Traceability Watermarking
Last updated:2026-02-06 16:53:09
The greatest pain point for premium video platforms is the risk of subscribers downloading content and illegally distributing it across other platforms for sharing or sale. This severely damages the interests of copyright owners. To combat such piracy, one of the most effective strategies is traceability, which—when combined with other legal channels—acts as a deterrent, protects rights, and aids in recovering financial losses.
VOD Traceability Watermarking offers a low-cost, high-security, and aesthetically seamless solution, helping you effortlessly build a robust barrier against piracy.
Disadvantages of Traditional Traceability Watermarking
Traditional methods typically involve overlaying the viewer's User ID onto the video. These generally fall into two categories: Standard Graphic Watermarks and Player-side Floating Watermarks.
Feature | Standard Graphic Watermark | Player-side Floating Watermark |
Security | High: Hardcoded into the video; cannot be removed. | Low: Layered over the player; not encoded into the video file. |
Cost | High: Every unique User ID requires separate transcoding and storage. | Low: Built-in implementation via the VOD player. |
Experience | Poor: Visible watermarks distract the viewer. | Poor: Floating marks disrupt the visual experience. |
As shown above, traditional methods struggle to balance security, cost, and user experience.
VOD Traceability Watermarking
VOD Traceability Watermarking achieves the "Golden Triangle" of low cost, high security, and visual appeal:
Low Cost: Achieve tracking and identification for billions of viewers with only one additional transcoding and storage cost.
High Security: The watermark is encoded directly into the video frames. Even if the file is ripped or recorded, the watermark remains inseparable.
Aesthetic Appeal: Post-encoding quality remains unaffected; the watermark is imperceptible to the human eye.
Note:
The Traceability Watermarking feature is currently in Public Beta.
Usage Recommendation: Currently only supported for videos longer than 7 minutes.
Pricing Description
Utilizing Traceability Watermarking involves the following costs:
Transcoding Fees: Adding a watermark requires transcoding or adaptive bitrate (ABR) conversion. Note: Since two transcoded files (A and B) are generated to enable traceability, transcoding fees are charged twice.
Watermarking Service Fee: A specific fee is applied for the processing of the traceability watermark.
Storage Fees: Transcoded output or adaptive bitrate files occupy storage space, incurring standard storage costs.
Extraction Fees: If a piracy incident occurs and you need to identify the source, a fee is charged for the extraction process of the hidden watermark.
Instructions
The following guide will walk you through the process of applying traceability watermarks and extracting the viewer ID.
Step 1: Upload a Video
1. Log in to the VOD Console, go to Application Management, select Video/Audio Management > Audio/Video Management, and click Upload to upload a video.
2. Once the upload is complete, record the FileId of the video.
Step 2: Apply Traceability Watermark
Call the ProcessMedia interface or use the API Explorerto initiate a traceability watermarking task. You can choose either Transcoding or Adaptive Bitrate Streaming.
Transcoding
Set FileId to the ID from Step 1.
Select an HLS transcoding template (e.g., preset template 100230) and set MediaProcessTask.TranscodeTaskSet.Definition=100230.
Enable the watermark: MediaProcessTask.TranscodeTaskSet.TraceWatermark.Switch=ON.
Adaptive Bitrate Streaming
Set FileId to the ID from Step 1.
Select an HLS adaptive bitrate template (e.g., preset template 10) and set MediaProcessTask.AdaptiveDynamicStreamingTaskSet.Definition=10.
Enable the watermark: MediaProcessTask.AdaptiveDynamicStreamingTaskSet.TraceWatermark.Switch=ON.
Step 3: Get the Results
After initiating the task, you can obtain the results via asynchronous Event Notificationor synchronous Task Querying. Alternatively, in the Console, go to Media Assets > Audio/Video Management, click Manage for the target video, find the URL in the transcoding list, and copy/record the Playback URL.
Step 4: Playback Experience
Every paid customer must be uniquely associated with a 6-digit hexadecimal integer representing their Viewer ID, referred to as uv. This uv will serve as the basis for tracing the viewer.
Using VOD Player SDK or Third-party Plugins: Your business server must issue a Player Signature for every request. Add the uv parameter within the UrlAccessInfo structure of the Signature Parameters.
Not using VOD Player SDK: Follow the Key Anti-Dumping (Hotlink Protection) rules by adding the uv parameter to the QueryString of the URL.
Note：
To quickly test the effect, append a QueryString parameter to the URL from Step 2. Use the parameter name uv with any 6-digit hex value (e.g., 12abcd), resulting in a link like: http://xxx.vod2.myqcloud.com/xxx/xxx.m3u8?uv=12abcd. Paste this into a browser to play.
This method is not recommended for production environments.
Step 5: Simulate Video Piracy
Use FFmpeg to record the stream into an MP4 video, then upload it back to VOD to get a new URL.
ffmpeg -i 'http://xxx.vod2.myqcloud.com/xxx/xxx/xxx.m3u8?uv=12abcd' -c copy f100230_420s.mp4
Step 6: Extract Traceability Watermark
1. Refer to the Extraction Interface Documentation and use the API Explorer to initiate an extraction task:
URL: Enter the video playback URL from Step 4.
FileId: Enter the original video ID from Step 1.
2. Once the task is complete, refer to the Task Details Documentation and use API Explorer to query the results. The output will reveal the uv (Viewer ID) added in Step 4, successfully tracing the source of the piracy.
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