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    Measuring Sessions
    • 10 May 2021
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    Contents

    Measuring Sessions

    • Updated on 10 May 2021
    • 1 Minute to read
    • Contributors
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    Article Summary

    Tracking listening "sessions" is the core of the analytics service.

    1 minute rule

    Only sessions that consume at least 1 minute of audio is tracked by our analytics. This is in line with the IAB specifications for online audio audience measurement. Podcasts less than 1 minute in length are included when they are accessed completely.

    Definition

    A session is defined as a user listening to a specific piece of content. The content being tracked may be a podcast file with finite length or an infinite radio stream.

    A session begins when a user starts listening and ends when the user has stopped listening for a defined duration of time (session expiry).

    • If the user stops but resumes listening to the same content within a certain period, this counts as the same session.

    • Sessions are always tied to content, so if the same user starts listening to a different piece of content, this counts as a new session.

    Session Expiry

    Sessions "expire" after a period of inactivity. When a user listens to the same content again after the expiry time, it is considered a new session.

    Streams

    For live streams, sessions expire after 30 minutes has elapsed since the last request. The IAB general definition of a session:

    “A sequence of Internet activity made by one user at one site. If a user makes no request from a site during a 30 minute period of time, the next content or ad request would then constitute the beginning of a new visit; “

    Podcast

    For podcasts, sessions expire after 24 hours have elapsed since the first request, as per the IAB Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines.

    Ads

    For audio ads every session is counted - in this context, each session is reported as an ad "impression".

    Session Exhaustion

    Sessions are considered "exhausted" once they've reached a maximum value and should no longer be tracked.

    • Stream sessions are exhausted when reaching a 24 hour duration.
    • Podcast sessions tracks each progress event only once per session.
    • Ads track each progress event once per session.
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