Generating reach and frequency data for television advertisements

Abstract

Television reporting records are accessed and processed to generate frequency specific reach values and device frequencies for creatives (e.g., television advertisements). The device frequencies indicating the number of times a creative was presented by use of a particular viewing device. The frequency specific reach values indicating the number of unique viewing devices that were used to present the creative a specified number of times. Estimating frequency specific reach values and device frequencies for a creative for a viewing population. The estimated frequency specific reach values and device frequencies for the viewing population are based on known viewing pattern data for multiple creative airings from a sample of the viewing population (e.g., a subset of the viewing population) and estimated viewing pattern data for the airings for the viewing population.

1 . A system, comprising: 
 one or more processing devices; and    software stored on a computer readable medium comprising instructions executable by the one or more processing devices and upon such execution cause the one or more processing devices to perform operations comprising:    access television reporting data, the television reporting data including: 
 viewing identifiers identifying viewing devices;  
 creative identifiers identifying creatives that were presented by use of the viewing devices;  
 time data identifying times at which the creatives were presented by use of the viewing devices;  
 wherein the viewing identifiers, creative identifiers and time data are associated to identify, for each viewing device, the creatives presented by use of the viewing device and the times at which the creatives were presented; and  
   define a plurality of frequency bins, each frequency bin corresponding to a frequency at which a creative is presented by use of a unique viewing device;    process the television reporting data to generate device frequency data and frequency specific reach data;    wherein: 
 the device frequency data include device frequencies that quantify, for each viewing device, a frequency that each creative was presented by use of that viewing device during a reporting period;  
 the frequency specific reach data include frequency specific reach values that quantify, for each creative and each frequency bin, a number of viewing devices that were used to present the creative at a frequency corresponding to the frequency bin; and  
   generate reach and frequency reporting data including the frequency specific reach data and the device frequency data; and    provide access to the reach and frequency reporting data to television advertisers.    
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein each frequency bin is an integer frequency value.  
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein each frequency bin defines a minimum frequency value and a maximum frequency value, and the number of viewing devices quantified for the frequency specific reach value is the number of viewing devices that were used to present the creative at least the minimum frequency value and not in excess of the maximum frequency value.  
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the software stored on the computer readable medium comprising the instructions executable by the one or more processing devices and upon such execution cause the one or more processing devices to perform operations further comprising: 
 for each creative, aggregate the number of the viewing devices quantified for each frequency specific reach value to determine creative reach data identifying a number of unique viewing devices that were used to present the creative.    
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the software stored on the computer readable medium comprising the instructions executable by the one or more processing devices and upon such execution cause the one or more processing devices to perform operations further comprising: 
 access campaign data including campaign identifiers identifying advertising campaigns, each campaign identifier associated with one or more of the creative identifiers to identify creatives associated with the advertising campaign;    process the device frequency data to generate device frequencies that quantify, for each viewing device, a frequency that each advertising campaign was presented by use of that viewing device during the reporting period; and    process the frequency specific reach data to generate frequency specific reach values that quantify, for each advertising campaign and each frequency bin, the number of viewing devices that were used to present the advertising campaign at a frequency corresponding to the frequency bin.    
     
     
         6 . A computer-implemented method, comprising: 
 accessing television reporting records from a television reporting data store, each television reporting record including: 
 a viewing identifier identifying a viewing device;  
 a creative identifier identifying a creative that was presented by use of the viewing device;  
 time data identifying times at which the creative was presented by use of the viewing device;  
 wherein the viewing identifier, creative identifier and time data are associated to identify the creatives presented by use of the viewing device and the times at which the creative was presented;  
   defining a plurality of frequency bins, each frequency bin corresponding to a frequency at which a creative is presented by use of a unique viewing device;    processing the television reporting records to generate device frequency data and frequency specific reach data;    wherein: 
 the device frequency data include device frequencies that quantify, for each viewing device, a frequency that each creative was presented by use of that viewing device during a reporting period; and  
 the frequency specific reach data include frequency specific reach values that quantify, for each creative and each frequency bin, a number of viewing devices that were used to present the creative at a frequency corresponding to the frequency bin; and  
   generating reach and frequency reporting data, the reach and frequency reporting data including the frequency specific reach data and the device frequency data; and    providing access to the reach and frequency reporting data to television advertisers.    
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising: 
 for each creative, aggregating the number of the viewing devices quantified for each frequency specific reach value to determine creative reach data identifying a number of unique viewing devices that were used to present the creative.    
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein each frequency bin is an integer frequency value.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein each frequency bin defines a minimum frequency value and a maximum frequency value, and the number of viewing devices quantified for the frequency specific reach value is the number of viewing devices that were used to present the creative at least the minimum frequency value and not in excess of the maximum frequency value.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein processing the television reporting records to generate device frequency data and frequency specific reach data comprises: 
 selecting a television reporting record;    identifying a viewing device and creative from the viewing identifier and creative identifier in the selected television reporting record, respectively;    identifying a current device frequency for the viewing device; 
 determining if the current device frequency indicates that the viewing device has been used to present the creative;  
   if the current device frequency indicates that the viewing device has been used to present the creative, then: 
 identifying a first frequency bin corresponding to the current device frequency;  
 decrementing the frequency specific reach value associated with the first frequency bin;  
 incrementing the current device frequency;  
 identifying a second frequency bin corresponding to the incremented current device frequency; and  
 incrementing the frequency specific reach value associated with the second frequency bin; and  
   if the current device frequency indicates that the viewing device has not been used to present the creative, then: 
 incrementing the current device frequency;  
 identifying a frequency bin corresponding to the incremented current device frequency; and  
 incrementing the frequency specific reach value associated with the frequency bin.  
   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the reporting period is a rolling thirty-day period.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the reporting period is a rolling seven-day period.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 6  further comprising: 
 accessing campaign data including: 
 campaign identifiers identifying advertising campaigns, each campaign identifier associated with one or more of the creative identifiers to identify creatives associated with the advertising campaign; and  
 
 processing the device frequency data and the frequency specific reach data to generate device frequencies and frequency specific reach values, respectively, according to the campaign data.  
 
     
     
         14 . A system, comprising: 
 one or more processing devices; and    software stored on a computer readable medium comprising instructions executable by the one or more processing devices and upon such execution cause the one or more processing devices to perform operations comprising:    access television viewing records, each record including: 
 a viewing identifier identifying a viewing device,  
 a creative identifier identifying a creative, and  
 time data identifying a time at which the creative was presented by use of the viewing device;  
   identify a plurality of frequency bins, each frequency bin defining a number of presentations of one creative by use of one viewing device based on the television viewing records;    for each viewing device, quantify a number of times that each creative was presented by use of the viewing device based on the television viewing records;    for each frequency bin and each creative, quantify a number of viewing devices that were used to present the creative according to the number of presentations defined by the frequency bin;    generate reach and frequency reporting data, the reach and frequency reporting data including the quantifications for each viewing device and the quantifications for each frequency bin and each creative; and    provide access to the reach and frequency reporting data to television advertisers.    
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the software stored on the computer readable medium comprising the instructions executable by the one or more processing devices and upon such execution cause the one or more processing devices to perform operations further comprising: 
 access campaign data including: 
 campaign identifiers identifying advertising campaigns, each advertising campaign identifier associated with one or more of the creative identifiers to identify creatives associated with the advertising campaign;  
   for each viewing device, quantify a number of times that each advertising campaign was presented by use of that viewing device based on the television viewing records and the campaign data; and    for each frequency bin and each advertising campaign, quantify a number of viewing devices that were used to present the advertising campaign according to the number of presentations defined by the frequency bin.    
     
     
         16 . A computer-implemented method, comprising: 
 accessing device frequency data that include device frequencies and frequency specific reach data that include frequency specific reach values from a reach and frequency data store, the device frequencies and the frequency specific reach values based on multiple airings of a creative, each airing defining a unique creative time slot in which the creative was aired;    calculating a number of total reported impressions of the creative for all airings based on the device frequencies and the frequency specific reach values;    for each airing, calculating a number of estimated impressions of the creative;    calculating a number of total estimated impressions for all airings based on the numbers of estimated impressions for each airing;    calculating a scale factor based on the number of total estimated impressions and the number of total reported impressions;    adjusting the device frequency data and frequency specific reach data according to the scale factor;    generating adjusted reach and frequency reporting data including the adjusted frequency specific reach data and the adjusted device frequency data; and    providing access to the adjusted reach and frequency reporting data to television advertisers.    
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein calculating the scale factor comprises dividing the number of total estimated impressions by the number of total reported impressions.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the device frequency data and frequency specific reach data are derived from reporting records for all airings, each reporting record relating to an airing, and for each airing calculating the number of estimated impressions comprises multiplying a number of a viewing population by a ratio of a number of reported impressions for that airing to a number of reporting records for that airing.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein calculating the number of total estimated impressions for all airings comprises summing the numbers of estimated impressions for each airing.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein adjusting the device frequency data and frequency specific reach data comprises multiplying the frequency specific reach values by the scale factor.  
     
     
         21 . A system, comprising: 
 one or more processing devices; and    software stored on a computer readable medium comprising instructions executable by the one or more processing devices and upon such execution cause the one or more processing devices to perform operations comprising: 
 access device frequency data that include device frequencies and frequency specific reach data that include frequency specific reach values, the device frequencies and the frequency specific reach values based on multiple airings of a creative, each airing defining a unique creative time slot in which the creative was aired;  
 calculate a number of total reported impressions of the creative for all airings based on the device frequencies and the frequency specific reach values;  
 for each airing, calculate a number of estimated impressions of the creative;  
 calculate a number of total estimated impressions for all airings based on the numbers of estimated impressions for each airing;  
 calculate a scale factor based on the number of total estimated impressions and the number of total reported impressions;  
 adjust the device frequency data and frequency specific reach data according to the scale factor;  
 generate adjusted reach and frequency reporting data including the adjusted frequency specific reach data and the adjusted device frequency data; and  
 provide access to the adjusted reach and frequency reporting data to television advertisers.  
   
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the scale factor is based on the number of total estimated impressions divided by the number of total reported impressions.  
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the device frequency data and frequency specific reach data are derived from reporting records for all airings, each reporting record relating to an airing, and for each airing the number of estimated impressions is based on a number of a viewing population multiplied by a ratio of a number of reported impressions for that airing to a number of reporting records for that airing.  
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the number of total estimated impressions for all airings is based on a sum of the numbers of estimated impressions for each airing.  
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the adjusted device frequency data and frequency specific reach data are based on the frequency specific reach values multiplied by the scale factor.  
     
     
         26 . A computer-implemented method, comprising: 
 accessing device frequency data that include device frequencies and frequency specific reach data that include frequency specific reach values from a reach and frequency data store, the device frequencies and the frequency specific reach values based on multiple airings of a creative, each airing defining a unique creative time slot in which the creative was aired;    calculating a number of total reported impressions of the creative for all airings based on the device frequencies and the frequency specific reach values;    accessing a number of total estimated impressions for all airings based on numbers of estimated impressions for each airing;    calculating a scale factor based on the number of total estimated impressions and the number of total reported impressions;    adjusting the device frequency data and frequency specific reach data according to the scale factor;    generating adjusted reach and frequency reporting data including the adjusted frequency specific reach data and the adjusted device frequency data; and    providing access to the adjusted reach and frequency reporting data to television advertisers.    
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein adjusting the device frequency data and the frequency specific reach data comprises multiplying the frequency specific reach values by the scale factor.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein calculating the scale factor comprises dividing the number of total estimated impressions by the number of total reported impressions.