How to display VAST companion Ads without Linear/NonLinearAds section

[Leo]

SDK: IMA3 HTML5 SDK

Is there a way to render a VAST XML response without `Linear/NonLinearAds` section? I tried the following Vast Url on the Video Suite Inspector page (https://developers.google.com/interactive-media-ads/docs/sdks/html5/vastinspector), but it shows the following error: "Ad error: AdError 100: VAST response was malformed and could not be parsed."

It turns out to be the Linear/NonLinearAds section is missing in the VAST response, but the Linear/NonLinearAds sections are not required in the iAB VAST 2.0 spec. Is there a way to walk around this issue using IMA3 SDK?

VAST Url (2.0.1): https://cmod.live.streamtheworld.com/ondemand/creative?cat=cm-preroll&cid=Y206YWQ9NzQ3OTYxMSZjcz00ODQ1MDExJnR1PTA&fmt=vast-instream&stid=69443&lsid=cookie:e7acafc7-0ccb-44b7-a127-551e2e9e04c0&cb=1074406715

Thanks,

Leo

[Chris Feldman (IMA SDK Team)]

Hi Leo,

Showing companion ads without a linear/non-linear ad is not currently supported via the IMA SDK. For that use case, I'd suggest using another Google ads SDK.

Regards,

Chris Feldman
IMA SDK Team

[Leo]

Hi Chris, 

Thank you for your reply. 

Can you tell me the name of the other Google ads SDK which can render VAST companion Ad without linear/non-linear ad?

Thanks,
Leo

[Chris Feldman (IMA SDK Team)]

Hi,

I would suggest using AdSense. The ads won't technically be companion ads, but you can place them around your video player in the same way.

Regards,

Chris Feldman
IMA SDK Team

[Leo]

Hmm, how would AdSense help in this case? It looks like AdSense is a product, but what I want is an Ad rendering SDK which can render companion Ads in VAST XML without linear/non-linear ads. 

Thanks,

Leo

[Chris Feldman (IMA SDK Team)]

Hi,

The use case you're describing is not currently supported by the IMA SDK. Companion ads must accompany a linear or non-linear ad. So if you want to show ads on your page without a video component, I'd suggest using AdSense.

Regards,

Chris Feldman

IMA SDK Team

[Leo]

I see. Thank you for all your replies. 

Thanks,
Leo