DocumentationAnalyticsStreaming media services guide

Ad player name

Last update: June 8, 2026

CREATED FOR:

  • Developer

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

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The ad player name variable identifies which player rendered each ad (for example, "Freewheel", "Google IMA"). The ad player can differ from the main content player when ads are stitched in by a server-side ad insertion service. Use this variable to compare quality and completion across ad-serving stacks.

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

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

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

Pass the ad player name as the MediaConstants.AdMetadataKeys.AD_PLAYER key in the metadata HashMap argument to trackEvent(AdStart).

code language-swift 
var metadata: [String: String] = [:]
metadata[MediaConstants.AdMetadataKeys.AD_PLAYER] = "Freewheel"

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

Pass the ad player name as the MediaConstants.AdMetadataKeys.AD_PLAYER key in the metadata HashMap argument to trackEvent(AdStart).

code language-kotlin 
val metadata = HashMap<String, String>()
metadata[MediaConstants.AdMetadataKeys.AD_PLAYER] = "Freewheel"

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

Set playerName 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",
                "playerName": "Freewheel",
                "length": 15,
                "podPosition": 0
            },
            "playhead": 0
        }
    }
})
Media Edge API

Call the adStart endpoint with playerName 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 player name in the contextData object using ADB.Media.AdMetadataKeys.AdPlayer:

code language-javascript 
var contextData = {};
contextData[ADB.Media.AdMetadataKeys.AdPlayer] = "Freewheel";

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

Pass the ad player name in the context metadata object when tracking the ad start event:

code language-javascript 
var adInfo = ADBMobile.media.createAdObject("Ford F-150", "ad-2125", 1, 30);
var metadata = { "a.media.ad.playerName": "Chromecast Player" };
ADBMobile.media.trackEvent(ADBMobile.media.Event.AdStart, adInfo, metadata);
Roku 2.x

Pass the ad player name in the context data object when tracking the ad start event:

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

contextData = { "a.media.ad.playerName": "Roku Player" }
adb.mediaTrackEvent(adb.MEDIA_AD_START, adInfo, contextData)
Media Collection API

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

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

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

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