Glossary

In Analytics V2, an engagement metric that represents viewers who have watched more than 25% of the content. In Ooyala IQ, the number of video plays for the selected assets that reached the state of 25% completion of the video asset. No matter how many times the viewer rewinds within the same view/play session, once the "state" is reached it won't be marked/counted again.

In Analytics V2, an engagement metric that represents viewers who have watched more than 50% of the content. In Ooyala IQ, the number of video plays for the selected assets that reached the state of 50% completion of the video asset. No matter how many times the viewer rewinds within the same view/play session, once the "state" is reached it won't be marked/counted again.

In Analytics V2, an engagement metric that represents viewers who have watched more than 75% of the content. In Ooyala IQ, the number of video plays for the selected assets that reached the state of 75% completion of the video asset. No matter how many times the viewer rewinds within the same view/play session, once the "state" is reached it won't be marked/counted again.

A group of one or more advertisements arranged in a timeline which can contain either relative or absolute times.

A method for delivering video which adapts the quality of delivery based on the available bandwidth, player size, and CPU utilization of the viewer. Typically, in order to serve content using ABR, there are multiple encodings for each piece of content which the player then chooses between when delivering content.

Your account with Ooyala that enables you to use the Backlot platform and the Ooyala APIs.

Advertisements are shown during playback and include linear ads (pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll), overlays, and companion banner ads.

When an ad (asset uploaded to Backlot marked as an ad) is played during a video, the Player displays "Advertisement: Your video will resume in X seconds" or "Advertisement: Your video will resume shortly" (if the length is unavailable). If you want to remove this message, you can deselect the Ad Countdown Message in the Player Branding section of the Backlot UI.

An ad network that provides advertisements, but does not manage the timeline of a video. With an ad display, you specify each advertisement, its type (overlay or linear), and where it runs within the video.

End-to-end advertising platform that takes over the entire advertising timeline for a video (e.g., FreeWheel, LiveRail). When you add an ad manager to a video, it manages all linear and non-linear ads and no timeline needs to be specified within Backlot. In the context of the Ooyala Player, managers that provide a two-way communication between the Player's Ad Manager Framework and an Ad Serving Platform's SDK for in-session ad playback.

A organization with a platform that manages relationships across multiple advertisers and enables a publisher to have access to those advertisers.

A server or server group that serves advertisements to the Ooyala player based on the specified ad tags. For example, FreeWheel and Ooyala Pulse.

A piece of HTML or JavaScript code that tells the player and the ad manager which ad to display. The ad tag is defined by the ad provider.

The distortion or artifacts caused when you subsample an image or video without first filtering out the higher frequencies. Aliasing is caused when you sub-sample an image or a video without first filtering out the higher frequencies.

The Ooyala analytics tools that enable you to analyze the performance of your content. Our analytics v2 includes reports by geography, device type, social sharing, engagement, and custom dimensions. Ooyala IQ is Ooyala's new analytics product. Features in Ooyala IQ allow for in-depth analysis of your content.

The process of low pass filtering where higher frequencies are filtered out before down sampling.

The interface definitions that software programs use to interface with the Backlot platform.

A set of Ooyala-assigned credentials associated with a Backlot account that are used to sign HTTP requests or to use the scratchpad. API credentials include the API key, the API secret, and (if applicable) the pcode.

An Ooyala-assigned API credential that you provide to sign HTTP requests or to use the scratchpad.

Also known as "secret". An Ooyala-assigned API credential that you provide to sign HTTP requests or to use the scratchpad.

The ratio of width to height of a picture format.

A piece of content, such as a video, channel, remote asset, YouTube video, or live stream. The asset is identified by an asset ID, shown as asset_id, and sometimes also called an "embed code" or "content ID."

Ooyala’s integrated content delivery, management, analysis, and monetization system.

The interface that enables programmatic interaction with the Backlot platform.

The web-based or desktop user interface that enables interaction with the Backlot platform.

The amount of data transferred during a specific period of time.

The number of bits delivered in a particular unit of time, typically measured in seconds. In general, the higher the bit rate, the higher the quality the encoding and playback experience.

The process of switching between encodings as the available bandwidth increases or decreases. See also ABR.

A collection of videos that can be played black sequentially and which can be rendered using channel UIs. Ooyala supports both channels with a fixed lineup and dynamic channels which change based on labels.

A collection of channels in a single player.

A URL used for promotion and sales (e.g., http://mysite.com/my_super_cool_promotion, http://mysite.com/my_new_product, and so on).

Additional text that is shown within a video during playback, typically on the bottom of the player. Closed captions typically contain an audio transcript of the video, often as a language translation. When used for translation, closed captions are known as subtitles.

The technique used to reduce the amount of data in a video so it can be distributed over the Internet.

See asset.

The identifier that uniquely represents an asset within the Backlot platform. The content ID is what the Backlot API refers to as "embed_code". See asset.

The type of content within your account. Content types include: videos, channels, channel sets, ads, remote assets, and YouTube videos.

A feature of Ooyala Player that allows viewers to start watching a video on one device and continue watching it on the same or different device at a later time, automatically returning where the viewer left off.

Reports in Backlot can be exported to the Comma Separated Value (CSV) format. This flexible format can be easily read by common spreadsheet programs.

Information that further describes each asset uniquely in the system. You can use custom metadata to organize and categorize content, store information about videos to display on pages on which they are embedded, specify information about how to display videos (such as CSS data), process data for workflow integration, or meet other requirements.

See publisher.

The process of delivering video content to players.

The method or protocol for delivering content. Supported types currently include RTMP, RTMPE, HTTP Dynamic Streaming (HDS), HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), Smooth Streaming, and others.

Additional details or information regarding an asset in Backlot.

A computer or mobile device that runs the player to view video content.

A Discovery Profile configures Ooyala Discovery settings for recommendations that appear within a player.

A list of assets, each with expiration date, position of playback (playhead, or position of last play), and other information. A queue belongs to a particular viewer, who is the only person who can view it or manipulate it.

Within analytics, the number of times that the particular video content is loaded and displayed within the player before it gets played (displays are related to each individual asset). Each time an embed code is changed this event gets triggered. A channel or channel set display is reported each time a channel or channel set is shown as the main channel or channel set. For example, if a player loads and the viewer watches four videos through autoplay, it is recorded as a single display and four plays.

The amount of time the content was played, excluding ads and pause time. For example, if a viewer watches 2 minutes of video, watches 1 minute of ads, pauses the video for 20 minutes, scrubs to the end of the video, and watches the last 2 minutes, the duration is 4 minutes.

The process of adding a script on a location, such as a web page, that embeds the player and specifies the content to play.

The definition depends on the context. In the Backlot API, the embed_code refers to the content ID found in Backlot that represents a piece of content (see asset/asset_id). In the Backlot UI, embed code refers to the embed snippet that you embed on a web page.

The block of script that you embed, such as on a web page, that specifies player settings and content. Embed snippet options currently include JavaScript, ActionScript, and HTML5.

The process of converting a raw video to a compressed video format.

Each file (specified by video bit rate, content width, audio bit rate, and delivery method) for a video asset. For example, a 300 Kbps (kilobits per second) video/640 width/64Kbps audio MP4 file is a single encoding.

See users or viewer.

The screen shown after a video completes playback, which can provide options to replay the video, view similar content, or share the video on social networks. You can configure the appearance and functionality of the endscreen in the Player Branding section of Backlot UI or through the Backlot API.

Within analytics, a word used to classify metrics related to how much time people spent watching a video.

A machine readable list used by third parties to ingest your content. For example, you can use feeds to make your content available on iTunes, Boxee, and other platforms. See also MRSS.

When specified, the player has a set width and does not resize.

A platform owned by Adobe that is used to add video and animation to web pages.

The time range when content is allowed to play.

When enabled, the player and playlist adapt themselves to the width of the container (<div> or other container) of the HTML page you embed them in.

The root URL where you embed the video (e.g., http://videos.mysite.com, http://www.mysite.com/videos, http://www.mysite.com/blog, and so on). Specifying this URL improves social sharing and ensures traffic is sent to your preferred URL, whenever possible.

HTML5 is the fifth generation of the language for presenting content on the World Wide Web. HTML5 specifies a standard way to include video without using Flash. Because iOS devices do not support Flash, the Ooyala Player uses HTML5 to present content on iOS devices.

Adobe's name for adaptive bit rate delivery technology used to deliver content to devices that support Flash. Used for both live streaming and VOD.

Apple’s name for adaptive bit rate delivery technology used to deliver content to devices like the iPhone and iPad. Used for both live streaming and VOD.

Apple’s mobile operating system for iPhone and iPad devices.

The process of uploading your content to Backlot through the Backlot UI, Backlot API, and other tools.

Within analytics, an initial play represents the first time a viewer plays a video during a session. For channels, an initial play represents the first play of a video within a channel, but not subsequent video plays within the channel.

See linear ad.

A method of categorizing content that, when added to external publishing targets, specify which videos, channels, and channel sets to publish externally. You can also use labels to programmatically assign, manage, create, and delete content and channels through the Backlot APIs.

A video advertisement. You can run linear ads at the beginning of videos (pre-roll), during videos (mid-roll), or at the end of videos (post-roll).

The delivery of video content in real time. Live streams consist of content creation and encoding, content delivery through a CDN, and content consumption through Internet-connected devices. Backlot manages the set up, publishing rules, and monetization of your live streams.

Information about an asset, such as the title, description, and custom metadata that you specify. See also custom metadata.

A video advertisement that appears during video playback.

The process or strategy for generating revenue from content. Ooyala currently supports monetization through advertising and paywalls.

An extension of Really Simple Syndication (RSS), MRSS enables syndication of videos through RSS feeds.

A text or rich media advertisement that displays while a video is playing. Overlay ads can be added directly to content or added to an ad set. Overlay ads are sometimes referred to as “lower third ads.”

The Ooyala Player Token enables you to provision your users with a session token, without which playback is prohibited. The Ooyala Player Token consists functionally of two units: an expiring token request made through the player as soon as it is initialized and an expiring token object response.

See non-linear ad.

A monetization feature available in Backlot which enables you to require viewers pay for content. You can use paywalls to create rental and pay-per-view experiences.

Abbreviation for partner code, provider code, or publisher ID. An Ooyala-assigned API credential that is required for some API requests. The API key contains the pcode. In the API key, the pcode is the alphanumeric string that precedes the period ("."). For example, if the API key is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxx, then use the first 28 characters (xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) for the pcode.

The process of a viewer watching content.

Ooyala’s cross-platform video player.

The type of player used to watch content. Ooyala’s most popular players are Flash and HTML5.

Within Theme Builder, a playerless pod is a grouping of thumbnails that represent playlists. See pod.

A group of videos that viewers see within a single player. Viewers will see the videos in the order that you specify or they will see videos based on labels that you specify.

Within analytics, the number of times that the "Play" button is triggered either manually or automatically for any content (including video and ad content). This metric does not include the replay event.

An invisible container that displays one or more thumbnails. Each thumbnail represents a playlist; when a viewer clicks one of the thumbnails, the content of the playlist begins playing. Pods can be customized to appear in different positions with respect to the player.

A video advertisement that appears prior to a video beginning playback.

A video advertisement that appears after a video has finished playing.

The image shown within the player before the viewer presses the play button. The preview image usually has a higher resolution than the thumbnail and might be a frame from the video, a DVD cover image, or some other publicity image. See thumbnails.

The sum of all encoded videos (including the source), images, and metadata within a publisher’s account.

See publisher.

See preview image.

A customer of Ooyala that has an account to deliver content through the Backlot platform.

Rules that you can set to restrict website domains that can show your content, restrict the geographic locations your content can be viewed in, restrict which time ranges your content can be viewed in, and restrict which devices your content can be played back on.

A video that is stored remotely outside of Ooyala, but is managed within Ooyala and delivered through an Ooyala player.

Within analytics, each viewer-initiated replay of a video or channel and each automatic replay of a video or channel.

An organization that resells the Ooyala Backlot platform.

A set of APIs for defining and managing entitlements to digital assets. The use of Rights Locker involves three parts: Backlot API, Rights Locker API, and Player Authorization API.

A schedule is composed of one or more tracks that define a set of linear programming experiences. For example, a sports broadcaster may use different regional tracks as well as a national track to air their broadcasts. All of these tracks collectively are the schedule.

A tool that simplifies development by enabling you to make API requests directly through a web browser.

The process of manually moving forward or backward through a video using the scrubber.

The small control, also known as a "slider", at the bottom of the player that enables viewers to manually move forward or backward through a video.

The image that is shown when a viewer scrubs through a video.

See API secret.

The screen shown before a video starts. You can configure the appearance and functionality of the start screen in the Player Branding section of Backlot UI or through the Backlot API.

Within analytics, streams are recorded when a piece of content is played.

A child account of your account that enables you to separate content based on the structure and requirements of your organization. The master account for a sub-account has visibility into the delivery and content contained in the sub-account.

See closed captions.

The process of externally publishing your content to third-party sites such as Boxee, YouTube, iTunes, and others.

A web-based UI that allows you to create embeds of custom combinations of players and playlists.

Low resolution images that are generated at consistent intervals throughout a video that viewers view as they scrub through a video.

The name of the asset that is used to identify and describe it to viewers.

Token-based authentication ensures that encrypted content cannot be downloaded until the client has been verified and prevents content from being played in a non-Ooyala player.

The process of converting one compressed format to another.

In Ooyala Schedule, a track is composed of one or more linearly scheduled track segments. A track can be associated with assets with live streams, with a set of VOD assets, or a hybrid of the two.

In Ooyala Schedule, a track segment is an instance of a virtual asset at a scheduled start/end time in a track. Each track segment is assigned a unique identifier across all track segments in the schedule (and not just in a track). A track segment also links to its underlying virtual assets containing all of the metadata and may also include an override asset ID, that when present will have priority by the Player, over the default live stream asset ID from the track.

A tracking pixel is an opaque pixel which is embedded in an ad. This pixel then pings the owner when the ad is viewed.

You can use tracking pixels to monitor the delivery of your ad assets. Tracking pixel URLs can be associated with both Ooyala ads and third-party ads to calculate ad impressions. (Ooyala does not track any other type of ad events, such as quartile playback or clicks.)

For third-party ads, tracking pixels are only relevant to VAST and VPAID tags and Google IMA. Ad manager modules enable publishers to manage trackers on their own, within an ad platform.

Each time a viewer watches an ad associated with a tracking pixel, an HTTP request is made to the tracking pixel URL. Tracking pixel URLs are usually used to make calls to third-party ad platforms that they use to track ad delivery. You can specify up to three pixels for each ad asset (which notifies up to three third-party ad platforms).

Trending enables viewers to discover videos that are popular or have gained significant momentum during the time period you specify.

Within analytics, the number of unique users that see the video loaded and displayed within the player before it gets played (displays are related to each individual asset). Each time an embed code is changed the display event gets triggered

Within analytics, the number of unique users that trigger the "play" button (manually or automatically) for any content.

Within analytics, the number of unique users is defined based on the environment.

• Ooyala mobile SDK for iOS: The Ooyala mobile SDK for iOS generates and stores a random unique ID which is application-specific. The unique ID is generated in the "OOClientID" class and is stored in the "standardUserDefaults" object and is valid until the application is deleted. This unique ID cannot be erased or reset by the end user without deleting the app. The application developer can store a different ID than the generated ID by erasing the existing ID [OOClientID resetID] and setting a new ID [OOClientID setID:New_ID].
• Ooyala mobile SDK for Android: The Ooyala mobile SDK for Android generates and store a random unique ID which is application-specific. The unique ID is generated in the "OOClientID" class and is stored in the "SharedPreferences" file and is valid until the application is deleted. This unique ID cannot be erased or reset by the end user without deleting the app. The application developer can store a different ID by erasing the existing ID [ClientID.resetID(context)] and setting a new ID [ClientID.resetID(NEW_ID)].
• All other environments (HTML5, Flash, Chromecast): In other environments, a unique user is identified by local storage or cookies. To generate the GUID, Flash players use the timestamp of when the GUID is generated and append random data to it. The string is then converted to base64. To generate the GUID, HTML5 players use the current time, browser information, and random data and hash it and convert it to base64. Within the same browser on desktop, once a GUID is set by one platform it is used for both platforms for the user. If a user clears their browser cache, that user/device's ID will get regenerated next time they watch video. Incognito modes will track a user for a single session, but once the browser is closed the GUID is erased.

People or groups within your organization that can access and perform tasks within Backlot. The term users is also sometimes used to refer to the viewers of your content.

When a bit rate is specified for an encoding, the actual bit rate is not consistent during playback. Variable bit rate (VBR) stores more data for the portions of videos that have a high level of change between frames (e.g., action scenes) and less data for portions that have little change. As a result, the bit rate will vary during playback, but the average will be the bit rate you specify.

A set of moving images recorded by a camera and displayed through the Ooyala player.

Within analytics, the number of times the actual non-ad video content begins playback. Thus, not fired until the completion of pre-roll ads and actual asset playback has begun. If a user clicks on the “Play” button, a pre-roll ad starts playing, and the user drops off before the actual video content starts playing, this event won’t be triggered.

Systems, such as the Ooyala Backlot platform, which enable viewers to watch videos when they want.

A consumer of your content.

In Ooyala Schedule, a virtual asset is an abstract metadata definition of an individual program or event. Unlike video assets defined in Backlot, a virtual asset is decoupled from the underlying asset ID required for video playback. This decoupling allows a single program or event to be defined in Backlot yet included multiple times in a schedule or track.

A partially transparent image that displays during content playback to brand content. Typical watermarks include your organization's logo.