DocumentationAnalyticsStreaming media services guide

Ad length

Last update: June 8, 2026

CREATED FOR:

  • Developer

This page covers data collection for the Ad length variable. See Ad length for the corresponding reporting dimension.

style
shade-box

The ad length variable is the duration of the ad in seconds. Set it on every media.adStart event.

Property
Value
Context data variable
a.media.ad.length
XDM collection field
xdm.mediaCollection.advertisingDetails.length
Audience Manager trait
c_contextdata.a.media.ad.length
Required
Yes
Sent with
Ad start, ad close
Web SDK

Set length inside xdm.mediaCollection.advertisingDetails when calling sendEvent:

code language-javascript 
alloy("sendEvent", {
  xdm: {
    eventType: "media.adStart",
    mediaCollection: {
      advertisingDetails: {
        name: "ad-2125",
        length: 15
      },
      sessionID: "{sid}",
      playhead: 0
    }
  }
});
iOS

Pass the ad length in seconds as the fourth argument to createAdObject.

code language-swift 
let adObject = Media.createAdObjectWith(name: "Ford F-150",
                                          id: "ad-2125",
                                    position: 0,
                                      length: 15)

tracker.trackEvent(event: MediaEvent.AdStart, info: adObject, metadata: nil)
Android

Pass the ad length in seconds as the fourth argument to createAdObject.

code language-kotlin 
val adObject = Media.createAdObject("Ford F-150",
                                    "ad-2125",
                                    0L,
                                    15.0)

tracker.trackEvent(Media.Event.AdStart, adObject, null)
Roku Edge

Set length inside xdm.mediaCollection.advertisingDetails when calling sendMediaEvent for media.adStart:

code language-brightscript 
m.aepSdk.sendMediaEvent({
    "xdm": {
        "eventType": "media.adStart",
        "mediaCollection": {
            "advertisingDetails": {
                "name": "ad-2125",
                "length": 15,
                "podPosition": 0,
                "playerName": "Roku Player"
            },
            "playhead": 0
        }
    }
})
Media Edge API

Call the adStart endpoint with length inside xdm.mediaCollection.advertisingDetails:

code language-json 
{
  "events": [{
    "xdm": {
      "eventType": "media.adStart",
      "mediaCollection": {
        "advertisingDetails": {
          "name": "ad-2125",
          "length": 15,
          "playerName": "Freewheel",
          "podPosition": 0
        },
        "sessionID": "{sid}",
        "playhead": 0
      }
    }
  }]
}

Legacy implementation types (Analytics-only)

Media SDK JS 3.x

Pass the ad length in seconds as the fourth argument to ADB.Media.createAdObject:

code language-javascript 
var adInfo = ADB.Media.createAdObject(
  "Ford F-150",
  "ad-2125",
  0,
  15
);

tracker.trackEvent(ADB.Media.Event.AdStart, adInfo, contextData);
Chromecast

Pass the ad length in seconds as the fourth argument to ADBMobile.media.createAdObject:

code language-javascript 
var adInfo = ADBMobile.media.createAdObject(
  "Ford F-150",
  "ad-2125",
  1,
  30
);
ADBMobile.media.trackEvent(ADBMobile.media.Event.AdStart, adInfo, null);
Roku 2.x

Pass the ad length in seconds as the fourth argument to adb_media_init_adinfo:

code language-brightscript 
adb = ADBMobile()
adInfo = adb_media_init_adinfo("Ford F-150", "ad-2125", 1, 30.0)  ' name, id, position, length

adb.mediaTrackEvent(adb.MEDIA_AD_START, adInfo)
Media Collection API

Include media.ad.length in the params object of your adStart POST request:

code language-json 
{
  "playerTime": { "playhead": 0, "ts": 1699523820000 },
  "eventType": "adStart",
  "params": {
    "media.ad.length": 15
  }
}

See the Media Collection API events reference for the full request structure.

recommendation-more-help
media-analytics-help