Table of Contents
on February 28, 2023
Google’s Interactive Media Ads (IMA) software development kit (SDK) allows video players to serve video ads. The Google IMA, in particular, is designed to:
The Google IMA SDK incorporates these features into video players that play interactive media content such as games, in addition to standard video. It originally worked with Flash and HTML5, later adding SDKs for iOS, Android, and Google Cast.
Google ceased supporting Flash VPAID ads and IMA SDK development for Flash in June 2017.
With the inclusion of certain blocks of code and dependencies in a publisher’s video player declaration, the Google Interactive Media Ads integrates into the player and supplies APIs to handle operations and events related to video ads.
Simply put, the SDK makes a video player capable of parsing video ad requests, interpreting responses from ad servers, and generally carrying out the operations needed to successfully serve an ad.
Google IMA works with the VAST, VMAP, and VPAID video ad-serving standards maintained by the IAB. This means that aside from working with Google-run services like DoubleClick for Publishers and the AdSense network, Google Interactive Media Ads can also pull in ads from any third-party ad server as long as it’s VAST-compliant. The IMA SDK also allows video players to go beyond basic ad handling operations: the Google IMA SDK includes support for advanced features like multi-event tracking reports, Google Publisher Tag support, Active View viewability measurement, and so on.
For a quick, beginner-friendly look at the technical details of implementing the Google IMA SDK, here’s a short video from the Google development team:
There’s also a flowchart outlining the lifecycle of a typical IMA SDK implementation available. If you’d like to take a more in-depth look at a finished implementation, the Google IMA SDK team has also put up live samples and a sample app on GitHub.
The decision to implement Google IMA is in the publisher’s hands, but as an advertiser, you still get similar benefits:
Most of the Google IMA SDK’s technical advantages come from granting access to the capabilities of the DoubleClick for Publishers video module. This includes support for TrueView Instream Video Ads, monetization options like Google AdSense for video and the DoubleClick ad exchange, and so on.
Google IMA also presents certain advantages when it comes to the measurement side of advertising. Active View viewability metrics, for example, allow advertisers to keep better track of their ads’ viewability — and, by extension, their potential effectiveness.
Featured Posts
Table of Contents1 What is CTV Advertising?1.1 Audience Targeting1.2 Different Ad Formats1.3 Real-Time Analytics2 Gain Access to Premium Ad Inventory A 2021 report by Nielsen revealed that 77% of U.S. households use at least one connected TV Advertising (CTV) device. The wide adoption of CTV has attracted advertisers looking for
It’s not the end of an era for TV advertising; it’s evolving for the future. Aniview discusses trends that indicate the future. Read about them here.
Video advertising provides unique advantages to ecommerce businesses keen on boosting their sales. Read this post by Aniview to learn more.
Aniview gives advertisers access to premium inventory from vetted publishers
around the world. Read on to find out how PMPs like ours could benefit your
brand.
In October 2025, we rolled out major upgrades to Ads Player and Ad Manager focused on performance, policy, and monetization. From faster auctions to safer category controls and currency-aware bidding, here’s what changed and why it matters for publishers.
Server-side ad insertion (SSAI) used to be backend plumbing. In 2026, it decides how smooth your ad breaks feel, how much revenue you actually keep, and whether platforms consider you “premium.”
This quarter, we’ve rolled out a series of updates designed to give publishers more flexibility, stronger monetization opportunities, and an even smoother experience with the Aniview platform.
