Companion ad trackers not firing

[Simon Hočevar]

Platform type: Android
SDK integration type: Client-side

When testing companion ads, we noticed that companion ad trackers are not firing. We were testing with IMA SDK TEST tags ( https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/21775744923/external/single_preroll_skippable&sz=640x480&ciu_szs=300x250%2C728x90&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator= )

In the ad above, we render the 300x250 companion ad (and it shows correctly on the screen), but outlined tracker is not fired (tested with Charles).



Before preparing a repo project, I would like to know what are the conditions for this  trackers to fire? Our setup shows the companion ad at the end of video (companionAdSlot has android visibility property set to "gone"). And when the video finishes, we call setVisibility(View.VISIBLE) - which does render the companion ad without any problems. We have also tested to have the initial state of companionAdSlot to View.VISIBLE and displayed on the same screen as video together (one below another) and the companion ad shows, but trackers do not fire.

So our question is if you can point us to the documentation what describes the conditions for companion ad visibility trackers or if it's not specifically written, If you can outline the requirements for this trackers to fire.

Thanks,

Simon

[IMA SDK]

Hi Simon,

Thank you for reaching out to the IMA SDK support team.

Looking at your query I understand that Companion ads stopped working in Android.

I see that you have already raised this concern on another thread with the subject “Companion ads stopped working’', and we have already responded there for this issue. To avoid multiple threads on the same issue, please take a look at that thread and continue the discussion on the same for further updates on the issue.

 

This message is in relation to case "ref:!00D1U01174p.!5004Q02rzeEV:ref"

Thanks,
 

IMA SDK Team

[Simon Hočevar]

Hello!

No, the companion ads started to work again over the weekend (no code was changed on our side). This is a different issue.
The problem now remains only in companion tracker not being triggered. We would like to know what conditions must be met for the view that holds the companion ad for it's trackers to fire.

Kind regards,

Simon

[IMA SDK]

Hi Simon,

Thank you for confirming that the companion ads are working.

Now the new issue is related to the companion ads tracker not being triggered. 

I have run the VAST tag that you have provided in the VSI tool inspector and I can see the companion ads 300*250 and 728*90 had loaded successfully. I hope you have followed the Companion ads guide. Please note that At first glance, the lack of a click tracking event or tracking pixel, when the user clicks on a companion ad, seems to be the intended behavior. A click on a companion ad is not considered an interaction with the parent ad and is normally tracked by the target landing page. This is described in the VAST 3.0 standard, in section 2.2.5.2 (page 21-22). Can you confirm whether the same issue is reproducible in our Google Advanced application? If yes, Kindly provide the below information privately for further investigation so that we can have full visibility of your implementation:

• Screen recording of the issue
• Sample project reproducing the issue

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[Simon Hočevar]

Hello and thanks for getting back to me so quickly.

We too can see the rendered companion ads just fine, the problem is that the tracker inside companion is not triggered. Specifically, in the image above there is a <Tracking event="creativeView" .../> inside <Companion id="..." width="300" height= "250 .../>. We would expect this tracker to trigger the URL when the companion ad is displayed. Unfortunately this does not happen. We were following the Companion ads guide, and the code is pretty much the same as in the guide. That is why we would like to verify what conditions must be satisfied so that the "impression" tracker of companion ad is triggred.

Thanks,

Simon

[IMA SDK]

Hi Simon,

Thank you for getting back to us. 

The element may contain one or more elements, but the only event available for tracking under each companion is the creativeView event. The creativeView event tracks whether the companion creative was viewed. This view does not count as an impression because impressions are only counter for the ad and the companion is only one part of the Ad. Refer to the VAST 3.0 standard for more information, This is described in the tracking details in section 2.3.3.7 (page 41-42).

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions. 

[Simon Hočevar]

Hello,

"The creativeView event tracks whether the companion creative was viewed." - This is what we believe is not working. The companion creative was displayed on the screen, but the mentioned tracker did not fire. So what could be the reason for this? Are there any requirements for how long the companion must be displayed before this tracker is triggered? 

[IMA SDK]

Hi Simon,

Thank you for getting back to us.

I will check with our team regarding your query and one of my team members will reach out to you once we have an update on this. Meanwhile, your patience is highly appreciated.

[Simon Hočevar]

Thank you very much. Looking forward in hearing from you.

Regards,

Simon

[IMA SDK]

Hi Simon,

I've reached out to our engineering team to confirm how tracking events are handled with companions. I'll reach out as soon as I receive a response,

Thanks,
 

Greg Schoppe
IMA SDK Team

ref:!00D1U01174p.!5004Q02rzeEV:ref

[IMA SDK]

Hi Simon,

It looks like this is a known issue that our engineering team is working diligently on a fix for. We don't yet have an eta on the resolution, but it is top priority for the dev team.

[Simon Hočevar]

Hello Greg,

Thanks for getting back to me with this. We've been doing some investigation on our end as well and have found out that if you only fill one companion, the companion trackers work as expected. Before, we sent in all the available sizes to the IMA and were expecting that IMA will show the most appropriate one (size-wise). So temporary workaround is to only fill one companion (even if creative has multiple).

Regards,

Simon