Methods, systems and computer program products for data gathering in a digital and hard copy document environment

• US 7,437,023 B2
• Filed: 08/18/2005
• Issued: 10/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Original Assignee: Exbiblio BV
• Inventors: Grover, Dale L., King, Martin T., Stafford-Fraser, James Q., Kushler, Clifford A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mariam, Daniel G
• Application Number:
  US11/208,458
• Publication Number:
  US 20060087683A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,153 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 382/181, 382/188, 382/229, 382/305, 382/313, 382/317, 705/14, 358/403, 707/3
• US Class Current: 382/305
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/316 Indexing structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/332 Query formulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/41 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/433 using audio data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/434 using image data, e.g. images, photos, pictures taken by a user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/435 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/48 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/58 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9554 by using bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/117 Tagging; Marking up details of markup languages G06F40/143; Designating a block; Setting of attributes style sheets, e.g. eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformation [XSLT], G06F40/154
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/134 Hyperlinking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/14 Tree-structured documents parsing G06F40/205; validation G06F40/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/174 Form filling; Merging
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 17/0016 Selecting or retrieving of images by means of their associated code-marks, e.g. coded microfilm or microfiche microfilm reading G03B21/11; computers therefor G06F16/00; teaching devices G09B5/02; accessing record carriers G11B27/002; static digital stores using optical elements G11C13/04; intermediate storage of facsimile picture signals H04N1/21
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 : Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 : Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 : Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 : specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4012 : Verifying personal identification numbers [PIN]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 : Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 : Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 : Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 : Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 : Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 : Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 : Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 : Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 : Catalogue ordering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 : Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 : Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0643 : Graphical representation of items or shoppers
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 : Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/10 : Character recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/142 : using hand-held instruments; Constructional details of the instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/1444 : Selective acquisition, locating or processing of specific regions, e.g. highlighted text, fiducial marks or predetermined fields
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/1448 : based on markings or identifiers characterising the document or the area
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/248 : involving plural approaches, e.g. verification by template match; Resolving confusion among similar patterns, e.g. "O" versus "Q" G06V30/242 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/262 : using context analysis, e.g. lexical, syntactic or semantic context
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/40 : Document-oriented image-based pattern recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/40 : for devices for accepting orders, advertisements, or the like
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/00 : Cash registers alarm indicators G07G3/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00204 : with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server programmed control between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device H04N1/32561
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00244 : with a server, e.g. an internet server fax-servers or the like for store and forward H04N1/324
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00326 : with a data reading, recognizing or recording apparatus, e.g. with a bar-code apparatus arrangements for the associated working of recording or reproducing apparatus with related apparatus G11B31/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0036 : Alphanumeric symbols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00363 : Bar codes or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00374 : on the same page as at least a part of the image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00381 : Input by recognition or interpretation of visible user gestures manual input means, e.g. digitisers, writing tablets H04N1/00392; gesture input to computers G06F3/017; recognition algorithms G06V40/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/107 : with manual scanning
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/2166 : for mass storage, e.g. in document filing systems information retrieval G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/2187 : with image input from a plurality of different locations or from a non-central location, e.g. from one or more users
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32128 : attached to the image data, e.g. file header, transmitted message header, information on the same page or in the same computer file as the image for information embedded in the image H04N1/32144
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/34 : for coin-freed systems ; Pay systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0081 : Image reader H04N2201/0091 - H04N2201/0094 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3215 : of a time or duration
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3249 : data relating to a linked page or object, e.g. hyperlink
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3253 : Position information, e.g. geographical position at time of capture, GPS data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3263 : of a graphical motif or symbol, e.g. Christmas symbol, logo H04N2201/3211 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3266 : of text or character information, e.g. text accompanying an image H04N2201/3226 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3277 : The additional information being stored in the same storage device as the image data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3278 : Transmission
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 90/10 : Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 : Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 : Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 : Pattern matching access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 : Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 : Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A system for easily determining viewership of articles or ads in printed publications and using the determined viewership to determine author compensation, ad rates, or other historical or demographic related information is described. The system receives scan information of portions of a number of paper documents that is generated by scanners operated by a number of users. The system searches digital content using the received scan information, and determines a readership value for components of the paper document based upon the search.

Claims

1. A method in a computing system, comprising:

receiving a plurality of text capture indications, each text capture indication identifying a text sequence captured from a portion of a paper document by a user among a plurality of users operating a capture device among a plurality of capture devices, the captured text sequence being directly visible in the paper document in human-readable form;

for each received text capture indication, searching digital documents for the text sequence identified by the text capture indication to identify the paper document section from which the searched text sequence was captured; and

for each of a plurality of portions of paper documents, determining a readership value for the paper document portion indicating a frequency of captures from the paper document portion reflected by the received text capture indications.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the received indications include information derived from portions of paper documents containing advertisements, the method further comprising:

determining an advertising rate for a distinguished advertisement contained in a distinguished portion of a paper document based at least in part on a readership value determined for the distinguished portion.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

billing an entity associated with the distinguished advertisement contained in the distinguished portion using the determined advertising rate.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the received indications include information derived from portions of paper documents containing articles, and wherein the readership values are determined for the articles contained in the captured portions of paper documents.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of the readership values are determined from received indications based on a scan of a portion of text.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the readership value for a distinguished portion of a paper document includes a frequency of captures of another portion within the paper document containing the distinguished portion.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

ranking authors of the paper documents based on determined readership values for captured portions of paper documents written by the authors.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving location information associated with the scanners; and

determining the readership values based at least in part on the received location information.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving user information associated with the plurality of users of the scanners; and

determining the readership values based at least in part on the received user information.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of the readership values are determined from received indications based on a scan of an icon.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of the readership values are determined from received indications based on a scan of a symbol.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of the readership values are determined from received indications based on a scan of a mark.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the capture devices operated to produce a received text capture indication is a dedicated handheld text capture device.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the capture devices operated to produce a received text capture indication is a wireless telephone.

15. A computer-based system, comprising:

a memory for storing information associated with a plurality of paper documents;

a scan component that receives scan information of portions of the plurality of paper documents captured by scanners operated by a plurality of users;

a search component that searches for stored information associated with the received scan information; and

a readership evaluation component that determines, for each of the plurality of portions of paper documents, a readership value for the paper document portion indicating a frequency of captures from the paper document portion reflected by the received information,

wherein at least some of the readership values are determined from received information based on a scan of a portion of text that is directly visible in a paper document in human-readable form.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the received scan information includes scan information derived from portions of paper documents containing advertisements, the method further comprising:

a valuation component that determines an advertising rate for a distinguished advertisement contained in a distinguished portion of a paper document based at least in part on a readership value determined for the captured distinguished portion.

17. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

a billing component that bills an entity associated with the distinguished advertisement contained in the distinguished portion using the determined advertising rate.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the received information includes information derived from portions of paper documents containing articles, and wherein the readership values are determined for the articles contained in the captured portions of paper documents.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the readership value for a distinguished portion of a paper document includes a frequency of captures of another portion within the paper document containing the distinguished portion.

20. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

an author rank component that ranks authors of the paper documents based on determined readership values for captured portions of paper documents written by the authors.

21. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

a location component that determines location information associated with the scanners, and wherein determining the readership values is based at least in part on the received location information.

22. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

a user component that determines user information associated with the scanners, and wherein determining the readership values is based at least in part on the received user information.

23. The system of claim 15, wherein at least some of the readership values are determined from received information based on a scan of an icon.

24. The system of claim 15, wherein at least some of the readership values are determined from received information based on a scan of a symbol.

25. The system of claim 15, wherein at least some of the readership values are determined from received information based on a scan of a mark.

26. A computer-readable medium encoded with a computer program, for performing a method, the method comprising:

receiving multiple instances of scan information, each instance of scan information being derived from a capture of text in a portion of a paper document by a handheld information capture device operated by a user, the captured text being directly visible in the paper document in human-readable form; and

determining a readership value for a distinguished portion of a paper document based on the received instances of scanned information associated with the distinguished portion.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 26, further comprising:

searching for electronic content associated with each instance of scan information, and determining the readership values for a distinguished portion when the electronic content is found.

28. One or more computer memories collectively containing a data structure, the data structure comprising one or more entries, each entry associated with a rendered document, each entry containing:

information identifying the rendered document or an electronic version of the rendered document; and

information specifying a readership score for the rendered document that is based upon a determined number of text capture operations performed by users in copies of the rendered document, the text capture operations each capturing text that is directly visible in the rendered document in human-readable form, such that the contents of the data structure may be used as a basis for automatically charging for advertising included in the rendered document.

29. The computer memories of claim 28, wherein each entry further comprises information identifying a portion of the rendered document and a readership score for the identified portion of the rendered document that is based upon a determined number of user interactions with the identified portion of the rendered document.

30. A computer system to track reader exposure to elements in rendered documents comprising:

computer executable logic to receive digital information representing a series of contiguous words captured from a rendered document by a user, the captured words being directly visible in the paper document in human-readable form; and

computer executable logic to determine an exposure indication for a document element of the rendered document, based at least in part upon identifying a portion of a page of a digital document containing both the series of text captured from a rendered document, represented by the digital information and, the document element.

31. The computer system to track reader exposure to elements in rendered documents of claim 30, wherein the logic to determine an exposure indication for a document element of the rendered document further comprises:

logic to determine an exposure indication for an advertisement of the rendered document.

32. The computer system to track reader exposure to elements in rendered documents of claim 31, wherein the logic to determine an exposure indication for an advertisement of the rendered document further comprises:

logic to recognize that a reader of the rendered document may have been exposed to the advertisement based at least in part upon identifying a region of the digital document corresponding to a region of the rendered document on a same page or opposing page as the advertisement.

33. The computer system to track reader exposure to elements in rendered documents of claim 31, wherein the logic to determine an exposure indication for an advertisement of the rendered document further comprises:

the logic to determine the exposure indication based at least in part upon identifying a region of the digital document corresponding to a region of the rendered document adjacent to the advertisement.

34. The computer system to track reader exposure to elements in rendered documents of claim 31, wherein the logic to determine an exposure indication for an advertisement of the rendered document further comprises:

logic to recognize that a reader of the rendered document may have been exposed to the advertisement based at least in part upon identifying a region of the digital document corresponding to a region of the rendered document on a same page or opposing page as the advertisement.

35. The computer system to track reader exposure to elements in rendered documents of claim 31, wherein the logic to determine an exposure indication for an advertisement of the rendered document further comprises:

the logic to determine the exposure indication based at least in part upon identifying a region of the digital document corresponding to a region of the rendered document adjacent to the advertisement.

36. The computer system to track reader exposure to elements in rendered documents of claim 31, wherein the logic to determine an exposure indication for an advertisement of the rendered document, based at least in part upon a pattern of information capture from the rendered document further comprises:

logic to recognize that a reader of the rendered document may have been exposed to the advertisement of the rendered document, based at least in part upon intermittent information capture by the reader from throughout the rendered document.

37. The computer system to track reader exposure to elements in rendered documents of claim 31, wherein the logic to determine an exposure indication for an advertisement of the rendered document, based at least in part upon a pattern of information capture from the rendered document further comprises:

logic to recognize that a reader of the rendered document may have been exposed to the advertisement of the rendered document, based at least in part upon information capture from a page of the rendered document preceding a page comprising the advertisement, and information capture from a page of the rendered document following the page comprising the advertisement.

38. The computer system to track reader exposure to elements in rendered documents of claim 30, wherein the logic to identify the digital information representing a series of text captured from a rendered document further comprises:

logic to identify the digital information as information optically scanned from the rendered document.

39. The computer system to track reader exposure to elements in rendered documents of claim 30, wherein the logic to identify the digital information representing a series of text captured from a rendered document further comprises:

logic to identify the digital information as information voice recorded from the rendered document.

40. The computer system to track reader exposure to elements in rendered documents of claim 30, wherein the logic to identify the digital information representing a series of text captured from a rendered document further comprises:

logic to use the digital information or information obtained therefrom to form one or more queries;

one or more indexes and/or databases;

logic to apply the queries to the one or more indexes and/or databases to identify at least one digital document or sub-region thereof representing content of the rendered document or sub-region thereof in digital form; and

logic to apply results of the queries to determining the reader exposure information.

41. The computer system to track reader exposure to elements in rendered documents of claim 40, wherein the logic to use the digital information or information obtained therefrom to form one or more queries further comprises:

logic to apply context for the digital information to formation of the queries.

42. The computer system to track reader exposure to elements in rendered documents of claim 41, wherein the logic to apply context for the digital information to formation of the queries further comprises:

logic to use context information comprising one or more of a time of capture of the digital information representing a series of text captured from a rendered document, a date of the capture from the rendered document, or a physical location of the capture from the rendered document when forming the one or more queries.

43. The computer system to track reader exposure to elements in rendered documents of claim 41, wherein the logic to apply context for the digital information to formation of the queries further comprises:

logic to use context information about a reader of the rendered document when forming the one or more queries.

44. The computer system to track reader exposure to elements in rendered documents of claim 43, wherein the logic to use context information about a reader of the rendered document when forming the one or more queries further comprises:

logic to use demographic context information, and/or context information about prior captures and/or preferences of the reader of the rendered document when forming the one or more queries.

45. The computer system to track reader exposure to elements in rendered documents of claim 30, further comprising:

logic to perform OCR on the digital information and to form a quoted search string from the results of the OCR.

46. The computer system to track reader exposure to elements in rendered documents of claim 30, further comprising:

logic to use context information for capture of the digital information representing a series of text captured from a rendered document to narrow the results of one or more queries.

47. The computer system to track reader exposure to elements in rendered documents of claim 30, further comprising:

logic to adjust at least one of (a) a placement of the advertisement in a subsequent version of the rendered document and (b) a rate to charge for the advertisement, based at least in part upon the exposure indication.