vastlint

VPAID deprecated: what to use instead

Short answer

VPAID is deprecated. It is blocked on most CTV and SSAI environments, increasingly fragile on the open web, and the replacement path is clear: use a standard video <MediaFile> for playback, SIMIDfor interactivity, and OMID for verification.

Why this happens

VPAID assumes the ad creative can execute JavaScript in a player-controlled environment. That model breaks on native CTV players, breaks in SSAI, and creates security and latency problems even where it still technically runs. The result is a class of failures that often looks like a blank slot, not a clean player error.

If you are still trafficking VPAID, the main question is not whether some browser can still execute it. The main question is how much of your inventory is silently rejecting it.

Copyable fix example

<!-- ❌ Deprecated VPAID-only setup -->
<MediaFiles>
  <MediaFile delivery="progressive" type="application/javascript"
             apiFramework="VPAID" width="1280" height="720">
    <![CDATA[https://example.com/vpaid.js]]>
  </MediaFile>
</MediaFiles>

<!-- ✅ Migrate to standard video + SIMID -->
<MediaFiles>
  <MediaFile delivery="progressive" type="video/mp4" width="1280" height="720">
    <![CDATA[https://example.com/ad.mp4]]>
  </MediaFile>
  <InteractiveCreativeFile type="text/html" apiFramework="SIMID">
    <![CDATA[https://example.com/simid-creative.html]]>
  </InteractiveCreativeFile>
</MediaFiles>

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.

Exact rule pages

Use the right tool for deprecated VPAID tags

If you already have the VAST XML, validate it for deprecated VPAID patterns. If you only have a live endpoint, test the live tag first. If the failure is happening in a CTV wrapper chain, inspect each hop before you migrate it.

Validate this XML →Test this live URL →Inspect this wrapper chain →

Further reading