Timeline 2 - User abandons session
VOD, Pre-roll ad, mid-roll ads, user abandons content early
The following diagrams illustrate the playhead timeline and the corresponding timeline of a user’s actions. The details for each action and its accompanying requests are presented below.


Action details
Action 1 - Start session
Action |
Action Timeline (Seconds) |
Playhead Position (Seconds) |
Client Request |
Auto-play or Play button pressed |
0 |
0 |
/api/v1/sessions |
This call signals the user’s intention to play a video. It returns a Session ID ( {sid}
) to the client that is used to identify all subsequent tracking calls within the session. The player state is not yet “playing”, but is instead “starting”. Mandatory session parameters must be included in the params
map in the request body. On the backend, this call generates an Adobe Analytics initiate call. For information about sessions, see the Media Collection API documentation.
{
"playerTime": {
"playhead": 0,
"ts": "<timestamp>"
},
"eventType": "sessionStart",
"params": {
"media.playerName": "sample-html5-api-player",
"analytics.trackingServer": "[ _YOUR-TS_ ]",
"analytics.reportSuite": "[ _YOUR-RSID_ ]",
"analytics.visitorId": "[ _YOUR-VISITOR-ID_ ]",
"media.contentType": "VOD",
"media.length": 60.3333333333333,
"media.id": "VA API Sample Player",
"visitor.marketingCloudOrgId": "[YOUR-MCID]",
"media.name": "ClickMe",
"media.channel": "sample-channel",
"media.sdkVersion": "va-api-0.0.0",
"analytics.enableSSL": false
}
}
Action 2 - Ping timer start
Action |
Action Timeline (Seconds) |
Playhead Position (Seconds) |
Client Request |
App starts ping event timer |
0 |
0 |
|
Start your app’s ping timer. First ping event should then fire 1 second in if there are pre-roll ads, 10 seconds in otherwise.
Action 3 - Ad break start
Action |
Action Timeline (Seconds) |
Playhead Position (Seconds) |
Client Request |
Track pre-roll ad break start |
0 |
0 |
/api/v1/sessions/{sid}/events |
Pre-roll ads must be tracked. Ads can only be tracked within an ad break.
{
"playerTime": {
"playhead": 0,
"ts": "<timestamp>"
},
"eventType": "adBreakStart",
"params": {
"media.ad.podFriendlyName": "ad_pod1",
"media.ad.podIndex": 0,
"media.ad.podSecond": 0
}
}
Action 4 - Ad start
Action |
Action Timeline (Seconds) |
Playhead Position (Seconds) |
Client Request |
Track pre-roll Ad #1 start |
0 |
0 |
/api/v1/sessions/{sid}/events |
A 12 second ad starts.
{
"playerTime": {
"playhead": 0,
"ts": "<timestamp>"
},
"eventType": "adStart",
"params": {
"media.ad.podFriendlyName": "ad_pod1",
"media.ad.name": "Ad 1",
"media.ad.id": "002",
"media.ad.length": 7,
"media.ad.podPosition": 1,
"media.ad.playerName": "Sample Player",
"media.ad.advertiser": "Ad Guys",
"media.ad.campaignId": "1",
"media.ad.creativeId": "42",
"media.ad.siteId": "XYZ",
"media.ad.creativeURL": "https://xyz-creative.com",
"media.ad.placementId": "sample-placement2"
},
}
Action 5 - Ad pings
Action |
Action Timeline (Seconds) |
Playhead Position (Seconds) |
Client Request |
App sends ping event |
1 |
0 |
/api/v1/sessions/{sid}/events |
Ping the backend every 1 second. (Subsequent ad pings not shown, in the interest of brevity.)
{
"playerTime": {
"playhead": 0,
"ts": "<timestamp>"
},
"eventType": "ping"
}
Action 6 - Ad complete
Action |
Action Timeline (Seconds) |
Playhead Position (Seconds) |
Client Request |
Track pre-roll Ad #1 complete |
12 |
0 |
/api/v1/sessions/{sid}/events |
The first pre-roll ad is over.
{
"playerTime": {
"playhead": 0,
"ts": "<timestamp>"
},
"eventType": "adComplete"
}
Action 7 - Ad break complete
Action |
Action Timeline (Seconds) |
Playhead Position (Seconds) |
Client Request |
Track pre-roll ad break complete |
12 |
0 |
/api/v1/sessions/{sid}/events |
The ad break is over. Throughout the ad break, the player has remained in the “playing” state.
{
"playerTime": {
"playhead": 0,
"ts": "<timestamp>"
},
"eventType": "adBreakComplete"
}
Action 8 - Play content
Action |
Action Timeline (Seconds) |
Playhead Position (Seconds) |
Client Request |
Track play event |
12 |
0 |
/api/v1/sessions/{sid}/events |
Move the player to the “playing” state; begin tracking the start of content playback.
{
"playerTime": {
"playhead": 0,
"ts": "<timestamp>"
},
"eventType": "play",
"qoeData": {
"bitrate": 10000
}
}
Action 9 - Ping
Action |
Action Timeline (Seconds) |
Playhead Position (Seconds) |
Client Request |
App sends ping event |
20 |
8 |
/api/v1/sessions/{sid}/events |
Ping the backend every 10 seconds.
{
"playerTime": {
"playhead": 8,
"ts": "<timestamp>"
},
"eventType": "ping"
}
Action 10 - Ping
Action |
Action Timeline (Seconds) |
Playhead Position (Seconds) |
Client Request |
App sends ping event |
30 |
18 |
/api/v1/sessions/{sid}/events |
Ping the backend every 10 seconds.
{
"playerTime": {
"playhead": 18,
"ts": "<timestamp>"
},
"eventType": "ping"
}
Action 11 - Error
Action |
Action Timeline (Seconds) |
Playhead Position (Seconds) |
Client Request |
Error occurs, app sends error information. |
32 |
20 |
/api/v1/sessions/{sid}/events |
{
"playerTime": {
"playhead": 20,
"ts": "<timestamp>"
},
"eventType": "error"
}
Action 12 - Play content
Action |
Action Timeline (Seconds) |
Playhead Position (Seconds) |
Client Request |
App recovers from error, user presses Play |
37 |
20 |
/api/v1/sessions/{sid}/events |
{
"playerTime": {
"playhead": 18,
"ts": "<timestamp>"
},
"eventType":"play",
"qoeData": {
"bitrate": 10000
}
}
Action 13 - Ping
Action |
Action Timeline (Seconds) |
Playhead Position (Seconds) |
Client Request |
App sends ping event |
40 |
28 |
/api/v1/sessions/{sid}/events |
Ping the backend every 10 seconds.
{
"playerTime": {
"playhead": 28,
"ts": "<timestamp>"
},
"eventType": "ping"
}
Action 14 - Ad break start
Action |
Action Timeline (Seconds) |
Playhead Position (Seconds) |
Client Request |
Track mid-roll ad break start |
45 |
33 |
/api/v1/sessions/{sid}/events |
Mid-roll ad of 8 seconds duration: send adBreakStart
.
{
"playerTime": {
"playhead": 33,
"ts": "<timestamp>"
},
"eventType":"adBreakStart",
"params": {
"media.ad.podFriendlyName": "ad_pod2",
"media.ad.podIndex": 1,
"media.ad.podSecond": 33
}
}
Action 15 - Ad start
Action |
Action Timeline (Seconds) |
Playhead Position (Seconds) |
Client Request |
Track mid-roll Ad #1 start |
45 |
33 |
/api/v1/sessions/{sid}/events |
Track the mid-roll ad.
{
"playerTime": { "playhead": 33, "ts": "<timestamp>"
},
"eventType": "adStart",
"params": {
"media.ad.podFriendlyName": "ad_pod1",
"media.ad.name": "Ad 1",
"media.ad.id": "002",
"media.ad.length": 8,
"media.ad.podPosition": 1,
"media.ad.playerName": "Sample Player",
"media.ad.advertiser": "Ad Guys",
"media.ad.campaignId": "7",
"media.ad.creativeId": "40",
"media.ad.siteId": "XYZ",
"media.ad.creativeURL": "https://example.com",
"media.ad.placementId": "sample_placement2"
},
}
Action 16 - Close app
Action |
Action Timeline (Seconds) |
Playhead Position (Seconds) |
Client Request |
User closes the app. The app determines that the user has abandoned viewing and isn’t returning to this session. |
48 |
33 |
/api/v1/sessions/{sid}/events |
Send sessionEnd
to the VA backend to indicate that the session should be closed immediately, with no further processing.
{
"playerTime": {
"playhead": 33,
"ts": "<timestamp>"
},
"eventType": "sessionEnd"
}