Tracking URLs management
Tracking URLs (also referred to as “beacons” or “ad beaconing”) are keys in the advertising ecosystem to reconcile campaign delivery with actual viewing. These URLs are delivered with the VAST/VMAP or SCTE-130-3 response, for each creative.
Depending on the selected mode, more or less information will be conveyed:
- Impression: a single URL is delivered.
- Quartiles: five URLs are conveyed down to the player (start, first quartile, mid quartile, third quartile and complete).
Stream Personalization conveys those tracking URLs within HLS, HSS, and DASH manifests. Options are described in the table below:
| HLS | Dash | Smooth Streaming (HSS) |
|---|---|---|
| 2 options available: - ID3: Tracking URLs embedded into ID3 tags (in-band) In-manifest: using EXT-X-DATRANGE or other custom tags configure-able using plugins | In-manifest: tracking URLs are embedded in EventStream of type “callback Event” (Defined by Dash IOP guidelines) | In-manifest: using sparse track |
All of the above options require the player to identify the tracking URLs, and fire the placement at the right timing, per information provided. Few examples are provided below:
HLS tracking URLs using EXT-X-DATERANGE tag
DASH tracking URLs
Apple HLS Tracking
To configure tracking management for HLS, follow these steps:
-
Under the Placement tab, go to the Tracking section.
-
Enter the appropriate value for each parameter:
Parameter Description Ad tracking type Select among the following options:
- None: no tracking configured. Stream Personalization service will not forward tracking URLs.
- Impression: only the impression URL from the VAST/VMAP or SCTE-130-3 response will be conveyed down to the player.
- Quartiles: quartiles URLs will be conveyed down to the player.Frame Type Restriction: Only available with Impression or Quartiles ad tracking type.
Possible values:
- EXT-X-DATERANGE: tracking URLs will be conveyed using EXT-X-DATERANGE HLS tag (see example in the above figure).
- ID3 TXXX tracking: ID3 tag information inserted in-manifest, and leverage by MediaKind packager to insert ID3 tag within the chunk (this mode is deprecated).Tracking server URL Restriction: Only available with Impression or Quartiles ad tracking type.
Configurehttp://[PZ.ip.address]/trackin case you want Stream Personalization to act as a tracking URL proxy. Otherwise, leave this field blank (which will cause the player to fire the URLs un-modified).Tracking time offset Restriction: Only available with Impression ad tracking type.
The configurable delay before the player fires an impression tracking event that is encapsulated in an ID3 tag (HLS only).
Note: By default, the tracking event is fired when the first frame of the ad has been viewed. Leaving the field blank or entering '0' corresponds to firing the event when the first frame has been viewed.
MPEG DASH Tracking
To configure tracking management for DASH, follow these steps:
-
Under the Placement tab, go to the Tracking section.
-
Enter the appropriate value for each parameter:
Parameter Description Ad tracking type Select among the following options:
- None: no tracking configured. Stream Personalization service will not forward tracking URLs.
- Impression: only the impression URL from the VAST/VMAP or SCTE-130-3 response will be conveyed down to the player.
- Quartiles: quartiles URLs will be conveyed down to the player.
Microsoft Smooth Streaming (HSS) Tracking
To configure tracking management for HSS, follow these steps:
-
Under the Placement tab, go to the Tracking section.
-
Enter the appropriate value for each parameter:
Parameter Description Ad tracking type Select among the following options:
- None: no tracking configured. Stream Personalization service will not forward tracking URLs.
- Impression: only the impression URL from the VAST/VMAP or SCTE-130-3 response will be conveyed down to the player.
- Quartiles: quartiles URLs will be conveyed down to the player.