CTV & video · also called Video Multiple Ad Playlist
VMAP
VMAP (Video Multiple Ad Playlist) is an IAB Tech Lab XML standard describing where ad breaks fall in a video, such as pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll slots.
VAST describes an individual ad. VMAP describes the schedule: where in a piece of content the ad breaks go. A VMAP document lists breaks with their timing, for example at the start, at 10 minutes, at 25 minutes and at the end, and for each break points to a VAST request or includes ads directly.
Content owners use VMAP when they want their ad server to control break placement, rather than hard-coding it into the player. That makes it easy to change ad schedules across a library, or to vary them by device, content type or audience. VMAP is widely supported by video players and ad servers, and is mostly used for long-form on-demand video.
In SSAI and live streaming, breaks are often signalled differently, using markers embedded in the stream, but the idea is the same: tell the system where ads should go. VMAP sits alongside VAST, SIMID and VPAID in the IAB's video standards family.
Think of it like this
VMAP is like the running order of a variety show, marking when the interval and each commercial break happens; VAST describes each individual act in those breaks.
An example
A documentary streamer in Australia sends a VMAP with a pre-roll at 0:00, mid-rolls at 12:00 and 28:00, and a post-roll, each pointing to a different VAST ad request.
Related terms
VAST
VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) is the IAB Tech Lab standard XML format that tells a video player which ad to play, where to fetch it and which tracking events to report.
Pre-roll
Pre-roll is a video ad that plays before the content the viewer chose to watch begins.
Mid-roll
Mid-roll is a video ad or ad break that plays partway through content, interrupting it, like a traditional TV commercial break.
Ad pod
An ad pod is a group of video ads played back to back in a single ad break, like a traditional TV commercial break, common in CTV and long-form streaming.
Instream video
Instream video is a video ad that plays within a video player before, during or after video content the viewer chose to watch, such as pre-roll, mid-roll or post-roll.
Sources: IAB Tech Lab VMAP, IAB Tech Lab VAST