Log processing to determine impressions using an impression time window

• US 8,739,199 B2
• Filed: 01/25/2012
• Issued: 05/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Smith, Geoffrey R., Merrick, Iain, Killianey, Michael A., Hawkins, John Alastair, Hecht, Greg, Rowe, Simon M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Beliveau, Scott
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ryan, Patrick A
• Application Number:
  US13/358,078
• Publication Number:
  US 20120124619A1
• Time in Patent Office: 853 Days
• Field of Search: 725 9- 22, 725/24, 725/32, 725/63, 705/10, 705 144- 1473
• US Class Current: 725/21
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2407 Monitoring of transmitted content, e.g. distribution time, number of downloads arrangements for monitoring programmes for broadcast or for distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2547 Third Party Billing, e.g. billing of advertiser
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4667 Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02

Abstract

Set top box logs are received from a television provider and processed to identify channel tunes and channel tune times. The channel tunes and channel tune times of the log data can be compared to expected air times of television advertisements on channels, and an impression values, e.g., projected viewers, can be generated for each television advertisement.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, by a data processing apparatus, insertion data describing television advertisement airings for television advertisements that were aired by a television provider, the insertion data describing, for each television advertisement airing of a television advertisement, the television advertisement that aired, a channel identifier of a channel on which the television advertisement was aired, and a display time defining a time that the television advertisement aired on the channel;

for each television advertisement airing specified by the insertion data, defining a respective impression time window measured from the display time of the television advertisement and that expires when a time duration that is measured from the display time of the television advertisement is equal to the impression time window, the impression time window being a time window defining a time period during which impressions for the television advertisement may be counted from reporting data received separately from the insertion data and throughout the impression time window from a television provider;

iteratively receiving reporting data from the television provider throughout the impression time window, the reporting data reporting channel identifiers, associated tuning events and associated tuning times reported by tuning devices, and after each iteration processing, by the data processing apparatus, the reporting data to determine a respective impression value for each television advertisement airing, the processing comprising;

identifying channel tunes and corresponding tune times from the reporting data;

comparing the insertion data display times of the television advertisements and channel identifiers of channels on which the television advertisements were aired to the channel tunes and corresponding tune times from the reporting data;

identifying from the comparison television advertisements that were aired during the tune times on channels corresponding to the channel tunes;

identifying, for each television advertisement, reliable durations based on the identified channel tunes and corresponding tune times;

determining an impression value for each airing of each identified television advertisement based on the reliable durations;

for each television advertisement airing;

determining whether the respective impression time window measured from the display time of the television advertisement has expired;

determining an error value that is an estimated error of the impression value for the television advertisement that aired for the advertisement airing; and

generating an advertiser billing for the television advertisement only in response to one of;

the error value being below a threshold value and an expiration of the respective impression time window for the television advertisement airing.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying reliable durations based on the identified channel tunes and corresponding tune times comprises:

determining if corresponding tune times for a channel tune define a duration that exceeds a minimum dwell time threshold; and

if the corresponding tune times for the channel tune define a duration that exceeds the minimum dwell time threshold, then associating the corresponding tune times for the channel tune as a reliable duration.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying reliable durations based on the identified channel tunes and corresponding tune times comprises:

determining if corresponding tune times for a channel tune define a duration that is less than a maximum dwell time threshold; and

if the corresponding tune times for the channel tune define a duration that is less than the maximum dwell time threshold, then associating the corresponding tune times for the channel tune as a reliable duration.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying reliable durations based on the identified channel tunes and corresponding tune times comprises:

determining if a channel tune is an authorized channel tune; and

if the channel tune is not an authorized channel tune, then precluding association of the corresponding tune times for the channel tune as a reliable duration.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying from the comparison television advertisements that were aired during the tune times on channels corresponding to the channel tunes comprises:

identifying channels and associated advertisement time slots;

identifying corresponding channel tunes and tune times; and

identifying television advertisements associated with the identified channels and advertisement time slots.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein:

determining an impression value for each identified television advertisement based on the reliable durations comprises identifying an impression for each television advertisement associated with an identified channel and advertisement time slot that corresponds to a reliable duration;

the reporting data defines a sampling weighting of a viewership; and

determining an impression value for each identified television advertisement based on the reliable durations comprises adjusting the sample weighting to compensate for a sample bias.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein determining an impression value for each identified television advertisement based on the reliable durations comprises:

determining a percentage of a maximum number of reports, the percentage defined by the reporting data; and

generating an estimated impression value for each identified television advertisement based on percentage of the maximum number of reports and the number of identified impressions for each television advertisement.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein each impression time window is at least one day.

9. A system, comprising:

a data processing apparatus; and

a memory device in data communication with the data processing apparatus and storing instructions being executable by the data processing apparatus and upon such execution cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising;

receiving insertion data describing television advertisement airings for television advertisements that were aired by a television provider, the insertion data describing, for each television advertisement airing of a television advertisement, the television advertisement that aired, a channel identifier of a channel on which the television advertisement was aired, and a display time defining a time that the television advertisement aired on the channel;

for each television advertisement airing specified by the insertion data, defining a respective impression time window measured from the display time of the television advertisement and that expires when a time duration that is measured from the display time of the television advertisement is equal to the impression time window, the impression time window being a time window defining a time period during which impressions for the television advertisement may be counted from reporting data received separately from the insertion data and throughout the impression time window from a television provider;

iteratively receiving reporting data from the television provider throughout the impression time window, the reporting data reporting channel identifiers, associated tuning events and associated tuning times reported by tuning devices, and after each iteration processing the reporting data to determine a respective impression value for each television advertisement airing, the processing comprising;

identifying channel tunes and corresponding tune times from the reporting data;

comparing the insertion data display times of the television advertisements and channel identifiers of channels on which the television advertisements were aired to the channel tunes and corresponding tune times from the reporting data;

identifying from the comparison television advertisements that were aired during the tune times on channels corresponding to the channel tunes;

identifying, for each television advertisement, reliable durations based on the identified channel tunes and corresponding tune times;

determining an impression value for each airing of each identified television advertisement based on the reliable durations;

for each television advertisement airing;

determining whether the respective impression time window measured from the display time of the television advertisement has expired;

determining an error value that is an estimated error of the impression value for the television advertisement that aired for the advertisement airing; and

generating an advertiser billing for the television advertisement only in response to one of;

the error value being below a threshold value and an expiration of the respective impression time window for the television advertisement airing.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein identifying reliable durations based on the identified channel tunes and corresponding tune times comprises:

determining if corresponding tune times for a channel tune define a duration that exceeds a minimum dwell time threshold; and

if the corresponding tune times for the channel tune define a duration that exceeds the minimum dwell time threshold, then associating the corresponding tune times for the channel tune as a reliable duration.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein identifying reliable durations based on the identified channel tunes and corresponding tune times comprises:

determining if corresponding tune times for a channel tune define a duration that is less than a maximum dwell time threshold; and

if the corresponding tune times for the channel tune define a duration that is less than the maximum dwell time threshold, then associating the corresponding tune times for the channel tune as a reliable duration.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein identifying reliable durations based on the identified channel tunes and corresponding tune times comprises:

determining if a channel tune is an authorized channel tune; and

if the channel tune is not an authorized channel tune, then precluding association of the corresponding tune times for the channel tune as a reliable duration.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein identifying from the comparison television advertisements that were aired during the tune times on channels corresponding to the channel tunes comprises:

identifying channels and associated advertisement time slots;

identifying corresponding channel tunes and tune times; and

identifying television advertisements associated with the identified channels and advertisement time slots.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein:

determining an impression value for each identified television advertisement based on the reliable durations comprises identifying an impression for each television advertisement associated with an identified channel and advertisement time slot that corresponds to a reliable duration;

the reporting data defines a sampling weighting of a viewership; and

determining an impression value for each identified television advertisement based on the reliable durations comprises adjusting the sample weighting to compensate for a sample bias.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein determining an impression value for each identified television advertisement based on the reliable durations comprises:

determining a percentage of a maximum number of reports, the percentage defined by the reporting data; and

generating an estimated impression value for each identified television advertisement based on percentage of the maximum number of reports and the number of identified impressions for each television advertisement.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein each impression time window is at least one day.

17. Software stored in memory device, the software comprising instructions executable by a data processing apparatus and upon such execution cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

receiving insertion data describing television advertisement airings for television advertisements that were aired by a television provider, the insertion data describing, for each television advertisement airing of a television advertisement, the television advertisement that aired, a channel identifier of a channel on which the television advertisement was aired, and a display time defining a time that the television advertisement aired on the channel;

for each television advertisement airing specified by the insertion data, defining a respective impression time window measured from the display time of the television advertisement and that expires when a time duration that is measured from the display time of the television advertisement is equal to the impression time window, the impression time window being a time window defining a time period during which impressions for the television advertisement may be counted from reporting data received separately from the insertion data and throughout the impression time window from a television provider;

iteratively receiving reporting data from the television provider throughout the impression time window, the reporting data reporting channel identifiers, associated tuning events and associated tuning times reported by tuning devices, and after each iteration processing the reporting data to determine a respective impression value for each television advertisement airing, the processing comprising;

identifying channel tunes and corresponding tune times from the reporting data;

comparing the insertion data display times of the television advertisements and channel identifiers of channels on which the television advertisements were aired to the channel tunes and corresponding tune times from the reporting data;

identifying from the comparison television advertisements that were aired during the tune times on channels corresponding to the channel tunes;

identifying, for each television advertisement, reliable durations based on the identified channel tunes and corresponding tune times;

identifying reliable durations based on the identified channel tunes and corresponding tune times;

determining an impression value for each airing of each identified television advertisement based on the reliable durations;

for each television advertisement airing;

determining whether the respective impression time window measured from the display time of the television advertisement has expired;

determining an error value that is an estimated error of the impression value for the television advertisement that aired for the advertisement airing; and

generating an advertiser billing for the television advertisement only in response to one of;

the error value being below a threshold value and an expiration of the respective impression time window for the television advertisement airing.

18. The software of claim 17, wherein identifying reliable durations based on the identified channel tunes and corresponding tune times comprises:

determining if corresponding tune times for a channel tune define a duration that exceeds a minimum dwell time threshold; and

if the corresponding tune times for the channel tune define a duration that exceeds the minimum dwell time threshold, then associating the corresponding tune times for the channel tune as a reliable duration.

19. The software of claim 17, wherein identifying reliable durations based on the identified channel tunes and corresponding tune times comprises:

determining if corresponding tune times for a channel tune define a duration that is less than a maximum dwell time threshold; and

if the corresponding tune times for the channel tune define a duration that is less than the maximum dwell time threshold, then associating the corresponding tune times for the channel tune as a reliable duration.

20. The software of claim 17, wherein identifying reliable durations based on the identified channel tunes and corresponding tune times comprises:

determining if a channel tune is an authorized channel tune; and

if the channel tune is not an authorized channel tune, then precluding association of the corresponding tune times for the channel tune as a reliable duration.

21. The software of claim 17, wherein identifying from the comparison television advertisements that were aired during the tune times on channels corresponding to the channel tunes comprises:

identifying channels and associated advertisement time slots;

identifying corresponding channel tunes and tune times; and

identifying television advertisements associated with the identified channels and advertisement time slots.

22. The software of claim 21, wherein:

determining an impression value for each identified television advertisement based on the reliable durations comprises identifying an impression for each television advertisement associated with an identified channel and advertisement time slot that corresponds to a reliable duration;

the reporting data defines a sampling weighting of a viewership; and

determining an impression value for each identified television advertisement based on the reliable durations comprises adjusting the sample weighting to compensate for a sample bias.

23. The software of claim 22, wherein determining an impression value for each identified television advertisement based on the reliable durations comprises:

determining a percentage of a maximum number of reports, the percentage defined by the reporting data; and

generating an estimated impression value for each identified television advertisement based on percentage of the maximum number of reports and the number of identified impressions for each television advertisement.

24. The software of claim 17, wherein each impression time window is at least one day.