System and Method for Tracking User Engagement with Online Advertisements

A method, comprising:

• in response to a request from a web browser installed on a user computing device,
• electronically sending a webpage of a web server to the user computing device;
• wherein the webpage includes an ad, and program code or a reference to a computer file containing program code,
• wherein the program code is configured such that, upon the web browser loading the webpage on the user computing device, the program code causes a processor of the user computing device to:
• (1) repeatedly determine, while the electronic page is loaded on the user computing device, at each of multiple times of determinations, whether both of the following conditions are met:
• (i) the ad is in view on a display of the user computing device, and
• (ii) the user is actively engaged with the webpage;
• wherein determining whether the user is actively engaged with the electronic page is based on a detection of at least one user interaction with the electronic page during a predetermined time window immediately preceding the time of the determination;
• and
• (2) when a reporting condition is met, transmit to an external computing device, data representing a result of determinations in (1) obtained over a reporting period, the reporting period encompassing a plurality of the determinations of (1).

A method, comprising:

• (a) by a user computing device, computing data to quantify a user's active engagement, in terms of amount of time, with at least one ad in an electronic page of an application installed on the user computing device, the at least one ad being natively generated or externally retrieved by the application;
• and
• (b) transmitting the computed data from the user computing device to another computing device.
• wherein step (a) comprises:
• (i) repeatedly determining, at predetermined time intervals, whether the user is actively engaged with the electronic page while the at least one ad is in view on a display of the user computing device, wherein determining whether the user is actively engaged with the electronic page is based on a detection of at least one user interaction with the electronic page during a predetermined time window immediately preceding the time of the determination;
• and
• (ii) for each determination in (i), if the determination result is positive, assigning a score representing the length of the time interval prior to that determination and an earlier determination, and if the determination result is negative, assigning zero to that determination;
• and
• (iii) summing the score for each of the determinations to obtain an amount of time indicating the user's active engagement with the ad for a time period before the transmission that covers a plurality of determinations.

A method comprising:

• providing program code to an owner or operator of a web server and causing the website owner or operator to include the program code or a reference thereto in a webpage of the website, wherein the webpage also includes one or more ads,
• wherein the program code is configured such that, upon a web browser of a user computing device retrieving and loading the webpage on the user computing device, the program code is translated to computer executable instructions, which when executed, cause a processor of the user computing device to
• (1) repeatedly determine, while the electronic page is loaded on the user computing device, for each of multiple determinations, for at least one of the one or more ads, whether both of the following conditions are met:
• (i) the ad is in view on a display of the user computing device, and
• (ii) the user is actively engaged with the webpage;
• wherein determining whether the user is actively engaged with the electronic page is based on a detection of at least one user interaction with the electronic page during a predetermined time window immediately preceding the time of the determination;
• and
• (2) when a reporting condition is met, transmit data representing the result of the determinations in (1) obtained over a reporting period, the reporting period encompassing a plurality of determinations, to an external computing device.