System and method for benchmarking electronic message activity

• US 7,844,484 B2
• Filed: 02/26/2007
• Issued: 11/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/11/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Buzzmetrics, Ltd. (Nielsen Holdings plc)
• Original Assignee: Buzzmetrics, Ltd. (Nielsen Holdings plc)
• Inventors: Holtzman, David, Arnett, Nicholas D., Pool, David
• Primary Examiner(s): MEINECKE DIAZ, SUSANNA M
• Application Number:
  US11/710,743
• Publication Number:
  US 20070208614A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,373 Days
• Field of Search: 705/10
• US Class Current: 705/7.31
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6254 by anonymising data, e.g. decorrelating personal data from the owner's identification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2117 User registration
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0204 Market segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0407 wherein the identity of one or more communicating identities is hidden cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for anonymous credentials or for identity based cryptographic systems H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A system and method for collecting and analyzing electronic discussion messages to categorize the message communications and to identify trends and patterns in pre-determined markets. The system comprises an electronic data discussion system wherein electronic messages are collected and analyzed according to characteristics and data inherent in the messages. Objective data is collected by the system for use in analyzing the electronic discussion data against real-world events to facilitate trend analysis and event forecasting based on the volume, nature and content of messages posted to electronic discussion forums. The message posting activity of a plurality of posters can be tracked to determine the tendency of individual posters to initiate or moderate discussions, accurately predict events external to the discussion forums, accelerate or decelerate a buzz level in a forum, or precede a rising market or a falling market.

Claims

1. A system for processing message traffic in a plurality of electronic discussion forums, comprising:

one or more processors programmed to execute;

a computer-implemented message collector to collect messages from the plurality of electronic discussion forums;

a computer-implemented message processor to process the messages to determine a subset of the messages that are relevant to at least one topic;

a computer-implemented data analyzer to identify one or more pseudonyms posting the subset of the messages, to receive market data describing market events related to the at least one topic, to identify first inflection in the market data, to identify at least one pseudonym that posted at least one message in the subset of the messages within a desired time from the first inflection, to determine a first score for the pseudonym based on the magnitude of a first change in the market data following the first inflection and a second score for the pseudonym based on the magnitude of a second change in the market data following a second inflection, and add the first score and the second score to determine a total score for the pseudonym, wherein the magnitude of the total score is indicative of the likelihood that messages from the pseudonym will cause a change in the market data; and

a computer-implemented report generator to generate a report displaying, at least in part, information associated with output from the data analyzer.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the market data comprises stock data.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the market data comprises box office sales.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the market data comprises at least one of television market shares and audience ratings data.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the data analyzer is adapted to process the market data in order to identify correlations or trends for future market events based on the one or more pseudonyms.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the data analyzer is adapted to process the market data in order to identify trends for future market events based on both the one or more pseudonyms and a community mood measurement, and the report includes information associated with the trends.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the data analyzer is adapted to process the market data in order to identify trends for future market events based on a community mood measurement, and the report includes information associated with the correlations or trends.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the community mood measurement is based on changes in discussion levels for a specific topic.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the community mood measurement is based on a number of new posting pseudonyms for a specific topic.

10. A computer implemented method for processing message traffic in a plurality of electronic discussion forums, the computer implemented method comprising:

receiving messages from the plurality of electronic discussion forums;

processing the messages to determine a subset of the messages that are relevant to at least one topic;

identifying one or more pseudonyms posting the subset of the messages;

receiving market data describing market events related to the at least one topic;

identifying a first inflection in the market data;

identifying at least one pseudonym that posted at least one message in the subset of the messages within a desired time from the first inflection;

determining, using a processor, a first score for the pseudonym based on the magnitude of a first change in the market data following the first inflection and a second score for the pseudonym based on the magnitude of a second change in the market data following a second inflection;

adding the first score and the second score to determine a total score for the pseudonym, wherein the magnitude of the total score is indicative of the likelihood that messages from the pseudonym will cause a change in the market data; and

generating a report displaying, at least in part, at least a portion of the market data and information generated as a result of the processing the messages and identifying the at least one pseudonym that posted the at least one message within the desire time of the inflection.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the market data comprises stock data.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the market data comprises box office sales.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the market data comprises at least one of television market shares and audience ratings data.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising processing the market data in order to identify trends for future market events based on the one or more pseudonyms, the report displays information related to the trends.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising processing the market data in order to identify trends for future market events based on both the one or more pseudonyms and a community mood measurement, and the report displays information related to the trends.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising processing the market data in order to identify trends for future market events based on a community mood measurement, and the report displays information related to the trends.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the community mood measurement is based on changes in discussion levels for a specific topic.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the community mood measurement is based on a number of new posting pseudonyms for a specific topic.