Media player feedback

• US 8,429,516 B1
• Filed: 08/20/2007
• Issued: 04/23/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adobe Inc.
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: Riggs, Brian, Ghaskadvi, Vijay S., Huff, Joel
• Primary Examiner(s): Ries, Laurie
• Assistant Examiner(s): SMITH, TIONNA M
• Application Number:
  US11/841,232
• Time in Patent Office: 2,073 Days
• Field of Search: 715/201
• US Class Current: 715/201
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/245 Query processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6254 by anonymising data, e.g. decorrelating personal data from the owner's identification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2101 Auditing as a secondary aspect

Abstract

Example configurations herein include a media player that initiates playback of content (e.g., play back of a movie in a web browser). Based on input from a respective user, the media player receives selections of playback commands (e.g., play, pause, stop, rewind, fast forward, etc.) applied to the content being played back by the media player. Based on the selections, the media player creates a log report. The log report records the selections of the playback commands applied to the content and indicates, for example, a corresponding time when the playback commands were applied. According to one configuration, the media player initiates distribution of the log report to notify a publisher associated with the content which playback commands were selected during playback of the content on the media player.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

initiating playback of content on a media player;

receiving selection of a playback command applied to the content being played back by the media player;

based on the selection, creating an entry in a log report to indicate the selection of the playback command, the log report comprising a unique value associated with a publisher of the content and the media player, wherein each of a plurality of media players associates a different unique value with the publisher of the content such that the plurality of media players can be distinguished from one another based on the different unique values associated with the publisher and wherein the different unique values associated with the publisher do not reveal the identities of the plurality of media players; and

initiating distribution of the log report to notify the publisher of the content that the playback command was selected during playback of the content on the media player.

2. A method as in claim 1, wherein initiating distribution of the log report to notify the publisher includes forwarding the log report to a location that collects the log report as well as other log reports generated by other media players to identify a level of desirability with respect to portions of the content being viewed on the media players.

3. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

receiving additional selections of playback commands applied to the content being played back by the media player;

based on the additional selections, creating corresponding additional entries in the log report to indicate the additional selections of the playback commands; and

initiating distribution of the log report to notify a publisher associated with the content that the playback command and the additional playback commands that were selected during playback of the content on the media player.

4. A method as in claim 1, wherein creating the entry in the log report includes recording a relative time indicating which portion of the content was being played back on the media player when the playback command was selected.

5. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

receiving input from a user of the media player, the input indicating the user'"'"'s permission to create the log report of playback commands applied to the content; and

providing security with respect to the log report by preventing the user associated with the media player from tampering with the log file and initiating distribution of the log report as unencrypted data that is communicated over a network to a remote repository accessible by the publisher.

6. A method as in claim 5, wherein providing the security occurs while a client computer executing the media player is offline and unable to transmit the log file over the network to the remote repository.

7. A method as in claim 1, wherein initiating distribution of the log report occurs after termination of viewing the content on the media player such that the log report contains a history of multiple playback commands applied to the content by a corresponding viewer associated with the media player.

8. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

generating, at the media player, the unique value for the publisher.

9. A method as in claim 8, wherein generating the unique identifier value includes:

generating the unique value in response to detecting that the media player does not yet have the unique value associated with the publisher of the content; and

maintaining the unique value in a table at the media player; and

utilizing the unique value for subsequent log reports in which the media player is used to view different content associated with the publisher.

10. A method as in claim 9, wherein generating the unique identifier value includes:

generating the unique value based on a random number generator.

11. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

initiating display of the content including simultaneous playback of first content from a first publisher and second content from a second publisher; and

wherein initiating distribution of the log report includes providing the log report to both the first publisher and the second publisher.

12. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

presenting multiple tracking options including a first tracking option and a second tracking option, selection of the first tracking option of the media player configuring the media player to create the log report including a corresponding history of multiple playback commands selected during playback of the content on the media player excluding a unique value in the log report that enables the publisher to compare with other log reports and identify which other content is viewed and played back on the media player, selection of the second tracking option configuring the media player to create the log report including a corresponding history of multiple playback commands selected during playback of the content on the media player with a unique value associated with the publisher in the log report to compare with other log reports that enables the publisher to identify which other content has been viewed and played back by the media player.

13. A method comprising:

receiving allocation of a unique value corresponding to a content publisher and the media player, the unique value exclusively used by a media player amongst multiple media players to indicate the publisher as a source of played back content;

in response to initiating playback of the publisher'"'"'s content on the media player, creating each of multiple log reports to include the unique value to enable the publisher to identify that different content provided by the publisher was played back by the media player; and

distributing the log reports for access by the publisher, wherein the unique value enables anonymous distribution of the log reports such that the publisher does not know an identity of the media player that uses the unique value in the log reports.

14. A method as in claim 13, wherein creating each of multiple log reports includes:

initiating playback of first content associated with the publisher;

creating a first log report to include the unique value to indicate that the media player played back the first content;

initiating playback of second content associated with the publisher; and

creating a second log report to include the unique value to indicate that the media player played back the second content.

15. A method as in claim 14 further comprising:

monitoring selection of playback commands applied to the first content;

creating the first log report to include a history specifying the selection of playback commands applied to the first content;

monitoring selection of playback commands applied to the second content; and

creating the second log report to include a history specifying the selection of playback commands applied to the second content.

16. A method as in claim 13, wherein receiving allocation of the unique value includes generating the unique value via a generator function associated with the media player, the generator function enabling anonymous distribution of the log reports such that the publisher does not know an identity of the media player that uses the unique value in the log reports.

17. A tangible computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by a processing device, enabling the processing device to perform operations comprising:

initiating playback of content on a media player;

receiving selection of a playback command applied to the content being played back by the media player;

based on the selection, creating an entry in a log report to indicate the selection of the playback command, the log report comprising a unique value associated with a publisher of the content and the media player, wherein each of a plurality of media players associates a different unique value with the publisher of the content such that the plurality of media players can be distinguished from one another based on the different unique values associated with the publisher and wherein the different unique values associated with the publisher do not reveal the identities of the plurality of media players; and

initiating distribution of the log report to notify the publisher of the content that the playback command was selected during playback of the content on the media player.

18. A tangible computer-readable medium as in claim 17, wherein initiating distribution of the log report to notify the publisher includes forwarding the log report to a location that collects the log report as well as other log reports generated by other media players to identify a level of desirability with respect to portions of the content being viewed on the media players.

19. A tangible computer-readable medium as in claim 17, the operations further comprising:

receiving additional selections of playback commands applied to the content being played back by the media player;

based on the additional selections, creating corresponding additional entries in the log report to indicate the additional selections of the playback commands; and

initiating distribution of the log report to notify a publisher associated with the content that the playback command and the additional playback commands that were selected during playback of the content on the media player.

20. A tangible computer-readable medium as in claim 17, wherein creating the entry in the log report includes recording a relative time indicating which portion of the content was being played back on the media player when the playback command was selected.

21. A tangible computer-readable medium as in claim 17, the operations further comprising:

receiving input from a user of the media player, the input indicating the user'"'"'s permission to create the log report of playback commands applied to the content; and

providing security with respect to the log report by preventing the user associated with the media player from tampering with the log file and initiating distribution of the log report as encrypted data that is communicated over a network to a remote repository accessible by the publisher.

22. A tangible computer-readable medium as in claim 17, wherein providing the security occurs while a client computer executing the media player is offline and unable to transmit the log file over the network to the remote repository.

23. A tangible computer-readable medium as in claim 17, wherein initiating distribution of the log report occurs after termination of viewing the content on the media player such that the log report contains a history of multiple playback commands applied to the content by a corresponding viewer associated with the media player.

24. A tangible computer-readable medium as in claim 17, the operations further comprising:

generating, at the media player, the unique value for the publisher.

25. A tangible computer-readable medium as in claim 24, wherein generating the unique value includes:

generating the unique value in response to detecting that the media player does not yet have the unique value associated with the publisher of the content; and

maintaining the unique value in a table at the media player; and

utilizing the unique value for subsequent log reports in which the media player is used to view different content associated with the publisher.

26. A tangible computer-readable medium as in claim 25, wherein generating the unique value includes:

generating the unique value based on a random number generator.

27. A computer system comprising:

a processor;

a memory unit that stores instructions associated with an application executed by the processor; and

an interconnect coupling the processor and the memory unit, enabling the computer system to execute the application and perform operations comprising;

initiating playback of content on a media player;

receiving selection of a playback command applied to the content being played back by the media player;

based on the selection, creating an entry in a log report to indicate the selection of the playback command, the log report comprising a unique value associated with a publisher of the content and the media player, wherein each of a plurality of media players associates a different unique value with the publisher of the content such that the plurality of media players can be distinguished from one another based on the different unique values associated with the publisher and wherein the different unique values associated with the publisher do not reveal the identities of the plurality of media players; and

initiating distribution of the log report to notify the publisher of the content that the playback command was selected during playback of the content on the media player.