PageView tracking support in v3.x

[mattsains-msft]

In 3.x, PageView tracking through TrackPageView was removed (https://github.com/microsoft/ApplicationInsights-dotnet/blob/main/BreakingChanges.md#methods) . The recommended migration path was to use TrackEvent instead.

However, using custom events for PageView tracking does not allow users to view tracking data under "PageViews" in the Application Insights UI. Custom events and PageView events are mixed together.

3.x should provide a mechanism to have events show up in the PageView tracking UI in Application Insights

[ayuksekkaya]

I guess the first thing that needs to be decided is how this is going to play out within the broader open telemetry circle, since the future of Application Insights seems to be native open telemetry, and the SDK is supposed to be a wrapper around it, from what I understand. At this point, Open Telemetry in the browser is not fleshed out fully yet.

Is the PageViews UI and the Kusto table going to stay even if the Open Telemetry browser instrumentation isn't there yet? Is there going to be a major redesign of Application Insight UI in general to make it more OTEL native? If so, can a certain type of specific event name be emitted to mean PageView? I think for custom events, the suggested way is to use the ILogger with a specific naming pattern now (Azure/azure-sdk-for-net#42157 (comment)), so maybe something similar can be done here?

[gkizior]

My telemetry stack is built primarily on Azure.Monitor.OpenTelemetry.AspNetCore and the OpenTelemetry.* libraries for tracing, metrics, and logging.

The problem:
The only reason I still reference Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.AspNetCore is for TelemetryClient.TrackPageView() - there is no OpenTelemetry equivalent that lands data in the pageViews table in Application Insights.
I have a Blazor Server component that tracks server-side page navigation using TrackPageView(), capturing page URL, time-on-page duration, and authenticated user identity. This feeds the pageViews table, which I use for usage analytics and the built-in Page Views experience in the Application Insights portal.

What I tried:
I attempted to upgrade from Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.AspNetCore v2.23.0 to v3.0.0 and found that TrackPageView and PageViewTelemetry are completely removed with no replacement. The suggested migration to TrackEvent puts data into customEvents instead of pageViews, and renders the Page Views experience in the Application Insights portal useless.

Where I landed:
I am staying on v2.23.0. Page view tracking is our sole remaining dependency on the classic SDK - I would have otherwise fully migrated off it.

What I'd like:
A mechanism in 3.x to emit page view telemetry - whether that's restoring TrackPageView, providing a new API, or documenting how to emit data that the Azure Monitor exporter maps to the pageViews table.

Broader questions:

• Should I expect Azure.Monitor.OpenTelemetry to eventually support emitting page view telemetry?

• What is the long-term plan for the Page Views experience in the Application Insights portal - is it being deprecated, or will it eventually map to a different telemetry type (e.g. dependency or custom event)?