U.S. patent application number 16/951609 was filed with the patent office on 2021-10-14 for frequency capping of addressable content.
The applicant listed for this patent is Visible World, LLC. Invention is credited to Robert Bress, Seth Haberman, Claudio Marcus.
Application Number | 20210321151 16/951609 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005678895 |
Filed Date | 2021-10-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20210321151 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Haberman; Seth ; et
al. |
October 14, 2021 |
FREQUENCY CAPPING OF ADDRESSABLE CONTENT
Abstract
Systems and methods for frequency capping of content are
described herein. For example, frequency cap information may be
configured to indicate a content exposure limit for a content
presentation. The number of exposures to the content presentation
at a particular household may be monitored. If the number of
exposures is equal to or greater than the content exposure limit,
the content may be prevented from being presented to the household.
The frequency cap information may be used alone or in combination
with other information, such as household demographic, timeframe,
and day-part information.
Inventors: |
Haberman; Seth; (New York,
NY) ; Marcus; Claudio; (Andover, NH) ; Bress;
Robert; (Springfield, NJ) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Visible World, LLC |
Philadelphia |
PA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000005678895 |
Appl. No.: |
16/951609 |
Filed: |
November 18, 2020 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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13738344 |
Jan 10, 2013 |
10873776 |
|
|
16951609 |
|
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|
61585002 |
Jan 10, 2012 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 21/24 20130101;
H04N 21/2668 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04N 21/24 20060101
H04N021/24; H04N 21/2668 20060101 H04N021/2668 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: receiving, from a computing device,
information indicating: a first number of exposures to first
content by the computing device, and an amount of time that a user
interacted with the computing device; determining, based on the
information, an exposure limit for second content; and causing
display of the second content, wherein a second number of
exposures, to the second content by the computing device, is less
than or equal to the exposure limit.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first content and the second
content comprise advertising content.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the information comprises
demographic information.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the exposure limit comprises an
increase to a previous exposure limit based on the amount of time
exceeding a threshold.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device comprises at
least one of: a receiving device, a gateway that is operably
coupled to the receiving device, or a set top box that is operably
coupled to the receiving device.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending, to the
computing device, instructions to cause display of the second
content based on a presentation order and such that the second
number of exposures is less than or equal to the exposure
limit.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the instructions comprise
segmentation information that is sent via an out-of-band signal,
and wherein the segmentation information comprises demographic
information that enables assembly of a personalized version of the
second content.
8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing
computer-readable instructions that, when executed by one or more
processors, cause: receiving, from a computing device, information
indicating: a first number of exposures to first content by the
computing device, and an amount of time that a user interacted with
the computing device; determining, based on the information, an
exposure limit for second content; and causing display of the
second content, wherein a second number of exposures, to the second
content by the computing device, is less than or equal to the
exposure limit.
9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8,
wherein the first content and the second content comprise
advertising content.
10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8,
wherein the information comprises demographic information.
11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8,
wherein the exposure limit comprises an increase to a previous
exposure limit based on the amount of time exceeding a
threshold.
12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8,
wherein the computing device comprises at least one of: a receiving
device, a gateway that is operably coupled to the receiving device,
or a set top box that is operably coupled to the receiving
device.
13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8,
wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause: sending, to
the computing device, instructions to cause display of the second
content based on a presentation order and such that a second number
of exposures is less than or equal to the exposure limit.
14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim
13, wherein the instructions comprise segmentation information that
is sent via an out-of-band signal, and wherein the segmentation
information comprises demographic information that enables assembly
of a personalized version of the second content.
15. A system comprising: a first computing device configured to:
receive, from a second computing device, information indicating: a
first number of exposures to first content by the computing device,
and an amount of time that a user interacted with the computing
device; determine, based on the information, an exposure limit for
second content; and cause display of the second content, wherein a
second number of exposures, to the second content by the computing
device, is less than or equal to the exposure limit; and the second
computing device configured to: send the information.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the first content and the
second content comprise advertising content.
17. The system of claim 15, wherein the information comprises
demographic information.
18. The system of claim 15, wherein the exposure limit comprises an
increase to a previous exposure limit based on the amount of time
exceeding a threshold.
19. The system of claim 15, wherein the second computing device
comprises at least one of: a receiving device, a gateway that is
operably coupled to the receiving device, or a set top box that is
operably coupled to the receiving device.
20. The system of claim 15, wherein the first computing device is
further configured to: send, to the second computing device,
instructions to cause display of the second content based on a
presentation order and such that a second number of exposures is
less than or equal to the exposure limit.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.
No. 13/738,344, filed Jan. 10, 2013, which claims the benefit of
U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/585,002, filed on Jan. 10,
2012, each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their
entirety.
FIELD OF INVENTION
[0002] The present invention generally relates to frequency capping
of addressable content, and more specifically to monitoring and
controlling the frequency of addressable content presented to
targeted viewers over a network and/or broadcast system.
BACKGROUND
[0003] The amount of content that the general public views,
downloads, records, or otherwise consumes on a daily basis
continues to expand at a rapid pace. Reasons for the growth include
advances in technology that allow users to access content in more
locations, increased content choices, and better user experiences,
such as high definition television programs and digital video
recording. Increased content interaction presents opportunities for
content producers, such as advertisers and entertainment service
providers, to provide more content to more viewers.
[0004] However, advances in technology also allow users to have
more control over the content that they are exposed to as they view
television programs, play games, and otherwise interact with
content. In addition, current technology produces a fractured
audience that does not consume content as evenly distributed as
past audiences. As such, content providers are also challenged by a
consuming public that is more uneven, sophisticated and susceptible
to content fatigue.
[0005] The effectiveness of messages, entertainment programming,
and advertising is often related to the amount of exposure to
viewers. Once a content offering reaches a certain level of
exposure, the value of presenting the content diminishes, sometimes
dramatically. Current systems for transmitting content are capable
of limited targeting of content to potential viewers, for example,
based on a restrictive set of demographic information. As such,
they are not able to provide adequate information to content
providers about the value of their content presentations, such as
audience exposure to content offerings, during the life span of the
content.
SUMMARY
[0006] This disclosure is not limited to the particular systems,
devices and methods described, as these may vary. The terminology
used in the description is for the purpose of describing the
particular versions or embodiments only, and is not intended to
limit the scope.
[0007] As used in this document, the singular forms "a," "an," and
"the" include plural references unless the context clearly dictates
otherwise. Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific
terms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by
one of ordinary skill in the art. Nothing in this disclosure is to
be construed as an admission that the embodiments described in this
disclosure are not entitled to antedate such disclosure by virtue
of prior invention. As used in this document, the term "comprising"
means "including, but not limited to."
[0008] In an embodiment, an addressable content system configured
for frequency capping of content exposure may comprise a processor
and a non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium in operable
communication with the processor. The computer-readable storage
medium may contain one or more programming instructions that, when
executed, cause the processor to: receive frequency cap information
associated with content configured to be addressed to at least one
content receiver, the frequency cap information configured to
indicate a content exposure limit; receive content exposure
information associated with the at least one content receiver, the
content exposure information configured to indicate a number of
exposures to the content at the at least one content receiver; and
prevent presentation of the content at the at least one content
receiver responsive to the number of exposures being equal to or
greater than the content exposure limit.
[0009] In an embodiment, a computer-implemented method for
frequency capping of content exposure may comprise providing a
processor configured to receive frequency cap information
associated with content configured to be addressed to at least one
content receiver, the frequency cap information configured to
indicate a content exposure limit. The processor may further
operate to receive content exposure information associated with the
at least one content receiver, the content exposure information
configured to indicate a number of exposures to the content at the
at least one content receiver. The presentation of content may be
prevented, by the processor, at the at least one content receiver
responsive to the number of exposures being equal to or greater
than the content exposure limit.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 depicts illustrative operational aspects of an
example addressable content system.
[0011] FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative addressable content system
according to some embodiments.
[0012] FIG. 3 depicts a flow diagram for an illustrative method of
frequency capping addressable content according to an
embodiment.
[0013] FIG. 4 depicts illustrative reporting information for an
addressable content system according to some embodiments.
[0014] FIG. 5 depicts a block diagram of illustrative internal
hardware that may be used to contain or implement program
instructions according to an embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS
[0015] The following terms shall have, for the purposes of this
application, the respective meanings set forth below.
[0016] An "addressable content system" refers generally to a system
configured to address content to one or more targets. Content may
include advertisement or entertainment content comprising video,
audio, graphical, and/or animated content. A target may include
cable and/or other definable network media recipients, such as
recipients associated with a cable television network or Internet
service provider (ISP). One example of a recipient is a physical
target within a network, including, without limitation, individual
network (e.g., cable network) subscribing households, individual
set-top boxes (STBs) and/or other end-points of a media
transmission. Other examples of recipients include various types of
definable elements, including, but not limited to, ad-insertion
zones, physical regions, programs, periods of the day, real-time
conditionals, and combinations thereof. Addressing content to a
target may be implemented using various methods, including ad
insertion by Addressable Inventory Partners, defined below.
[0017] "Household addressable" refers generally to the ability to
target content to one or more household segments. An addressable
content system may include information associated with the
segmentation of the targeted recipients, for example, segmented
into one or more "segmentation sets," as defined below. An
addressable content system and/or the content itself may be
referred to as household addressable if it is capable of being
targeted to one or more segmentation sets.
[0018] A "segmentation set" refers to a category of segmentation
applied across recipients, such as addressable households. For
instance, a set may be segmented based on certain demographic
information, including, without limitation, age, gender,
occupation, years of home ownership, household size, income,
geographic location, family size, media consumption habits, and
combinations thereof. As such, content may be targeted to
particular recipients (e.g., households) belonging to one or more
segments, such as males between the ages of 25 to 35 with yearly
incomes above $35,000.
[0019] A "frequency cap" refers generally to the ability to monitor
the frequency of exposure of content and to control whether a
content exposure is made available to a target based on, among
other things, the number of times the target has been exposed to
the content. Exposure to content may occur in various ways,
including viewing (e.g., a television commercial, website or
application banner advertisement), listening (e.g., radio or online
audio content), downloading, playing (e.g., a game), receiving
(e.g., receiving the content but not actually viewing, etc.). For
example, a frequency cap may be associated with addressable
inventory to control whether an advertisement exposure is made
available to one or more dynamic household segments based on the
number of times the one or more dynamic household segments have
been exposed to any specific content associated with the
advertisement.
[0020] An "addressable inventory partner" refers generally to a
system, architecture, entity, or other organization wherein an
addressable content system may be deployed. For example, an
addressable inventory partner may be a cable television network
provider, such as a multiple system operator (MSO), an ISP, and/or
a computing device advertising system (e.g., advertising systems
for mobile device applications, commonly referred to as "mobile
apps" or "apps").
[0021] A "campaign" refers generally to a series of content
presentations (e.g., "creatives") generally related by a common
idea or theme. An illustrative campaign is an advertising campaign
comprising various advertisements involving a common product or
service. Advertisers may have several campaigns running
simultaneously. Each campaign is often multiple weeks in length,
for which advertisers' creatives, targeting, and daily budget often
change. A media buyer may purchase a large set of inventory (e.g.,
time slots on a television station, display elements, such as a
banner advertisement, on a web page, etc.) and decide on a daily
basis how to map all of the campaign content product onto the
purchased inventory.
[0022] A "campaign type" refers generally to a focus of a campaign.
For example, one focus of a campaign may be use of household
addressable content, which may be referred to as an "HH" campaign
herein. An HH campaign may involve campaigns that use addressable
inventory to deliver advertisements and other content to one or
more pre-defined household segments. In another example, a campaign
may focus on frequency cap capabilities, which may be referred to
herein as an "FC" campaign. An FC campaign may involve a campaign
using addressable inventory to control whether an ad exposure is
made available to dynamic household segments, for instance, defined
by the number of times they have been exposed to a specific
advertisement. A campaign may be configured as an HH campaign, an
FC campaign, or a combination thereof.
[0023] A "household media package" refers to a set of conditioned
creatives and targeting instructions delivered by an addressable
content system to a deployed market (e.g., a network wherein the
addressable content system is operating). A household media package
may contain many content providers, such as advertisers, and refer
to one or more segmentation sets.
[0024] A "dynamic household media package" refers generally to a
delivered package containing media and instructions for
presentation on addressable inventory of an addressable inventory
partner. Segmentation sets may then be delivered separately
out-of-band. A dynamic household media package can work with
segmentation sets through various processes. A first example is
"fixed single segmentation," which may refer to a process wherein
all insertions use a single consistent fixed segmentation (e.g.,
household income). A second example is "fixed multiple
segmentation," wherein all insertions use one of a list of
consistent fixed segmentations (e.g., one insertion uses a
household income segment, a second insertion uses a third-party
segmentation platform, such as the Nielsen Prizm.RTM. segmentation
platform, etc.). A third example is "dynamic segmentation," wherein
a single insertion may use multiple segmentations at once. A
non-limiting example provides that some STB's may use income-based
segments, other STBs may be configured to use pre-defined
segmentation systems (e.g., Nielsen Prizm.RTM.), and/or other STBs
may receive content based on a combination of segments. A fourth
example is "frequency count segments," which refers to a process
wherein insertions associated with a FC campaign may be subject to
rules, such as the "frequency capping rules," defined below, based
on the number of times a target has been exposed to some or all of
the content. In the frequency count segments process, each target
may be dynamically allocated a corresponding frequency count
segment based on the number of times they have been exposed to a
given creative. Various factors may be used in combination with the
frequency count segment, such as exposure associated with a
particular time frame (e.g., time-of-day, during a particular
program, adjacent to certain other content presentations, etc.) or
day-part (e.g., morning, afternoon, primetime, etc.).
[0025] "Frequency Capping Rules" refer to a set of frequency
capping instructions delivered by a media network (e.g., cable
television network MSO) or addressable content system to a deployed
market. The frequency capping rules may include information
associated with various content providers (e.g., advertisers,
entertainment service providers, etc.) and may refer to various
elements, including, without limitation, specific campaigns,
content, content specific frequency cap levels, and/or options to
limit campaign or content frequency of exposure associated with a
particular timeframe or day-part. The frequency capping rules may
specify, among other things, limits on the number of exposures of
certain creatives.
[0026] "Message sequencing rules" refer generally to a set of
message sequencing instructions delivered by a media network or
addressable content system to a deployed market. The message
sequencing rules may be associated with various content providers
(e.g., advertisers) and may refer to the sequencing of content. For
instance, the message sequencing rules may comprise information
associated with the sequencing of advertisement content within a
campaign, relating to the overall campaign and/or frequency cap
levels, such as content, timeframe and/or day-part frequency cap
levels. For example, for the purpose of extending the storyline of
a campaign, an advertiser may want commercial A to be presented no
more than 10 times per household, and then to be followed by
presenting commercial B no more than 5 times to per household.
[0027] "Impression edit rules" refer generally to one or more
methods of filtering out content impression data to remove
potential false positives. The impression edit rules may comprise
one or more methods agreed upon by participants, such as a network
and an addressable content system operating therein. A non-limiting
example provides that an advertisement event may be recorded if the
STB is tuned to a network on which an addressable advertisement is
scheduled at least 8 seconds prior to the advertisement break
(e.g., for the purposes of receiving the addressable advertisement
trigger). If the STB is tuned to the addressable advertisement for
at least 1 second, an ad impression event may be recorded. For
reporting purposes, such as reporting events to network operators,
the addressable content system may be configured to filter out
impression records when there has been no other activity on that
STB for a specified period of time. For example, if an
advertisement event occurs but the STB has had no other activity
for a period of at least 3 hours, the advertisement event may be
considered invalid. Impression edit rules may be applied according
to various methods. For example, impression edit rules may be
applied according to last user activity (LUA) timestamp
information. A non-limiting example provides that each STB-level
record may include a record of the LUA, such as the last
interaction. Interactions with a STB (or other content receiver)
may include channel change, volume change, guide access, etc. Using
the timestamp of the impression and the LUA, impression edit rules
may be used to remove impressions where it appears likely that the
viewer is not interacting with the content receiver (e.g., STB off,
TV on/off).
[0028] A "segmentation file" refers generally to a file comprising
information associated with a target. The information may include,
without limitation, target addresses and recipient profiles (e.g.,
"segmentation flags") and/or sets thereof (e.g., "segmentation
sets"). Target addresses may include various addresses used to
address content, such as MAC and IP addresses. A non-limiting
example provides that a set of recipient profiles may comprise
income, Prizm.RTM. clusters, and/or the number of times a segment
has been exposed to one or more creatives (e.g., a television
commercial). Segmentation sets, such as household addressable
segmentation sets, may be generated by various entities, such as
the addressable content system, a third-party (e.g.,
Experian.RTM.), or combinations thereof. A segmentation file may be
associated with one or more instructions. If the segmentation set
has been generated by a third-party, the associated instructions
may be delivered to the addressable content system. In one example,
frequency cap segmentation sets may be generated directly by the
addressable content system.
[0029] "Household targeting instructions" refer generally to a set
of instructions involving creative-to-air for a particular network,
time, and household segment and/or combination of segments. The
household targeting instructions may comprise information
associated with segmentation sets and which creatives have been
delivered to which targets.
[0030] A "client advertising serving unit" (CASU) refers generally
to a device, combination of devices, and/or software applications
configured to control the presentation of addressable ads. A CASU
may be configured to stream out addressable content within a
network.
[0031] A "client profile serving unit" (CPSU) refers generally to a
device, combination of devices, and/or software applications
configured to manage the delivery of profiles to STBs or other
recipient devices and to collect audience measurement
information.
[0032] The present disclosure generally describes a system for
targeting addressable content to recipients based on information
associated with the recipients. A recipient may include any
physical device or definable element capable of receiving content
through a network or other communication system, such as a cable
television network, satellite television network, the Internet, an
intranet, a LAN, a WAN, computing device advertising systems (e.g.,
advertisements, such as banner advertisements, provided through
mobile device applications), or combinations thereof. Television
networks may include standard definition (SD) and high definition
(HD) networks. A physical device may include any end-point of media
transmission, including a computing device (e.g., a personal
computer (PC), laptop computer, and/or mobile computing device,
including, without limitation, smart phones, personal digital
assistants (PDAs), and tablet computing devices), SD and HD
televisions, STBs, and combinations thereof. Definable elements may
include, but are not limited to, ad-insertion zones, physical
regions, programs, periods of the day, real-time conditionals, and
combinations thereof.
[0033] Embodiments provide that the addressable content may be
managed by an addressable content system configured to receive and
analyze information associated with potential recipients (e.g.,
information that allows for the generation of segmentation sets)
and the addressable content (e.g., which segmentation sets are
associated with the addressable content and/or the frequency with
which recipients have viewed the addressable content). The
addressable content system may select addressable content for
delivery selected for targets based on various factors, including
segmentation sets and frequency capping rules. A non-limiting
example provides that an advertisement comprised of addressable
content may be targeted for recipients in a particular income- and
age-based segment that have received the addressable content, or
content related to the addressable content, below a threshold
number of times.
[0034] In an embodiment, an addressable content system may be
configured for level frequency capping of exposures associated with
any given content, while not requiring pre-defined target segments
or multiple creatives. As such, selection of content to present to
a household may depend on the number of times that the household
has been exposed to the content, in relation to a specified
household level frequency defined for the content. In another
embodiment, presentation of the content may additionally be limited
by a particular timeframe or day-part.
[0035] Illustrative and non-restrictive examples of addressable
content systems include addressable advertisement systems developed
by Visible World, Inc. of New York, N.Y. These systems provide
household addressable platforms designed such that multiple
advertising creatives are required for targeted execution against
pre-defined segmentation over a fixed time frame. The targeted
execution of advertising creatives occurs without consideration as
to the number of times that any given household has been exposed to
any given advertisement creative or content related to the
advertisement creative. For example, typical systems may provide
for an advertisement for an expensive car that is shown in
households where the profiled segments are above a certain
household income, regardless of how many times a qualified
household has been exposed to the targeted advertisement. Certain
aspects of these systems are illustrated in FIG. 1.
[0036] In such systems, segmentation of the targeted audience
(e.g., defining the various segments into which the overall
audience can be categorized or otherwise described), targeting
instructions and media delivery 110 define the first stages of an
addressable content system. Operating and production tools 120 are
used to build a campaign to reach the targeted audience for various
products and services across various platforms, such as cable or
satellite television, internet broadcasts, or other distribution
channels. Advertisement delivery devices 130 (e.g., CASU) and STB's
may operate to provide the hardware devices and execute the
software applications through which content can be distributed at
the consumer end. Finally, STB and/or CPSU reporting and
verifications 140 track and monitor the content distribution and
other metrics to provide valuable data reflecting the content's
consumption by the end consumer. For example, some embodiments
provide reporting and verifications allow the addressable content
system to determine whether targeted content was actually consumed
(e.g., watched) by the intended recipient.
[0037] Previous systems, however, do not take into account the
sheer quantity and frequency of the use of a particular
advertisement, commercial or other content message. According to
these systems, as long as the household, or other defined
destination, meets the criteria of the targeted segment, that
household may be subjected to unlimited viewing of the same
content, without variation. What is needed, therefore, is a system
that tracks, monitors and adapts the frequency of content displayed
to an end consumer. As described herein, an addressable content
system configured according to embodiments may operate to access
frequency cap information associated with the frequency of
addressable content consumption by recipients and to target
addressable content in view of, among other things, the frequency
cap information.
[0038] FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative addressable content system
according to some embodiments. As shown in FIG. 2, an addressable
content system 200 may include a user profile database 230
comprising information associated with a target 212. The
addressable content system 200 may be implemented in computer
hardware, software, and a combination thereof. This user profile
database 230 may be in various forms and may comprise one or more
collections of information. Non-limiting examples of information
stored in the user database 230 includes a proprietary database of
information owned by one entity, publicly available information at
one or more locations, including information from user interactions
on content and/or service provider information, web sites, shopping
networks, or self-completed profile information. For example, the
database may be a subscriber (e.g., cable television, satellite
television and/or ISP) database accessed by the addressable content
system 200 on a per-transaction, subscription, or other basis. The
user profile database 230 may contain any type of information
regarding households 212 or other addressable content recipients,
including demographics, address, monetary income, political
affiliations, known preferences, buying patterns and any other
information capable of being used according to embodiments
described herein. The user profile information 230 may be
associated with an entire household, individuals associated with
the household, or combinations thereof. In an embodiment, the user
profile information 230 may be used to generate segmentation
segments, segmentation sets, and any other type of segmentation
information used by the addressable content system 200.
[0039] A template database 238 may be configured to include content
templates which reflect the story, message, advertisement, or any
other type of content that creator or provider intends to deliver
to a household 212. In an embodiment, the message may be configured
as a form of campaign, such as a message relating to a product
advertisement, political message, or other informative message
tailored for each household 212 and/or groups of recipients (e.g.,
segmentation sets).
[0040] One or more resource libraries or databases 232,234,236 may
be configured to provide media segments used to assemble the
content. The databases may include various elements for creating
content, such as graphics 232, video and sound segments 234, and
animation 236. The elements may comprise electronic files, such as
multimedia files, and may be part of a general library of available
material (e.g., "stock footage"), such as pictures, animations
and/or videos of individual city skylines, attractions, natural
scenery for use in backgrounds, and/or people in certain situations
(e.g., business meeting). Alternatively, the elements may be
generally or specifically created for a certain message campaign.
For example, an advertiser may generate several media segments for
a specific automobile comprising video and audio of an automobile
in different colors driving at different locations. The media
segments may be inserted into a template from the template database
238 at an appropriate location to generate an advertisement for
delivery to one or more households 212. According to some
embodiments, media segments, whether from a library and/or original
content, may be generated, configured, selected and/or inserted
into a template based on segmentation information, frequency
capping information, or combinations thereof.
[0041] In addition to the resource libraries 232,234,236, the
addressable content system 200 may be configured to synthesize
additional elements 270 as needed during message creation, thereby
providing increased flexibility. Non-restrictive examples of
synthesized elements 270 include sound (e.g., synthesized speech,
music, background sounds), graphics (e.g., text, pictures),
background filler, visual objects (including color variations
thereof), and visual effects (e.g., including dissolves, morphing
of objects, etc.).
[0042] Addressable content messages may be assembled by an assembly
module 220. The assembly module 220 may be configured to receive
message templates from the template database 238 and to use various
media segments from the resource libraries 232, 234, 236 to
generate a message. The assembly module 220 may access information
associated with one or more target households 212 from the user
profile database 230. In an embodiment, the assembly module may
also receive expert rules 250, which are configured to interpret
the user profile data 230. For example, the expert rules 250 may be
configured to direct the assembly module 220 to select particular
segments from the resource libraries 232, 234, 236 as elements of
the addressable content. According to some embodiments, the expert
rules 270 may be configured to interpret user profile data from
many different sources and in many different formats. For instance,
the expert rules 270 may receive information from a subscriber
database (e.g., cable television subscriber address, age, and
gender information) and publicly available information (e.g., years
of home ownership and home value) to generate decisions and/or
assumptions involving a subject household 212. In an embodiment,
the expert rules 270 may be configured to generate decisions based
on incomplete user profile data (e.g., estimating home income based
on home value and age information), for example, providing logical
"fallback" selections as necessary.
[0043] The addressable content may be encoded for transmission
through various delivery mediums 240, including, without
limitation, over a cable television network, a satellite television
network, and various computing device networks (e.g., Ethernet
and/or through the Internet). The encoded addressable content may
be delivered to a receiving device 210 at one or more targeted
households 212. The receiving device 210 may comprise any type of
device capable of receiving the addressable content and presenting
it to a user. Non-limiting examples of receiving devices 210
include STBs, HD and SD televisions, computing devices (e.g.,
personal computer, laptop computer, server, thin client, and/or
mobile computing devices, such as smartphones, PDAs, and/or tablet
computing devices).
[0044] The addressable content may be presented using various
methods, such as a display device and/or audio device in operable
connection with the receiving device 210. The delivery medium can
be any of various types of media, including devices physical
delivered to a household (e.g., pre-recorded video tapes, DVDs,
CDs) and/or various types of live or substantially live feeds,
including, but not limited to, cable systems, Internet connections,
satellite links, radio frequency (RF) towers, line RF signals, cell
phone networks, and the like. The addressable content system may
operate to generate personalized messages to households 212 and/or
individuals in real-time based on information in the user profile
database 230 and/or output of the expert rules 250. As such,
addressable content may be delivered to households 212 based on the
particular technology and/or connections associated with the
household. For instance, a household 212 associated with a
satellite television connection may be targeted with addressable
content transmitted through the satellite television network. In
another instance, a household 212 with a cable network connection
for both cable television and the Internet may be associated with
information indicating that individuals in the household prefer to
consume content on computing devices connected to the Internet. As
such, the addressable content system 200 may be configured to
transmit some or all addressable content to this household 212
through an Internet connection.
[0045] According to some embodiments, the addressable content
system 200 may be configured to assemble addressable content at
various locations. For example, the addressable content may be
completely assembled (e.g., be assembled for final user
consumption) within the addressable content system 200, such as
within the assembly module 220. In another embodiment, the various
elements of the addressable content may be delivered to the
receiving device 210 (e.g., a STB) for assembly prior to
presentation to an individual. In this embodiment, the disassembled
addressable content may be assembled at the receiving device 210
based on various triggers, such as a cue to present the addressable
content, a particular time of day, a particular content slot (e.g.,
third advertisement slot of the half-time of a football game), or
one or more signals from the addressable content system (e.g., a
signal to assemble the content, a signal to present the content,
etc.). In this manner, the addressable content system 100 may
operate to selectively manage resources associated with generating
and presenting addressable content to end users.
[0046] As shown in FIG. 2, the addressable content system 200 may
comprise frequency cap information 260 configured to store
information associated with the number of times households 212 have
been involved with a particular content presentation. For instance,
the frequency cap information 260 may comprise information
associated with the number of times a household 212 has been
targeted to receive a particular advertising message, the number of
time that a household has actually viewed a particular message (or
messages having a certain relationship thereto), or combinations
thereof. In an embodiment, the frequency cap information 260 may
comprise a counter or other element associated with one or more
content presentations for tracking exposures thereto. According to
some embodiments, the counter may be incremented responsive to each
exposure, for instance, by software executed at the receiving
device 210, by the addressable content system 200, or a combination
thereof. Exposure to content may occur in various ways, including
viewing (e.g., a television commercial, website or application
banner advertisement), listening (e.g., radio or online audio
content), downloading, playing (e.g., a game), receiving (e.g.,
receiving the content but not actually viewing, etc.).
[0047] The addressable content system 200 may use information from
the frequency cap information 260 to determine whether to prevent a
particular message, campaign, or other content from being exposed
to a household 212. In one example, an advertiser may specify that
households 212 should view a particular message only a limited
number of times. For instance, limiting exposure may operate to
prevent message over-saturation or to maintain an effectiveness of
an advertising campaign. In another example, a content provider
(e.g., entertainment services provider) may specify that a
household 212 should not receive a third message until either of a
first or second message has been received and viewed at the
receiving device 210.
[0048] According to some embodiments, if a household 212 has
reached the exposure limit for a particular content presentation,
the addressable content system 200 may prevent the household 212
from being exposed to the content presentation again. Prevention of
exposure may be performed by any process capable of inhibiting a
household 212 from being exposed to the content more than the
exposure limit, including, without limitation, sending the content
presentation to the household, preventing the content presentation
from being accessed (e.g., opened, viewed, etc.) at the household,
exchanging the content presentation with other content that has not
reached the limit, and combinations thereof.
[0049] In one embodiment, the addressable content system 200 may
use only the frequency cap information 260 to determine whether to
expose a household 212 to certain content. In another embodiment,
the addressable content system 200 may use the frequency cap
information 260 in combination with other information (e.g., user
profile database 230, expert rules 250, time frame, day-part,
etc.), when determining whether to expose a household 212 to
certain content. According to some embodiments, the frequency cap
information 260 may be configured to determine levels of exposure
in relation to certain information. For example, content relating
to weather (e.g., snow tire advertisements), may have exposure
limits dynamically and automatically adjusted based on the weather
(e.g., heavy snowfall may increase exposure limits). In another
example, an exposure limit may be configured on a sliding scale
based on certain information or viewer actions. In this example,
the exposure limit may be tied to the amount of time a viewer is
interacting with a content receiver. For instance, if a household
is viewing a large amount of television over the duration of a
content campaign, the exposure limit may be increased.
[0050] In an embodiment, the frequency cap information 260 may be
populated with information obtained by the addressable content
system 200 from households 212 receiving addressable content. For
example, a receiving device 210, such as a STB may be configured to
store, maintain, and/or transmit information associated with
content accessed therewith. As such, if a user consumes addressable
content, the addressable content system 200 may transmit the
information into the frequency capping information 260 for use by
the assembly module 220 or other components of the addressable
content system. For instance, the expert rules 250 may use the
frequency capping information 260 to generate certain decisions. In
one example, the expert rules 250 may determine that certain types
of addressable content (e.g., automobile-related advertisements)
have a higher consumption rate (e.g., (number of times
transmitted)/(number of times viewed) that other types of
addressable content (e.g., food-related advertisements).
[0051] FIG. 3 depicts a flow diagram for an illustrative method of
frequency capping addressable content according to an embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 3, an addressable inventory partner 350 may
configure a household addressable campaign and submit campaign
information and rules to the addressable content system 330 in
advance of scheduled airing 305. The addressable inventory partner
350 may comprise a network, such as a cable television network. The
household addressable campaign may be associated with one or more
entities, such as an advertiser or agency 352 and/or the
addressable inventory partner 350.
[0052] In order to frequency cap the addressable content, the rules
will comprise frequency cap information. For example, the frequency
cap information may comprise household frequency cap levels for the
campaign and/or specific advertisements, such as limiting certain
advertisements to 5 viewings. The frequency cap information and/or
other rules may comprise options to limit the campaign and/or
specific advertisements relative to other characteristics, such as
timeframes and day-parts.
[0053] The addressable content system 330 may deliver 310 the
household media package to a CASU 360. The CASU 360 may be
configured to include the frequency cap instructions. Frequency
count segment information (e.g., the number of times a household
has been exposed to an advertisement) is not necessary to initiate
the campaign as households have not been exposed yet to the
campaign. Targeted content receivers (e.g., STBs) see the
addressable content based on CASU signaling and pre-defined
segmentation responsive to each addressable assertion 315. One or
more hardware devices and/or software applications 356 may be
configured to facilitate the delivery and/or insertion of
addressable content. Illustrative hardware devices and/or software
applications 356 include addressable content system gateways,
content servers (e.g., advertising servers), information servers
(e.g., user profile servers), and various software applications,
such as STB control applications.
[0054] Frequency cap and other information associated with content
receiver addressable content data may be collected by the
addressable content system 320. For example, the addressable
content system may receive information associated with which
receiving units were targeted for particular addressable content
and/or which receiving units actually presented the addressable
content (e.g., which receiving units were actually active and
viewing the addressable content). The information associated with
the content receiver may be collected at various times, such as
hourly or daily.
[0055] Impression data is used by the addressable content system to
recalculate household level frequency of exposure to any give
addressable content 325. Household level frequency of exposure may
be calculated based on various factors, including, without
limitation, timeframe, day-part, segmentation set, and combinations
thereof. Households may then be associated automatically with
frequency count segments defined by the household level frequency
of exposure to any given ad and/or timeframe or day-part. The
addressable content system may be configured to deliver an updated
household media package to CASU 360, for example, containing the
updated frequency count segments. The addressable content system
330 may operate to delivery addressable content to targeted
receivers based on the frequency cap information. For example, an
advertisement may be targeted for delivery to a particular
segmentation set that has viewed the advertisement less than 10
times. Non-addressable content receivers 358 may be provided with
linear advertisements delivered without regard to profile and/or
frequency cap information.
[0056] The addressable content system 330 may be configured to
transmit certain information pertaining to the addressable content
and household consumption thereof back to addressable inventory
partner 350 and/or advertiser 352. For instance, the addressable
content system 330 may operate to transmit frequency cap campaign
performance data configured to indicate the effectiveness of the
campaign. The addressable inventory partner 350 may use this
information for various purposes, such as to reserve inventory,
determine advertising rates, configure future campaigns, and the
like through a traffic and billing system 354.
[0057] According to embodiments, a campaign may comprise various
instructions configured to specify operation thereof. For example,
an FC campaign may include instructions comprising information
associated with delivery, contents and/or notes/questions. In an
embodiment, delivery information may comprise information
specifying from where and to whom delivery of the campaign and/or
content thereof is supposed to be transmitted. For instance, an FC
campaign may be configured such that content is transmitted from an
addressable inventory partner to the entity operating the
addressable content system for every campaign involving a frequency
cap.
[0058] The content information may comprise information associated
with the content of the campaign and intended recipients. Content
information may include geography information (e.g., defined as
full footprint or individual zone(s)), network information (e.g.,
expected network for linear insertion), time window information
(e.g., expected window(s) for linear insertion(s)), campaign
information (e.g., metadata about the campaign including
advertiser, product and media agency), and/or frequency cap rules
(e.g., specifies the desired household specific frequency of
exposure cap for the campaign or specific advertisements).
[0059] The notes/questions information may comprise additional
information relevant to operation of the campaign. For example,
frequency cap instructions may be included that indicate the
desired household level frequency of advertisement exposure for the
campaign. Additional information may be associated with a need to
determine default advertisement exposure once a household has
reached a specified frequency cap. For instance, the frequency cap
information may be configured such that the household would then be
exposed to an advertisement associated with another frequency cap
campaign where the frequency of exposure has yet to reach the
desired cap. If no other frequency cap campaign is available, a
default spot may be assigned by the addressable inventory
partner.
[0060] FIG. 4 depicts illustrative addressable content system
reporting information according to some embodiments. As shown in
FIG. 4, reporting information may include the number of frequency
count segments that would correspond to the desired household level
of exposure cap. For example, if a frequency cap is set at 7
exposures, then 6 segments would be used to set a frequency count
ranging from 1-6.
[0061] Illustrative reporting information may include date and time
information 405, the network 410 where the insertion aired, the
length 415 of the content presentation, and the content name 420
(e.g., commercial name, such as the International Standard
Commercial Identifier (ISCI) or Ad-ID name). Certain fields may be
represented for each frequency count segment, such as impressions
425 and average viewed 430. Impressions may represent the total
number of impressions viewed by a particular frequency count
segment, segmentation set, other categories, and combinations
thereof. Average views may represent the average number of
tune-time across all impressions by a particular frequency count
segment, segmentation set, other categories, and combinations
thereof.
[0062] FIG. 5 depicts a block diagram of exemplary internal
hardware that may be used to contain or implement program
instructions, such as the modules and/or process steps discussed
above in reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, according to some embodiments.
A bus 500 serves as the main information highway interconnecting
the other illustrated components of the hardware. CPU 505 is the
central processing unit of the system, performing calculations and
logic operations required to execute a program. CPU 505, alone or
in conjunction with one or more of the other elements disclosed in
FIG. 2, is an exemplary processing device, computing device or
processor as such terms are using in this disclosure. Read only
memory (ROM) 510 and random access memory (RAM) 515 constitute
exemplary memory devices.
[0063] A controller 520 interfaces with one or more optional memory
devices 525 to the system bus 500. These memory devices 525 may
include, for example, an external or internal DVD drive, a CD ROM
drive, a hard drive, flash memory, a USB drive or the like. As
indicated previously, these various drives and controllers are
optional devices.
[0064] Program instructions, software or interactive modules for
providing the digital marketplace and performing analysis on any
received feedback may be stored in the ROM 510 and/or the RAM 515.
Optionally, the program instructions may be stored on a tangible
computer readable medium such as a compact disk, a digital disk,
flash memory, a memory card, a USB drive, an optical disc storage
medium, such as a Blu-Ray.TM. disc, and/or other recording
medium.
[0065] An optional display interface 530 may permit information
from the bus 500 to be displayed on the display 535 in audio,
visual, graphic or alphanumeric format. Communication with external
devices may occur using various communication ports 540. An
exemplary communication port 540 may be attached to a
communications network, such as the Internet or an intranet. Other
exemplary communication ports 540 may comprise a serial port, a
RS-232 port, and a RS-485 port.
[0066] The hardware may also include an interface 545 which allows
for receipt of data from input devices such as a keyboard 550 or
other input device 555 such as a mouse, a joystick, a touch screen,
a remote control, a pointing device, a video input device, and/or
an audio input device.
[0067] It will be appreciated that various of the above-disclosed
and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be
desirably combined into many other different systems or
applications. It will also be appreciated that various presently
unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations
or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled
in the art which alternatives, variations and improvements are also
intended to be encompassed by the following claims.
* * * * *