VPAID Tester Inconsistency

[Ian]

IMA SDK Team,

I have a VPAID ad I am reviewing for issues, but I see conflicting behavior between the Video Suite Inspector (fails unless set to insecure) and the IMA HTML5 SDK Advanced Demo (works).

Here's the VAST tag I am using for testing:

https://vast.mathtag.com/?debug=1&exch=brx&id=asfasf&sid=111666111&cid=5324772&price=12&protocol_version=1&aid=123&adverid=123

Should I be using one tester and not the other? When I search for VPAID results, I saw the advanced demo come up often so I thought I'd ask for clarification.

TIA,

- Ian

[ima-sdk-adv...@google.com]

Hi Ian,

The Video Suite Inspector and the Advanced Demo can both be used to test your ads, but you should be aware of the differences. The Advanced Demo is open source, and is intended as a reference implementation for publishers setting up their own player. The VSI, on the other hand, is specifically meant for testing VAST responses and is useful because it allows for some configuration changes via a user interface.

The other big difference is that with the VSI the SDK is hosted within an iframe, while on the Advanced Demo it is not. This is a possible explanation for why your ad is playing on one and not the other. 

Regards,
Chris Feldman
IMA SDK Team

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[Ian]

Thank you for the explanation Chris. Hopefully this will be helpful to others as well.

- Ian

[Ian]

Chris,

The iframe used on the VSI is in fact causing our ad to fail. When I load the top iframe source in it's own tab, the ad plays as we would expect.

Edit: We had some issues internally replicating this so I made a screen capture video to clarify my steps: https://photos.app.goo.gl/tuyZ9wQ2u8jFHNeg8

Could this be related to VPAID and the extra iframe on the VSI tester?

[ima-sdk-adv...@google.com]

Hi Ian,

Allow me to provide support since Chris is currently OOO. If an ad is expected to access a DOM, it should not be able to work on ENABLED mode, hence, you will need to have it set to INSECURE so that the SDK can then provide the element instead of a proxy as discussed here.

Let me know if this helps or if you require more information.

Thanks and regards,

Peter

IMA SDK Team

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[Ian]

Hello Peter, thanks for jumping in while Chris is out.

My previous question revolves less in setting VpaidMode, and more in the inner workings of the VSI tester. Apologies if that wasn't made clear enough.

If you take a look at my screen capture, when I test the VPAID on the VSI I get the following error:

Ad error: AdError 901: An unexpected error occurred within the VPAID creative. Refer to the inner error for more info. Caused by: Error: Error: null

However, once I open the outer iframe "https://developers.google.com/interactive-media-ads/docs/sdks/html5/vastinspector..." used to load the body of the VSI tester in a new tab, the ad works.

The ad also works in the IMA HTML5 SDK Advanced Demo, which does not use the outer iframe that the VSI does as Chris noted, so I'm asking if there is any possibility that the outer iframe could be causing the 901 error to be thrown on the VSI?

[ima-sdk-adv...@google.com]

Hi,

That is correct. It is most likely the iframe that your VPAID ad is not compatible with. If you can, I would suggest reaching out to the VPAID creative provider for more information about the ad. If you are the VPAID creative provider (as in, you developed this ad), you may want to take a look at our sample VPAID ad on GitHub.

Regards,
Chris Feldman
IMA SDK Team

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[Ian]

Hi Chris,

Which of the two iframes used on the VSI is this ad not compatible with?

I'm having difficulty isolation the root issue here. When I bypass the outer VSI iframe by opening that URL directly in a new tab, the ad play through the SDK proxy as expected. That means the bridge iframe and proxy is working as it should, correct? The ad fails with a 901 only when the outer VSI iframe is present.

Thank you for taking the time with this. Your insight is greatly appreciated.

- Ian

[ima-sdk-adv...@google.com]

Hi Ian,

That's correct. The ad is likely not interacting favorable with the outer VSI iframe. It's difficult to speculate further without knowledge of your ad's implementation. My best suggestion would be to compare your code to our sample's and see where they differ. We generally don't support VPAID creative issues on this forum.

Regards,

Chris Feldman
IMA SDK Team

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[Ian]

I understand the decision to limit support of VPAID issues Chris - thanks for drudging through this one.

The ad implementation is an expanded version of the linear Git example you linked previously. It's very clearly based off it. Can I share details with you privately?

The part that I can't get past is the 901 VPAID error is thrown on the VSI only when the outer iframe is present, however the VSI is the "go-to" tester for most including myself. It's throwing me for loops since I cannot confirm if the root issue stems from this VPAID ad or the VSI's outer iframe.

- Ian

[ima-sdk-adv...@google.com]

Hi Ian,

You can use the 'Reply Privately' option to share the information. I don't mind taking a look.

Regards,
Chris Feldman
IMA SDK Team

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[ima-sdk-adv...@google.com]

Hi,

Thank you for following up with your code. When I try to play that ad, I get the following error:

Ad error: AdError 901: An unexpected error occurred within the VPAID creative. Refer to the inner error for more info. Caused by: Error: Error: getPlayer is not defined

Regards,

Chris Feldman
IMA SDK Team 

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[ima-sdk-adv...@google.com]

Hi Ian,

Chris is OOO. I'll be assisting you with your issue today.

I didn't find any specific issue with your implementation, however, I would advice you to contact your VPAID creative provider for this to be resolved. As mentioned by my colleague, one of the outer iFrame is breaking this and the best way to resolve would be to contact their support directly for this.

Regards,
Deepika Uragayala
IMA SDK Team

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On 08/02/18 14:40:43 ima-sdk-adv...@google.com wrote:

Hi,

Thank you for following up with your code. When I try to play that ad, I get the following error:

Ad error: AdError 901: An unexpected error occurred within the VPAID creative. Refer to the inner error for more info. Caused by: Error: Error: getPlayer is not defined

Regards,

Chris Feldman
IMA SDK Team 

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[Ian]

Hello Deepika, thanks for getting back to me.

Please correct me if I am mistaken - Isn't the outer iframe we are discussing part of the VSI page HTML?

<iframe class="framebox inherit-locale " style="width: calc(100% + 40px); height: calc(2500px + 40px);" src="https://developers.google.com/interactive-media-ads/docs/sdks/html5/vastinspector_5ba2007beb4682c53068740df57bb596.frame?hl=en"></iframe>

I created a recording where I load the ad directly in the VSI and it failed with a 901 error. Then I open the outermost iframe (HTML provided above) directly in a new tab and the ad loads without an error.

I don't understand how the ad can be responsible for the error if I can bypass it as outlined above.

- Ian

[ima-sdk-adv...@google.com]

Hi Ian,

I wasn't able to use the new uncompiled-vpaid.js either. With that file, I get "Error: Error: Cannot read property 'replace' of undefined". I get this error in our Advanced Demo and in the VSI. Is this the correct file? If so, can you also share how you're integrating it into your VAST response?

Regards,

Chris Feldman

IMA SDK Team

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[Ian]

Hi Chris, 

I'm sorry this is dragging on. I really appreciate the teams help.

Closure-compiler is used to compile the scripts. Separating them uncompiled was an attempt at making it easier to troubleshoot, but that seems to be backfiring.

VPAID VAST: https://vast.mathtag.com/?debug=1&exch=brx&id=asfasf&sid=111666111&cid=5324772&price=12&protocol_version=1&aid=123&adverid=123

Compiled VPAID script: https://vpaid.mathtag.com/latest.js

Thanks,

- Ian

[ima-sdk-adv...@google.com]

Hi Ian,

With the complete tag, I was able to reproduce the issue. I'm going to share this with the rest of our team for a closer look. I'll let you know as soon as I have more information that I can share.

Regards,

Chris Feldman
IMA SDK Team

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[Ian]

Thank you so much Chris!

[Ian]

Good morning Chris. Any updates you can share after your review?

[ima-sdk-adv...@google.com]

Hi Ian,

We spent some time looking at this and we do think it's related to the fact that the VSI is hosted in a cross-domain iframe. It is possible to make your ad work in this type of environment, but we saw that it required INSECURE mode.

Regards,
Chris Feldman
IMA SDK Team

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On 08/14/18 10:57:59 ian....@gmail.com wrote:

Good morning Chris. Any updates you can share after your review?

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[Ian]

Thanks for getting back to me Chris!

What do you recommend for reliable VPAID testing if the cross-domain iframe is impacting results? Does INSECURE mode need to be manually selected to accurately test VPAID ads on the VSI?

- Ian

[ima-sdk-adv...@google.com]

Hi Ian,

If you'd like to take the cross-domain iframe out of the equation, you should use our Advanced Demo. The source is on GitHub so you should be able to make any modifications you deem necessary.

Regarding your other question, INSECURE mode will only be required in the VSI for ads that require a friendly iframe when served in a cross-domain iframe environment. There is no single "best" method of testing. The best option for you should be the one that most closely mimics the page that the ad will eventually be served on.

Regards,

Chris Feldman

IMA SDK Team

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[Ian]

Hello Chris, thank you yet again for your insight and assistance.

I see now that there can be outside variables that the VSI inspector simply cannot account for (I'm looking at you VPAID). In my case and I'm sure others as well, publishers and advertisers treat it as their only source of truth, especially when the IMA SDK is utilized. If the VSI isn't always able to produce an accurate representation of how VAST will be displayed "in the wild", perhaps it would make sense to inform users with some sort of note of caution so they don't go down a rabbit hole trying to find a solution as I did. Maybe something along the lines of: 'This inspector may or may not provide a complete representation of your ad in it's intended endpoint. If this is for advertisement purposes, please use a tester that reflects the environment it will be served to as accurately as possible.'.

Again Chris, I can't thank you and the rest of the IMA team enough for you attention, patience, and support through this. It is so greatly appreciated.

- Ian