DCR Pre-Certification Checklist
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App Pre-Certification Checklist
The purpose of this document is to provide instruction on determining if your implementation of Digital Content Ratings (DCR) via App is ready to be submitted for certification. This document provides you the ability understand what is expected after implementation and before submitting to Nielsen. After all checks in this document are completed and passed, your Digital Implementation Manager (DIM) will further assess the implementation’s readiness for certification.
Before You Start
| Item | |
|---|---|
| ☐ | For testing, your AppID should start with a "P" and your sfcode should be set to "dcr-cert". |
| ☐ | The opt-out/opt-in functionality has been implemented within your App. |
| ☐ | Ensure the AppSDK initializes and the API events are enabled for DCR. |
| ☐ | Ensure stop API for all scenarios where the video could be interrupted (e.g., alerts, alarm, calendar, incoming calls, killing the app, channel change, stop/pause, background/foreground, etc.). |
| ☐ | Android:setPlayheadPosition). |
| ☐ | Record the Device Identifier of your test device for your Digital Implementation Manager. See INSERT LINK TO PORTION OF THIS GUIDE THAT CONTAINS THESE INSTRUCTIONS. |
| ☐ | Ensure that all content is consistently available and CMS enabled. Any interruptions or intermittence in the flow will cause delays in the testing process for all parties involved. |
Monitoring Tools
You will need an HTTP traffic-monitoring tool, such as Charles or Fiddler.
- Charles: http://www.charlesproxy.com/
- Fiddler: http://www.telerik.com/fiddler
Testing Your App Implementation
Capture Traffic
To capture traffic from the SDK, filter HTTP traffic with the string "imr", as seen in Figure 1. This will capture traffic going to Nielsen servers. You will then need to set up your device to proxy to this traffic analyzer. Instructions may vary from device to device and are available online.
- Charles: View → Focused Hosts
- Fiddler: Filters (tab)
Ensure opt-in
If you previously tested the opt-out function or app disable feature, make sure that an opt-in was completed on your device before continuing. Terminate your app completely before starting.
"Hello" Ping
The first HTTPS traffic you should see is the SDK request for configuration information, called a "hello ping". An example has been included below. In order to see this ping, Charles/Fiddler has to be configured to capture HTTPS traffic. This ping will be cached in memory, so it will be seen only on the first launch of the app or when metadata changes.
https://secure-dcr-cert.imrworldwide.com/cgi-bin/cfg?cfgv=300
Static
When you start your app after fresh install, and your app is measuring DCR Static content only, you should see a DCR static "app launch" known as "L" ping firing to secure-dcr-cert.imrworldwide.com server in your traffic-monitor. However, the "L" ping will be observed again if app goes into background and resumes back after 5 minutes.
https://secure-dcr-cert.imrworldwide.com/cgi-bin/gn?prd=dcr
If your app is measuring DCR Video Content only, the "L" ping will not be observed upon app launch, only the “hello ping” will fire.
Static "view" ping
For any sections that are tagged for static content, you should receive a DCR Static “view” ping. The first landing page should always be tagged. An example of this ping:
https://secure-dcr-cert.imrworldwide.com/cgi-bin/gn?prd=dcr
Video
"cr" Value
Approximately 60 seconds into viewing of your stream, you should see a DCR Video "view" ping fire to secure-dcr-cert.imrworldwide.com server indicated by the cr value containing a "V" in the format of 4__00_99_V1_00000. The significant values are highlighted below in Table 2.
Duration Ping
The first duration ping is fired after you’ve viewed 5 minutes of content. You should see a DCR Video "duration" ping fire to secure-dcr-cert.imrworldwide.com indicated by the cr value containing a "D" in the format of 4_00_99_D1_11111. This “D” ping should fire approximately every 5 minutes after this initial duration ping has fired or when the content switches to an advertisement The ad length (c51) is the total ad duration viewed in the previous session, and the ad count (c52) is the number of ads viewed in previous segment. The significant values are highlighted below in Table 3.
View 5 minutes
View all channels for 5 minutes to ensure all channels fire a "duration" ping.
Duration Ping
Play a stream and move the app to the background. A pending “duration” ping should fire; crediting the appropriate number of minutes viewed from last ping (i.e. 4_00_99_D1_11100). No other pings should fire after it has been moved to the background. In case SDK does not get a chance to send out the ping while going to background, SDK will send the pending ping on next re-launch.
Interruption
The same action will occur with any interruption to the stream’s playback (e.g., alarm, incoming call, etc.).
Digital Content Rating (DCR) Metadata
Use the monitoring tools and the device logs to view the following DCR metadata keys to ensure all parameters are being passed accordingly. Tag Parameters are listed in here: Section 5 INSERT LINK TO PORTION OF THIS GUIDE THAT CONTAINS THESE INSTRUCTIONS.
DCR Metadata - Content
| Key | Description | Purpose | Example | Tag Parameters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Example | Example | Example | Example | Example |
| Example | Example | Example | Example | Example |
If this ping fails to fire, a common cause is improper metadata being passed to the SDK. Examples of the proper metadata to be passed in the loadMetadata() API call can be found in the Developer’s Guide
Test Case for Ad Measurement
Metadata