diff --git a/sdk/trace/span_processor_annotator_example_test.go b/sdk/trace/span_processor_annotator_example_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e2842b7a35f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sdk/trace/span_processor_annotator_example_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+// Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package trace
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/attribute"
+)
+
+/*
+Sometimes information about a runtime environment can change dynamically or be
+delayed from startup. Instead of continuously recreating and distributing a
+TracerProvider with an immutable Resource or delaying the startup of your
+application on a slow-loading piece of information, annotate the created spans
+dynamically using a SpanProcessor.
+*/
+
+var (
+	// owner represents the owner of the application. In this example it is
+	// stored as a simple string, but in real-world use this may be the
+	// response to an asynchronous request.
+	owner    = "unknown"
+	ownerKey = attribute.Key("owner")
+)
+
+// Annotator is a SpanProcessor that adds attributes to all started spans.
+type Annotator struct {
+	// AttrsFunc is called when a span is started. The attributes it returns
+	// are set on the Span being started.
+	AttrsFunc func() []attribute.KeyValue
+}
+
+func (a Annotator) OnStart(_ context.Context, s ReadWriteSpan) { s.SetAttributes(a.AttrsFunc()...) }
+func (a Annotator) Shutdown(context.Context) error             { return nil }
+func (a Annotator) ForceFlush(context.Context) error           { return nil }
+func (a Annotator) OnEnd(s ReadOnlySpan) {
+	attr := s.Attributes()[0]
+	fmt.Printf("%s: %s\n", attr.Key, attr.Value.AsString())
+}
+
+func ExampleSpanProcessor_annotated() {
+	a := Annotator{
+		AttrsFunc: func() []attribute.KeyValue {
+			return []attribute.KeyValue{ownerKey.String(owner)}
+		},
+	}
+	tracer := NewTracerProvider(WithSpanProcessor(a)).Tracer("annotated")
+
+	// Simulate the situation where we want to annotate spans with an owner,
+	// but at startup we do not now this information. Instead of waiting for
+	// the owner to be known before starting and blocking here, start doing
+	// work and update when the information becomes available.
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	_, s0 := tracer.Start(ctx, "span0")
+
+	// Simulate an asynchronous call to determine the owner succeeding. We now
+	// know that the owner of this application has been determined to be
+	// Alice. Make sure all subsequent spans are annotated appropriately.
+	owner = "alice"
+
+	_, s1 := tracer.Start(ctx, "span1")
+	s0.End()
+	s1.End()
+
+	// Output:
+	// owner: unknown
+	// owner: alice
+}
diff --git a/sdk/trace/span_processor_example_test.go b/sdk/trace/span_processor_filter_example_test.go
similarity index 98%
rename from sdk/trace/span_processor_example_test.go
rename to sdk/trace/span_processor_filter_example_test.go
index fb07a2f5832..3983a007ce0 100644
--- a/sdk/trace/span_processor_example_test.go
+++ b/sdk/trace/span_processor_filter_example_test.go
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ type noopExporter struct{}
 func (noopExporter) ExportSpans(context.Context, []*SpanSnapshot) error { return nil }
 func (noopExporter) Shutdown(context.Context) error                     { return nil }
 
-func ExampleSpanProcessor() {
+func ExampleSpanProcessor_filtered() {
 	exportSP := NewSimpleSpanProcessor(noopExporter{})
 
 	// Build a SpanProcessor chain to filter out all spans from the pernicious