Track video events with third-party URLs

This feature is only available to networks with a dedicated Google account manager, and might not be turned on for your network. Contact your account manager for more information. If you do not have an account manager, your network is not eligible for this feature.

Third-party tracking URLs are used to measure ad metrics. They provide details about user interaction with creatives. For video line items, advertiser-supplied tracking URLs are usually used for this purpose. If the advertiser is using VAST, it's recommended that the publisher book a VAST redirect which eliminates the need for third-party tracking URLs.

• All of the following tracking events are supported for video creatives on reservation line items.
• Programmatic Guaranteed and Preferred Deal line items support quartile tracking events (Start, First quartile, Midpoint, Third quartile, and Complete).
• Open Auction and Private Auction line items do not currently support tracking URLs for these events.
• You can associate third-party URLs with line items or on the ad unit level via creative wrappers and labels.

Where supported, you can enter multiple URLs for each type of tracking, except for Survey, Custom click, and Click tracking, which only support one.

Available tracking events

Tracking URL	Description of tracked activity
Accept invitation	The number of times a user expands the viewable area and launches another portion of an ad.
Click tracking	The number of clicks on the video.
Close*	The number of times a user closes a video.
Collapse*	The number of times a user collapses an ad, either to its original size or to a different size. For overlays, this tracks the The number of times the user minimizes the ad without fully removing it from the player.
Complete	The number of times the video plays to the end.
Creative view	The number of times the first frame of the video initially plays for a user. Often used as a synonym for "impression".
Custom click	The number of times a user performs a custom click, such as clicking on a video hot spot.
Engaged view	The number of times the ad was viewed to completion. For VAST 3 or 4, a completion occurs either when the user reaches the end of the ad, or reaches the "Skippable view time" defined in your network settings, whichever comes first.
Expand*	The number of times a user expands a non-linear creative, such as an overlay.
First quartile	The number of times the video plays to 25% of its length.
Fullscreen	The number of times a user expands the video to full-screen size.
Fully viewable and audible for 50% duration	The number of impressions that were considered audible and had 100% of their pixels in view for 50% of its length.
Measurable impressions	The number of impressions that are measurable by Active View out of the total number of eligible impressions.
Midpoint	The number of times the video plays to 50% of its length.
Mute	The number of times a user mutes the video.
Pause	The number of times a user pauses the video.
Resume	The number of times a user resumes the video. If the resume control is the same as the pause control, the reporting should be able to differentiate between the two.
Rewind	The number of times a user rewinds the video.
Skip	The number of times a user skipped the creative (different than "Close").
Skip shown	The number of times the "skip" button was shown (the skip button is shown 5 seconds after a skippable ad starts).
Start	The number of times the first frame of the video plays for a user (different than "Creative view").
Survey	The URL that calls a survey to accompany an ad. For example, when a creative is served for an ad, a survey may also be served in a pop-up window.
Third quartile	The number of times the video plays to 75% of its length.
Unmute	The number of times a user unmutes the video. If the un-mute control is the same as the mute control, the reporting should be able to differentiate between the two.
Video abandon	The number of times a user views the video but does not complete.
Viewable impression	The number of impressions that were viewable by Active View out of all measurable impressions. For in-stream video ads, 50% of its area must be displayed for at least two seconds.

* Appears in the creative set interface in Ad Manager but it is not yet included in the VAST response.