Using consumer purchase behavior for television targeting

• US 8,060,398 B2
• Filed: 12/09/2009
• Issued: 11/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TiVo Research & Analytics, Inc. (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: TRA Incorporated
• Inventors: Faro, Zvia T., Canning, Brian P., Bochman, Pavel
• Primary Examiner(s): Boswell; Beth V
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHONG CRUZ, NADJA N
• Application Number:
  US12/634,382
• Publication Number:
  US 20100145791A1
• Time in Patent Office: 706 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7.29, 705/7.38
• US Class Current: 705/7.29
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0639 Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations
• 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 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0246 Traffic
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0247 Calculate past, present or future revenues
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

In various embodiments, strategies, tools and techniques are provided for processing and analyzing data in an advertising measurement system accessible through a software-as-a-service model or a client-downloaded computer program. The system may be configured to receive and process household media exposure data, product purchase data, advertising data, program data, and demographic data, wherein the data may be obtained from various sources, including from a program delivery source (e.g., a television set-top box) located in a household of a consumer. The data may be matched and cross-correlated for calculating return on advertising investment measurements and other metrics. The data may be used to optimize media placement generally or to address advertising content to specific households. Methods for storing and accessing data in the advertising measurement system by distributing the data across multiple shards are also provided. In addition, methods for protecting privacy of communicated data are disclosed.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for facilitating analysis of consumer behavior in association with advertising exposure or program delivery, the method comprising:

collecting in an advertising measurement system;

(i) clickstream data from a program delivery source of a consumer, wherein collecting the clickstream data is not dependent on a supplemental data collection device, and also wherein the collected clickstream data includes household data;

(ii) advertising data associated with delivery of the program by the program delivery source, wherein collecting the advertising data is not dependent on a supplemental data collection device, and also wherein the collected advertising data includes household level data associated with multiple consumer households;

(iii) programming data associated with the program delivered on the program delivery source, wherein collecting the programming data is not dependent on a supplemental data collection device, and also wherein the collected programming data includes household level data associated with multiple consumer households; and

,

(iv) purchase data from a purchase data source, wherein collecting the purchase data is not dependent on a supplemental data collection device, and also wherein the collected purchase data includes household data;

matching at least portions of the collected advertising data, the collected clickstream data the collected purchase data, and the collected program data in the advertising measurement system at a household data level with at least one electronic computer processor configured for processing data received from the program delivery source, the advertising data source, the programming data source, and the purchase data source, wherein the matching further includes;

(i) grouping the collected data in association with an identifier of each consumer household without processing any personally identifiable information associated with the consumer household, and

(ii) matching each identifier associated with each consumer household with other identifiers associated with the same consumer household without processing any personally identifiable information associated with the consumer household;

storing the matched advertising data, clickstream data, purchase data, and programming data in at least one electronic data storage medium operatively associated with the computer processor;

distributing a data access tier of the advertising measurement system into multiple shards, wherein each shard is configured to maintain the same data structure while storing different data;

confining, with the computer processor, all information including matched data pertaining to a specific household of a consumer to a single shard of the data access tier;

applying at least one cleansing algorithm or editing algorithm to the collected data, the stored data, or the matched data; and

,

calculating at least one return on investment metric or true target index metric based on the collected data, the stored data, or the matched data.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising distributing at least a portion of the data stored in the data access tier evenly across the multiple shards.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising rebalancing data among the multiple shards according to a query response time of the advertising measurement system.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining multiple copies of different partitions in the multiple shards.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising duplicating at least one partition across the multiple shards.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating an advertising/media exposure report in response to data stored in the shards.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a return on investment report in response to data stored in the shards.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the amount of data stored on a single shard in response to shard storage size and an amount of data allowing a predetermined data query response time for the shard.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the programming data includes program data.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the programming data includes network data.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the programming data includes daypart data.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising collecting clickstream data associated with a television.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating at least one commercial to a video-on-demand (VOD) system in association with at least a portion of the matched data or the stored data.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the commercial includes an addressable commercial.

9. A system for facilitating analysis of consumer behavior in association with advertising exposure or program delivery, the system comprising:

an advertising measurement system including an electronic computer programmed for;

(i) collecting clickstream data from a program delivery source of a consumer, wherein collecting the clickstream data is not dependent on a supplemental data collection device, and also wherein the collected clickstream data includes household data;

(ii) collecting advertising data associated with delivery of the program by the program delivery source, wherein collecting the advertising data is not dependent on a supplemental data collection device, and also wherein the collected advertising data includes household level data associated with multiple consumer households;

(iii) collecting programming data associated with the program delivered on the program delivery source, wherein collecting the programming data is not dependent on a supplemental data collection device, and also wherein the collected programming data includes household level data associated with multiple consumer households; and

,

(iv) collecting purchase data from a purchase data source, wherein collecting the purchase data is not dependent on a supplemental data collection device, and also wherein the collected purchase data includes household data;

(v) matching at least portions of the collected advertising data, the collected clickstream data, the collected purchase data, and the collected program data in the advertising measurement system at a household data level with at least one electronic computer processor configured for processing data received from the program delivery source, the advertising data source, the programming data source, and the purchase data source, wherein the matching further includes;

(i) grouping the collected data in association with an identifier of each consumer household without processing any personally identifiable information associated with the consumer household, and

(ii) matching each identifier associated with each consumer household with other identifiers associated with the same consumer household without processing any personally identifiable information associated with the consumer household;

at least one data storage medium operatively associated with the computer processor, the data storage medium configured for storing the matched advertising data, clickstream data, purchase data, and programming data;

the advertising measurement system including a data access tier distributed into multiple shards, wherein each shard is configured to maintain the same data structure while storing different data;

each shard being configured to confine therein all information including matched data pertaining to a specific household of a consumer;

a module programmed for applying at least one cleansing algorithm or editing algorithm to the collected data, the stored data, or the matched data; and

,

a module programmed for calculating at least one return on investment metric or true target index metric based on the collected data, the stored data, or the matched data.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising a module configured for distributing at least a portion of the data stored in the data access tier evenly across the multiple shards.

11. The system of claim 9, further comprising a module configured for rebalancing data among the multiple shards according to a query response time of the advertising measurement system.

12. The system of claim 9, further comprising a module configured for maintaining multiple copies of different partitions in the multiple shards.

13. The system of claim 9, further comprising a module configured for duplicating at least one partition across the multiple shards.

14. The system of claim 9, further comprising a module configured for generating an advertising/media exposure report in response to data stored in the shards.

15. The system of claim 9, further comprising a module configured for generating a return on investment report in response to data stored in the shards.

16. The system of claim 9, further comprising a module configured for determining the amount of data stored on a single shard in response to shard storage size and an amount of data allowing a predetermined data query response time for the shard.

23. The system of claim 9, wherein the programming data includes program data.

24. The system of claim 9, wherein the programming data includes network data.

25. The system of claim 9, wherein the programming data includes daypart data.

26. The system of claim 9, further comprising a module programmed for collecting clickstream data associated with a television.

27. The system of claim 9, further comprising a module programmed for communicating at least one commercial to a video-on-demand (VOD) system in association with at least a portion of the matched data or the stored data.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the commercial includes an addressable commercial.

29. A computer-implemented method for facilitating analysis of consumer behavior in association with advertising exposure or program delivery, the method comprising:

collecting in an advertising measurement system;

(i) clickstream data from a program delivery source of a consumer, wherein collecting the clickstream data is not dependent on a supplemental data collection device, and also wherein the collected clickstream data includes household data;

(ii) advertising data associated with delivery of the program by the program delivery source, wherein collecting the advertising data is not dependent on a supplemental data collection device, and also wherein the collected advertising data includes household level data associated with multiple consumer households;

(iii) programming data associated with the program delivered on the program delivery source, wherein collecting the programming data is not dependent on a supplemental data collection device, and also wherein the collected programming data includes household level data associated with multiple consumer households; and

,

(iv) purchase data from a purchase data source, wherein collecting the purchase data is not dependent on a supplemental data collection device, and also wherein the collected purchase data includes household data;

matching at least portions of the collected advertising data, the collected clickstream data, the collected purchase data, and the collected program data in the advertising measurement system at a household data level with at least one electronic computer processor configured for processing data received from the program delivery source, the advertising data source, the programming data source, and the purchase data source, wherein the matching further includes;

(i) collecting data associated with at least one household opted into allowing tuning data associated with the household to be collected; and

(ii) processing personally identifiable information associated with the opted-into household;

storing the matched advertising data, clickstream data, purchase data, and programming data in at least one electronic data storage medium operatively associated with the computer processor;

distributing a data access tier of the advertising measurement system into multiple shards, wherein each shard is configured to maintain the same data structure while storing different data;

confining, with the computer processor, all information including matched data pertaining to a specific household of a consumer to a single shard of the data access tier;

applying at least one cleansing algorithm or editing algorithm to the collected data, the stored data, or the matched data; and

,

calculating at least one return on investment metric or true target index metric based on the collected data, the stored data, or the matched data.

30. A system for facilitating analysis of consumer behavior in association with advertising exposure or program delivery, the system comprising:

an advertising measurement system including an electronic computer programmed for;

(i) collecting clickstream data from a program delivery source of a consumer, wherein collecting the clickstream data is not dependent on a supplemental data collection device, and also wherein the collected clickstream data includes household data;

(ii) collecting advertising data associated with delivery of the program by the program delivery source, wherein collecting the advertising data is not dependent on a supplemental data collection device, and also wherein the collected advertising data includes household level data associated with multiple consumer households;

(iii) collecting programming data associated with the program delivered on the program delivery source, wherein collecting the programming data is not dependent on a supplemental data collection device, and also wherein the collected programming data includes household level data associated with multiple consumer households; and

,

(iv) collecting purchase data from a purchase data source, wherein collecting the purchase data is not dependent on a supplemental data collection device, and also wherein the collected purchase data includes household data;

(v) matching at least portions of the collected advertising data, the collected clickstream data, the collected purchase data, and the collected program data in the advertising measurement system at a household data level with at least one electronic computer processor configured for processing data received from the program delivery source, the advertising data source, the programming data source, and the purchase data source, wherein the matching further includes;

(i) collecting data associated with at least one household opted into allowing tuning data associated with the household to be collected; and

(ii) processing personally identifiable information associated with the opted-into household;

at least one data storage medium operatively associated with the computer processor, the data storage medium configured for storing the matched advertising data, clickstream data, purchase data, and programming data;

the advertising measurement system including a data access tier distributed into multiple shards, wherein each shard is configured to maintain the same data structure while storing different data;

each shard being configured to confine therein all information including matched data pertaining to a specific household of a consumer;

a module programmed for applying at least one cleansing algorithm or editing algorithm to the collected data, the stored data, or the matched data; and

,

a module programmed for calculating at least one return on investment metric or true target index metric based on the collected data, the stored data, or the matched data.