This topic provides a reference for ad formats, their XML elements, and attributes. Following the reference table for ad formats, this topic shows visual examples for the ad format types and their XML specifications.
When Video Cloud players make ad requests from an ad server, the request in most cases includes an ad format code. The ad format code tells the ad server what size and type of ad the player can consume. Video Cloud supports the ad formats listed in the reference table shown below. Each format in the table links to a more detailed description, including its XML specification.
If you created a custom player template using BEML, read Ads and Custom Player Templates for information about what ad formats your custom player template can support. If you're unfamiliar with using ads with your Video Cloud video, read Before You Begin to better understand the tasks you need to perform before you begin integrating your ad server with Video Cloud .
Video Cloud also supports VAST ad formats. For information about using the VAST ad formats, see Using the VAST Standard in Video Cloud Players and VAST Ad Formats and Format Codes.
Video Cloud complies with guidelines issued by the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Read more about Video Cloud and the IAB.
This topic includes the following sections:
| frmt | Ad format | Description | Supported players |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Video Ad | A video creative (.flv, .swf, .jpg, .png, or static .gif) that plays in the player's video display. | All players |
| 1 | Overlay | Graphical ad in bottom third of the video display that displays while the video plays (.swf, .jpg, .png, or static .gif). | All players |
| Overlay to Video | A variation of the Overlay Ad format. With this format, you can click-through an Overlay Ad to a Video Ad. | All players | |
| 2 | Video Pod (468x60) | A Video Ad, a 300x250 expandable banner, and a 468x60 leave-behind creative. | Tabbed Navigation Compact Tabbed Navigation |
| 6 | Banner (468x60) | A 468x60 banner (.swf, .jpg, .png, or static .gif) in the bottom right of the player. | Tabbed Navigation Compact Tabbed Navigation |
| 14 | Video Pod (728x90) | A video ad, a 300x250 expandable banner, and a 728x90 leave-behind creative. | Compact Tabbed Navigation |
| 15 | Banner (728x90) | A 728x90 banner (.swf, .jpg, .png, or static .gif) at the bottom of the player, center justified. | Compact Tabbed Navigation |
| 17 | Banner (300x60) | A 300x60 banner (.swf, .jpg, .png, or static .gif) in the upper right of the player. | Widescreen with Horizontal List Widescreen with Vertical Video List |
| 19 | Video + 300x60 | A video ad with a 300x60 banner. | Widescreen with Horizontal List Widescreen with Vertical Video List |
| 20 | Overlay pod 468x60 | A graphical ad in bottom third of the video display that displays while the video plays (.swf, .jpg, .png, or static .gif), with a 300x250 expandable banner and a 468x60 leave-behind banner that displays to the bottom right of the player. | Tabbed Navigation Compact Tabbed Navigation |
| Overlay pod 468x60 to Video | A variation of the Overlay pod 468x60 format. With this format, you can click-through an Overlay pod 468x60 to a Video Ad. | Tabbed Navigation Compact Tabbed Navigation |
|
| 21 | Overlay pod 728x90 | A graphical ad in bottom third of the video display that displays while the video plays (.swf, .jpg, .png, or static .gif), with a 300x250 expandable banner and a 728x90 leave-behind banner that displays to the bottom right. | Compact Tabbed Navigation |
| Overlay pod 728x90 to Video | A variation of the Overlay pod 728x90 format. With this format, you can click-through an Overlay pod 728x90 to a Video Ad. | Compact Tabbed Navigation | |
| 22 | Ad SWF | A SWF (Flash) ad that is loaded from a URL specified in the response XML, which then draws over any part of the player. | All players |
| 23 | Overlay + 300x60 | A graphical ad in bottom third of the video display that displays while the video plays, with a companion 300x60 banner that displays in the top right of the player. | Widescreen with Horizontal List Widescreen with Vertical Video List |
| Overlay 300x60 to Video | A variation of the Overlay 300x60 format. With this format, you can click-through an Overlay 300x60 to a Video Ad. | Widescreen with Horizontal List Widescreen with Vertical Video List |
Video creatives can be .flv, .swf, .jpg, .png, or static .gif files. Banners and overlays can be .swf, .jpg, .png, or .gif files.
Each ad format has a specification in XML. The XML elements used in the ad formats are as follows.
| [format name] | The root node of the XML is the name of the ad format. This name is case sensitive. For example, the root node for the Video Ad format is <videoAd>. |
version |
This field can be used to denote the version of XML you are using for your ad format. |
delimiter |
A sequence of one or more characters used to specify the boundary between separate URLs. It can be specified at the top level as an attribute in the ad format XML. If unspecified, the default delimiter is comma. For example, if you were to set delimiter="|", the ad format XML might look like this: <videoAd version="1" Note: Though multi-character delimiters are supported, we recommend that you use a single-character delimiter. The recommended delimiter is comma. Video Cloud supports most special characters as delimiters except double quotes (") and the less than (<) sign. |
duration |
A numeric value entered by the trafficker, representing the length of the video ad in seconds. This value also controls the counter you see when a video ad is displayed and also acts as the value for midpoint tracking capabilities. For expanding banner ads, this value controls how long the banner is displayed in its expanded size before collapsing to its smaller size. Note: If the video ad is an FLV or SWF file, the ad may contain embedded information, including the actual duration of the media. (This embedded information in the FLV or SWF files is known an metadata in Flash video.) If this duration metadata is auto-detected by the Player, then that value will be used for calculating midpoint tracking times. However, if no metadata is detected, use the information in the XML element called duration for those calculations. |
trackPointTime |
A numeric value entered by the trafficker, representing an arbitrary time marker at which the player will call the trackPointURLs. |
trackPointURLs |
A list of ad server tracking macros or third-party tracking redirect URLs for the player to call at the time marker specified in the trackPointTime. Individual entries are separated by a delimiter, which may be specified in the XML of the ad response itself. The default delimiter is a comma (,). |
trackStartURLs |
A list of ad server tracking URLs or third-party tracking redirect URLs for the player to call in order to track the impression of the ad, after the ad is buffered and ready to play. Individual entries are separated by a delimiter which may be specified in the XML of the ad response itself. The default delimiter is comma (,). For example, for DFP: %i%h/dot.gif,http://3rdparty.tracking.com/ads/tracking/pixel.gif. |
trackFirstQuartile |
A list of ad server tracking URLs or third-party tracking redirect URLs for the player to call when the video ad has reached the first quartile (the 25% point) of the duration. Individual entries are separated by a delimiter, which may be specified in the XML of the ad response itself. The default delimiter is comma (,). |
trackMidURLs |
A list of ad server tracking URLs or third-party tracking redirect URLs for the player to call at the midpoint of the video ad. Individual entries are separated by a delimiter, which may be specified in the XML of the ad response itself. The default delimiter is a comma (,). If the duration is specified in the video metadata, the midpoint is calculated from that duration. If not, then the midpoint is calculated from the duration specified in the XML. In the event that the duration sent in the XML is more than twice the actual media duration, the midpoint tracking event will still be sent, but at the end of the video. |
trackThirdQuartile |
A list of ad server tracking URLs or third-party tracking redirect URLs for the player to call when the video ad has reached the third quartile (the 75% point) of the duration. Individual entries are separated by a delimiter, which may be specified in the XML of the ad response itself. The default delimiter is comma (,). |
trackEndURLs |
A list of ad server tracking URLs or third-party tracking redirect URLs for the player to call at the end of the video ad. Individual entries are separated by a delimiter, which may be specified in the XML of the ad response itself. The default delimiter is a comma (,). |
trackFullscreenURLs |
A list of ad server tracking URLs or third-party tracking redirect URLs for the player to call when the video ad enters full screen mode. The fullscreen event is fired if the viewer is already in full screen and an ad is delivered, and if fullscreen mode is initiated during ad play. Every time fullscreen mode occurs during ad play, this event fires. Individual entries are separated by a delimiter, which may be specified in the XML of the ad response itself. The default delimiter is comma (,). |
trackExitFullscreenURLs |
A list of ad server tracking URLs or third-party tracking redirect URLs for the player to call when the video ad exits fullscreen mode. Every time your player exits fullscreen mode during ad play, this event fires. Separate individual entries by a delimiter, which you can specify in the XML of the ad response itself. The default delimiter is a comma (,). |
trackPauseURLs |
A list of ad server tracking URLs or third-party tracking redirect URLs for the player to call when a user pauses a video ad. Separate individual entries by a delimiter, which you can specify in the XML of the ad response itself. The default delimiter is a comma (,). |
trackResumeURLs |
A list of ad server tracking URLs or third-party tracking redirect URLs for the player to call when the video ad has been resumed after being in the paused state. Individual entries are separated by a delimiter, which you can specify in the XML of the ad response itself. The default delimiter is a comma (,). |
trackMuteURLs |
A list of ad server tracking URLs or third-party tracking redirect URLs for the player to call when the video ad volume is muted. Individual entries are separated by a delimiter, which you can specify in the XML of the ad response itself. The default delimiter is a comma (,). |
trackUnmuteURLs |
A list of ad server tracking URLs or third-party tracking redirect URLs for the player to call when the video ad volume is unmuted. Individual entries are separated by a delimiter, which you can specify in theXML of the ad response itself. The default delimiter is a comma (,). |
videoURL |
The external path to the Video Ad asset. |
videoClickURL |
The click-through URL for the Video Ad. |
overlayURL |
The external path to the Overlay Ad asset. |
overlayClickURL |
The click-through URL for the Overlay Ad. |
collapsedBannerURL |
The external path to the 468x60 banner ad asset. |
collapsedBannerClickURL |
The click through URL for the 468x60 banner ad. |
expandedBannerURL |
The path to the 300x250 banner ad asset. |
expandedBannerClickURL |
The click-through URL for the 300x250 banner ad. |
adSwfURL |
The external path to the Ad SWF file. |
expandedVideoURL |
The external path to the Video Ad asset. This video URL is used specifically with overlays to allow overlay ads to click through to video ads. |
expandedVideoClickURL |
The click through URL for the expandedVideoURL asset . |
additionalKey |
Allows you to traffic additional ad keys to Ad format XML responses. For example, you can specify a region or language using the additionalKey tag. |
This section describes in detail each of the supported ad formats, including a visual example and the XML specification.
To download any of the Video Cloud XML templates, click here.

Figure 1: A Video Ad
A Video Ad displays in the video display component of the player. It is supported by all Video Cloud player templates. The ad can be served as pre-roll, mid-roll or post-roll, or on load. During video ad playback:
Click here for a demo Video Ad example.
<videoAd version="1"
duration="[%Ad Duration%]"
trackStartURLs="[%Track Start URLs%]"
trackFirstQuartileURLs="[%Track First Quartile URLs%]"
trackMidURLs="[%Track Mid URLs%]"
trackThirdQuartileURLs="[%Track Third Quartile URLs%]"
trackEndURLs="[%Track End URLs%]"
trackFullscreenURLs="[%Track Fullscreen URLs%]"
trackExitFullscreenURLs="[%Track Exit Fullscreen URLs%]"
trackPointTime="[%Track Point Time%]"
trackPointURLs="[%Track Point URL%]">
trackPauseURLs="[%Track Pause URLs%]"
trackResumeURLs="[%Track Resume URLs%]"
trackMuteURLs="[%Track Mute URLs%]"
trackUnmuteURLs="[%Track Unmute URLs%]">
<videoURL>[%URL to Video Creative%]</videoURL>
<videoClickURL>[%Video Click URL%]</videoClickURL>
</videoAd>

Figure 2. An Overlay Ad
An Overlay Ad is a graphical ad that displays in bottom third of the video display while the video plays.
Click here for a demo Overlay Ad example.

Figure 4. This is a combination of a Video Ad, a 300x250 expandable banner, and a 468x60 leave-behind creative.
Click here for a demo Video Pod Ad example.

Figure 5. A 468x60 Banner ad
Click here for a demo Banner ad example.

Figure 6. This is a combination of a Video Ad, a 300x250 expandable banner, and a 728x90 leave-behind creative.
Click here for a demo Video Pod (728x90) example.

Figure 7. A 728x90 Banner ad
Click here for a demo Banner ad example.

Figure 8. A 300x60 Banner Ad.
Click here for a demo Banner ad example.

Figure 9. A Video with a 300x60 ad
Click here for a demo Video + 300x60 ad example.
<SynchedBanner300x60 version="1"
duration="[%Ad Duration%]" trackStartURLs="[%Track Start URLs%]"
trackFirstQuartileURLs="[%Track First Quartile URLs%]"
trackMidURLs="[%Track Mid URLs%]"
trackThirdQuartileURLs="[%Track Third Quartile URLs%]"
trackEndURLs="[%Track End URLs%]"
trackFullscreenURLs="[%Track Fullscreen URLs%]"
trackExitFullscreenURLs="[%Track Exit Fullscreen URLs%]"
trackPointTime="[%Track Point Time%]"
trackPointURLs="[%Track Point URL%]"
trackPauseURLs="[%Track Pause URLs%]"
trackResumeURLs="[%Track Resume URLs%]"
trackMuteURLs="[%Track Mute URLs%]"
trackUnmuteURLs="[%Track Unmute URLs%]"
>
<videoURL>[%URL to Video Creative%]</videoURL>
<videoClickURL>[%Video Click URL%]</videoClickURL>
<collapsedBannerURL>[%URL to 300x60%]</collapsedBannerURL>
<collapsedBannerClickURL>[%300x60 Click URL%]</collapsedBannerClickURL>
</SynchedBanner300x60>

Figure 10. An Overlay Pod 468x60 ad
Click here for a demo Overlay Pod 468x60 ad example.

Figure 12. An Overlay Pod with a 728x90 banner ad
Click here for a demo player that shows the Overlay Pod 728x90 banners ad format.
Using an Ad Display SWF enables the use of Flash SWF-based ad components or modules. This opens up many possibilities for how an ad can look and behave, beyond the standard ad formats. The Ad Display SWF is an advanced tool that requires custom development. For more information, see Developing Ad Display SWFs.
Ad Display SWF XML specification<adSwf version="1" trackStartURLs="http://trackingurl"> <adSwfURL>http://pathtoadswf</adSwfURL> <optionalArg1>arg value</optionalArg> <optionalArg2>arg value 2</anotherArg> </adSwf>
Note that the optionalArg elements are just there to show you that you can freely add child elements to the adSwf element.

Figure 14. An Overlay and a 300x60 format.
Click here for a demo player that shows the Overlay + 300x60 format.
<SynchedOverlay300x60 version="1"
duration="[%Ad Duration%]"
trackStartURLs="[%Track Start URLs%]"
trackFirstQuartileURLs="[%Track First Quartile URLs%]"
trackMidURLs="[%Track Mid URLs%]"
trackThirdQuartileURLs="[%Track Third Quartile URLs%]"
trackEndURLs="[%Track End URLs%]"
trackFullscreenURLs="[%Track Fullscreen URLs%]"
trackExitFullscreenURLs="[%Track Exit Fullscreen URLs%]"
trackPointTime="[%Track Point Time%]"
trackPointURLs="[%Track Point URL%]">
<overlayURL>[%URL to Overlay Creative%]</overlayURL>
<overlayClickURL>[%Overlay Click URL%]</overlayClickURL>
<collapsedBannerURL trackStartURLs="">[%URL to 300x60%]</collapsedBannerURL>
<collapsedBannerClickURL>[%300x60 Click URL%]</collapsedBannerClickURL>
</SynchedOverlay300x60>
The Overlay 300x60 to Video format is a variation of the Overlay 300x60 format. With this format, you can click-through an Overlay 300x60 to a Video Ad.

Figure 15. The top image shows the Overlay 300x60. The bottom image shows what displays when you click-through to the Video Ad.
Click here for a demo player that shows the Overlay 300x60 to Video Ad Format. To see the video ad, click on the Overlay Ad while it is displayed.
<SynchedOverlay300x60 version="1"
duration="[%Ad Duration%]"
trackStartURLs="[%Track Start URLs%]"
trackFirstQuartileURLs="[%Track First Quartile URLs%]"
trackMidURLs="[%Track Mid URLs%]"
trackThirdQuartileURLs="[%Track Third Quartile URLs%]"
trackEndURLs="[%Track End URLs%]"
trackFullscreenURLs="[%Track Fullscreen URLs%]"
trackExitFullscreenURLs="[%Track Exit Fullscreen URLs%]"
trackPointTime="[%Track Point Time%]"
trackPointURLs="[%Track Point URL%]">
<overlayURL>[%URL to Overlay%]</overlayURL>
<expandedVideoURL duration="[%Video duration%]">[%URL to Video%]</expandedVideoURL>
<expandedVideoClickURL>[%Video Click URL%]</expandedVideoClickURL>
<collapsedBannerURL trackStartURLs="[%URL to 300x60%]"></collapsedBannerURL>
<collapsedBannerClickURL>[%300x60 Click URL%]</collapsedBannerClickURL>
</SynchedOverlay300x60>