flash sdk v3 correlator issue

[ra grinnin]

Hi Shawn,

I recently updated the sdk of a videoplayer to ima v3. It works fine but there is a problem with the corellator. As the documentation suggests it is most likely supposed to be a timestamp. The problem is, quite regularily we have similar timestamps for different requests although there are somtimes a few minutes between the calls. See Xls attached. This is a list of the ad-calls and the time the requests are sent.
Is there a way to influence the timestamp besides creating a new adLoader-object?

thanks in advance,
grinscho

[Shawn Busolits (IMA SDK Team)]

Hey Grinscho,

There is a way to influence this parameter. When you need to change the correlator, you should destroy your existing AdsManager and call contentComplete() on the AdsLoader, then make your new request. We have some more info on this in our FAQ, under I want to request ads using the same tag more than once, but I only get ads for my first request. How do I fix this?. If you have any other questions let us know!

Thanks,

Shawn Busolits
IMA SDK Team

[AdTagger]

Hi, Shawn --

I've tried this multiple variants of what is recommended, here, but a new correlator is never generated.   (I am using an HTTP proxy to verify what requests are sent over the wire.)   Even creating a new AdsLoader does not work. 

Did the latest version of the Flash IMA SDK regress to issue "3.0.96" described, here?
      https://developers.google.com/interactive-media-ads/docs/sdks/flash/v3/history

3.0.96	12/6/2013	Fixes an issue where stream correlator was not being reset when destroy() was called. This does not include the new features originally listed in the 3.0.95 release.

Thanks!

[Shawn Busolits (IMA SDK Team)]

Hi there,

The correlator is actually tied to page load - that will only be reset when the page is refreshed. Following the steps in our FAQ should reset the scor (stream correlator), which should solve your issue. If that doesn't help, could you give me some more details on your issue? e.g. expected behavior vs. actual.

Thanks,

Shawn Busolits

IMA SDK Team

[AdTagger]

Thanks for responding,

Our client is experiencing an issue where after the first ad, subsequent ads in a video playlist do not play.   (ads and content videos alternate in a playlist.)  They are asking that a new "correlator" be sent for every ads request to DFP.  

Should this "scor" *always* be re-generated?     

(BTW, documentation on this "stream correlator" seems pretty scant.  Is there any chance you can explain the difference between it and "correlator"?)


Thanks!

[Shawn Busolits (IMA SDK Team)]

Hi,

Is the client using ad rules to play multiple ads, or are they making a separate ads request for each ad? 

If the former, the problem shouldn't have anything to do with the correlators, and is more likely an implementation issue.

If the latter, they should be able to use the steps outlined here under "I want to request ads using the same tag more than once, but I only get ads for my first request. How do I fix this?" to reset the stream correlator and request new ads.

The correlator and stream correlator are both used for frequency capping. The correlator simply keeps track of whether or not the page has been reloaded, while the stream correlator keeps track of whether or not the video content has changed to a new video.

Thanks,

Shawn Busolits

IMA SDK Team

[AdTagger]

They are doing the latter: A separate ads request for each ad.

I have one final, more general, question:   Does Google recommend generating a new "stream correlator" every time there is a new content video? (e.g.:  situations like this one?)


The instructions at the URL you sent are what I was following -- but until you mentioned the "stream correlator" ("scor"), I was expecting the plain-vanilla "correlator" to change.

I guess resetting "scor" is all I can do for them.  (An empty VAST response is still sent by from the DFP servers, occasionally.)




Thanks a lot!

[Shawn Busolits (IMA SDK Team)]

Hi,

Yes, you should follow the steps to generate a new stream correlator each time there is a new content video. 

If you're occasionally getting an empty response from DFP it's probably a rate limiting issue, which you would need to resolve through DFP.

Thanks,

Shawn Busolits

IMA SDK Team

[AdTagger]

Okay, thanks -- this has been very helpful.

I do not have access to the client's DFP account, and no knowledge of its configuration -- except by probing it as though it were a "black box."  (The client is equivocal about the necessity of sharing this information.   I cannot definitively say that they are wrong.) 

Unfortunately, the  Flash IMA SDK only gives very generic error codes and messages,  e.g.:  "No ads were found in the ad response."


*Feature Request?*
It would be super-awesome if Google could cram better messages in there, so I can provide feedback to the client as to how DFP might be (mis-)configured. 

(Otherwise, if that's not possible:  better error messages in the VAST XML responses, which can be viewed via an HTTP proxy?)  

[Shawn Busolits (IMA SDK Team)]

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback! We are actually working on better errors from the IMA SDK, and future frameworks (like VAST 3) do provide better error reporting, which we plan on incorporating into the SDK.

Thanks,

Shawn Busolits

IMA SDK Team