RE: [ima-sdk] plex inc ima sdk troubleshooting request

Hi Jess,

Thank you for contacting the IMA SDK support team.

Kindly note that I have removed your response from the forum where it contains the PII information.

It is always recommended to use the latest versions of the SDK. As of today, the latest version of the IMA iOS is 3.26.1. Would you be able to confirm if you have reproduced the same behavior using our client side Google sample application? 

Regarding access raw VAST data from the SDK will check with our team and one of my team members will reach out to you once we have an update on this

To investigate the issue, could you please share the VAST URL and capture the Charles session share it with us via the "Reply to Author" option?

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Find below your response with redacted information.

Hi there,

My partner Plex (network code *************) reached out flagging some abnormal behaviors on iOS which they suspect is due to shortcomings with the IMA SDK. Below is more information:

Our eng team flagged cases where pre-roll ad requests were throttled and then ad requests were missing all together for subsequent pods on iOS. They suspect that IMA is causing a strange code path where the preroll getting a throttled no-ads response leads the client to stop requesting ads for following pods, as iOS is using IMA to manage all ad loading/playback. 

Additionally, we have an interactive in-stream video format that allows users to add a title to their Watchlist in one click without interrupting the stream. The IMA SDK doesn't expose the raw VAST data required to display the "Add to Watchlist" button, so we are unable to serve these ads on IMA enabled platforms. These Add to Watchlist videos are key to our house ads strategy and Premium Ads business, so our Eng team would like to discuss potential workarounds/solutions here. 

Is it possible to have a call with Plex's Eng team to further discuss this?

Hi Jess,

Yes, it is possible to add in Plex's Eng team to this thread, but we don't have the email IDs to add. It would be great if you add them else share the mail IDs of team members in the next response so that we can add them. 

Also, for exposing the raw VAST data, what is the VAST data you wanted to expose, would you be able to share the business use case (or benefit) to this feature/functionality? 

Hi there,

Hi there,

Hey IMA team,

Hi Jess,

In order to check and confirm the reported abnormal behaviors on iOS from our end, kindly share the below details so that we can check your implementation:

• VAST tag URL where the issue pre-roll ad requests were throttled
• Confirm if the reported issue is replicating in VSI tool and iOS samples
• What exactly is the VAST data you wanted to expose
• Steps to reproduce the issue
• Charles logs

You can provide the following details via reply privately to the author option.