[BUG] googima + FreeWheel VMAP not working on IOS

[normtronics]

Describe the bug

On iOS with googima, a FreeWheel VMAP tag (resp=vmap1) configured as a schedule break tag correctly substitutes [GOOGLE_INSTREAM_VIDEO_NONCE] into givn (confirmed in Charles). When looking in Charles I can see FreeWheel returns HTTP 200 with a valid VMAP 1.0 document. But in the Xcode console I see this error Ad Error [1009]: The response does not contain any valid ads.

The same FreeWheel VMAP + googima setup works on Android (nonce substitutes, preroll plays). Failure is iOS-specific.

This is not a FreeWheel no-fill and not a missing nonce, iOS is rendering a playable VMAP response when the URL is supplied via the schedule tag path.

To Reproduce

Set advertising: { client: 'googima' }.

Use a FreeWheel-style tag with resp=vmap1 and literal givn=[GOOGLE_INSTREAM_VIDEO_NONCE]
Attach it to the playlist item as a schedule break tag, e.g.:

adschedule: {
  adBreak1: {
    offset: 'pre',
    ad: { source: 'googima', tag: '<freewheel-vmap-url>' },
  },
}

(Android uses the equivalent googima + VMAP tag wiring that succeeds in our app.)
Start playback on iOS.
In Charles/Proxyman: confirm outbound request has a real givn= (substitution works).
Confirm response is VMAP 1.0 + inline VAST 3.0 + at least one video/mp4 MediaFile.
Observe player/Xcode: Ad Error 1009.

Expected behavior

iOS should behave like Android: with googima and a FreeWheel resp=vmap1 tag, after nonce substitution and a valid VMAP/VAST/MP4 response, the preroll should play without error 1009.

Desktop (please complete the following information):

Response structure:

<vmap:VMAP xmlns:vmap="http://www.iab.net/vmap-1.0" version="1.0">
  <vmap:AdBreak breakType="linear" timeOffset="start">
    <vmap:AdSource>
      <vmap:VASTAdData>
        <VAST version="3.0">
          <Ad>
            <InLine>
              <AdSystem>FreeWheel</AdSystem>
              <Creatives>
                <Creative>
                  <Linear>
                    <Duration>00:00:30</Duration>
                    <MediaFiles>
                      <MediaFile type="video/mp4" delivery="progressive"
                        width="1280" height="720">
                        <![CDATA[ https://cdn.example.com/creative.mp4 ]]>
                      </MediaFile>
                    </MediaFiles>
                  </Linear>
                </Creative>
              </Creatives>
            </InLine>
          </Ad>
        </VAST>
      </vmap:VASTAdData>
    </vmap:AdSource>
  </vmap:AdBreak>
</vmap:VMAP>

iOS player: JWPlayerKit Ad Error [1009]: The response does not contain any valid ads.
Android: same response shape plays successfully.

react-native: 0.81.6
@jwplayer/jwplayer-react-native: 1.6.0
iOS pods: JWPlayerKit 4.26.2, GoogleAds-IMA-iOS-SDK 3.22.1

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[Jmilham21]

Thanks for the detailed report — the Charles capture made this quick to pin down. We're treating this as a bug on our side, and I've filed it internally against the iOS SDK.

Root cause. On iOS, a tag supplied via tag or an adSchedule break gets wrapped in a VMAP document we synthesize, with your URL embedded as <vmap:AdTagURI>. Per the VMAP spec that element must resolve to a VAST document — so when your tag returns VMAP (resp=vmap1), IMA fetches it expecting VAST, finds no <Ad> elements, and reports 1009. Your response is valid; it's arriving at a slot that can't accept it. Android passes the URL straight to IMA's setAdTagUrl, which accepts VAST or VMAP, which is why the same config works there.

Workaround that unblocks you now — supported today on 1.6.0, no upgrade needed. Use adVmap instead of a schedule break:

advertising: {
  adClient: 'ima',
  adVmap: 'https://<customerId>.v.fwmrm.net/ad/g/1?resp=vmap1&nw=...&prof=...&csid=...',
}

adVmap routes to the pass-through path, so your VMAP reaches IMA intact. This is also the more natural shape for your setup: your FreeWheel VMAP already declares every break and its offset, so the wrapping preroll break was redundant. It works on both platforms, so you can drop to a single config.

One note if you extend this later: a VMAP tag on a midroll break will hit the same issue, and adVmap is the right home for it there too — the VMAP's own timeOffset values do the scheduling.

I'll leave this open to track the iOS fix. I don't have a timeline to share yet, but I'll update here when there's something to report.

[normtronics]

@Jmilham21 Thanks for taking a look. This may be another issue, but when I use adVamp the nonce macro [GOOGLE_INSTREAM_VIDEO_NONCE] for google IMA never gets filled. Its a must have requirement, so it needs to work.

[Jmilham21]

@normtronics That's not a separate issue — it's the same bug in a different place, and it means the workaround I gave you isn't sufficient. Apologies for sending you down that path.

[GOOGLE_INSTREAM_VIDEO_NONCE] is a Google IMA macro, so IMA only substitutes it in URLs that IMA itself requests. On the adVmap path iOS fetches your VMAP document and hands IMA the already-fetched XML, so IMA never requests your URL and never fills the macro. That's also why the nonce did work on the schedule path — there, IMA resolves the tag URL itself.

So both of your reports come from one root cause: on iOS we pre-fetch the ad document and hand IMA a response body; on Android we hand IMA the URL. Android gets VMAP support and IMA macro substitution for free; iOS loses one or the other depending on which config you use:

iOS config	VMAP response	[GOOGLE_INSTREAM_VIDEO_NONCE]
tag / adSchedule	✗ error 1009	✓
adVmap	✓	✗

I'm treating you as blocked rather than worked around. The internal iOS ticket now covers both symptoms at a raised priority, and the fix is scoped as "let IMA fetch the URL" — which resolves the 1009 and the nonce together and matches Android.

No release timeline yet. I have one idea for an interim unblock on the shipping SDK that I want to verify on a device before putting it in front of you; I'll post here either way.

One question that'd help me prioritise: is your FreeWheel setup preroll-only, or do you need midrolls from the same VMAP? That changes which part of the fix unblocks you soonest.

[normtronics]

@Jmilham21 Right now just preroll ads

[hunyoboy]

@Jmilham21 thanks for a quick response. do we also need to make an adjustment on the shape of adSchedule for next/recommended videos? currently this is how we do it. this works with a single ima ad tag for us but not with freewheel on vmap.

// some async processes to re-create the ad tag
const tag = 'https://<customerId>.v.fwmrm.net/ad/g/1?resp=vmap1&nw=...&prof=...&csid=...'; 

const adSchedule = {
     offset: 'pre',
     tag,
};

// ref. - https://github.com/jwplayer/jwplayer-react-native/blob/master/index.js#L394
player.resolveNextPlaylistItem({ ...nextPlaylistItem, adSchedule });