YouTube event

Requirements

• The YouTube IFrame Player API script.
• To allow the YouTube event listener to track events for a video, you must set the enablejsapi parameter to 1 for the embedded video. You can also select the Enable iFrame API checkbox, which will automatically set the parameter on embedded videos that match the Element Selector criteria.
• If you want to track videos separately, the embedded videos must use unique id parameters.

If a page with a YouTube event listener does not already contain the YouTube iFrame Player API script, the script will be automatically loaded on the page.

Embed parameters

The URL for the video ID xWlEk2i9r5Q will use the following URL:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/xWlEk2i9r5Q

A basic iframe embed code for this video with the enablejsapi parameter set to 1, a unique id parameter set to video1, and the video ID will use the following format:

<iframe id="video1" type="text/html" width="640" height="360"
 src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xWlEk2i9r5Q?enablejsapi=1"></iframe>

For more information about how to set parameters on embedded YouTube videos, see YouTube Embedded Players and Player Parameters documentation.

How it works

A YouTube event tracks when a visitor interacts with a YouTube video. When a visitor performs the action, the tracking call is triggered.

For more information about how to add an event listener, see Manage events.

Event triggers

Event triggers are the specific actions the event listener tracks.

The YouTube event can track the following event triggers:

• Play – Trigger the event listener when the video is played.
• Pause – Trigger the event listener when the video is paused.
• Buffering – Trigger the event listener when the video is buffering.
• Milestones – Trigger the event listener when a percentage or amount of time of the video has played.

The milestones event trigger allows you to set one of the following thresholds:

• Percentage Complete – The percentage of the video that the viewer needs to watch before the event listener triggers. Enter multiple values in a comma-separated list (for example, 25, 50, 75).
• Time Viewed – The total video viewing time that is required to trigger the event listener.

Element selector

The element selector specifies which element on a page you want to trigger the event listener. For more information, see Event element selector.

Trigger frequency

The trigger frequency determines how many times the event trigger will result in a tracking call. For more information, see Event triggers.

Event trigger variables

Event trigger variables are the values the event listener sends with the tracking call. In the New Event > Event Configuration screen, navigate to the Event Trigger Variables table and click the trigger type to view or edit the trigger variables for your event.

For example, to view the variables for the pause trigger, click the Pause tab:

The YouTube event has the following default event trigger variables:

Play

Example

{
   "tealium_event"  : "video_play",
   "video_id" : "xWlEk2i9r5Q",
   "video_name" : "How to track videos in Tealium",
   "video_length" : "300",
   "video_platform" : "youtube",
   "video_playhead" : "1",
   "iq_event_id:" : "youtube_video_events_1"
}

Pause

Example

{
   "tealium_event"  : "video_pause",
   "video_id" : "xWlEk2i9r5Q",
   "video_name" : "How to track videos in Tealium",
   "video_length" : "300",
   "video_platform" : "youtube",
   "video_playhead" : "30",
   "iq_event_id:" : "youtube_video_events_2"
}

Buffering

Example

{
   "tealium_event"  : "video_buffer",
   "video_id" : "xWlEk2i9r5Q",
   "video_name" : "How to track videos in Tealium",
   "video_length" : "300",
   "video_platform" : "youtube",
   "video_playhead" : "50",
   "iq_event_id:" : "youtube_video_events_3"
}

Milestone

Example

{
   "tealium_event"  : "video_milestone",
   "video_milestone" : "50",
   "milestone_type" : "percent",
   "video_id" : "xWlEk2i9r5Q",
   "video_name" : "How to track videos in Tealium",
   "video_length" : "300",
   "video_platform" : "youtube",
   "video_playhead" : "151",
   "iq_event_id:" : "youtube_video_events_4"
}