With custom ad markers, you can mark specific sections of the main content as ad-related content periods.
This feature is most useful when content is being recorded (possibly from a live event) and the result of the recording is a single HLS stream. The recording itself contains both main content and advertising-related content in a single HLS video-on-demand (VOD) stream. The recording process does not keep track of the ad-related segments, so the information related to the positioning of the ads inside the main content is lost.
You might be able to obtain the information related to the positioning of the ad-content periods from other out-of-band sources (such as external CMS systems).The PSDK allows you to define custom markers, through which this out-of- band information can be passed to the timeline manager subsystem. The intention is to mark the content sections that match the specified ad-related content in such a way that all ad-specific playback events are triggered in the same manner as if these custom ad-periods were explicitly placed on the player's timeline.
Ad tracking is not handled internally by the PSDK, such as when ads are resolved by Ad Decisioning (Auditude). However, the PSDK defines two abstractions that define the way ad-related content is represented on the timeline: the ad break and the individual ad. An ad break is an ordered list of individual consecutive ads. Playback events are triggered separately for ad breaks (start and complete for each break) and ads (start and complete for each ad).
The PSDK dispatches ad tracking events to your application, so you can implement your own tracking logic. If you set custom ad markers, you will receive the onAdBreakStart, onAdStart, onAdProgress, onAdComplete, and onAdBreakComplete events.