VAST macros / Identity and privacy
[LIMITADTRACKING] VAST macro
Short answer: Whether the user has enabled limit ad tracking (1) or not (0). Introduced in VAST 4.1.
What it means
A 0/1 flag reporting the device limit-ad-tracking setting. When 1, the [IFA] is typically zeroed or withheld and personalised targeting must be suppressed.
Example value
After the player substitutes the macro, [LIMITADTRACKING] becomes something like:
0Where it is valid
Impression, tracking, and click URLs alongside [IFA].
Macros are case-sensitive and substituted only inside URL fields. A macro written in the wrong case, or placed where it has no defined value, is sent to the server as literal text instead of a value.
Using it in a tag
<Impression><![CDATA[https://t.example.com/i?val=[LIMITADTRACKING]&cb=[CACHEBUSTING]]]></Impression>VAST XML fragment only. This excerpt belongs inside a complete VAST document, so standalone validation will fail until it is wrapped in a full <VAST>response.
Related vastlint rules
- VAST-2.0-macro-unknown: URL contains a [MACRO] that is not a recognised IAB VAST macro
- VAST-2.0-macro-lowercase: Recognised macro is not uppercase — players match macro names case-sensitively
Related macros
- [IFA]: The device advertising identifier (IDFA, AAID, or CTV ad ID) for the request.
- [IFATYPE]: The type of advertising identifier carried in [IFA] (e.g. idfa, aaid, rida).
- [GDPR]: Binary flag for whether GDPR applies to this request (1) or not (0).
Validate your macros
vastlint flags unknown, mis-cased, deprecated, out-of-context, and unencoded macros in any tracking, click, error, impression, or media URL:
# CLI: exits non-zero on errors, ideal for pipelines
vastlint check creative.xmlUse the right tool for this failure
If you already have the resolved XML, run a pure spec check. If you only have a live tag URL, test that endpoint first. If the failure happens in the wrapper chain, inspect each hop.