Since 2023, programmatic buyers have had a new tool for targeting instream video inventory: the IAB Tech Lab’s video.plcmt spec.
Nearly all major SSPs have adopted the instream spec, but six of the top 10 DSPs hadn’t as of August, according to a Jounce Media report, and it’s unclear what their current status is.
Jounce declined to specify which DSPs have or haven’t adopted the new spec. But AdExchanger independently confirmed that Google DV360 and Basis Technologies have both done so, and it was previously reported that The Trade Desk has, too.
Many DSPs still use the legacy video.placement spec, which, from the Tech Lab’s perspective, is an antiquated version. This is forcing SSPs that adopted the new spec to also pass the old spec, because they can’t simply not communicate with so many DSPs.
This dynamic creates confusion about which video placement signal should be prioritized for video ad bidding decisions. This confusion negates much of what the new spec is trying to fix, such as the ability to block floating video ad players that move around as people scroll through a site.
Even Google, which has adopted the new spec, is still mixing the old signals with the new ones.
Double standards
Google told AdExchanger last March that its DSP, DV360, began ingesting the new video.plcmt field in 2023. It started requiring publishers to include the video.plcmt field in their AdX bid requests on April 1, 2024.
But according to Jounce, Google’s SSP, Google Ad Manager (GAM), passes both the new and old specs in bid requests – leaving industry insiders to wonder whether DV360 bases its bidding decisions on the new signal or the legacy one.
AdExchanger asked Google for clarification.
“As many SSPs are still sending both video.plcmt and video.placement fields, Display & Video 360 is still recognizing both fields,” a Google spokesperson told AdExchanger.
Ad buyers set their parameters within DV360, Google said, and can filter out certain types of video ad placements. DV360’s position targeting controls, for example, allow users to divide instream from outstream video ads for a campaign.
But according to the Tech Lab’s new standards, a video placement can only be labeled as “instream” in the new video.plcmt spec if users arrive on a page expecting to watch that video. Audio playback for the video must also be on by default.
Under DV360’s instream category, buyers can select pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll placements – all of which are considered instream under the Tech Lab’s new and old standards.
However, DV360’s position targeting interface does not have controls for targeting sound-on inventory or video that is the main focus of a page – which are the main markers of instream under the new standard.
Classification breakdown
Meanwhile, GAM, Google’s SSP, also hasn’t fully embraced the new instream standard.
But wait, doesn’t Google now require publishers to include the video.plcmt field in all AdX bid requests? If so, why would GAM still send the old spec?
Because while DV360 has adopted the new spec, other DSPs haven’t. GAM must pass both signals “to ensure that inventory doesn’t go mislabeled or unsold,” Google told AdExchanger.
There is an important nuance here, though, according to Jounce Media founder Chris Kane. While other SSPs allow publishers to categorize their inventory in both the new video.plcmt and old video.placement fields, GAM controls how inventory is categorized under the old field.
Let’s back up.
Under the new video.plcmt spec, SSPs and media owners label video ad inventory using numbers 1 to 4. A value of 1 designates “instream,” while 2, 3 and 4 designate inventory types that do not meet the IAB Tech Lab’s new criteria for instream. (Here’s a detailed breakdown of how inventory is classified under the new spec.)
The old video.placement spec uses labels 1 through 5 and also uses different standards.
For example, although 1 also signifies “instream” under the old video spec, the criteria are different than the new spec. The old spec treated any pre-roll, mid-roll or post-roll placement as instream, regardless of whether the sound was on or whether the video was the main focus of the page.
Meanwhile, the new spec also introduced inventory classifications that more closely align with today’s online video experience.
A 2 in the new video.plcmt field indicates that a video ad is “accompanying content,” such as a floating video player that plays ads and some other type of content. Accompanying content makes up about 30% of online video ad supply, according to Jounce.
The accompanying content designation did not exist under the old video.placement spec. Previously, SSPs and media owners would often label what’s now considered “accompanying content” as “instream.”
Those placements no longer meet the Tech Lab’s standard for instream video because the videos aren’t the main focus of the page and are often muted by default. One of the main goals in creating the new standard at all was to distinguish between accompanying content – which many buyers want to avoid – and actual instream inventory.
Signal confusion
According to Jounce’s report, while GAM allows publishers to populate the new video.plcmt field in bid requests, it does not allow publishers to populate the old video.placement field.
Instead, Jounce says, publishers that want access to AdX demand through GAM must implement Google’s Interactive Media Ads (IMA) SDK, which is a client-side service that gathers data about a site’s ad experience. The IMA SDK then automatically populates the old video.placement field in bid requests.
When a publisher labels its video ad inventory as “2-accompanying content” under the new spec, according to Jounce, the IMA SDK auto-classifies the inventory as “1-instream” for bidders on the old spec.
This results in GAM classifying 100% of accompanying content video ad placements as instream under the old video spec, Jounce says. Because many DSPs still use the old spec, buyers that set their DSP bidding criteria to only target instream inventory still end up buying plenty of video ads that wouldn’t be classified as instream under the new standards.
Asked to confirm whether Jounce’s assessment is accurate, Google challenged the assertion that publishers must use the IMA SDK if they want access to AdX demand through GAM.
Google’s spokesperson clarified that GAM also “supports instream video SDKs and libraries built to render ads within video players, like IMA and PAL [Programmatic Access Library].” According to Google, GAM populates the legacy video.placement parameter “based on whether [the publisher is] using an in-stream SDK or a non-instream SDK or library, like GMA [Google Mobile Ads] SDK or GPT [Google Publisher Tag].”
Still, that leaves the issue of inventory that publishers are labeling as non-instream accompanying content under the new video.plcmt spec being reclassified as instream video by GAM as a result of DSPs failing to adopt the new spec.
Google says it labels accompanying content as instream video under the old spec because it was considered instream under the IAB Tech Lab’s previous standards, which remain in use. According to the spokesperson, Google has “not changed the logic in how we classify placement since the launch of the new plcmt field.”
But because buyers are willing to pay more for instream, how publishers label their inventory is a consequential decision, Jounce’s Kane said. “It is not appropriate, and it is not the norm, for an SSP to unilaterally make that decision on behalf of all of its customers,” he said.
The deprecation deadline is now
Inaccurately labeled video inventory is exactly what the IAB Tech Lab was trying to avoid when it released the new video.plcmt spec, said Hillary Slattery, the Tech Lab’s senior director of product management and programmatic.
In a release note for OpenRTB version 2.6-202303 from April 2023, Slattery wrote, “this update includes a proposed deprecation of the current video.placement field in 2024, along with deprecation of the values 1-5” used under the old spec.
Asked whether the Tech Lab considers the old video.placement spec to be deprecated as of January 2025, Slattery said, “IAB Tech Lab considers the video.placement field deprecated as of March 2023.”
With that in mind, does the Tech Lab have any guidance for publishers and platforms still using the old video.placement field? Nope, because they shouldn’t be using the old field at all.
“Continuing to use the legacy field creates inconsistencies, reduces buyer trust and misaligns with industry standards,” Slattery said.
And in the Tech Lab’s view, the practice of labeling accompanying content as instream under the legacy video.placement spec “should be discontinued immediately,” she said.
The Tech Lab’s working group discussions “revealed strong buy-side opposition to any interpretation of video.placement=1 that includes accompanying content,” according to Slattery.
Google’s OpenRTB guide for authorized buyers has this to say of the old video placement spec: “Note: Deprecated. This will be removed in Jan 2025 per the IAB.”
AdExchanger asked Google whether it did in fact deprecate the old video.placement field this month. Google said, “The note regarding the Jan 2025 deprecation date appears to be in reference to the IAB’s timelines, not specific to Google Ad Manager’s plans.”
So, no then.
AdExchanger asked Google whether it will stop labeling accompanying content as instream under the legacy video.placement field in light of the Tech Lab’s guidance – but Google declined to comment. It also declined to share any plans for transitioning solely to video.plcmt.
In short, confusion will continue to reign until the video.placement field is no longer in use by Google or any other DSP or SSP. And as for when that comes to pass – well, it’s anyone’s guess.
