Monitoring ad insertion performance with the analytics dashboard
The MediaTailor analytics dashboard is a console page that gives you a single view of the CloudWatch metrics that MediaTailor publishes for server-side ad insertion (SSAI). Use it to monitor monetization health across every AWS region you use, spot regressions early, and compare performance between AWS regions without building your own CloudWatch dashboards. The dashboard shows key monetization metrics, trend graphs, and metric tables for playback configurations and ad tracking domains.
The dashboard queries CloudWatch on your behalf, so you can answer questions such as:
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What is my overall weighted fill rate this week, and how does it compare to last week?
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Which ad tracking domains are causing the most impression beacon retries?
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How does ad insertion performance in one AWS region compare to another?
For definitions of the underlying CloudWatch metrics used on the analytics dashboard as specified on this page, see Monitoring AWS Elemental MediaTailor with Amazon CloudWatch metrics. To build custom alarms or your own CloudWatch dashboards on these metrics, use the CloudWatch console directly.
Note
The metric tables on the analytics dashboard call the CloudWatch
ListMetrics API, which counts toward your account's CloudWatch API request
usage. The key monetization metrics and trend graphs do not call
ListMetrics. For pricing, see Amazon CloudWatch pricing
Using the analytics dashboard
The analytics dashboard is a top-level page in the MediaTailor console. To open it, sign in and choose it from the navigation pane.
To open the analytics dashboard
Open the MediaTailor console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/mediatailor/
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In the navigation pane, under Ad insertion, choose Analytics dashboard.
When the page opens, the dashboard loads metrics for the last 1 day in the AWS region you are currently signed in to. You can change the time range and region selection at any time, and each section on the page reloads against the new selection.
To use the analytics dashboard, your IAM principal must be permitted to list MediaTailor playback configurations and to read CloudWatch metrics. At minimum, it needs the following actions:
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mediatailor:ListPlaybackConfigurations -
cloudwatch:ListMetrics -
cloudwatch:GetMetricData
These actions are included in the AWS managed policies that grant read access to MediaTailor and CloudWatch. For general information about MediaTailor permissions, see Identity and Access Management for AWS Elemental MediaTailor.
Choosing AWS regions
MediaTailor publishes CloudWatch metrics in each AWS region where you run playback configurations. The region selector at the top of the dashboard controls which regions the page queries and how it combines the results.
When you first open the dashboard, MediaTailor checks each AWS region in which MediaTailor is available and offers you the regions where your account has at least one playback configuration. Regions in which the check could not complete are noted on the page and can be retried. If the check fails in every AWS region, the dashboard falls back to the AWS region you are currently signed in to.
The dashboard supports two view modes, chosen with the Aggregate regions / Compare regions selector above the region selector:
- Aggregate regions
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Combines metrics from every selected region into a single set of values. Use this mode when you want to see totals and weighted averages for your entire ad insertion footprint.
- Compare regions
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Splits the selected regions into two named groups, Group A and Group B, and shows each group's values side by side. For each key monetization metric, each group's tile also displays the percentage difference from the other group. Use this mode to compare, for example, your primary regions with your failover regions.
For the key monetization metrics and trend graphs, how the dashboard combines values across the selected regions depends on the metric type:
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For count metrics, the values from each selected region are summed.
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For rate metrics, the numerator and denominator from each selected region are summed and divided once. This produces a weighted average, so a region with more traffic contributes proportionally more to the result.
The metric tables display values by playback configuration or by ad tracking domain, and each table combines region values differently depending on the view. See the table sections later on this page for details.
Key monetization metrics
The Key monetization metrics section at the top of the dashboard shows a set of summary tiles that summarize ad insertion performance across all of your playback configurations in the selected regions, over the selected time range. In Compare regions view, each tile shows a value for each region group, and each group's tile displays the percentage difference from the other group.
The dashboard shows the following key monetization metrics. For definitions of the underlying CloudWatch metrics, see Monitoring AWS Elemental MediaTailor with Amazon CloudWatch metrics.
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Weighted fill rate —
SUM(Avail.FilledDuration) / SUM(Avail.Duration) × 100 -
Ad insertion rate —
SUM(AdsBilled) / SUM(AdDecisionServer.Ads) × 100 -
Ad impression rate —
SUM(Avail.Impression) / SUM(AdsBilled) × 100 -
Video completion rate —
SUM(Avail.Complete) / SUM(Avail.Impression) × 100 -
Ad insertions —
SUM(AdsBilled)
Trend graphs
The Trends section shows the key monetization metrics as time-series line charts over the selected time range. Use the trend graphs to see how each metric moves over time and to spot regressions that a single summary value can hide.
In Aggregate regions view, each chart shows a single line representing all selected regions combined. In Compare regions view, each chart shows one line per region group, with a legend identifying Group A and Group B.
Monetization performance by configuration table
The Monetization performance by configuration table shows the key rate metrics for each of your playback configurations in the selected regions, over the selected time range. Use this table to find configurations that are underperforming compared to your other configurations.
Playback configurations are scoped to a specific AWS region. If the same configuration name exists in more than one selected region, the table shows a separate row for each region. The Configuration name column links to the details page for that configuration in its region.
The table has the following columns:
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Configuration name — The name of the playback configuration.
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Region — The AWS region where the configuration exists.
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Group — In Compare regions view only, the region group (Group A or Group B) that the row's region belongs to.
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Weighted fill rate, Ad insertion rate, Ad impression rate, and Video completion rate — The rate metrics described in Key monetization metrics, computed for that configuration in that region over the selected time range.
Use the property filter above the table to narrow the rows shown. You can filter by Configuration name or Region. In Compare regions view, you can also filter by Group to show one comparison group at a time. Each property supports the operators = (equals), != (does not equal), : (contains), and !: (does not contain).
To limit CloudWatch API usage, the table makes up to 10 ListMetrics calls
per selected region on each load. If any selected region has more configurations
than these calls return, the table shows an info banner listing the affected
regions and a Load more button. Choose Load
more to retrieve additional configurations from those
regions.
Beacon firing performance table
The Beacon firing performance table shows CloudWatch fire, retry, and recovery metrics for impression and complete beacons, per ad tracking domain, in the selected regions over the selected time range. For definitions of these metrics, see Monitoring AWS Elemental MediaTailor with Amazon CloudWatch metrics.
Use the Impression and Complete selector above the table to choose which beacon type the table shows. The selector applies to both Browse view and Ranked view.
The table supports two view modes, chosen with the Browse and Ranked selector above the table.
Browse view
Browse view lists each ad tracking domain observed in the selected regions, with beacon counts summed across those regions. In Compare regions view, an ad tracking domain that appears in both groups is shown as one row per group.
The Browse view shows the following columns:
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Ad tracking domain
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Group — In Compare regions view only.
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Fired, Retried, Recovered, and Retry success rate
Use the property filter above the table to narrow the rows shown. You can filter by Ad tracking domain, and in Compare regions view by Group. The property filter supports the operators = (equals), != (does not equal), : (contains), and !: (does not contain).
To limit CloudWatch API usage, Browse view makes up to 10
ListMetrics calls per selected region on each load. If any
selected region has more ad tracking domains than these calls return, the
table shows an info banner listing the affected regions and a
Load more button. Choose Load
more to retrieve additional domains from those regions.
Ranked view
Ranked view lists the top or bottom ad tracking domains for the selected beacon count metric, with one row per (domain, region) pair. In Compare regions view, ranking runs independently per group so each group contributes its own top or bottom domains.
Use the two controls above the table to configure the ranking:
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Metric — The beacon count metric to rank by: Fired, Retried, or Recovered. Retry success rate is a computed ratio and cannot be used to rank rows.
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Order — Ascending or Descending.
The Ranked view shows the same columns as Browse view, plus a Rank column at the start and a Region column that identifies the region each (domain, region) row belongs to. You can filter by Ad tracking domain, Region, and (in Compare regions view) Group.
Ranked view uses CloudWatch Metrics Insights to sort the underlying beacon metrics. Metrics Insights only supports queries that read the last 14 days of data. If your selected time range extends beyond 14 days, the table displays data from the most recent 14 days instead.
Exporting dashboard data
You can export data from the metric tables and from the trend graphs as CSV files.
To export data from a metric table
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Select the check boxes next to the rows you want to include. You can move between pages of the table and continue selecting rows.
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Choose Export CSV above the table.
The exported file includes one column per column shown in the table. For metric values to appear in the exported file, the page of the table that contains each selected row must be viewed so the dashboard has loaded the row's metric values.
To export the data from a trend graph, choose the actions menu on the graph and then choose Download as .csv.
