Vendor support troubleshooting guide for YouTube and VAST tags

This article is specific to Display & Video 360 YouTube reservation line items (YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed via instant deals and offline negotiations) that utilize in-stream video ads where the ad source is “Display & Video 360 creatives”.

These campaigns use VAST tags, and creating these 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.

1. 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.
2. 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".
3. 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.
4. Confirm media file size does not exceed 1 GB.
5. Remove all non-approved Partner Pixels from the VAST tag.
   • Only Display & Video 360 or Campaign Manager 360 tracking pixels are allowed within the VAST tag.
     • If you’re tracking impressions or clicks with third-party providers, you must enable the Ads Data Hub integration with the respective vendor to receive reporting. Learn more about how to Link your Display & Video 360 account to Ads Data Hub.
6. 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.
7. Re-traffic the creative if a VAST tag is detected as "Invalid".
   • This will typically resolve the issue.
8. Check your tag!
   • Use this YouTube VAST Validator Tool to check your tag's status before trafficking.