Track ads on Roku

Last update: 2022-11-11
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The following instructions provide guidance for implementation using the 2.x SDKs.

IMPORTANT

If you are implementing a 1.x version of the SDK, you can download 1.x Developers Guides here: Download SDKs.

Ad tracking constants

Constant name Description  
AdBreakStart Constant for tracking AdBreak Start event
AdBreakComplete Constant for tracking AdBreak Complete event
AdStart Constant for tracking Ad Start event
AdComplete Constant for tracking Ad Complete event
AdSkip Constant for tracking Ad Skip event

Implementation steps

  1. Identify when the ad break boundary begins, including pre-roll, and create an AdBreakObject by using the ad break information.

    AdBreakObject reference:

    Variable Name Description Required
    name Ad break name such as pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll. Yes
    position The number position of the ad break starting with 1. Yes
    startTime Playhead value at the start of the ad break. Yes
    ‘ Create an adbreak info object
    adBreakInfo = adb_media_init_adbreakinfo()
    adBreakInfo.name = <ADBREAK_NAME>
    adBreakInfo.startTime = <START_TIME>
    adBreakInfo.position = <POSITION>
    
  2. Call trackEvent() with AdBreakStart in the MediaHeartbeat instance to begin tracking the ad break:

    contextData = {}
    ADBMobile().mediaTrackEvent(MEDIA_AD_BREAK_START, adBreakInfo, contextData)
    
  3. Identify when the ad asset starts and create an AdObject instance using the ad information.

    adInfo =
      adb_media_init_adinfo(ad.title,
                            ad.id,
                            ad.position,
                            ad.duration)
    
  4. Optionally attach standard and/or ad metadata to the media tracking session through context data variables.

    • Implement standard ad metadata on Roku

    • Custom ad metadata - For custom metadata, create a variable object for the custom data variables and populate with the data for the current ad asset:

      contextData = {}
      contextData["adinfo1"] = "adinfo2"
      contextData["adinfo2"] = "adinfo2"
      
  5. Call trackEvent() with the AdStart event in the MediaHeartbeat instance to begin tracking the ad playback:

    ADBMobile().mediaTrackEvent(ADBMobile().MEDIA_AD_START, adInfo, contextData)
    
  6. When the ad asset playback reaches the end of the ad, call trackEvent() with the AdComplete event.

    standardAdMetadata = {}
    contextData = {}
    ADBMobile().mediaTrackEvent(ADBMobile().MEDIA_AD_COMPLETE, adInfo, contextData)
    
  7. If ad playback did not complete because the user chose to skip the ad, track the AdSkip event:

    contextData = {}
    ADBMobile().mediaTrackEvent(ADBMobile().MEDIA_AD_SKIP, adInfo, contextData
    
  8. If there are any additional ads within the same AdBreak, repeat steps 3 through 7 again.

  9. When the ad break is complete, use the AdBreakComplete event to track:

    contextData = {}
    ADBMobile().mediaTrackEvent(MEDIA_AD_BREAK_COMPLETE, adBreakInfo, contextData)
    

See the tracking scenario VOD playback with pre-roll ads for more information.

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