DCR Sweden Video Android SDK

Engineering Portal / Digital / International DCR / DCR Sweden Video Android SDK

Overview

The Nielsen SDK is one of multiple framework SDKs that Nielsen provides to enable measuring linear (live) and on-demand TV viewing using TVs, mobile devices, etc. The App SDK is the framework for mobile application developers to integrate Nielsen Measurement into their media player applications. It supports a variety of Nielsen Measurement Products like It supports a variety of Nielsen Measurement Products like Digital in TV Ratings (DTVR), Digital Content Ratings (DCR), and Digital Ad Ratings (DAR). Nielsen SDKs are also equipped to measure static content and can track key life cycle events of an application like:

• Application launch events and how long app was running
• Time of viewing a sub section / page in the application.

Prerequisites

Before you start the integration, you will need:

	Item	Description	Source
☑	"App ID (appid)"	Unique ID assigned to the player/site and configured by product.	Contact Nielsen
☑	"Nielsen SDK"	Includes SDK frameworks and "sample implementation"; "See Android SDK Release Notes"	Download

Step 1: Setting up your Android Development Environment

1) Ensure to unzip the Nielsen App SDK zip file and copy the "AppSdk.jar" into the app/libs folder on the App’s project. Add it as dependency.
2) Add the following permissions on the project’s "AndroidManifest.xml" file.

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>

3) Add Google Play Services lib into dependencies as Nielsen AppSDK uses the following packages/classes from the Google Play service. Libraries:

• com.google.android.gms:play-services

Requiered Google Play Service CLasses and Packages :

• com.google.android.gms.ads.identifier.AdvertisingIdClient;
• com.google.android.gms.ads.identifier.AdvertisingIdClient.Info;
• com.google.android.gms.common.ConnectionResult;
• com.google.android.gms.common.GooglePlayServicesUtil;
• com.google.android.gms.common.GooglePlayServicesRepairableException;
• com.google.android.gms.common.GooglePlayServicesNotAvailableException;

4) Once the files are in place, import com.nielsen.app.sdk to the java source code and start accessing the public interface.

import com.nielsen.app.sdk.*;

Notes:

• The Nielsen App SDK (located in the "com.nielsen.app.sdk" package) class is the primary application interface to the Nielsen App SDK on Android.
• The Nielsen App SDK class is defined as the only public class belonging to the com.nielsen.app.sdk package.
• Nielsen App SDK is compatible with Android OS versions 2.3+.
• Clients can control / configure the protocol to be used – HTTPS or HTTP to suit their needs.
• The Android OS hosting the App SDK should use a media player supporting HLS streaming (Android 4.0 and later will support it natively).
• If the player application uses a 3rd party media player implementing its own HLS/MPEG-DASH stack, then the minimum Android version will be limited to version 2.3, since the SDK depends on Google Play support to work properly.

Step 2: Create SDK Instance

The latest version of the Nielsen App SDK allows instantiating multiple instances of the SDK object when needed, which can then be used simultaneously. For the general use case where only one video is played at the same time in the App, a single instance of SDK object can then be used to play back and measure all watched streams one after another.

The following table contains the list of arguments that can be passed via the AppInfo JSON schema.

Parameter / Argument	Description	Source	Required/Obligatory?	Example
appid	Unique id for the application assigned by Nielsen. It is GUID data type.	Nielsen-specified	YES	"PXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX"
appname	Name of the application	Client-defined	NO	"Nielsen Sample App"
appversion	Current version of the app used	Client-defined	NO	"1.0.2"
nol_devDebug	Enables Nielsen console logging. Only required for testing	Nielsen-specified	NO	"DEBUG"

1) AppSDK() is no longer a singleton object and should be created as below.

try{
  // Prepare AppSdk configuration object (JSONObject)
  JSONObject appSdkConfig = new JSONObject()
          .put("appid", "PXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX")
          .put("appversion", "1.0")
          .put("appname", "Sample App Name")
          .put("nol_devDebug", "DEBUG"); // only for debug builds

         // Pass appSdkConfig to the AppSdk constructor
         mAppSdk = new AppSdk(appContext, appSdkConfig, this);
}
catch (JSONException e){
         Log.e(TAG, "Couldn’t prepare JSONObject for appSdkConfig", e);
}

2) implement IAppNotifier into your activity like

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity implements IAppNotifier

3) implement callback

@Override
public void onAppSdkEvent(long timestamp, int code, String description){
  Log.d(TAG, "SDK callback onAppSdkEvent " + description);
}

So whole Activity will look like

package com.example.josefvancura.nlsdemotmp;

import android.content.Context;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.util.Log;

import com.nielsen.app.sdk.*;

import org.json.JSONException;
import org.json.JSONObject;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity implements IAppNotifier {

    private AppSdk mAppSdk = null;
    private String TAG = "MainActivity";

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        Context context = getApplicationContext();

        try{
            // Prepare AppSdk configuration object (JSONObject)
            JSONObject appSdkConfig = new JSONObject()
                    .put("appid", "PXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX")
                    .put("appversion", "1.0")
                    .put("appname", "Sample App Name")
                    .put("nol_devDebug", "DEBUG"); // only for debug builds

            // Pass appSdkConfig to the AppSdk constructor
            mAppSdk = new AppSdk(context, appSdkConfig, this ); // Notifier - activity implements IAppNotifier, callback in onAppSdkEvent()

        }
        catch (JSONException e){
            Log.e(TAG, "Couldn’t prepare JSONObject for appSdkConfig", e);
        }

    }

    @Override
    public void onAppSdkEvent(long timestamp, int code, String description) {
        Log.d(TAG, "SDK callback onAppSdkEvent " + description);
    }

}

APP SDK Error & Event Codes

To view the Error and Event codes for iOS and Android, please review the App SDK Event Code Reference page.

Life cycle of SDK instance

Life cycle of SDK instance includes four general states:

1. ""Initial state"" – The SDK is not initialized and hence, not ready to process playing information. Once the SDK is moved out of this state, it needs instantiation of the new SDK instance in order to get the instance in the ""Initial state"".
2. ""Idle state"" – The SDK is initialized and is ready to process playing information. Once Initialized, the SDK instance is not processing any data, but is listening for the play event to occur.
3. ""Processing state"" – The SDK instance is processing playing information. API calls "play" and "loadMetadata" move the SDK instance into this state. In this state, the SDK instance will be able to process the API calls (see below)
4. ""Disabled state"" – The SDK instance is disabled and is not processing playing information. SDK instance moves into this state in one of the following scenarios.
   1. Initialization fails
   2. appDisableApi is called

@property (assign) BOOL appDisableApi;

Step 3: Create Metadata Objects

The parameters passed must be either a JSON formatted string. The JSON passed in the SDK must be well-formed.

• JSON value must be string value.
  • This includes boolean and numeric values. For example, a value of true should be represented with "true", number value 123 should be "123".
  • All the Variable Names like appid, appname, dataSrc, title, type etc. are case-sensitive. Use the correct variable name as specified in the documentation.
• JSON string can be prepared using either raw NSString or serialized NSDictionary.
  

Create channelName Metadata

channelName should remain constant throughout the completion of an episode or live stream.

Key	Description	Values	Required
channelName	Any string representing the channel/stream	custom	✓

Create Content Metadata

Content metadata should remain constant throughout the entirety of an episode/clip including when ads play.

program and title metadata values should be passed to SDK as UTF-8 strings.

Keys	Description	Values	Required
type	type of asset	"content" for main content	✓
assetid	unique ID assigned to asset	custom (no Special Characters)	✓
program	name of program	custom	✓
title	episode name	custom	✓
length	length of content in seconds	Length of content in seconds (86400 seconds for live stream (24/7). For Event-Live streams planned length. For VoD video length)	✓
airdate	the original date (local time with hh:mm:ss as 24h time stamp) content became available. This date does not change if the content is rebroadcasted on linear TV.	YYYYMMDD HH:MI:SS (if not known set it to eg. "19700101 00:00:00")	✓
isfullepisode	full episode flag	"y" full episode (full content for a program) "n" non full episode (only one part of the entire content for a program , i.e. preview, sub-episodes)	✓
adloadtype	type of Ad load	"1" Linear - matches TV ad load "2" Dynamic - Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI)	✓
subbrand	vcid/sub-brand/Channel ID – value is automatically populated through provided AppID. In order to override the sub-brand configured to the App ID, value can be passed here (e.g. multiple sub-brands/Channels in the App)	provided by Nielsen

Create Ad Metadata

The Ad Metadata (if applicable) should be passed for each individual ad.

Note: All metadata values should be passed as UTF-8 strings.

Keys	Description	Values	Required
type	type of Ad	"preroll", "midroll", "postroll" "ad" - If specific type can not be identified.	✓
assetid	unique ID assigned to Ad	custom (no Special Characters)	✓
subbrand	vcid/sub-brand/Channel ID – value is automatically populated through provided AppID. In order to override the sub-brand configured to the App ID, value can be passed here (e.g. multiple sub-brands/Channels in the App)	provided by Nielsen

MetaData Example

JSONObject channelInfo = new JSONObject()
    .put("channelname","My Channel Name 1")

JSONObject contentMetadata = new JSONObject()
   .put("assetid", "unique_content_id")
   .put("type", "content")
   .put("program", "program name")
   .put("title", "episode title")
   .put("length", "length in seconds")
   .put("airdate", "20200713 10:22:00")
   .put("isfullepisode", "y")
   .put("adloadtype", "2");

JSONObject adMetadata = new JSONObject()
   .put("assetid", "unique_postroll_ad_id")
   .put("type", "postroll");

Step 4: Start the Measurement

Overview of SDK API Calls

play

The play method prepares the SDK for reporting once an asset has loaded and playback has begun. Use play to pass the channel descriptor information through channelName parameter when the user taps the ""Play"" button on the player. Call play only when initially starting the video.

mAppSdk.play(JSONObject channelInfo);

loadMetadata

Needs to be called at the beginning of each asset, pass JSON object for relevant content or ad. Make sure to pass as 1st loadMetadata for content at the begining of playlist - see below API call sequence examples.

mAppSdk.loadMetadata(JSONObject contentMetadata);

playheadPosition

Pass playhead position every second during playback. for VOD: pass current position in seconds. for Live: current Unix timestamp (seconds since Jan-1-1970 UTC) - if it is possible to seek back in Live content, then pass related Unix time (not current). Pass whole number that increments only by 1 like 1,2,3..

mAppSdk.setPlayheadPosition(long videoPositon);

stop

Call when

• ads complete playing
• when a user pauses playback
• upon any user interruption scenario - see bellow chapter Interruption scenario

mAppSdk.stop();

end

Call when the content asset completes playback. Stops measurement progress.

mAppSdk.end();

Start the Measurement

In order to start the measurement, follow the 3 first steps below for Content without Ads. When terminating the Content playback call end to terminate the Content Measurement for the given asset.

Playlist	Sample code	Description
1. Start of stream	play(channelName)	channelName contains JSON metadata of channel/video name being played
	loadMetadata(contentMetadataObject)	contentMetadataObject contains the JSON metadata for the content being played
2. Content is playing	playheadPosition(position)	playheadPosition is position of the playhead while the content is being played
3. End of Stream	end	Content playback is completed.

Step 5: Stop/Resume the Measurement for video Playback Interruptions

As part of integrating Nielsen App SDK with the player application, the Audio / Video app developer needs to handle the following possible interruption scenarios:

• Pause / Play
• Network Loss (Wi-Fi / Airplane / Cellular)
• Call Interrupt (SIM or Third party Skype / Hangout call)
• Alarm Interrupt
• Content Buffering
• Device Lock / Unlock (Video players only, not for Audio players)
• App going in the Background/Foreground (Video players only, not for Audio players)
• Channel / Station Change Scenario
• Unplugging of headphone

In case of encountering one of the above interruptions, the player application needs to

• Call stop immediately (except when content is buffering) and withhold sending playhead position.
• Once the playback resumes, start sending pings playheadPosition for the new viewing session.

Please see the Digital Measurement FAQ for more details

Step 6: Review SDK Integration Architecture Diagram

For Content Playback

For Ad Playback

Step 7 : Privacy and Opt-Out

There are two primary methods for implementing user Opt-out preferences:

1. OS-level Opt-out - managed by Opt out of Ads Personalization setting on device (preferred approach).
2. User Choice - Direct call to SDK. Can be used without Google Play Services.

Special Note Regarding Apps in the Kids Category

If you are building an app that will be listed in the Kids Category:

1. Ensure that you are using the NoID version of the Nielsen SDK Framework.
2. Immediately following the initialization of the Nielsen SDK ensure you call the userOptOut API with Opt out selection:

appSdk.userOptOut("nielsenappsdk://1");  // User opt-out

OS-level Opt-out

OS-level Opt-out method available on Nielsen Android.

The Nielsen SDK automatically leverages the Android's Opt out of Ads Personalization setting. The user is opted out of demographic measurement if the OS-level "Opt out of Ads Personalization" setting is enabled. As a publisher, you cannot override this setting.

Webview Example

The below code is an AndroidX example of displaying the Nielsen Privacy page to the user.

public class OptOutActivity extends AppCompatActivity implements IAppNotifier {

    WebView webView;
    AppSdk appSdk;

    @Override
    public void onCreate(@Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_optout);
        webView = (WebView) findViewById(R.id.webView);

        webView.getSettings().setJavaScriptEnabled(true);

        webView.setWebViewClient(new WebViewClient() {
            @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
            @Override
            public void onReceivedError(WebView view, int errorCode, String description, String failingUrl) {
                Toast.makeText(OptOutActivity.this, description, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            }
            @TargetApi(android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES.M)
            @Override
            public void onReceivedError(WebView view, WebResourceRequest req, WebResourceError rerr) {
                // Redirect to deprecated method, so you can use it in all SDK versions
                onReceivedError(view, rerr.getErrorCode(), rerr.getDescription().toString(), req.getUrl().toString());
            }
        });

        NielsenInit nielsenInit = new NielsenInit();       // Initializing the NielsenSDK
        appSdk = nielsenInit.initAppSdk(getApplicationContext(), this);    //Create Instance
        String url = appSdk.userOptOutURLString();   // Request Optout URL from NielsenSDK
        webView.loadUrl(url);                         //Display to the user in a Webview
    }

User Choice

The User Choice method is only necessary when the host application does not leverage Google Play Services.

Nielsen Android SDK 5.1.1.18 and above will check for OS-level opt-out first, if available. The user will be opted out if indicated at the OS-level OR the App-level.

The legacy opt-out method works as follows:

• Get the current Nielsen opt-out URL via userOptOutURLString()
• Display a WebView element whose loadUrl is set to the value obtained from userOptOutURLString()
• Detect if the WebView URL changes to a special URL that indicates Opt-in, or Opt-out and close the WebView
  • Opt-out if the WebView URL = nielsenappsdk://1
  • Opt-in if the WebView URL = nielsenappsdk://0
• Pass the detected URL to the userOptOut() function
  • Example:

    appSdk.userOptOut("nielsenappsdk://1");  // User opt-out
    

Legacy Opt Out example code

private class MonitorWebView extends WebViewClient
{
  private static final String NIELSEN_URL_OPT_OUT = "nielsenappsdk://1";
  private static final String NIELSEN_URL_OPT_IN = "nielsenappsdk://0";
 
  @Override
  public boolean shouldOverrideUrlLoading(WebView view, String url)
  {
    if (NIELSEN_URL_OPT_OUT.equals(url)
      || NIELSEN_URL_OPT_IN.equals(url))
    {
      // Get AppSdk instance from the host
      AppSdk appSdk = HostApp.getAppSdk();
      // Send the URL to the AppSdk instance
      appSdk.userOptOut(url);
      return true;
    }
    return false;
  }
}

Retrieve current Opt-Out preference

Whether the user is opted out viaOS-level Opt-out or via App-level Opt-out, the current Opt-Out status as detected by the SDK is available via the getOptOutStatus() property in the Nielsen Android SDK API,

Required Privacy Links

Users must either have access to the "About Nielsen Measurement" page, or have similar text available within the native app. Include "About Nielsen Measurement" and "Your Choices" link in the Privacy Policy / EULA or as a button near the link to the app's Privacy Policy.

In addition, the following text must be included in your app store description.

"Please note: This app features Nielsen’s proprietary measurement software which contributes to market research, like Nielsen’s TV Ratings. Please see http://priv-policy.imrworldwide.com/priv/mobile/us/en/optout.html for more information"

Step 8 : Test your player by yourself

Guide

1. Connect your PC and test device (tablet or phone) via same router.
2. PC side: run Proxy sw (like Charles) and get local IP
3. Test device: modify Wifi setting to pass through Proxy IP from step 2.
4. Test device: run your player, launch video
5. PC side: filter traffic by "nmr" and confirm presence of GN pings

Example of GN ping

https://secure-dmk.nmrodam.com/cgi-bin/gn?prd=dcr&ci=us-500207&ch=us-500207_c77_P&asn=defChnAsset&fp_id=&fp_cr_tm=&fp_acc_tm=&fp_emm_tm=&ve_id=&devmodel=&manuf=&sysname=&sysversion=&sessionId=zlmmxkq867zt4bpnumlyz6dpn9hyp1610980356&tl=Episode%201&prv=1&c6=vc%2Cc77&ca=us-500207_c77_VID5556674-123456&cg=TAMSample%20DK&c13=asid%2CP10DF14BA-937E-436D-99DF-ED39A0422387&c32=segA%2CNA&c33=segB%2CNA&c34=segC%2CNA&c15=apn%2C&plugv=&playerv=&sup=1&segment2=&segment1=&forward=0&ad=0&cr=4_00_99_V1_00000&c9=devid%2C&enc=true&c1=nuid%2C999&at=view&rt=video&c16=sdkv%2Cbj.6.0.0&c27=cln%2C0&crs=&lat=&lon=&c29=plid%2C16109803568088038&c30=bldv%2C6.0.0.563&st=dcr&c7=osgrp%2C&c8=devgrp%2C&c10=plt%2C&c40=adbid%2C&c14=osver%2CNA&c26=dmap%2C1&dd=&hrd=&wkd=&c35=adrsid%2C&c36=cref1%2C&c37=cref2%2C&c11=agg%2C1&c12=apv%2C&c51=adl%2C0&c52=noad%2C0&sd=170&devtypid=&pc=NA&c53=fef%2Cy&c54=oad%2C20200713%2010%3A22%3A00&c55=cref3%2C&c57=adldf%2C2&ai=VID5556674-123456&c3=st%2Cc&c64=starttm%2C1610980392&adid=VID5556674-123456&c58=isLive%2Cfalse&c59=sesid%2Cgezrb92q4i9b9jg7acxgn783gjw0a1610980365&c61=createtm%2C1610980392&c63=pipMode%2C&c68=bndlid%2C&nodeTM=&logTM=&c73=phtype%2C&c74=dvcnm%2C&c76=adbsnid%2C&c77=adsuprt%2C2&uoo=&evdata=&c71=ottflg%2C0&c72=otttyp%2Cnone&c44=progen%2C&davty=0&si=http%3A%2F%2Fnielsenonlinesupport.com%2Fdk%2Findex.htm&c66=mediaurl%2Cassets%252FRTVOD_C3%252Fprog_index.m3u8&c62=sendTime%2C1610980392&rnd=714644

Step 9 : Provide your app for certification

Once ready please send your application to Nielsen local staff for certification.

Step 10 : Going Live

After the integration has been certified by Nielsen (but not prior to that), do the following:

1. Disable Debug Logging: Disable logging by deleting {nol_sdkDebug: 'DEBUG'} from initialization call.
2. Notify Nielsen: Once you are ready to go live, let us know so we can enable you for reporting. We will not be able to collect or report data prior to receiving notification from you.