Tracking Streaming Windows Media - a quick Web Analytics HACK

I was talking to Tim (in technical support) the other day, about streaming windows media tracking – and he pointed out a method to retrieve a number of events directly from the windows media object (which I simply had to try out myself) – and by that, a chance to collect a plethora of streaming online video metrics.

This is not a post about particular online video KPI’s (which is a separate post I will most certainly do), but a HACK on how to actually retrieve the information.

So... let’s get to it. Using the following HTML object:


<OBJECT id='DennisMediaPlayer' width="280" height="280" classid='CLSID:22d6f312-b0f6-11d0-94ab-0080c74c7e95' standby='Loading...' type='application/x-oleobject' >

<param name='fileName' value="http://visualrevenue.com/blog/video/superman-video.wmv">
<param name='animationatStart' value='true'>
<param name='transparentatStart' value='false'>
<param name='autoStart' value="false">
<param name='showControls' value="true">
<param name='loop' value="false">
<param name="ShowStatusBar" value="true">

</OBJECT>


We get the following result:
(..and please be so kind as to interact with the video, so that I get some more data to play with)



Using the windows media player playState property we are provided with the following properties:

1. Stopped - Playback of the current media item is stopped.
2. Paused - Playback of the current media item is paused. When a media item is paused, resuming playback begins from the same location.
3. Playing - The current media item is playing.
4. ScanForward - The current media item is fast forwarding.
5. ScanReverse - The current media item is fast rewinding.
6. Buffering - The current media item is getting additional data from the server.
7. Waiting - Connection is established, but the server is not sending data. Waiting for session to begin.
8. MediaEnded - Media item has completed playback.
9. Transitioning - Preparing new media item.
10. Ready - Ready to begin playing.
11. Reconnecting - Reconnecting to stream.

Which are all exciting metrics to collect, and without going into detail on why we should NOT setup 11 different actions (such as analytics compatibility between video channels), I created the following actions - and by that introduced 4 new metrics. (as indicated above I will post a separately about online video KPI’s)

• Online video started
• Online video positive consumption action
• Online video negative consumption action
• Online video ended

With the video object active on the site (as you see it in this post) AND the actions set up in my web analytics tool (as shown above). The next step is to create a function, that you can use to capture actions without a page-refresh. (the code below is how to do it in IndexTools, but most tools will provide you with a way to do this)


function onclickactiontracking (actionnumber)
{
var tracking_object = createITT();
tracking_object.ACTION = actionnumber;
tracking_object.submit_action();
}


With the above code in place, we now have everything needed to do the actual online video tracking. Tapping in to the DennisMediaPlayer object we can chose which events to collect. As an example, I have set the following up for the video in this post:

<script language="Javascript" type="text/javascript" for="DennisMediaPlayer" event="PlayStateChange(NewState)">

switch (NewState)
{
case 1: // Stopped (negative)
onclickactiontracking(14);
break;

case 2: // Paused (positive)
onclickactiontracking(13);
break;

case 3: // Playing
onclickactiontracking(11);
break;

case 4: // ScanForward (negative)
onclickactiontracking(14);
break;

case 5: // ScanReverse (postitive)
onclickactiontracking(13);
break;

case 8: // Media Ended
onclickactiontracking(12);
break;

}
</script>


Conclusion:
That is it! You are now collecting online video event metrics and as said, this post does not hold any information on WHAT to collect (KPI’s) or HOW to analyse the collected data. More about that later.. Cheers - AND do ping me if anybody is going to SES in Chicago beginning December. We should meet up! :-)

N.B.
A test on the collected data shows that I am not catching the Media Ended event. note to myself; must look into that later :-)

Web Analytics Level of Advancement in the UK, Benelux and Scandinavia

This is the 2nd post in a series of posts about the factual (quantitative researched) state of the web analytics Industry. You can get an understanding of my methodology –by reading the 1st post: Web Analytics Industry – International Pulse (US vs. EU). Both this and the previous post are part of studies (play) done for my participation as an expert (look at me mom) :-) in the latest WAA (Web Analytics Association) webcast:


Taking the Pulse of International Web Analytics
Webcast: Taking the Pulse of International Web Analytics via WebEx
Slideshow: Taking the Pulse of International Web Analytics [1mb PDF]

Our panel of experts will consider the “international” challenges of web analytics today; how web analytics is being used by multi-language/multi-country sites; and we'll take the pulse of web analytics maturity in different regions.


I presented my previous studies on the US vs. EU – but posed a new question – and thus presented new conclusions.


Question:
How do the three supposedly most advanced regions of Europe compare in level of Web Analytics advancement?



Conclusion
Looking at the Advanced Report Requests usage in the UK, Benelux and Scandinavia compared to a global average – we see two distinct conclusions. That the Benelux region is the most advanced Web analytics regions in Europe (of the three analyzed) – but more excitingly, that the advancement of Web Analytics in the UK is not only below the global average, but also surprisingly below US levels!

Source: 5,509,003 reports requested by Web Analysts using IndexTools (Q1-Q3 2007)
(VisualRevenue.com/blog - Dennis R. Mortensen)

See my entire PowerPoint and accompanying slides:

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Indentify increased organic search traffic opportunities in a drooping tail (speaking at SMX)

I attended my 5th Emetrics (in Stockholm last week) this year, probably making Aurélie and I the most ‘educated’ people in the industry :-) ...and Jim! - medals? :-) he he

But beyond that – I was invited to speak at SMX Stockholm at the session:

Harnessing Web Analytics Tools
Web analytics tools take raw data and transform it into a wealth of information that allows you to gain an in-depth understanding of how searchers are finding you and interacting with your web site. These tools also help you fine tune and experiment with alternative search marketing approaches, helping you maximize the effectiveness of your efforts.

Moderated by my good friend, Rand Fishkin, from SEOmoz.

Speakers:
Dennis R. Mortensen, COO, IndexTools
Jan Rencke, CEO & Founder, Destination Stockholm
Richard Zwicky, CEO, Enquisite
Patrick Price, CEO & Founder, Idealizer AG

I zoomed in on the wording “alternative search marketing approaches” and had an opportunity to bring up one of my pet subjects – the drooping tail.

Believing in the long tail concept – a plethora of opportunities arise, such as the ability to spot a drooping tail.. and taking advantage of this phenomenon to increase organic search traffic. Learn how to do this using a Web Analytics tool!

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Well... Back to ad:tech New York! :-)
Cheers.