Table of Contents
Overview
In most Real-Time Bidding (RTB) transactions, publishers and exchanges prefer to retain control over the ability to skip a video ad. OpenRTB assumes by default that a standard linear video ad will be the response to a skippable request, and that the ad player will automatically provide the option to skip (Source: OpenRTB 2.4 Spec).
If a bid request includes a “skippable” attribute, it indicates that the publisher will impose a skip button on the ad. If the “skippable” attribute is absent, it should be assumed that it is unknown whether the publisher will offer a skip button.
How it Works
The “Skippable” attribute for is available for both VAST Inline and VAST Wrapper video creatives. This allows advertisers to specify whether an ad is eligible to be skipped by selecting the “Skippable” option in the Creative Attributes section of the Edit Creative screen.
Advertisers cannot force a skip as an option, meaning they cannot exclusively target skippable inventory. The available options are:
- Skippable inventory: Ads may be skipped, but it depends on whether the publisher supports this feature.
- Non-skippable inventory: Ads cannot be skipped.
By selecting the "Skippable" option, the advertiser indicates that they are comfortable with the ad being skipped on inventory where skipping is allowed.
The platform does not fully support use cases where advertisers provide their own skip functionality (e.g., using VPAID to implement a custom skip button), but does not prohibit it. However, advertisers may experience unexpected behavior when using VPAID creatives with custom skip buttons.
When setting a creative as "Skippable," there is also an option to set a skip offset. This determines how far into the video a viewer must watch before the skip option becomes available.