Monitoring individual viewing of television events using tracking pixels and cookies

• US 9,955,192 B2
• Filed: 07/23/2015
• Issued: 04/24/2018
• 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 A
• Application Number:
  US14/807,849
• Publication Number:
  US 20170026671A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,006 Days
• Field of Search: 725 18, 725 34, 725 60
• 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 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• 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: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• 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 21/2347 involving video stream encryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/237 Communication with additional data server
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25841 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; arrangements for identifying locations of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/51; location of the user terminal in data switching networks H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00
• 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 21/44213 Monitoring of end-user related data arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• 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 21/6125 : involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6175 : involving transmission via Internet broadcast-related systems characterised by the transmission system being the Internet H04H60/82
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 : by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8586 : by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02

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 computer-implemented method comprising:

identifying a contextual application stored by a media system, wherein the contextual application is associated with a video segment, wherein the contextual application is associated with an address, and wherein the address identifies an additional server used for logging viewing events corresponding to the contextual application;

storing, by a matching server, multiple reference data sets, wherein a reference data set corresponds to the contextual application;

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

determining a reference data set similar to the video fingerprint;

identifying that the contextual application corresponds to the reference data set; and

sending a signal identifying the contextual application, wherein when received at the media system, the signal causes the media system to display content associated with the contextual application and to automatically send a message in response to the content being displayed, wherein the message is sent to the address, and wherein receiving the message at the additional server causes the additional server to log a viewing event associated with the contextual application.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the message includes information identifying the media system.

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

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the message includes information identifying content included in the contextual application.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the address is a URL address.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the message is sent using the Internet.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the video fingerprint is received using the Internet.

8. A server 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;

identify a contextual application stored by a media system, wherein the contextual application is associated with a video segment, wherein the contextual application is associated with an address, and wherein the address identifies an additional server used for logging viewing events corresponding to the contextual application;

store multiple reference data sets, wherein a reference data set corresponds to the contextual application;

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

determine a reference data set similar to the video fingerprint;

identify that the contextual application corresponds to the reference data set; and

send a signal identifying the contextual application, wherein when received at the media system, the signal causes the media system to display content associated with the contextual application and to automatically send a message in response to the content being displayed, wherein the message is sent to the address, and wherein receiving the message at the additional server causes the additional server to log a viewing event associated with the contextual application.

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

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

11. The server of claim 8, wherein the message includes information identifying content included in the contextual application.

12. The server of claim 8, wherein the address is a URL address.

13. The server of claim 8, the message is sent using the Internet.

14. The server of claim 8, wherein the video fingerprint is received using the Internet.

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

identify a contextual application stored by a media system, wherein the contextual application is associated with a video segment, wherein the contextual application is associated with an address, and wherein the address identifies an additional server used for logging viewing events corresponding to the contextual application;

store, by a matching server, multiple reference data sets, wherein a reference data set corresponds to the contextual application;

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

determine a reference data set similar to the video fingerprint;

identify that the contextual application corresponds to the reference data set; and

send a signal identifying the contextual application, wherein when received at the media system, the signal causes the media system to display content associated with the contextual application and to automatically send a message in response to the content being displayed, wherein the message is sent to the address, and wherein receiving the message at the additional server causes the additional server to log a viewing event associated with the contextual application.

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

17. The computer-program product of claim 15, wherein the message includes information indicative of a geographical location of the media system.

18. The computer-program product of claim 15, wherein the message includes information identifying content included in the contextual application.

19. The computer-program product of claim 15, wherein the address is a URL address.

20. The computer-program product of claim 15, wherein the video fingerprint is sent using the Internet.