Configuring Video Tracking for Adobe Analytics
- Topics:
- Administering
CREATED FOR:
- Admin
There are several methods available for tracking video events, 2 of which are legacy options for older versions of Adobe Analytics. These legacy option are: Legacy Milestones and Legacy Seconds.
Use the following procedure to set up a framework for video tracking using each method.
Common steps
-
Set up a web page by dragging a video component from the sidekick and adding a playable video as an asset for the component
-
Create an Adobe Analytics configuration and framework.
- The examples in the sections that follow use the name my-sc-configuration for the configuration and videofw for the framework.
-
On the framework page, select an RSID and set the usage to all. (http://localhost:4502/cf#/etc/cloudservices/sitecatalyst/videoconf/videofw.html)
-
From the General component category in Sidekick, drag the Video component onto the framework.
-
Select a tracking method:
-
When you select a tracking method, the list of CQ variables changes accordingly. Use the sections that follow for information about how to further configure the component and map the CQ variables with Adobe Analytics properties.
Milestones
The Milestones method tracks the most information about the video, is highly customizable, and easy to configure.
To use the Milestones method, specify time-based track offsets to define the milestones. When a video playback passes a milestone, the page calls Adobe Analytics to track the event. For each milestone that you define, the component creates a CQ variable that you can map to a Adobe Analytics property. The name of these CQ variables use the following format:
eventdata.events.milestoneXX
The XX suffix is the track offset that defines the milestone. For example, specifying track offsets of 4, 8, 16, 20, and 28 seconds generates the following CQ variables:
eventdata.events.milestone4
eventdata.events.milestone8
eventdata.events.milestone16
eventdata.events.milestone20
eventdata.events.milestone28
The following table describes the default CQ variables that are provided for the Milestones method:
CQ variables | Adobe Analytics properties |
---|---|
eventdata.videoName | Variables mapped to this will contain the user-friendly name (Title) of the video if set in the DAM; if this is not set, the video's file name will be sent instead. Only sent once, at the beginning of playing a video. |
eventdata.videoFileName | Variables mapped to this will contain the file’s name. Only sent along with eventdata.events.a.media.view |
eventdata.videoFilePath | Variables mapped to this will contain the file’s path on the server. Only sent along with eventdata.events.a.media.view |
eventdata.events.a.media.segmentView | Sent every time a segment milestone is passed |
eventdata.events.a.media.timePlayed | Sent every time a milestone is triggered, the number of seconds the user spent watching the given segment is also sent along with this event. e.g. eventX=21 |
eventdata.events.a.media.view | Sent on initializing video view |
eventdata.events.a.media.complete | Sent when video finished playing |
eventdata.events.milestoneX | Sent when the given milestone is passed, X stands for the second the milestone gets triggered at |
eventdata.a.contentType | Sent on every milestone; shows up as pev3 in the Adobe Analytics call, usually sent as "video" |
eventdata.a.media.name | Exactly matches eventdata.videoName |
eventdata.a.media.segment | Contains information on the segment that has been viewed e.g. 2 |
-
After selecting Milestones as the tracking method, in the Track Offset box, enter a comma-separated list of tracking offsets in seconds. For example, the following value defines milestones at 4, 8, 16, 20 and 28 seconds after the start of the video:
4,8,16,20,24
The offset values must be integers that are greater than 0. The default value is
10,25,50,75
. -
To map the CQ variables to Adobe Analytics properties, drag the Adobe Analytics properties from ContentFinder beside the CQ variable on the component.
For information about optimizing the mappings, see the Measuring Video in Adobe Analytics guide.
-
Add the framework to the page.
-
To test the setup in Preview mode, play the video to get Adobe Analytics calls to trigger.
The Adobe Analytics tracking data examples that follow apply to Milestone tracking using track offsets of 4,8,16,20, and 24, and the following mappings for the CQ variables:
CQ variable | Adobe Analytics property |
---|---|
eventdata.videoName | prop2 |
eventdata.videoFileName | prop3 |
eventdata.videoFilePath | prop4 |
eventdata.events.a.media.segmentView | event1 |
eventdata.events.a.media.timePlayed | event2 |
eventdata.events.a.media.view | event3 |
eventdata.events.a.media.complete | event4 |
eventdata.events.milestone4 | event10 |
eventdata.events.milestone8 | event11 |
eventdata.events.milestone16 | event12 |
eventdata.events.milestone20 | event13 |
eventdata.events.milestone24 | event14 |
eventdata.a.contentType | eVar3 |
eventdata.a.media.name | eVar1, prop1 |
eventdata.a.media.segment | eVar2 |
For this example, the Video component appears as follows on the framework page:
Calls to Adobe Analytics using the example provided should look like this when viewed with DigitalPulse Debugger:
This is the first call made to Adobe Analytics containing the following values:
- prop1 and eVar1 for eventdata.a.media.name,
- props2-4, along with eVar2 and eVar3 containing contentType (video) and segment (1
1-4)
- event3 which was mapped to eventdata.events.a.media.view.
This is the third call made to Adobe Analytics:
- prop1 and eVar1 contain
a.media.name;
- event1 because a segment has been viewed
- event2 sent with time played = 4
- event11 sent because eventdata.events.milestone8 has been reached
- prop2 to 4 are not sent (since eventdata.events.a.media.view was not triggered)
Non-Legacy Milestones
The Non-Legacy Milestones method is similar to the Milestones method except milestones are defined using percentages of the track length. The commonalities are as follows:
- When a video playback passes a milestone, the page calls Adobe Analytics to track the event.
- The static set of CQ variables that are defined for mapping with Adobe Analytics properties.
- For each milestone that you define, the component creates a CQ variable that you can map to a Adobe Analytics property.
The name of these CQ variables use the following format:
The XX suffix is the percentage of track length that defines the milestone. For example, specifying percentages of 10, 25, 50, and 75 generates the following CQ variables:
eventdata.events.milestone10
eventdata.events.milestone25
eventdata.events.milestone50
eventdata.events.milestone75
eventdata.events.milestoneXX
-
After selecting Non-Legacy Milestones as the tracking method, in the Track Offset box, enter a comma-separated list of percentages of track length. For example, the following default value defines milestones at 10, 25, 50 and 75 percent of the track length:
10,25,50,75
The offset values must be integers that are greater than 0.
-
To map the CQ variables to Adobe Analytics properties, drag the Adobe Analytics properties from ContentFinder beside the CQ variable on the component.
For information about optimizing the mappings, see the Measuring Video in Adobe Analytics guide.
-
Add the framework to the page.
-
To test the setup in Preview mode, play the video to get Adobe Analytics calls to trigger.
Legacy Milestones
This method is similar to the Milestones method with the difference that the milestones specified in the Tracking offset field are percentages instead of set points within the video.
-
Set the Track offset.
- e.g.10,50,75,100
Also, the information sent to Adobe Analytics is less customizable; there are only 3 variables available for mapping:
eventdata.videoName | Variables mapped to this will contain the user-friendly name (Title) of the video if set in the DAM; if the Title is not set, the video's file name will be sent instead. Only sent once, at the beginning of playing a video. |
eventdata.videoFileName | Variables mapped to this will contain the file’s name. Only sent once, at the beginning of playing a video. |
eventdata.videoFilePath | Variable mapped to this will contain the file’s path on the server. Only sent once, at the beginning of playing a video. |
-
Map these variables to props 1 to 3
The rest of the relevant information in the call will be sent concatinated into one variable named pev3.
Sample calls to Adobe Analytics using the example provided should look like this when viewed with DigitalPulse Debugger:
The pev3 variable sent in the call contains the following information:
- Name - The name of the video file (film.avi)
- Length - The length of the video file, in seconds (100)
- Player Name - The video player used to play the video file (HTML5 video)
- Total Seconds Played - The total number of seconds the video was played (25)
- Start Timestamp - Timestamp that identifies when the video play started (1331035567)
- Play Session - The details of the play session. This field indicates how the user interacted with the video. This might include data such as where they started playing the video, whether they used the video slider to advance the video, and where they stopped playing the video (L10E24S58L58 - video was stopped at sec. 25 of section L10, then skipped to sec. 48)
Legacy seconds
When using the** legacy seconds** method, Adobe Analytics calls get triggered every N-th second, where N is specified in the Track offset field.
-
Set the Track offset to any number of seconds,
- e.g. 6
NOTE
The Tracking offset field only accepts whole numbers that are higher than 0The information sent to Adobe Analytics is less customizable. There are only 3 variables available for mapping:
eventdata.videoName | Variables mapped to this will contain the user-friendly name (Title) of the video if set in the DAM; if the Title is not set, the video's file name will be sent instead. Only sent once, at the beginning of playing a video. |
eventdata.videoFileName | Variable mapped to this will contain the file’s name. Only sent once, at the beginning of playing a video. |
eventdata.videoFilePath | Variable mapped to this will contain the file’s path on the server. Only sent once, at the beginning of playing a video. |
-
Map these variables to prop1, prop2 and prop3
The rest of the relevant information in the call will be sent concatinated into one variable named pev3.
Calls to Adobe Analytics using the example provided should look like this when viewed with DigitalPulse Debugger:
The call is similar to the Legacy Milestones call above. Please see the information on pev3 provided there.
References used in this tutorial:
Experience Manager
- Administering User Guide overview
- Sites Features
- Website Administration
- Reusing Content: Multi Site Manager and Live Copy
- Live Copy Overview Console
- Configuring Live Copy Synchronization
- Creating and Synchronizing Live Copies
- MSM Rollout Conflicts
- MSM Best Practices
- Translating Content for Multilingual Sites
- Managing Translation Projects
- Identifying Content to Translate
- Preparing Content for Translation
- Creating a Language Root Using the Classic UI
- Connecting to Microsoft Translator
- Configuring the Translation Integration Framework
- Language Copy Wizard
- Translation Enhancements
- Translation Best Practices
- Configurations and the Configuration Browser
- AEM FAQs
- Operations
- Dashboards
- Operations Dashboard
- Backup and Restore
- Data Store Garbage Collection
- Monitoring Server Resources Using the JMX Console
- Working with Logs
- Configure the Rich Text Editor
- Configure the Video component
- The Bulk Editor
- Configuring Email Notification
- Configuring RTE for Producing Accessible Sites
- The Link Checker
- Troubleshooting AEM
- Audit Log Maintenance in AEM 6
- Editor
- Managing Access to Workflows
- Using cURL with AEM
- Configuring Undo for Page Editing
- Proxy Server Tool (proxy.jar)
- Configuring for AEM Apps
- Administering Workflows
- Configuring Search Forms
- Tools Consoles
- Reporting
- Administering Workflow Instances
- Configuring Layout Container and Layout Mode
- Enabling Access to Classic UI
- Starting Workflows
- Configure the Rich Text Editor plug-ins
- Admin Consoles
- Security
- User Administration and Security
- User, Group and Access Rights Administration
- Security Checklist
- OWASP Top 10
- Running AEM in Production Ready Mode
- Identity Management
- Adobe IMS Authentication and Admin Console Support for AEM Managed Services
- Creating a Closed User Group
- Mitigating serialization issues in AEM
- User Synchronization
- Encapsulated Token Support
- Single Sign On
- How to Audit User Management Operations in AEM
- SSL By Default
- SAML 2.0 Authentication Handler
- Closed User Groups in AEM
- Granite Operations - User and Group Administration
- Enabling CRXDE Lite in AEM
- Configuring LDAP with AEM 6
- Configure the Admin Password on Installation
- Service Users in AEM
- Encryption Support for Configuration Properties
- Handling GDPR Requests for the AEM Foundation
- Content Disposition Filter
- Personalization
- eCommerce
- Integration
- Integrating with Third-Party Services
- Integrating with Salesforce
- Integrating with Adobe Target
- Integrating with Adobe Analytics
- Connecting to Adobe Analytics and Creating Frameworks
- Configuring Link Tracking for Adobe Analytics
- Mapping Component Data with Adobe Analytics Properties
- Configuring Video Tracking for Adobe Analytics
- HTTP2 Delivery of Content FAQ
- Troubleshooting your Adobe Campaign Integration
- SharePoint Connector Licenses, Copyright Notices, and Disclaimers
- SharePoint Connector
- DHTML Viewer End-of-Life FAQs
- Integrating with Adobe Campaign Classic
- Related Community Articles
- Integrating with Adobe Campaign Standard
- Flash Viewers End-of-Life Notice
- Integrating with Adobe Creative Cloud
- Integrating with Adobe Dynamic Tag Management
- Opting Into Adobe Analytics and Adobe Target
- AEM Portals and Portlets
- Integrating with Dynamic Media Classic
- Troubleshooting Integration Issues
- Integrating with BrightEdge Content Optimizer
- Best Practices for Email Templates
- Catalog Producer
- Integrating with Silverpop Engage
- Integrating with Adobe Campaign
- Integrating with ExactTarget
- Analytics with External Providers
- Integrating with the Adobe Marketing Cloud
- Manually Configuring the Integration with Adobe Target
- Prerequisites for Integrating with Adobe Target
- Adobe Classifications
- Solutions Integration
- Target Integration with Experience Fragments
- Best Practices
- Content Management