VAST Tag Tracking Events
Ensuring VAST tags properly track IAB standard key events
What are VAST Tracking Events
If you haven't already, learn about our VAST testing process here.
VAST tracking events are signals sent from the video player to the ad server to report on the status and performance of video ads. These events help advertisers and publishers understand how their ads are performing and where improvements can be made.
How our VAST Tester Evaluates Tracking Events during Ad Playback
Event Listening
Our VAST tester tool listens for standard VAST tracking events emitted by the video ad player during ad playback.
Event Logging
When an event is detected, it is logged and displayed in the VAST tester interface for review. You can see detailed information about each event, including timestamps and any associated metadata in the VAST Video Ad Preview and Inspector section during ad testing under the "Ad Events" tab.
Real-time Feedback
Users can see how their ad events are firing in real-time, allowing for quick adjustments and optimizations if needed.
Log Level
The VAST tester tool allows you to filter by log levels, enabling you to focus on specific events of interest.
- All Levels: View and log all tracking events.
- Errors Only: View and log only error events.
- Info: View and log informational events.
- Warning: View and log warning events.
- Debug: View and log debug events.
IAB Standard VAST Tracking Events
The below events are part of the VAST specification and are commonly used to track ad performance of a video ad. This set of events are supported by all versions of VAST 2.0 | 3.0 | 4.x.
Impression: Fired when the ad is loaded and begins to play.
<Impression><![CDATA[https://admein.io/tracking/impression]]></Impression>
Error: Fired when there is an error during ad playback.
<Error><![CDATA[https://admein.io/tracking/error]]></Error>
The next set of events are nested within the main tracking events node:
<TrackingEvents>
- Start: Fired when the ad starts playing.
- First Quartile: Fired when the ad has played for 25% of its duration.
- Midpoint: Fired when the ad has played for 50% of its duration.
- Third Quartile: Fired when the ad has played for 75% of its duration.
- Complete: Fired when the ad has finished playing.
- Creative View: Fired when the ad is viewed for the first time.
- Mute: Fired when the ad is muted.
- Unmute: Fired when the ad is unmuted.
- Pause: Fired when the ad is paused.
- Rewind: Fired when the ad is rewound.
- Resume: Fired when the ad is resumed.
- Fullscreen: Fired when the ad enters fullscreen mode.
- Expand: Fired when the ad is expanded.
- Collapse: Fired when the ad is collapsed.
- Accept Invitation: Fired when the user accepts an invitation from the ad.
- Close: Fired when the ad is closed.
Example code of the above event collection
<TrackingEvents> <Tracking event="start"><![CDATA[https://admein.io/event=start]]></Tracking> <Tracking event="firstQuartile"><![CDATA[https://admein.io/event=firstQuartile]]></Tracking> <Tracking event="midpoint"><![CDATA[https://admein.io/event=midpoint]]></Tracking> <Tracking event="thirdQuartile"><![CDATA[https://admein.io/event=thirdQuartile]]></Tracking> <Tracking event="complete"><![CDATA[https://admein.io/event=complete]]></Tracking> <Tracking event="mute"><![CDATA[https://admein.io/event=mute]]></Tracking> <Tracking event="unmute"><![CDATA[https://admein.io/event=unmute]]></Tracking> <Tracking event="rewind"><![CDATA[https://admein.io/event=rewind]]></Tracking> <Tracking event="pause"><![CDATA[https://admein.io/event=pause]]></Tracking> <Tracking event="resume"><![CDATA[https://admein.io/event=resume]]></Tracking> <Tracking event="fullscreen"><![CDATA[https://admein.io/event=fullscreen]]></Tracking> <Tracking event="expand"><![CDATA[https://admein.io/event=expand]]></Tracking> <Tracking event="creativeView"><![CDATA[https://admein.io/event=creativeView]]></Tracking> <Tracking event="acceptInvitation"><![CDATA[https://admein.io/event=acceptInvitation]]></Tracking> <Tracking event="close"><![CDATA[https://admein.io/event=close]]></Tracking> <Tracking event="collapse"><![CDATA[https://admein.io/event=collapse]]></Tracking> </TrackingEvents>
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