One of the challenges posed by the study of vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) is the transmission of data issued by valued traffic information services under incomplete link conditions. Many dissemination protocols have been developed by the community to solve the issue. In this survey, the authors explore the service discovery where data dissemination should serve as a foundation. Then, they propose an overview and taxonomy of a large range of data dissemination available for VANETs. Finally, they illustrate the simulation infrastructure by collaborating two independent simulators. The objective is to provide guidelines to easily understand and extend the capabilities of protocols according to the users’ needs.