Monitoring individual viewing of television events using tracking pixels and cookies

• US 9,838,753 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2014
• Issued: 12/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Inscape Data, Inc. (VIZIO, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Inscape Data, Inc. (VIZIO, Inc.)
• Inventors: Neumeier, Zeev, Collette, Michael, Hoarty, W. Leo
• Primary Examiner(s): Rabovianski, Jivka
• Application Number:
  US14/763,158
• Publication Number:
  US 20150382075A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,078 Days
• Field of Search: 725 34, 725 37, 725 38, 725 86, 725 87, 725115
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5838 using colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/735 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/7847 using low-level visual features of the video content
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9566 URL specific, e.g. using aliases, detecting broken or misspelled links
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23418 involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics television picture signal circuitry for scene change detection H04N5/147; filtering for image enhancement G06T5/00; methods or arrangements for recognising scenes G06V20/00; arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26241 involving the time of distribution, e.g. the best time of the day for inserting an advertisement or airing a children program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4394 involving operations for analysing the audio stream, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in audio streams arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of audio in broadcast systems H04H60/58
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44008 involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in the video stream arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59
• 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 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/462 Content or additional data management, e.g. creating a master electronic program guide from data received from the Internet and a Head-end, controlling the complexity of a video stream by scaling the resolution or bit-rate based on the client capabilities
• 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 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/478 Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8126 involving additional data, e.g. news, sports, stocks, weather forecasts

Abstract

A real-time content identification and tracking system enabling monitoring of television programming consumption specific to an individual television or other viewing device. Metrics collected may include data regarding viewing of specific broadcast media, commercial messages, interactive on-screen information or other programming, as well as locally cached, time-shifted programming. Information about media consumption by such specific television sets or other viewing means may be returned to a commercial client of the system through a trusted third-party intermediary service and, in certain embodiments, encoded tokens may be used to manage the display of certain events as well as to enable robust auditing of each involved party'"'"'s contractual performance.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

storing, by a media system, a plurality of contextual applications, wherein a contextual application is associated with a video segment, wherein a contextual application is associated with an address, and wherein an address of a contextual application identifies one or more additional servers used for logging viewing events corresponding to the plurality of contextual applications;

generating, by the media system, a video fingerprint, wherein the video fingerprint is generated from video data of a frame being displayed by the media system;

transmitting the video fingerprint, wherein when the video fingerprint is received at a matching server, the matching server determines a reference data set similar to the video fingerprint, and wherein the matching server generates a signal identifying a particular contextual application corresponding to the reference data set;

receiving the signal identifying the particular contextual application;

determining an address associated with the particular contextual application, wherein the address associated with the particular contextual application identifies an additional server used for logging one or more viewing events corresponding to the particular contextual application;

displaying, by the media system, content associated with the particular contextual application; and

automatically sending a message in response to the content being displayed, wherein sending includes using the address associated with the particular contextual application, and wherein receiving the message at the additional server causes the additional server to log a viewing event corresponding to the particular contextual application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the message includes information identifying an identity of the media system.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the message includes information indicative of a geographical location of the media system.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the message includes information identifying the content associated with the particular contextual application.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the video data includes one or more video sub-areas of the frame being displayed by the media system.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more video sub-areas are processed by averaging.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the video fingerprint is transmitted using an Internet connection, and wherein the message is sent using an Internet connection.

8. A media system for generating information indicative of a viewing event, the media system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations including;

store a plurality of contextual applications, wherein a contextual application is associated with a video segment, wherein a contextual application is associated with an address, and wherein an address of a contextual application identifies one or more additional servers used for logging viewing events corresponding to the plurality of contextual applications;

generate a video fingerprint, wherein the video fingerprint is generated from video data of a frame being displayed by the media system;

transmit the video fingerprint, wherein when the video fingerprint is received at a matching server, the matching server determines a reference data set similar to the video fingerprint, and wherein the matching server generates a signal identifying a particular contextual application corresponding to the reference data set;

receive the signal identifying the particular contextual application;

determine an address associated with the particular contextual application, wherein the address associated with the particular contextual application identifies an additional server used for logging one or more viewing events corresponding to the particular contextual application;

display content associated with the particular contextual application; and

automatically send a message in response to the content being displayed, wherein sending includes using the address included with the particular contextual application, and wherein receiving the message at the additional server causes the additional server to log a viewing event corresponding to the particular contextual application.

9. The media system of claim 8, wherein the message includes information identifying an identity of the media system.

10. The media system of claim 8, wherein the message includes information indicative of a geographical location of the media system.

11. The media system of claim 8, wherein the message includes information identifying the content associated with the contextual application.

12. The media system of claim 8, wherein the video data includes one or more video sub-areas of the frame being displayed by the media system.

13. The media system of claim 12, wherein the one or more video sub-areas are processed by averaging.

14. A computer-program product tangibly embodied in a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of a media system, including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

store, by the media system, a plurality of contextual applications, wherein a contextual application is associated with a video segment, wherein a contextual application is associated with an address, and wherein an address of a contextual application identifies one or more additional servers used for logging viewing events corresponding to the plurality of contextual applications;

generate, by the media system, a video fingerprint, wherein the video fingerprint is generated from video data of a frame being displayed by the media system;

transmit the video fingerprint, wherein when the video fingerprint is received at a matching server, the matching server determines a reference data set similar to the video fingerprint, and wherein the matching server generates a signal identifying a particular contextual application corresponding to the reference data set;

receive the signal identifying the particular contextual application;

determine an address associated with the particular contextual application, wherein the address associated with the particular contextual application identifies an additional server used for logging one or more viewing events corresponding to the particular contextual application;

display, by the media system, content associated with the particular contextual application; and

automatically send a message in response to the content being displayed, wherein sending includes using the address included with the particular contextual application, and wherein receiving the message at the additional server causes the additional server to log a viewing event corresponding to the particular contextual application.

15. The computer-program product of claim 14, wherein the message includes information identifying an identity of the media system.

16. The computer-program product of claim 14, wherein the message includes information indicative of a geographical location of the media system.

17. The computer-program product of claim 14, wherein the message includes information identifying the content associated with the contextual application.

18. The computer-program product of claim 14, wherein the video data includes one or more video sub-areas of the frame being displayed by the media system.

19. The computer-program product of claim 18, wherein the one or more video sub-areas are processed by averaging.