Support and compatibility

This page provides general information on HTML5 IMA client-side support and compatibility for browsers, video formats, and platforms.

Supported video formats and browsers

Support for various features differs among browsers, and there is no single default video format supported by all major browsers. The three main video formats used in the majority of browsers are H.264, WebM, and Ogg Theora.

Supported video players

A majority of IMA features are supported by typical HTML5 video players, including the HTML <video> tag. See Video Technology Partner Program for a list of known video players with IMA SDK support.

VAST event compatibility

This section lists the VAST events that are automatically reported to the server based on the information returned in the VAST response.

Fully supported

complete, creativeView, firstQuartile, impression, midpoint, pause, resume, rewind (fired when there is any significant seeking in the backward direction), start, thirdQuartile.

Partially supported

• click

  The Click event is only sent for video ads. Clicks cannot be captured on the native fullscreen players on Android, iOS, or desktop, but clicks can still be captured by an in-page click tracking element when the video is closed. However, if the video element uses native controls on the iPad, clicks cannot be captured.

• fullscreen
  

  The IMA SDK supports a simulated full screen mode, in which the video takes up the whole browser window. We consider a video to be in full screen mode when its offsetWidth and offsetHeight are at least the size of the document body. This mode is supported on all browsers. For an example of simulated full screen, download the sample.

  On the iPhone and pre-3.0 Android platforms, video will always play back in full screen mode.

• mute, unmute

  iOS and Android only have native control of the volume. As such, the IMA SDK cannot determine the volume or mute state, nor are we notified of changes. Below is a list of the browser versions which do and do not support mute, unmute:

  • Supported: Firefox 3.5+, Chrome 8+, Safari 4+
  • Not supported: iOS, Android

For further details on VAST ad serving, refer to the IAB guidelines.

Caveats for JavaScript frameworks

There are certain considerations when using a JavaScript framework, such as React or AngularJS, with the IMA HTML5 SDK. These frameworks often move elements of the DOM, which can break IMA functionality since IMA expects the DOM to be static when the SDK is initiated. IMA supports JavaScript frameworks so long as IMA is initiated after the framework has finished moving DOM elements. Specifically, the HTML5 element passed as the containerElement argument when constructing the AdDisplayContainer should not be moved once it is instantiated.

Apple AirPlay support

The IMA SDK does not currently support Apple AirPlay. Either disable AirPlay or disable ad requests when AirPlay is detected.

Supported video player platforms

The Google IMA SDKs are supported on the following platforms:

Platform	Version	Ad Type
HTML5	Desktop: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Opera Mobile: Chrome/Android Browser (Android for phones and tablets), Safari and Chrome (iOS)	Linear, non-linear and companion ads, Ad Manager Video Solutions, Ad Exchange video, and AFV ads
iOS	iOS 10.0+	Linear and companion ads, Ad Manager video, Ad Exchange video, and AFV ads
Android	Android 4.4+	Linear and companion ads, Ad Manager video, Ad Exchange video, and AFV ads
tvOS	tvOS 14+	Linear ads, Ad Manager video, and Ad Exchange video

Video features and SDK versions

To learn more about the following features, read video advertising overview.

	HTML5 v3	iOS v3	Android v3	tvOS
IAB Video Suite
VAST 4	9	9	9	9
VAST 3		1	1	1
VAST 2
SIMID 1.0
VPAID 2 (HTML5)
VMAP 1.0.1	2 3	2	2	2
OM SDK 1.3
Ad Manager Video features
Linear ads
YouTube-hosted assets	4
Non-linear ads (Overlays)	5
Companions
VAST 3 alternate companion ad resources
Active View viewability
Audio ads
VAST Redirects
Companion backfill with display request
Google Publisher Tag (GPT) compatibility
Content awareness
Ad rules	3
Manual ad breaks in ad rules
Frequency caps 6
Competitive exclusions (stream)
Competitive exclusions (pod)
Competitive exclusions (whole page)
Podding	3
Bumpers
Reporting on multi-event tracking (MET)
Dynamic allocation (AdSense for video, Ad Manager Ad Exchange)
Skippable (non-TrueView) 8	5
InStream Select
Asset Preloading	7
AdSense for Video features
TrueView InStream	5
InStream Select
Standard InStream
Full-slot
Companions
Companion backfill
Overlays	5
Asset Preloading	7
Ad Manager Ad Exchange features
TrueView InStream	5
InStream Select
Standard InStream
Full-slot
Companions
Companion backfill
Overlays	5
Active View viewability
Asset Preloading	7
Why This Ad?

¹ The following VAST 3.0 features are not yet supported in the non-HTML5 SDKs:

• Companion adSlotId
• Companion delivery options
• Icons

² The following VMAP features are not yet supported:

• VMAP-specific tracking events
• VMAP-specific error codes
• Overlay ads
• Time offsets other than hh:mm:ss or "start" and "end"
• Display breakType attribute
• repeatAfter attribute

³ Support for VMAP and ad rules on iPhone requires custom ad playback.

⁴ YouTube-hosted creatives are supported on the desktop but not on mobile web.

⁵ Non-linear ads (Overlays), Skippable (non-TrueView), and TrueView InStream ads are supported on HTML5 mobile web on iOS 10+ when playsinline is used .

⁶ Ad rules frequency caps and competitive exclusions require cookies or PPID.

⁷ Native asset preload does not work with the following:

• Mobile web on iOS devices
• Mobile web on Android pre-4.0
• YouTube-hosted ads, including TrueView formats
• IMA manual break playback feature (any implementation that relies on the AD_BREAK_READY event)

⁸ The SDK does not support skippable ads that are less than 8 seconds long. When ads shorter than the minimum length are played, the Skip button is not displayed.

⁹ Of the VAST 4 features supported by Google Ad Manager, IMA support the following features:

• VAST 4.2
  • Support for Secure Interactive Media Interface Definition (SIMID)
  • Allowance of multiple UniversalAdID nodes
• VAST 4.0
  • AdID
  • Mezzanine file
  • New VAST error codes
  • AdVerifications support

Deprecated SDKs

	Flash v2	HTML5 v1	iOS v1	Android v1	Google Cast v2
Ad Manager Video features
Linear ads
Non-linear ads
Interactive (VPAID 1.0) ads
Redirects (VAST 2.0)
Companion backfill (AdSense for video, Ad Manager Ad Exchange)
Audio ads
Google Publisher Tag (GPT) compatibility
Frequency caps
Competitive exclusions (stream)
Competitive exclusions (pod)
Competitive exclusions (whole page)
Content awareness
Ad Rules and Manual ad breaks in ad rules
Podding
Bumpers
Multi-event tracking (MET) for reporting
Dynamic allocation
Skippable
InStream Select
AdSense for Video features
Text ads
AdSense VAST InStream
AdSense overlay
Skippable
InStream Select
User Choice (YouTube)
F2F ads in Ad Manager
Ad Manager Ad Exchange features
Linear ads