DETECTING VISIBLE DISPLAY OF CONTENT

• US 20120047203A1
• Filed: 08/17/2011
• Published: 02/23/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: comScore, Inc.
• Original Assignee: comScore, Inc.
• Inventors: Brown, Michael, McCaskill, Randall
• Granted Patent: US 8,856,215 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A displayable object is accessed and one or more portions of the accessed displayable object are selected. A screenshot of a client system display is accessed and a determination is made that the accessed screenshot includes the one or more selected portions of the displayable object. In response to determining that the accessed screenshot includes the one or more selected portions, display information about the displayable object is determined. The determined display information is sent to a server system

Claims

1. A method comprising:

accessing a displayable object;

selecting one or more portions of the accessed displayable object;

accessing a screenshot of a client system display;

determining that the accessed screenshot includes the one or more selected portions of the displayable object;

in response to determining that the accessed screenshot includes the one or more selected portions, determining display information about the displayable object; and

sending the determined display information to a server system.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the displayable object is a component of a web page.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

accessing a set of business rules, the business rules defining web page components to be monitored; and

determining, based on the accessed business rules, that the accessed displayable object is a web page component to be monitored.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the business rules designate sizes of displayable objects to be monitored, formats of displayable objects to be monitored, sources of displayable objects to be monitored, or sources of displayable objects to be excluded from monitoring.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the displayable object is an image and selecting one or more portions includes:

dividing the accessed image into multiple sub-frames; and

selecting a scan line from each of the multiple sub-frames.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein determining that the accessed screenshot includes the one or more selected portions includes determining that the accessed screenshot includes at least one of the selected scan lines.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein determining display information about the image includes determining a total number of the selected scan lines that are included in the accessed screenshot.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the display information includes one or more of a hash of the displayable object, a total number of selected portions included in the screenshot, an amount of time the displayable object is visible, a location of the displayable object on the desktop display, or an identifier of the web page.

9. A method comprising:

receiving, at a server system and from a client system, display information about a displayable object, wherein the client system is configured to;

access the displayable object;

select one or more portions of the accessed displayable object;

access a screenshot of a client system display;

determine that the accessed screenshot includes the one or more selected portions of the displayable object;

in response to determining that the accessed screenshot includes the one or more selected portions, determine the display information about the displayable object; and

send the determined display information to the server system; and

estimating a number of users exposed to the displayable object based on the received display information.

10. A system comprising:

at least one client system configured to;

access a displayable object;

select one or more portions of the accessed displayable object;

access a screenshot of a client system display;

determine that the accessed screenshot includes the one or more selected portions of the displayable object;

in response to determining that the accessed screenshot includes the one or more selected portions, determine display information about the displayable object; and

sending the determined display information to a server system; and

at least one server system configured to receive the display information sent by the client system.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the displayable object is a component of a web page.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein:

the server system is configured to send a set of business rules to the client system, the business rules defining web page components to be monitored; and

the client system is configured to;

receive the set of business rules from the server system; and

determine, based on the received business rules, that the accessed displayable object is a web page component to be monitored.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the business rules designate sizes of displayable objects to be monitored, formats of displayable objects to be monitored, sources of displayable objects to be monitored, or sources of displayable objects to be excluded from monitoring.

14. The system of claim 10 wherein the displayable object is an image and, to select one or more portions, the client system is configured to:

divide the accessed image into multiple sub-frames; and

select a scan line from each of the multiple sub-frames.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein, to determine that the accessed screenshot includes the one or more selected portions, the client system is configured to determine that the accessed screenshot includes at least one of the selected scan lines.

16. The system of claim 14 wherein, to determine display information about the image, the client system is configured to determine a total number of the selected scan lines that are included in the accessed screenshot.

17. The system of claim 10 wherein the display information includes one or more of a hash of the displayable object, a total number of selected portions included in the screenshot, an amount of time the displayable object is visible, a location of the displayable object on the desktop display, or an identifier of the web page.

18. A method comprising:

determining that a screenshot of a client system display includes at least a portion of a displayable object that is designated to be monitored;

in response to determining that the screenshot includes at least a portion of the displayable object, determining that the screenshot should be sent to the server system; and

in response to determining that the screenshot should be sent to the server system, sending the screenshot to the server system.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein determining that the screenshot should be sent to the server system comprises:

determining, based on characteristics of the web page, that an upload instruction request should be sent to the server system;

in response to determining that an upload instruction request should be sent to the server system, sending the upload instruction request to the server system;

receiving an upload instruction response to the upload instruction request, the upload instruction response indicating the screenshot should be uploaded;

in response to receiving the upload instruction response, sending the screenshot to the server system.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the upload instruction request includes an identifier of the web page, information about the characteristics of the web page, and a hash of the displayable object.

21. The method of claim 19 further comprising blurring at least a portion of the screenshot prior to sending the screenshot to the server system.

22. The method of claim 18 wherein determining that the screenshot should be sent to the server system comprises determining that the screenshot should be sent to the server system based on characteristics of the web page.