Adobe Launch-youtube no cookie tracking

[Amruthesh_AG]

Hi Team,

Our site has implemented with youtube-nocookie.com videos but this format videos are not tracking with youtube embedded tracking method,

Can some one help me how we can track this kind of video?

@Jennifer

[Jennifer_Dungan]

I've never had proper success tracking YouTube videos using only Adobe Launch ever... whether it was a regular YT or this new No-Cookie variant.

In our experience, the play, pause, etc actions only sporadically worked... I would hit play - nothing, I would hit pause - nothing, I would hit play again - success, I would hit pause - nothing,  I would hit play again - nothing, I would hit pause - success...

There was no pattern to the failures to detect the events... it resulted in a approximately a 70% failure rate. Now, it's possible that was due to something in our React site, I have not tried with our new front-end code.

Questions for you:

1. Have you had YouTube Videos (before no-cookie) implemented on your site, and was that code stable? (Trying to figure out if the issue is YT in general, or just this new variation)

2. Are you seeing any error messages? Or are your triggers just not being detected?

[Nonamemv]

Thanks for your reply @Jennifer_Dungan 

Same code is working fine on normal YouTube video

And not getting any error or exception in console.

[Jennifer_Dungan]

Hmm okay, so the issue is completely related to this new video type... It's likely related to something fundamental in the API of this new video player type on YT's side...

There are two YouYube extensions the last time I checked, I'm not sure which one you are using... there is one created by Adobe (which you may have to contact client care about), and the other one is actually coded by one of the advisors here on Experience League... @yuhuisg.. if you are using his extension, he might be able to work with you to either create a new version to handle this variant of the YY player.

I don't know if this is something you will be able to fix on your own... 

Good luck!

[yuhuisg · Accepted solution]

Thanks for mentioning me, @Jennifer_Dungan !

@Nonamemv @Amruthesh_AG I saw in your screenshot that your developers have embedded the YouTube videos in a non-standard way. Instead of using YouTube's recommended <iframe> tag, your developers have chosen to use a <video> tag, with the "src" attribute set to the YouTube video feed itself.

Without the <iframe>, video tracking is impossible because YouTube's player is not loaded, and all tracking is really done through the player. Even with <iframe>, using youtube-nocookie.com would still allow your videos to be tracked.

If your developers insist on using <video>, then you could try tracking your videos with Launch's Media-related events in the Core extension. But this is really up to you to figure out, again, because your YouTube videos are not being embedded according to YouTube's recommendations.

[Jennifer_Dungan]

Well, that makes a lot of sense.. Thanks for helping out @yuhuisg 

I wasn't sure if this was some new fancy embed, but its a custom solution...

[Amruthesh_AG]

Hi @yuhuisg   I have cross checked the developer and they mentioned they have implemented as Iframe only.

Youtube tracking implementation screenshots
1) I have tried with YouTube Playback & Video Tracking for YouTube extension for video start event but it is not working.

[Amruthesh_AG]

@yuhuisg@Jennifer_Dungan Any inputs/guide on this?

[Jennifer_Dungan]

Like I said, I always had issues with YouTube (I swear every time someone at YT sneezes the API breaks...)

My solution was a Frankenstein-esk monster using GTM (and their ability to listen for YT videos) and using GTM to trigger custom events / set data about the video, and then use Event Listeners in Adobe to track the videos....

This is only an option if you have GTM on your site though...

[yuhuisg]

Ok, I see that the <iframe> code is correct. But I noticed that there is an additional "loading" attribute in the <iframe> with a "lazy" value. I also noticed an additional "data-isrc" attribute with the YouTube URL as the value. These 2 attributes are not part of the standard YouTube embed code, so your developers might have added them. I wonder if either of those is causing the problems.

I can't speak for the "Video Tracking for YouTube", since I'm not that extension's developer. But I can check why my "YouTube Playback" extension doesn't work with your YouTube code.

[yuhuisg]

@Amruthesh_AG , I've tested your video with my "YouTube Playback" extension and verified that tracking works properly.

This screenshot shows that I'm using the same HTML code as your website. BUT do take note: since my test page is not hosted on your website, so the "class", "data-isrc" and "loading" attributes in the <iframe> have no effect, because those attributes are custom to your website for some specific purposes.

I logged the playback events that are detected by my extension and could verify that these playback events were detected properly, implying that they can be used for video playback tracking purposes.

So my conclusion is as what I had stated before: there is something about the way that YouTube videos are embedded in your website that is causing some fundamental problems, and these are blocking tracking. I've highlighted the <iframe> attributes that are not part of YouTube's standard embed code: "data-isrc" and "loading". One or both of them could be causing the problem when run in your website (with your website's JavaScript code).

A quick fix would be to revert your website coding to use YouTube's standard embed code only. That means, remove the "data-isrc" and "loading" attributes. You may also need to remove the "class" attribute.

If your developers are not able to do that, then they will have to troubleshoot this separately with you, because there is something special about your website that is preventing YouTube video playback tracking from happening correctly.

[Amruthesh_AG]

Hi @yuhuisg 

I have removed lazy load attribute and checked but it is not working as expected.

Developer has told src attribute will have youtube video url when user play the video, while on page load src will not have video url because to improve the page load speed to src attribute not placing the video url.

@yuhuisg Can you share me the screen record/screenshot of your rules and extension initialization and video start rules so that I can cross check the my implementation.

Note: YouTube tracking is working one time if I try with multiple times

[Jennifer_Dungan]

@Amruthesh_AG  honestly, this sounds like when I tried to use this.. I was only able to get a 30% success rate (i.e. 70% failure rate), as per my first post...

It sounds like maybe you are having a similar issue... it fails more than it works......

[yuhuisg]

@Amruthesh_AG ,

Since your developers are setting the YouTube URL at a later point, then I believe the solution would be to do what I have described here: https://github.com/yuhui/launchext-youtube-playback/wiki/Tutorial-3:-enabling-a-dynamically-loaded-Y.... In your case, your developers will need to add the _satellite.track() after they have set the YouTube URL, because it is only after that step when the YouTube video becomes available for playing.

You can see my test page at https://yuhui.sg/launch/youtube-playback-Amruthesh.html. Note: in that page, I have set the YouTube URL in the <iframe> already. This is the default behaviour when using YouTube's embed code.