Android Step By Step
From Engineering Client Portal
Provided below are step-by-step quick start guides for implementing Nielsen Android SDK for DCR Static, DCR Video, and DTVR products. Click each section to get started.
→ Android DCR Static
Show/hide DCR Static
Android DCR Static Introduction
Show/hide Intro
The Digital Content Ratings (DCR) Static product provides content consumption measurement on client webpages. This measurement includes insight into the total time a user spent on a webpage, how they navigated through the page via links, and many other data points. This tutorial provides the steps to implement the DCR Static product in a sample Android app. It includes:
- SDK Initialization Call
- DCR Static Metadata: information about the sections being tracked
By the end of this guide you will have the needed steps to integrate Nielsen's AppSDK in the background of your app.
Android DCR Static Step 1 - Obtain AppID
Show/hide step 1
To begin using the Android SDK (AppSDK) you will need to obtain an Application ID (AppId)
| Item | Description | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ✅ | App ID (appid) | Unique ID assigned to the player/site and configured by product | Contact your Nielsen TAM |
The appid is a 37 character unique ID assigned to the player/site and configured by product and is required when creating a new instance of the AppSDK on the webpage.
Example: PXXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXX
Android DCR Static Step 2 - SDK Initialization
Show/hide step 2
How to obtain the NielsenAppApi
The Nielsen AppSDK can either be downloaded directly or can be integrated into an application through the use of Gradle. We recommend using the Gradle-based integration whenever possible to ensure you maintain the most recent changes and enhancements to the Nielsen libraries.
SDK Initialization
The following table contains the list of arguments that can be passed via the AppInfo JSON schema.
| Parameter / Argument | Description | Source | Required? | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| appid | Unique Nielsen ID for the application. The ID is a GUID data type. If you did not receive your App ID, let us know and we will provide you. | Nielsen-specified | Yes | PXXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX |
| nol_devDebug | Enables Nielsen console logging. Only required for testing | Nielsen-specified | Optional | "DEBUG" |
Debug flag for development environment
Player application developers / integrators can use Debug flag to check whether an App SDK API call made is successful. To activate the Debug flag,
Pass the argument @"nol_devDebug":@"INFO", in the JSON string . The permitted values are:
- INFO: Displays the API calls and the input data from the application (validate player name, app ID, etc.). It can be used as certification Aid.
- WARN: Indicates potential integration / configuration errors or SDK issues.
- ERROR: Indicates important integration errors or non-recoverable SDK issues.
- DEBUG: Debug logs, used by the developers to debug more complex issues.
Once the flag is active, it logs each API call made and the data passed. The log created by this flag is minimal.
Note: DO NOT activate the Debug flag in a production environment.
Sample SDK Initialization Code
Initialization of App SDK object through a JSON object
try
{
// Prepare AppSdk configuration object (JSONObject)
JSONObject appSdkConfig = new JSONObject()
.put("appid", "PDA7D5EE6-B1B8-XXXX-XXXX-2A788BCXXXCA")
.put("nol_devDebug", "DEBUG"); // only for debug builds
// Pass appSdkConfig to the AppSdk constructor
mAppSdk = new AppSdk(appContext, appSdkConfig, appSdkListener);
}
catch (JSONException e)
{
Log.e(TAG, "Couldn’t prepare JSONObject for appSdkConfig", e);
}
Here, appContext is the App context object and appSdkConfig is JSON object for holding the parameters (appid) the App passes to the Nielsen App SDK via a JSON string. The appid is obtained from Nielsen operational support and is unique to the app.
- Ensure that SDK files (AppSdk.jar and libAppSdk.so [App SDK 1.2 Only]) are included under the App’s project and the App SDK is linked to the App (the setting to link App SDK to the App can be found on property page of the App’s project).
Android DCR Static Step 3 - Create/Load DCR Static Metadata Object
Show/hide step 3
Configure Metadata
Map the Nielsen keys to variables so that the content metadata is dynamically updated.
The Nielsen reserved keys are:
| Key | Description | Data Type | Value | Required? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| type | asset type | fixed | 'static' |
Yes |
| assetid | Unique ID for each article | dynamic | custom (no Special Characters) |
No |
| section | section of each site (e.g. section value should be first level in page URL: website.com/section). Limit to 25 unique values | dynamic | custom | Yes |
| segA | custom segment for reporting: Limit to 25 unique values across custom segments (segA + segB + segC) | dynamic | custom | No |
| segB | custom segment for reporting: Limit to 25 unique values across custom segments (segA + segB + segC) | dynamic | custom | No |
| segC | custom segment for reporting: Limit to 25 unique values across custom segments (segA + segB + segC) | dynamic | custom | No |
The values passed through the Nielsen keys will determine the breakouts that are seen in reporting. The custom segments (A, B & C) will roll into the sub-brand. To not use custom segments A, B and C, do not pass any value in these keys.
Configure API calls - loadMetadata
Use loadMetadata to pass 'content' Digital Measurement Metadata. The CMS data must be passed as a JSON object.
loadMetadata(JSONObject jsonMetadata);
Refer to Digital Measurement Metadata for the list of parameters to be passed in the JSON object.
Note: The loadMetadata call must have ("type": "static").
Call loadMetadata with JSON metadata as below.
new JSONObject()
.put("type", "static")
.put("section", "siteSection")
.put("assetid", "vid345-67483")
.put("segA", "segmentA")
.put("segB", "segmentB")
.put("segC","segmentC")
}
As soon as this loadMetadata call is made, AppSDK will record a view event and start tracking the section/page time spent (AppSDK 9.1 and above).
DCR Static Duration Measurement per Section/Page/Asset
If your Nielsen AppID is enabled for DCR Static duration measurement, a view event will be recorded and a timer will be started for each screen/page. Duration will be measured until a new page is loaded or the app is moved to the background. The event which triggers recognition of page view and timer start is the loadMetadata API call with a metadata object of type 'static'. Once a page is viewed and the timer has started, duration will be measured until a new page has loaded with associated loadMetadata call having a different section name from the previous page. If a new loadMetadata call is made with the same section name, it will be ignored - no new view will be recorded. If it is desired to have a new view event even though the metadata contains the same section name (example: single-page apps having several assedIDs but common section name), staticEnd API can be called between page views. For the purposes of this overview, staticend will not be used. See this page for more information.
Keep Going
Show/hide
Congratulations, you've successfully integrated the Android SDK in your app!
You can add static loadMetadata calls for more sections/pages in your app to see what happens when transitioning between sections.
View your application's debug logs and search for the term (AppSDK) to see messages emitted by Nielsen AppSDK.
Next Steps
Show/hide
Now that you've integrated DCR Static for the AppSDK, what's next?
Going Live
In addition to the basic steps above, before going live developers need to handle app background/foreground events, make certain privacy disclosures, and allow users to opt out of Nielsen measurement. More details can be found here, along with a more comprehensive reference for implementing DCR Static measurement with AppSDK.
Once the DCR Tracking Code is added, Nielsen will validate the implementation. Following Nielsen testing, developers need to make a few updates to the initialization call to ensure that the app is being measured properly.
- App ID: Ensure that correct is used during initialization PXXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX
- Debug Logging: Disable logging by changing initialization call to use @"nol_devDebug":@"INFO".