video Exchange—in particular when your main ad server does not support integrations using a simple VAST URL.
• You are using Equativ as your ad decisioning system (main ad server) and want to add third-party demand sources as an additional monetization channel, along with direct campaigns and RTB monetization.

Benefits

The monetization with VAST partners offers the following benefits:

• Improved ad decisioning: Equativ parses the ad responses server side and is able to detect and discard any videos containing errors. This capability is global: it is applied not only to video ads from the Video Exchange but to all video ads from all other monetization channels (RTB and direct campaign monetization).
• Seamless integration: The additional monetization channel is integrated seamlessly with the RTB and direct campaign channels: the responses are ordered by price and the most profitable ads are selected to fill the given video ad break.
• SSP prioritization: The CPM is read from the <Pricing> node of the third party SSP and can be used to prioritize SSPs against each other. If the pricing information is not available, an estimated CPM can be specified for each SPP and will be used as a fallback.
• Ad response flattening: Optionally, you can send the flatten parameter in ad requests to flatten VAST ads before they are sent to the video player: Equativ removes the VAST wrapper redirections and sends only a lightweight VAST ad to the player, containing the <InLine> node as well as tracking/counting pixels calling all parties involved in the transaction. For more information about the flatten parameter, see GET ad request API integration.

Contract and activation

The monetization with VAST partners requires a contract addendum to be signed between the publisher and Equativ. Reach out to your sales contact to start the process.

VAST partner monetization in Unified Auction 

The concept of unified auction ensures that for any multi-impression ad break, the most profitable ads are selected, no matter the monetization channel: all eligible ads from all monetization channels are ordered by price and the most profitable eligible ads are selected to fill the positions within the ad break. Ads containing errors are discarded. 

Example

The previous flowchart shows a multi-impression video ad break with three positions to be monetized. There are five eligible VAST ads.

The most profitable ad is selected as follows:

• The VAST ads are ordered by price (from $$$$ to $).
• The VAST ads are checked for errors. The “Equativ RTB” ad containing a VAST error is discarded.
• From the four remaining VAST ads, the ad having the lowest price (“$ Video Ad Exchange”) is discarded since only three ads fit into the multi-impression ad break.
• The remaining three VAST ads (Direct campaign, Video Exchange and Equativ RTB) are selected and delivered to the multi-impression ad break.

Limitations

The monetization with VAST partners comes with the following limitations:

• The number of wrapper redirections is limited to five redirections. If the 6th VAST ad is not an <InLine> VAST ad, the given SSP is discarded from the ongoing transaction.
• If the VAST response from the third party SSPs includes multiple ads, only the first ad is taken into account. This limitation applies to Video Exchange insertions, not to RTB insertions.
• The advertiser exclusivity feature for video ad breaks isn't compatible with VAST partner integrations. For more information, see Set advertiser exclusivity in video ad breaks 
• Only approved VAST partners can be integrated. For more information, see Monetize with VAST partners (Video Exchange): authorized partners.