Engagement stands at the cornerstone of successful digital strategies, serving as a catalyst for deeper connections between brands and their audiences. It fuels a dynamic exchange that fosters a sense of involvement and overcomes passive consumption. It’s for this reason that interactive video ads have emerged as a powerful tool that promises heightened engagement levels.

Despite its potential, the widespread adoption of interactive video ads has faced obstacles, particularly in ensuring smooth user experiences while maintaining security and cross-platform compatibility. This is where SIMID (Secure Interactive Media Interface Definition) comes in. Introduced at the end of 2019 SIMID provides a standardized framework for seamless interactivity in streaming video ads replacing the conventional VPAID model.

Growth of IAB standards 2008-2022 Blue Bil

What is SIMID?

SIMID is an open standard developed by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) to facilitate communication between media players and interactive ad layers. SIMID enables the creation of a wide range of interactive video formats that deliver engaging and immersive experiences for users.

Interactive features include clickable hotspots with embedded information or actions, interactive overlays with additional content or call-to-actions as well as branching video content that adapts to viewer choices.

Additionally, SIMID offers several compelling advantages for both publishers and advertisers:

  • Enhanced player control over ad interactivity
  • Improved user experience with minimal latency issues
  • Greater flexibility in creating interactive ad experiences
  • Cross-platform compatibility across web, in app and OTT devices
  • Enhanced third-party measurement under OMID (Open Measurement Interface Definition) for optimization of ad performance
  • Secure environment for ad delivery and user interaction.

Interactive Shoppable Formats for Retail Media

SIMID also supports interactive shoppable formats which are particularly valuable for retail media. These formats allow viewers to directly explore and purchase products within the video ad thereby merging advertising and e-commerce.

Retailers can create engaging and effective campaigns that drive conversions and enhance their overall media strategy. Users can discover products, view product details, and even add items to their shopping cart within the video ad.

These shoppable ads have already proven hugely successful. Retail giant Walmart’s shoppable ads received at least three times higher click-through rates than an average video campaign and NBCUniversal reported that brand awareness increased four times over, with 40 percent to 70 percent of viewers saying they were likely to buy items featured.

See a success story from one of our clients utilizing our Interactive Video Ads Studio solution by creating an interactive shoppable video campaign run under the SIMID standard.

The Future of SIMID in Digital Advertising

While the digital advertising industry has been rather slow to adopt SIMID, in the past year we’ve seen it gain more traction in an increasing number of markets. That said, several of the major ad systems as well as video player vendors are yet to adopt the standard. For digital advertising to continue to evolve, widespread support for SIMID will play an increasingly important role in delivering engaging and effective interactive video ad experience as well as become the standard for interactive video ads thereby replacing VPAID as originally intended.

By leveraging SIMID, publishers and advertisers can create immersive and impactful interactive video ad campaigns that drive user engagement, enhance brand awareness, and boost conversions.