US 9,178,634 B2Granted

Methods and apparatus for evaluating an audience in a content-based network

AssigneeTime Warner Cable Enterprises LLC

InventorsJustin Tidwell, Eduardo G. Samame, Bryan Santangelo

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Abstract

Methods and apparatus for identifying, creating and distributing audience qualities and other information to an advertisement management system and/or an advertisement decision maker. In one embodiment, the methods and apparatus of the invention provide a technique for classifying data collected about an audience, and creating and grouping qualifiers to those classifications. The invention further includes methods and apparatus for managing an advertising inventory via a management system. The inventory is defined in one variant by predicted or known secondary content insertion opportunities, and a particular audience of the primary content associated with the insertion opportunity. Subscriber privacy and anonymity is also optionally maintained via e.g., hashing or encrypting data relating to the CPE and/or subscriber, thus ensuring that audience data is not traceable to a specific user account.

Claims20

Dependent claims

Content management apparatus for use within a content delivery network, said apparatus comprising:

an advertising subsystem having an advertising content store, said advertising subsystem configured to identify at least one advertising placement opportunity in delivered content;
a data collection subsystem;
a processing subsystem in data communication with said data collection subsystem;
a data storage subsystem in data communication with said processing subsystem, said data storage subsystem configured to store user-related data;
and
an anonymization module configured to substantially anonymize at least portions of said user-related data, said anonymized user-related data being stored in said data storage subsystem based on at least one anonymous identifier;
wherein said data collection subsystem is configured to gather said user-related data, and said processing subsystem is configured to process said user-related data and generate an advertising product based at least in part on said processed user-related data and said at least one placement opportunity;
wherein said processing subsystem is further configured to assign a plurality of parameters configured to describe said advertising product and enable an automatic purchase of a particular one of said advertising product when at least a percentage across said plurality of parameters relating to said particular one of said advertising product matches a purchaser-determined threshold percentage identified by said purchaser;
and
wherein said at least one anonymous identifier comprises a cryptographic hash of at least a media access control (MAC) address associated with a consumer premises equipment (CPE) of a user.

7 more elements

A method of generating an inventory element in a content delivery network, said method comprising:

determining, at an entity of said content delivery network, an opportunity for placement of at least one of a plurality of advertisements in a content stream, said opportunity for placement comprising a plurality of parameters descriptive thereof;
determining one or more qualities of an audience of said opportunity for placement;
generating an inventory element comprising a synthesis of said one or more qualities of said audience and said plurality of parameters descriptive of said opportunity for placement, at said entity of said content delivery network;
charging a source of said at least one of a plurality of advertisements a premium for access to said synthesis of said one or more qualities of said audience and said plurality of parameters descriptive of said opportunity for placement;
enabling an automatic purchase of said at least one of said plurality of advertisements when it is determined that at least a percentage across said plurality of parameters descriptive of said opportunity for placement matches a purchaser-determined threshold percentage identified by said source;
wherein said access to any information about said synthesis of said one or more qualities of said audience and said opportunity for placement is not provided to said source of said at least one of said plurality of advertisements when said premium is not paid.

3 more elements

A non-transitory computer readable apparatus comprising media adapted to contain a computer program comprising a plurality of instructions, which are configured to, when executed:

determine one or more opportunities for insertion of one or more of a plurality of available advertisements;
access data related to a plurality of users;
generate an output comprising an inventory of individual ones of said one or more opportunities for insertion having a plurality of users associated therewith that share a plurality of characteristics with a respective plurality of characteristics of at least one of said plurality of available advertisements;
assign a monetary value to at least one individual one of said one or more opportunities for insertion, said monetary value being based at least in part on a time period that remains before an occurrence of said at least one individual one of said one or more opportunities for insertion;
and
enable an automated purchase of said one or more opportunities for insertion by a provider of one or more of said plurality of available advertisements when a pre-defined threshold monetary value in a purchaser profile of a purchaser is at least met by said assigned monetary value and when a percentage of said characteristics of said plurality of users associated with said one or more opportunities which match said plurality of characteristics of said plurality of available advertisements matches a purchaser-determined threshold percentage identified by said purchaser.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.