MediaTailor ad skipping troubleshooting guide - AWS Elemental MediaTailor
SymptomsSkip reasons

MediaTailor ad skipping troubleshooting guide

Ad skipping is one of the most common issues that MediaTailor customers report. This guide helps you identify ad skipping issues and provides step-by-step troubleshooting procedures.

Symptoms and impact

When ad skipping occurs, you might observe the following symptoms:

  • Ads don't appear during expected ad breaks

  • Ad breaks show content instead of advertisements

  • Inconsistent ad playback across different viewing sessions

  • CloudWatch logs showing AdSkipped events with various skip reasons

Ad skipping directly impacts revenue and can create poor viewer experiences. Address these issues promptly to maintain optimal performance.

Identifying skip reasons

Use CloudWatch Logs Insights to query the MediaTailor/AdDecisionServerInteractions log group for skipped ads:


fields @timestamp, avail.availId, skippedAds.0.skippedReason, skippedAds.0.creativeUniqueId
| filter eventType = "FILLED_AVAIL" and ispresent(skippedAds.0.skippedReason)
| sort @timestamp desc

This query returns the most recent ad skip events with their specific reasons to help you identify patterns.

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