VAST tracking events / NonLinear
otherAdInteraction VAST tracking event
Short answer: Catch-all NonLinear interaction that is not expand, collapse, or close. Introduced in VAST 4.0.
When it fires
The user interacted in a way the named events do not cover. Use it as a last resort, not as a substitute for acceptInvitation or adExpand.
The interactions the named events do not cover
otherAdInteraction is the NonLinear catch-all for a gesture that is not acceptInvitation, adExpand, adCollapse, minimize, or close. VAST 4.0 added it. It is a last resort. Pointing the expand URL, the close URL, and this URL at one endpoint, or using only this name, collapses the report back into a single undifferentiated count.
A 2.0 or 3.0 player will not call it. If the interaction you care about has a name in the version you declared, use that name.
Keeping the catch-all from eating the named events
If the player emits otherAdInteraction for an expand, your adExpand URL stays dark and the catch-all becomes the whole report. That is a player mapping bug. Fix it in the player or stop using the catch-all in the KPI. Adding more copies of otherAdInteraction to the tag does not split the gestures back apart.
Use the named events first: acceptInvitation, adExpand, adCollapse, minimize, close. Add otherAdInteraction only for a control that has no name. Document, next to the tag, which control that is. A later reader cannot tell from the event name alone.
When the column stays empty
otherAdInteraction is absent from VAST 2.0 and from 3.0. A player that only implements those versions will not request it. The version table on this page is the set that includes it.
Each wrapper hop may include its own otherAdInteraction URL. The player requests every one of them when the event happens, so a chain of four hops produces four calls for one playback. An http URL on an https page is dropped by the browser before the ad server sees a miss. The event name can be right and the scheme can still zero the column.
Where it is valid
| 2.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.1+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| No | No | Yes | Yes |
Legal containers: NonLinear. An event in the wrong container is not a player error. It is a URL nobody calls.
Using it in a tag
Put it in a NonLinear TrackingEvents block. It is not valid on the other creative types, and a player does not fire a tracker in the wrong container.
<NonLinear>
<TrackingEvents>
<Tracking event="otherAdInteraction">
<![CDATA[https://track.example.com/otherAdInteraction]]>
</Tracking>
</TrackingEvents>
</NonLinear>VAST XML fragment only. This excerpt belongs inside a complete VAST document, so standalone validation will fail until it is wrapped in a full <VAST>response.
Related vastlint rules
- VAST-4.1-tracking-event-value: Tracking event attribute not in the valid set for this VAST version
Related events
- acceptInvitation: Fires when the user accepts a NonLinear invitation (expands or engages).
- adExpand: Fires when the creative expands. 4.0+ name replacing expand.
- close: Fires when a NonLinear creative is closed by the user.
Check the XML, then confirm the beacons fire
Validate the event names and containers on the document. Test a live URL when the XML is clean and reporting is still empty.