thePlatform Plugin Browser

Engineering Portal / Digital / DCR & DTVR / thePlatform Plugin Browser

The Nielsen Browser SDK (Software Development Kit) is the Nielsen framework for measuring media consumption in browser environments. This SDK has the following features:

• Multiple product support: built-in capabilities to support Digital Content Ratings (DCR), VideoCensus (VC), IAG and Digital in TV Ratings (DTVR).

	OS	Player Version	SDK Version	Supported Ad Frameworks	Download
		5.7.7	6.0.0.28	Google IMA	Contact Nielsen

Note: The Plugin 5.1.0.10 is compatible with the thePlatform player version 5.7.7.

ThePlatform player 5.7.8 through 5.7.15 handles ID3 tags incorrectly, which results in incorrect order of ID3 tags sent to the Plugin. ThePlatform player of these versions should not be used with the version 5.1.0.10 of the plugin due to the player issue. This issue is fixed in thePlatform player 5.7.16, but the same ID3 tags are being sent by the player multiple times, which impacts data traffic between the player and the plugin.

Plugin Implementation

Pre-requisites

• Nielsen App ID (apid): A Unique ID that Nielsen assigns to the site / player. The 'apid' will be provided by your Nielsen Technical Account Manager.
• thePlatform Plugin: Plugin URLs are provided in below section
• Test Environment Validation: Before moving the app into production, Nielsen must validate the Plugin's integration in a test environment.

Initial Configuration

Before integrating the plugin, perform the following

• Configure metadata
• Obtain Nielsen APID's
• Review the Nielsen plugin URLs for thePlatform video players

Configure Metadata

You must configure your Metadata to send to the SDK. The required values are highlighted in the table below, and will need to be supplied through the "Nielsen Keys".

Note: For more information on setting up your Nielsen Keys & Metadata, please reach out to your Nielsen Technical Account Manager.

Content Metadata

Keys	Description	Values	Type	Required
type	Type of asset	'content'	string	Yes
assetid	Unique ID assigned to asset	custom	string	Yes
program	Program Name	custom	string	Yes
title	Episode title	custom	string	Yes
airdate	The original airdate for linear TV	'20161013 20:00:00'	date	No
length	Length of content in seconds	3600 (86400 for lives tream)	integer	Yes
segB	Custom Reporting Segment	custom	string	No
segC	Custom Reporting Segment	custom	string	No
isfullepisode	Full Episode Flag	'y' - Full Episode 'n' - Non Full Episode	boolean	Yes
adloadtype	Distinguishes Dynamic vs Linear Ad Insertion	'1' - Linear '2' - Dynamic	integer	Yes
crossId1	Standard Episode ID	custom	string	Yes
crossId2	Content Originator ID	custom	string	No
mediaURL	URL location of the content being streamed	custom	string	Yes
hasAds	Distinguishes when content includes Ads	'0' - No Ads '1' - Includes Ads '2' - Unknown	integer	Yes

Ad Metadata

Keys	Description	Values	Type	Required
type	Type of ad	'preroll' 'midroll' 'postroll'	string	Yes
assetid	Unique ID assigned to ad	custom	string	Yes

Note:There is a URL character limit of 2000 characters imposed due to browser limitations. Exceeding this value can impair data delivery on particular browsers.

Obtain the Nielsen Application ID (apid)

The Nielsen apid is required to enable SDK functionality. Your Technical Account Manager will provide two apids for each player configuration

• Test apid: use this apid during development and testing
• Production apid: use this apid in your production environment after Nielsen has tested and qualified the player.

The Platform Plugin URLs

The URL to be used for thePlatform Plugin is as below

Javascript: http://cdn-gl.imrworldwide.com/novms/tp/3/ggtp510.js

Note: Supports flash version of thePlatform Plugin.

Global Parameters

To initialize the Nielsen Browser SDK, you must pass one required global parameter, which will be created when configuring the plugin within thePlatform user interface. You can also pass optional parameters as described below.

Keys	Description	Values	Type	Required
apid	unique Nielsen-assigned identifier for the application. Nielsen provides you with the following two apid values: Test apid: used during development, test, and certification processes. Production apid: used only after Nielsen has certified the implementation.	'XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX'	string	Yes
apn	a user-defined string value for describing your player	e.g, "Client Name PrimeTime"	string	No
sfcode	collections location setting. The SDK uses the sfcode value to manage traffic routing. During the Nielsen Beta Period, set sfcode to 'dcr-cert' for testing & 'cert' for production.	Development: set sfcode to 'dcr-cert'. Production: set sfcode to 'dcr'.	string	No
nol_sdkDebug	Nielsen SDK console logging that should be used while testing. Make sure to disable before moving the implementation to production. Set 'DEBUG' for all levels of logging enabled. 'INFO', 'WARN', & 'ERROR' can also be used for specific levels of debugging. Leave blank to disable.	debug	string	No
instanceName	Name of SDK instance	"any string"	string	No

Setup

In order to integrate the Nielsen plugin, you must create the plugin from thePlatform user interface, then integrate with your thePlatform video player.

The Platform Player Plugin Creation

• In order to create a plugin, go to the URL http://data.player.theplatform.com/player/client and login with valid credentials.
• Select the object as a 'Plugin' from the dropdown and check the option POST and type of FORM as 'json'.

• Create the body code similarly to the example body code provided below. You may refer the link for more help http://help.theplatform.com/display/plds/Updating+PlugIn+objects

Example in JSON form

• • title : Title for plugin
  • plplugin$jsUrl : URL for .js file which loads the plugin in
  • plplugin$iconUrl : URL for showing icon of plugin
  • plplugin$parameters: Parameters need to add with the Plugin

Integration file references

The URL for integration file references is as below

JavaScript: http://cdn-gl.imrworldwide.com/novms/tp/3/ggtp510.js

Note: The below body code uses the JavaScript Plugin reference

{
  "$xmlns":
    {
      "plplugin": "http://xml.theplatform.com/player/data/PlugIn"
    },
    "title": "NielsenDCRJS510Plugin",
    "plplugin$jsUrl": "http://cdn-gl.imrworldwide.com/novms/tp/3/ggtp510.js",
    "plplugin$type": "plugin",
    "plplugin$iconUrl": "http://yoursite/folder/nielsen.png",
    "plplugin$componentType": "tpPlayer",
    "plplugin$parameters": [
      {
        "plplugin$name": "apid",
        "plplugin$type": "string",
        "plplugin$label": "apid",
        "plplugin$visibility": "basic",
        "plplugin$description": "apid",
        "plplugin$defaultValue": "XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX"
      },
      {
        "plplugin$name": "sfcode",
        "plplugin$type": "string",
        "plplugin$label": "sfcode",
        "plplugin$visibility": "basic",
        "plplugin$description": "sfcode",
        "plplugin$defaultValue": "dcr-cert"
      },
      {
        "plplugin$name": "nol_sdkDebug",
        "plplugin$type": "string",
        "plplugin$label": "nol_sdkDebug",
        "plplugin$visibility": "basic",
        "plplugin$description": "nol_sdkDebug",
        "plplugin$defaultValue": "DEBUG"
      },
      {
        "plplugin$name": "apn",
        "plplugin$type": "string",
        "plplugin$label": "apn",
        "plplugin$visibility": "basic",
        "plplugin$description": "apn",
        "plplugin$defaultValue": "defaultClientPlayerName"
    }
  ]
}

Plugin Integration with Player

• Select the player and click on the plug-ins tab on the right hand side of the MPX UI
• Select the required plug-in from the drop-down
  • For example, the created plug-in 'NielsenDCRJSPlugin' should now be available under the plugin drop-down.

The variables associated with the plug-in are shown as below, and the user needs to enter the correct values. Refer to your Nielsen Technical Account Manager if you have questions.

SDK / GlobalParameter Plug-in Variables

• apid: This value is given to you by your Nielsen Technical Account Manager. Example value: "XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX"
• sfcode: During testing and QA this value should be "dcr-cert". In production this value should be "dcr".
• apn: This is the name of the Player and is editable within the plug-in creation / update
• nol_sdkDebug: Used in test environment for console logging: 'DEBUG'.

Note: Make sure to disable before moving to production by leaving blank.

Notes

When creating a plugin instance, the setup object is passed to the initialization function called by the player.

Example of the setup object that is passed to the Plugin:

{
  "apid": "PXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX",
  "defaults": {
     "tv": true
   },
  "custom_fields": {
     "assetid": "123456",
     "program": "myProgram"
   },
  "nol_sdkDebug": "DEBUG"
}

The plugin obtains CMS data like assetid, program, length from the following sources:

• setup.defaults
• clip object with standard fields provided by the player:
  • title = the value returned in clip.title
  • nielsen_mediaid = the value returned in clip.contentID
  • mediaURL = the value returned in clip.URL
  • length = the value returned in timeObject.duration
• setup.custom_fields
• clip.contentCustomData object with the fields provided by the client while configuring custom fields in MPX console.

The plugin takes these fields in the order specified above and puts them to one single object that is passed to the Browser SDK with "loadmetadata" events (3/15). Fields with the same name will be overwtitten.

For example, parameter "mykey" is set in two objects:

setup.custom_fields.mykey="val1"

and

clip.contentCustomData.mykey="val2".

As a result the value "val2" will be passed to the Browser SDK.

Data from setup.defaults will be used for all videos and for all ads played in the session, e.g. for all videos in the playlist. Data from setup.custom_fields will be used for all videos, but NOT for ads played in the session

The plugin doesn't send events 3/15/49/7/57 to the Browser SDK if there is no custom field provided. In this case the plugin sends only events 55 if the video is ID3 tagged. There is one exception. The field length provided in custom fields is NOT considered as a parameter allowing the Plugin to send events 3/15/49/7/57.

If custom fields are passed through the setup object, it requires initializing the plugin and the Browser SDK for each video.