CA2454011C - Program guide system with monitoring of advertisement usage and user activities - Google Patents
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- CA2454011C CA2454011C CA002454011A CA2454011A CA2454011C CA 2454011 C CA2454011 C CA 2454011C CA 002454011 A CA002454011 A CA 002454011A CA 2454011 A CA2454011 A CA 2454011A CA 2454011 C CA2454011 C CA 2454011C
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Abstract
A program guide system is provided in which interactive television program guide advertisement usage is monitored. Advertisement usage may be monitored by monitoring when advertisements are transmitted from a television distribution facility to user television equipment. Advertisement usage information may also be monitored at the time at which advertisements are displayed by a program guide. Less important data may be filtered from the collected advertisement usage data. Other activities that may be monitored include the viewing activities of the user, which program guide screens are displayed, and which non-program-guide applications are used. Real-time ratings information (e. g., real-time ratings of the popularity of certain television programs, video games, or other applications) may be provided to users in real time.
Description
PROGRAM GUIDE SYSTEM WITH MONITORING OF ADVERTISEMENT USAGE
AND USER ACTIVITIES
This application is a divisional of copending Canadian Patent Application Serial Number 2,322,536 filed February 25, 1999.
Background of the Invention This invention relates to interactive television program guides, and more particularly, to techniques for monitoring advertising that is provided with interactive television program guides and for monitoring user activities such as user television viewing activities.
In some passive television program guides, such as the system shown in Davis et al. U.S. patent 5,559,548, video is provided on television channel that includes program listings and advertisements are displayed together.
Interactive television program guides allow television users to view television proc[ram :Listings on their televisions. Other functions that are provided by such program guides include the ability to display program listings in various formats to perform cfenre--based searches for programs of interest, to support pay-per-view ordering, etc. Interactive television program guides may include systems such as the system shown. in Hendricks et al. U.S.
patent 5,600,364. Interactive program guides are typically implemented on microprocessor-based set-top boxes. Program listings data is transmitted to the set-top boxes from a centralized data distribution facility via the user's cable system headend. The program listings data is typically stored in memory in the set-top box, where it may be accessed by the interactive program guide.
AND USER ACTIVITIES
This application is a divisional of copending Canadian Patent Application Serial Number 2,322,536 filed February 25, 1999.
Background of the Invention This invention relates to interactive television program guides, and more particularly, to techniques for monitoring advertising that is provided with interactive television program guides and for monitoring user activities such as user television viewing activities.
In some passive television program guides, such as the system shown in Davis et al. U.S. patent 5,559,548, video is provided on television channel that includes program listings and advertisements are displayed together.
Interactive television program guides allow television users to view television proc[ram :Listings on their televisions. Other functions that are provided by such program guides include the ability to display program listings in various formats to perform cfenre--based searches for programs of interest, to support pay-per-view ordering, etc. Interactive television program guides may include systems such as the system shown. in Hendricks et al. U.S.
patent 5,600,364. Interactive program guides are typically implemented on microprocessor-based set-top boxes. Program listings data is transmitted to the set-top boxes from a centralized data distribution facility via the user's cable system headend. The program listings data is typically stored in memory in the set-top box, where it may be accessed by the interactive program guide.
2 Interactive program guides may be used to display advertisements, as described in Knudson et al. Canadian patent application Serial No. 2,322,217, filed February 25, 1999, Knudson et al. Canadian patent application Serial No.
2,329,069, filed April 22, 1999, and Knudson et al.
Canadian patent application Serial No. 2,334,378, filed June 1, 1999. Program guide advertisements provide the user with useful information on various products and services. For example, program guide advertisements may be used to promote upcoming television programs. Program guide advertisements may also be used to promote non-programming products and services. For example, the user may be presented with an opportunity to purchase a product or service by selecting an interactive advertisernent.
In order to determine the effectiveness of advertisements, it would be desirable to be able to monitor how often advertisements are displayed and selected by the user. It would also be desirable to be able to monitor which program guide screens the advertisements are displayed on and which program guide screens the user activates in general. Monitoring of user viewing activities and the user's use of non-program guide applications would also be desirable. Monitoring these types of information with a program guide would allow advertisementc-i to be used most effectively. The information might also be used to provide program guide services that would otherwise not be possible.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide an interactive television program guide system in which advertisement usage and user activities are monitored by the guide.
2,329,069, filed April 22, 1999, and Knudson et al.
Canadian patent application Serial No. 2,334,378, filed June 1, 1999. Program guide advertisements provide the user with useful information on various products and services. For example, program guide advertisements may be used to promote upcoming television programs. Program guide advertisements may also be used to promote non-programming products and services. For example, the user may be presented with an opportunity to purchase a product or service by selecting an interactive advertisernent.
In order to determine the effectiveness of advertisements, it would be desirable to be able to monitor how often advertisements are displayed and selected by the user. It would also be desirable to be able to monitor which program guide screens the advertisements are displayed on and which program guide screens the user activates in general. Monitoring of user viewing activities and the user's use of non-program guide applications would also be desirable. Monitoring these types of information with a program guide would allow advertisementc-i to be used most effectively. The information might also be used to provide program guide services that would otherwise not be possible.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide an interactive television program guide system in which advertisement usage and user activities are monitored by the guide.
3 Summary of the Invention According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a system for providing real-time ratings information on the popularity of monitored activities to users of user equipment platforms, comprising: means for monitoring user viewing activities at a plurality of user equipment platforms; means for collecting data at a central facility in response to the means for monitoring of the user viewing activities at the plurality of user equipment platforms; means for generating real-time ratings information based on the collected data, wherein the means for generating the real-time ratings information comprises means for determining the popularity of the monitored activities; and means for displaying the real-time ratings information on a display screen of at least one of the plurality of user equipment platforms in real time.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method for providing real-time ratings information on the popularity of monitored activities to users of user equipment platforms, comprising the steps of:
monitoring user viewing activities at a plurality of user equipment platforms; collecting data at a central facility in response to the monitoring of the user viewing activities at the plurality of user equipment platforms; generating real-time ratings information based on the collected data, wherein generating the real-time ratings information comprises determining the popularity of the monitored activities; and displaying the real-time ratings information on a display screen of at least one of the plurality of user equipment platforms in real time.
3a According to an embodiment of the invention, information on the television viewing activities of user's may be collected. Such information may include information on whether a user has blocked the audio of a program by using a mute function or has blocked all or some of the video of a program by displaying a graphic overlay of some type (e.g., a program guide display, etc.) on top of a program. The information collected on viewing activities may also include information on when the user last interacted with the program guide (which is indicative of whether the user is still watching the program or has left the room).
The use of non-program guide applications by the user may also be monitored. For example, the program guide may monitor which video games are played by the user.
Information on the programs that are watched by the user and the non-program guide applications that are run by the user
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method for providing real-time ratings information on the popularity of monitored activities to users of user equipment platforms, comprising the steps of:
monitoring user viewing activities at a plurality of user equipment platforms; collecting data at a central facility in response to the monitoring of the user viewing activities at the plurality of user equipment platforms; generating real-time ratings information based on the collected data, wherein generating the real-time ratings information comprises determining the popularity of the monitored activities; and displaying the real-time ratings information on a display screen of at least one of the plurality of user equipment platforms in real time.
3a According to an embodiment of the invention, information on the television viewing activities of user's may be collected. Such information may include information on whether a user has blocked the audio of a program by using a mute function or has blocked all or some of the video of a program by displaying a graphic overlay of some type (e.g., a program guide display, etc.) on top of a program. The information collected on viewing activities may also include information on when the user last interacted with the program guide (which is indicative of whether the user is still watching the program or has left the room).
The use of non-program guide applications by the user may also be monitored. For example, the program guide may monitor which video games are played by the user.
Information on the programs that are watched by the user and the non-program guide applications that are run by the user
4 may be collected by the system in real time. This information may then be analyzed to determine real-time ratings. For example, real-time ratings for the most popular television programs in the nation may be generated.
Real-time ratings may also be generated for rion-program guide applications.
Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantages will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following deta.:_led description of the preferred embodiments.
Brief Description of the Drawincrs FIG 1 is a diagram of an illustrative interactive television program guide system in which advertisement usage may be. monitored in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating: how an advertisement for a program may be ciisplayed as part of a program guide screen and how the user may be presented with various program guide: options related to the advertised program when the user selects such.an advertisement in accordance with the present invention FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating how an advertisement for a~product or service me3y be displayed as part of a program guide screen and how the user inay be presented with an opportunity to order the advertised product or service when the user selects such an advertisement in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing sonae of the monitoring functions that may be provideci by the interactive telev'_sicn program guide! system in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram of an illustrative data structure showing various types of data that may be collected regarding advertisement usage in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a diagram of an illustrative data structure showing various types of data that may be collected regarding usage of different screens in the program guide in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram of an xllustrative data structure snowincr various types of data that may be collected regarding program viewing by the user in accordance with the present invention FIG H is a diagram of an illustrative data structure showing various types of data that may be collected regarding usage of non-parogram-guide applications by the user in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. S) is a diagram showing steps involved in performing the data collection and analysis functions of the interactive program guide system in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 10a is an illustrative program guide display screen containing r.eai-time ratings information in accordance wivh the present invention.
FIG 10h is an illustrative flow chart of steps involved in allowing a user to select a listing from the real-time ratings screen of FIG. l0a in accordance with the present iraventionm FIG. 11 is a flow chart of i.1lustrative steps 40 involved in providing real-time ratings in accordance w-ith the present inven4ion FIG. I2 is a flow chart showing steps involved in gathering information for a number of sepafate user profiles and processing this information in accordance with the present inventiono FIGm 13 ;s a flow chart of steps involved in filtering out less _mportant data in accordance with the present inventronm FIG. 14 is a diagram showing h+Dw data filters may be located at user television ec~~uipment or a data processing facility in accordance with the vresent invention.
- 7 _ E'IG. 15 is a diagram showing how a data filter may involve filtering out less important data based on specific advertisements or acti.ons.or.inay involve filtering out less important data based on viewer demographics in accordance with the present invention.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments An illustrative interactive televi-sion program guide system 20 in accordance with the present invention is shown in FIG, 1. Main facility 22 contains a progri3m guide database 24 for storing program guide information such as television program guide listings data, pay-per-view o:c=dering information, television program promotional information, etc. Main I5 facility 22 also contains an advertising database 26 for storing advertising information. Information from databases 24 and 26 may be transmitted to multiple television distribution facilities such as televi.sion distribution facility 28 via communications links such LO as co7muni cateons link 30. Link 30 may be a satellite link, a telephone network link, a cable or fiber-optic link, a microwave link, a combination of such links, or any other suitable communications patfi. If it is desired to transmit video signals (e.g., for 25 advertising and promotional videos) over link 30 in addition to data signals, a relatively high bandwidth link such as a satellite link is generally preferable to a relatively low bandwidth link such as a telephone lir.e.
30 Television distribution fa.cility 28 is a facility for distributing televmsion sigr.'als to users, such as a cable system headed, a broadcast distribution facility, or a sa=tellite television distribution facility.
The program guide information transmitted by main facility 22 to television distribution facility 28 includes television program listings data such as program times, channels, titles, descra.ptions etc.
:ransmitted program information also includes pay program data such as prfczng information for individual programs and subscripti.an channels, time windows for ordering programs and channels, telephone numbers for placing orders that cannot be impulse ordered, etc..
The advertising information transmitted by main faci lity 22 to television distribution facility 28 may include text, graphics and video advertisements for various programs, products, and services.
Advertisements may be distributed from main facility 22 to multiple television distribution facilities 28, although only one television distribution facility 28 is shown in FIG. 1 to avoid over-complicating the drawing.
Each television distribution facility 28 disteibutes advertisements to users at associated user television equipment 32 via communications links 34.
If desired, some advertising information may be provided using advertising database 36 in television distribution facility 28.
User television equipment 32 may be any suitable eguipmed:t for providing television to the user that contains slufffacie7t processing capabilities to implement an interactive television program guidem Paths 34 may be cable links, fiber-optic links, satellite links, broadcast links, or other suitable link or combination of such links. Any suitable communications scheme may be used to transmit data over paths 34, including in-band transmissions, vertical blanking interval transmissions, out-of-band transmissions, digital transmissions, analog transmissions, cable transmissions, satellite transmissions, over-the-air transmissions, multichannel multipoint distribution services tMMD5? transmissions, etc.
The data distribuLion technique that is used to distribute data on paths 34 depends on the type of information that is being distributed. For example text and graphics may be distributed over an out-of-band channel usirig an out-of-band modulator. Video 'nformation may also be distributed in this way, although large quantities of video information inay be more efficieritly distributed using one or more digital channels on path 56. Such digatal channals may also be used for distributi.ng text and grapliics.
Each user has a receiver, whic:m is typically a set-top box such as set top box 341, but which may be other suitable te? evision equipment such as an advanced television receiver into which circuitry similar to set-top-box circuitry has been integrated or a personal computer television (PC/TV), Data such as program guide data may be distributed to set-top boxes 34 periodically. Television distribution facility 28 may also poll set-top boxes 34 periodically for certain information {e.g.,, pay program account information or information rega:-ding programs that Yaave been purchased - 1.0 -and viewed using locally-generated authorization techniques).
Main facility 22 preferably contains a processor to handle information distribution tasks.
Each set-top box 34 preferably contai:ns a processor to handle tasks associated with implementing the interactive television program guide. Television distribution facility 28 may contain a processor for handling tasks associated with data distribution.
Each set-top box 34 is typically connected to an optional videocassette recorder 36 so that selected television programs may be recorded. Each videocassette recorder 36 is connected to a television 38. To record a program, the interactive television 1-5 program guide implemented on set-top box 34 tunes set-top box 34 to a particular channel and sends control signals to videocassette recorder 36 using, e.g., infrared transmitter 40, that direct videocassette recorder 36 to start and stop recording cit the appropriate times.
During use of the program guide, teievision program listings, advertisements, and other information may be displayed on television 38. Each set-top box 34, videocassette recorder 36, and television 38 may be controlled by one or more remote controls :42 or any other suitable user input interface such as a wireless keyboard, mouse, trackball, dedicated set of keys, etc.
A typical remote control 42 has cursor keys for positioning a highlight region on th:r program guide screen and an OK or select button for selecting a :1ighlighted item on the screen. Other typical remote control buttons include buttons such as a record ~. 11 button, channel up and down buttons, volume control buttons, numeric keys, etc Communications paths 34 preferably.have sufficient bandwidth to allow television distribution facility 28 to distribute television programming, program listings information, advertisements, and other information to user television equipznent 32. Multiple television and aiidi.o channels (analog, digital, or both analog and digital) may be provided to user television equipment 32 via communications paths 34. If desired, certain data such as program listings data may be distributed by one or more distribution facilities that are separate from television distribution facility 28 using communications paths that are at least partly separate from cornmunications paths 28.
Certain functions, such as pay program purchasing, the purchasing of products oi services, and data collection functions, itay require that user television equipnient 32 transmit data to television distribution facility 28 over communi cations paths 34.
i_ desired such data may be transmitted over telephone lines or other separate communications paths. if ~uncticns such as these are provided using facilities separate from television distmibution fac:ility 281 some of the communications involving user television equipment 32 may be made directly with the separate.
facilities.
Users of the interactive television program guide may interactively order addirional information, products, or services. : or exaar.plea a user may place an order by selecting an advertisemerat di,splayed in the program guide. Such orders may be satisfied by :12 -fulfillment facilities 44 and 45 If desired, orders may be transmitted directly to fulf'i.llment facilities such as fulfillment facility 44 via links 48, which may be telephone links, the Internet or.other, suitable communications links. Orders may alsobe transmitted to television dir>tribution facility 28 x ia links 34, where the billing system of the television distribution facility may be used After the television distribution facility 28 has processed the user s order, televisiord distribution facility 28 may transmit the order to fulfillment facility 46 via link 50.
An illustrative program guide screen 52 containing an advertisement 54 is shawn as the uppes-screen of FIG. 2. Screen 52 contains program listings 1_5 reaion 56, which includes a number of program li.stings 58 for various television programs. The program listings 58 in program listings region 56 may be displayed in any of a number of suitable formats such as listings ordered by time or by channel, listings grouped by genre etc. Advertisemerit 54 may be selected by the user by positioning highlight 60 on advertisement 54 using remote control cursor keys and pressing an K or select button.
Advertisement 54 may be, for example an advertisement for an upcoming television program. As shown in the lower screen of FIG. 2, selecting advertisement 54 may direct the program guide to display a screen 62 that contains a more detailed advertisement 64 for 'that program. Advertisement 64 and other advertisements in the program guide may contain video 66 text 68, and graphics 70. Screen 62 may contain cptao:-:s 72 that allow the user to order the - 13 _ advertised program (if the program is a pay per-view program), set a reminder for the program, or cancel the advertisement Advertisements may also be used to promote products and services. As shown in FIG. 3, program guide screen 74 contains a program listings region 76 that contains a number of program listings 78. Screen 74 also contains an advertisement 80 for a product or service. The user may select advertisement 80 by positioning highlight 82 on advertisement: 80 using remote control cursor keys and pressing a select or OK
button.
Selecting advertisement 80 directs the program guide to display program guide screen 84 which
Real-time ratings may also be generated for rion-program guide applications.
Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantages will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following deta.:_led description of the preferred embodiments.
Brief Description of the Drawincrs FIG 1 is a diagram of an illustrative interactive television program guide system in which advertisement usage may be. monitored in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating: how an advertisement for a program may be ciisplayed as part of a program guide screen and how the user may be presented with various program guide: options related to the advertised program when the user selects such.an advertisement in accordance with the present invention FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating how an advertisement for a~product or service me3y be displayed as part of a program guide screen and how the user inay be presented with an opportunity to order the advertised product or service when the user selects such an advertisement in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing sonae of the monitoring functions that may be provideci by the interactive telev'_sicn program guide! system in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram of an illustrative data structure showing various types of data that may be collected regarding advertisement usage in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a diagram of an illustrative data structure showing various types of data that may be collected regarding usage of different screens in the program guide in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram of an xllustrative data structure snowincr various types of data that may be collected regarding program viewing by the user in accordance with the present invention FIG H is a diagram of an illustrative data structure showing various types of data that may be collected regarding usage of non-parogram-guide applications by the user in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. S) is a diagram showing steps involved in performing the data collection and analysis functions of the interactive program guide system in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 10a is an illustrative program guide display screen containing r.eai-time ratings information in accordance wivh the present invention.
FIG 10h is an illustrative flow chart of steps involved in allowing a user to select a listing from the real-time ratings screen of FIG. l0a in accordance with the present iraventionm FIG. 11 is a flow chart of i.1lustrative steps 40 involved in providing real-time ratings in accordance w-ith the present inven4ion FIG. I2 is a flow chart showing steps involved in gathering information for a number of sepafate user profiles and processing this information in accordance with the present inventiono FIGm 13 ;s a flow chart of steps involved in filtering out less _mportant data in accordance with the present inventronm FIG. 14 is a diagram showing h+Dw data filters may be located at user television ec~~uipment or a data processing facility in accordance with the vresent invention.
- 7 _ E'IG. 15 is a diagram showing how a data filter may involve filtering out less important data based on specific advertisements or acti.ons.or.inay involve filtering out less important data based on viewer demographics in accordance with the present invention.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments An illustrative interactive televi-sion program guide system 20 in accordance with the present invention is shown in FIG, 1. Main facility 22 contains a progri3m guide database 24 for storing program guide information such as television program guide listings data, pay-per-view o:c=dering information, television program promotional information, etc. Main I5 facility 22 also contains an advertising database 26 for storing advertising information. Information from databases 24 and 26 may be transmitted to multiple television distribution facilities such as televi.sion distribution facility 28 via communications links such LO as co7muni cateons link 30. Link 30 may be a satellite link, a telephone network link, a cable or fiber-optic link, a microwave link, a combination of such links, or any other suitable communications patfi. If it is desired to transmit video signals (e.g., for 25 advertising and promotional videos) over link 30 in addition to data signals, a relatively high bandwidth link such as a satellite link is generally preferable to a relatively low bandwidth link such as a telephone lir.e.
30 Television distribution fa.cility 28 is a facility for distributing televmsion sigr.'als to users, such as a cable system headed, a broadcast distribution facility, or a sa=tellite television distribution facility.
The program guide information transmitted by main facility 22 to television distribution facility 28 includes television program listings data such as program times, channels, titles, descra.ptions etc.
:ransmitted program information also includes pay program data such as prfczng information for individual programs and subscripti.an channels, time windows for ordering programs and channels, telephone numbers for placing orders that cannot be impulse ordered, etc..
The advertising information transmitted by main faci lity 22 to television distribution facility 28 may include text, graphics and video advertisements for various programs, products, and services.
Advertisements may be distributed from main facility 22 to multiple television distribution facilities 28, although only one television distribution facility 28 is shown in FIG. 1 to avoid over-complicating the drawing.
Each television distribution facility 28 disteibutes advertisements to users at associated user television equipment 32 via communications links 34.
If desired, some advertising information may be provided using advertising database 36 in television distribution facility 28.
User television equipment 32 may be any suitable eguipmed:t for providing television to the user that contains slufffacie7t processing capabilities to implement an interactive television program guidem Paths 34 may be cable links, fiber-optic links, satellite links, broadcast links, or other suitable link or combination of such links. Any suitable communications scheme may be used to transmit data over paths 34, including in-band transmissions, vertical blanking interval transmissions, out-of-band transmissions, digital transmissions, analog transmissions, cable transmissions, satellite transmissions, over-the-air transmissions, multichannel multipoint distribution services tMMD5? transmissions, etc.
The data distribuLion technique that is used to distribute data on paths 34 depends on the type of information that is being distributed. For example text and graphics may be distributed over an out-of-band channel usirig an out-of-band modulator. Video 'nformation may also be distributed in this way, although large quantities of video information inay be more efficieritly distributed using one or more digital channels on path 56. Such digatal channals may also be used for distributi.ng text and grapliics.
Each user has a receiver, whic:m is typically a set-top box such as set top box 341, but which may be other suitable te? evision equipment such as an advanced television receiver into which circuitry similar to set-top-box circuitry has been integrated or a personal computer television (PC/TV), Data such as program guide data may be distributed to set-top boxes 34 periodically. Television distribution facility 28 may also poll set-top boxes 34 periodically for certain information {e.g.,, pay program account information or information rega:-ding programs that Yaave been purchased - 1.0 -and viewed using locally-generated authorization techniques).
Main facility 22 preferably contains a processor to handle information distribution tasks.
Each set-top box 34 preferably contai:ns a processor to handle tasks associated with implementing the interactive television program guide. Television distribution facility 28 may contain a processor for handling tasks associated with data distribution.
Each set-top box 34 is typically connected to an optional videocassette recorder 36 so that selected television programs may be recorded. Each videocassette recorder 36 is connected to a television 38. To record a program, the interactive television 1-5 program guide implemented on set-top box 34 tunes set-top box 34 to a particular channel and sends control signals to videocassette recorder 36 using, e.g., infrared transmitter 40, that direct videocassette recorder 36 to start and stop recording cit the appropriate times.
During use of the program guide, teievision program listings, advertisements, and other information may be displayed on television 38. Each set-top box 34, videocassette recorder 36, and television 38 may be controlled by one or more remote controls :42 or any other suitable user input interface such as a wireless keyboard, mouse, trackball, dedicated set of keys, etc.
A typical remote control 42 has cursor keys for positioning a highlight region on th:r program guide screen and an OK or select button for selecting a :1ighlighted item on the screen. Other typical remote control buttons include buttons such as a record ~. 11 button, channel up and down buttons, volume control buttons, numeric keys, etc Communications paths 34 preferably.have sufficient bandwidth to allow television distribution facility 28 to distribute television programming, program listings information, advertisements, and other information to user television equipznent 32. Multiple television and aiidi.o channels (analog, digital, or both analog and digital) may be provided to user television equipment 32 via communications paths 34. If desired, certain data such as program listings data may be distributed by one or more distribution facilities that are separate from television distribution facility 28 using communications paths that are at least partly separate from cornmunications paths 28.
Certain functions, such as pay program purchasing, the purchasing of products oi services, and data collection functions, itay require that user television equipnient 32 transmit data to television distribution facility 28 over communi cations paths 34.
i_ desired such data may be transmitted over telephone lines or other separate communications paths. if ~uncticns such as these are provided using facilities separate from television distmibution fac:ility 281 some of the communications involving user television equipment 32 may be made directly with the separate.
facilities.
Users of the interactive television program guide may interactively order addirional information, products, or services. : or exaar.plea a user may place an order by selecting an advertisemerat di,splayed in the program guide. Such orders may be satisfied by :12 -fulfillment facilities 44 and 45 If desired, orders may be transmitted directly to fulf'i.llment facilities such as fulfillment facility 44 via links 48, which may be telephone links, the Internet or.other, suitable communications links. Orders may alsobe transmitted to television dir>tribution facility 28 x ia links 34, where the billing system of the television distribution facility may be used After the television distribution facility 28 has processed the user s order, televisiord distribution facility 28 may transmit the order to fulfillment facility 46 via link 50.
An illustrative program guide screen 52 containing an advertisement 54 is shawn as the uppes-screen of FIG. 2. Screen 52 contains program listings 1_5 reaion 56, which includes a number of program li.stings 58 for various television programs. The program listings 58 in program listings region 56 may be displayed in any of a number of suitable formats such as listings ordered by time or by channel, listings grouped by genre etc. Advertisemerit 54 may be selected by the user by positioning highlight 60 on advertisement 54 using remote control cursor keys and pressing an K or select button.
Advertisement 54 may be, for example an advertisement for an upcoming television program. As shown in the lower screen of FIG. 2, selecting advertisement 54 may direct the program guide to display a screen 62 that contains a more detailed advertisement 64 for 'that program. Advertisement 64 and other advertisements in the program guide may contain video 66 text 68, and graphics 70. Screen 62 may contain cptao:-:s 72 that allow the user to order the - 13 _ advertised program (if the program is a pay per-view program), set a reminder for the program, or cancel the advertisement Advertisements may also be used to promote products and services. As shown in FIG. 3, program guide screen 74 contains a program listings region 76 that contains a number of program listings 78. Screen 74 also contains an advertisement 80 for a product or service. The user may select advertisement 80 by positioning highlight 82 on advertisement: 80 using remote control cursor keys and pressing a select or OK
button.
Selecting advertisement 80 directs the program guide to display program guide screen 84 which
5 is shown as the lower screen in FIG S. Screen 84 typically contains more detailed advertising information 86 on the product or service being promoted. Screen 84 also contains an order option 88 for ordering the product or service (using, e.g., 2 0 fulfillment facility 44 or 46) and a cancel option 90 for cancelling the screen 84.
Program guide screens 52 and 62 of FIG. 2 and program guide scr+rens 74 and 84 are :i1lustrative only.
Any other suitable interactive television program guide screen may be provided in the program guide if desired.
Such program guide screens may or may not include advertisements and program listings.
In order to measure the effectiveness of certain advertisementsa system 20 may monitor how 30 advertisements aae distributed to user television equipment 32. System 20 may also monitor the location in the procran: au :de where the advertisements are 1~ ~
displayed and may monitor how often advertisements are displayed. SystenB 20 may also monitor usage of various program guide screens (even if no advertisements are present). If desired, information oin the user P s viewing activities may be monitored. 7'hf: program guide may also collect information on which nora-program--guide applications the user runs. Any other suitable type of information on the user's activities or use of the proaram guide may be monitored if desired. The data that is collected on the user s activities may be analyzed at any stiitable data processing facility, such as a data processor located at main facility 212 of FIG.
1, television distribution facility 28 of FIG. 1, or any other suitable facility or facilities.
As showri in FIG. 4, television distributiori facility 28, main facility 22, or both may be provided with advertisement transmission monitors 92 and 93 to monitor each advertisement as it is transmitted from main facility 22 to television distribution facility 28 and as it is transmitted from television distribution facility 28 to user television equipment 32. This arrangement is advantageous in situations in which, for example, main facility 22 or teievision distrl.bution facility 28 performs tasks associated with analyzing the collected data.
Advertisement distribution may also be monitored using an advertisement reception monitor 94 in the user television equipment 32 of each user.
Advertisemer.t reception monit.or 94 keeps track of which advertisements are received by user television equipment 32.
_ 15 _ Another way in which advertisement usage may be monitored is with advertisement usage monitor 96.
Advertisement usage monitor 96 collects information on which advertisements are dasplayed by the program guide. Advertisement usage monitor. 96 is shown as being part of program guide application 99.. Other suitable usage monitors that may be provided as part of program guide application 98 include screen usage monitor 100 (for collecting information on which screens are visited by the user), viewing activities monitor 102 (for collecting information on which programs the usea: watches), and non-program-guide applications usage monitor 104 (for collecting information on which applications are used by the user ?5 other than the program guide.
If desired, one or more of monitors 96, 100, 102, and 104 may be implemented on user televi.sion equipment 32 fully or partially separate from program guide application 98. Advertisement reception monitor may also be fully or partially incorporated into program guide appl i cation 98 i f desi.red. The arrangement of FIG. 4 is illustrative only. Any other suitable monitor arrangement may be used if desired.
For example, it may not generally be necessary to provide three advertisement monitors (i.e., monitors 92, 94, and 96), oniy one or two suci-i monitorrs may be satisfactory.
When znonitnring usage of ari advertisement, system 20 may col:lect a number of different items of data. An illustrative advertisement usage data structure 106 that may be used by system 20 in ccl?ecting advertisement usage data is shown in FIG. 5.
Data structure 106 preferably contains a unique advertisement identifier 108 for identifying the advertisement to which the data in data structure 106 relates.
If transmission monitors such as advertisement transmission monitors 92 and 93 of FIG. 4 are used, data structure 106 may contain information 110 on whether the advertisement was transmitted correctly from main facility 22 (FIGS. 1 and 4) to television distribution facility 28 (FIGS. 1 and 4) and whether the advertisement was transmitted correctly from television distribution facility 28 (FIGS. 1 and 4) to user television equipment 32 (FIGS. 1 and 4).
If a reception monitor such as advertisement reception monitor 94 of FIG. 4 is used, data structure 106 may contain information 112 on w.kiether the advertisement that was transmitted from television distribution facility 28 (FIGS. 1 and 2) to user television equipment 32 (FIGS. 1 and 2) was received correctly by user television equipment .320 :f an advertisement usage m.onitor such as advertisement usage monitor 96 of FIG. 4 is used, data structure 106 mav contain various data on when and where in the program guide the advertisement was displayed. For example, data structure 106 may contain information 114 on the number of times that the advertisement was displayed. Data structure 106-may also contain information 116 on which program guide screens the advertisement was displayed on. Data structure 106 may contain information 118 on which program guide screens was acti-ve each time the advertisement was selected by the use:. ;s'other type of information that data structure 106 may be provided with is information 120 on the user actions that resulted directly from the user's selection of the advertisement. Informati.on 120 may also include information on actions taken automatically by the program guide. The actions includeci in .i.nformation. 120 may include watching a program, recording a program purchasing a program, etc If desirod the date and time the advertisement or action wad; taken in the program guide may be monitored and appropriate information 122 may be stored in data structure 106.
If system 20 contains a screen usage monitor sucn as screen usage monitor 100 of FIG. 4, the system may mai.nta n data structures such as scree: a usage data szructure 124 of FIG. 6. Data structure 124 may include information 126 that uniquely identifies the interactive television program guide screen viewed by the user. Data structure 124 may also contain information 128 on the frequency with which the program guide screen is displayed. Information 130 may be provided in data structure 124 cn the dura--ion for which the screen is displayed. --f desired, information 132 may be provided in data structure 124 on how the user arrived at the screen ( e. g., which menu options were selected to allow the user to navigate through the program guide to the screen)., Data struc-0mure 124 may also include information 134 on whicrt actions the user takes from the screen.
If system 20 contains a viewing activities monitor such as viewing activities monitor 102 of FIG.
4, the system may mai.ntain data structures such as:
viewing activities data structure 136 of FIG. 7 to keep track of the programs that each viewer watches. Data structure 136 preferably contains a program identifier 138 for unique? yidentifying the prograsn watched by the user. Data structure 136 may also contaira information 140 on whether the user interacts with the program guide while the program is displayed. If the user is not interacting with the program guide, then it is possible that the user has left the room and is no longer watching the program. The time elapsed from the last user interaction may be used by the program guide in evaluating ratings for v-arious programs. Another type of information that may be included in data structure 136 relates to informatioia on whether the user has blocked the audio or video of the program that is being displayed. This also indicates that the user is not actively watching the program. Iinforxnat.ion on blocked audio or video may 4-nclude infonirtation 142 on whether the user has invoked an audio mute function or information 144 on whether any screen overlays are present while the program is displayed.
If syscem, 20 contains a non-program-guide monitor such as non-program-guide monitor 104 of FIG.
4, the system may maintain data structures such as non-program-guide application data structure 146 of FIG. 8 to keep track of which non-p,rogram-gui.de applications are used Examples of such non-program-guide applicatioras include set-top based video gagnes home shoppirg applications, web browser a;pplicati.ons, home bankirig applications etc. Data striacture 146 preferably contains a non-program-gu:ide application ;dentifier 148 that uniquely identifies which nora-program-guide application is being used. Data structure 146 may also include information 150 on how the user invokes the application (e.g., whether or not the user invokes the nora-program-guide application from the program guide, which program guilde screen the user invokes the application from, etc.) Information 152 may also be included in data. structure 1.46 on the amount of use of 'the non-program-guide application.
Data structures such as data structure 106, data structure 12.1, data structure 136, and data structure 146 may be collected in various locations within system 20 and may be distributed and maintained in various locations within system 20. For example, such data structures may be collected in whole or in part in user television equipment 32 (FZGS. 1 and 2) and passed to television distribution facility 28 or other suitable data processing facility for analysis.
.~I.nother suitable location for data pr,ocessing is main facility 22 or a separate data processing facility.
After the collected data is processed, the results may be used at any suitable locations within system 20, such as at ir.ain facil.ity 22, television d:Lst_ibution facility 28, or user television equipxnent 32.
Steps involved in monitoring various activities with system 20 are shown in FIG. 9. Steps 154 involve information collection. Steps 156 involve data analysis. Steps 158 involve using the results,of the data analysis. Although shown in FZG.. 9 as steps that may be performed successively, steps 154, 156, and 158 and their substeps may be performed (in whole or in part) in any suitable order or concurrently if desired.
Moreover, these steps are only illustrative, any other i~formatian collection, data analysis, and data analysis usage steps may be perforrned by system 20 if desired At step 160 information on advertisement usage is collected (e.g., by one oz: more advertisement monitors such as advertisement monitors 92, 94, and 96 of FIGa 4) m At step 162, information on the userea use of various program guide screens is collected At step 164, information is collected on the viewing activities of the user (e e g., which progratns the user watches and what audio and video blocking functions are used). At step 166, information is collected on the non-program-guide applications run by the user At step 168, the collected information is used to determine the relative value of vari us advertisements and various program guide screens. For example, if it is determined that users very frequently view a particular program guide screen and often select advertisements that appear on that particular screen it can be concluded that that particular program guide screen is a valutable location to place at3vertisements within the progrsrrn guide. If it is determined that a certain advertisemer.t is selected frequently regardless of its location tqithin the program guide, it may be concluded that that type of advertisement is effecta.ve At step 170, the information collected in step 154 is used to generate real-ti:,ne ratings such as real-time ratings of how popular (or unpopular) certain television programs are or real-time ratinas indicating which non-prograr,-guicie appl.ications such as video games are being used most (or least) often.
At sten 172 information on the relative value of different advertising locations determined at step 168 may be used in modifying various advertising promotions. Information on the relative values of advertising locations may also be used to generate advertising rates for sales personnel to use in selling advertisements. If desired, information on the value of different program guide locations may be used to automatically charge advertisers fees that are proportional in some respect to the value received when advertisements are placed in various locations Information on the value of advertising locations within the guide may also be used in redesigning guides to maximice advertising effecta.veness. Information on a particular aavertisement's effectiveness may be used to design other advertisements of the same type.
At step 174, the weal--time ratings information generated at step 170 msy be distributed to user television equipment 32 and displayed (e..g: on each user s television 38). Real-time ratings information rnay include information on w:hich programs are being watched or which video games or other applications are being used.
Real-time ratings may be pdovided to users at user television equipment 32 for display on television 38 in real time. F.n illustrative real-time ratings program guide screen 176 is shown in FIG. 10a. The user may direct the program guide to display screeri 176 by pressing a suitable remote control button or.
selecting a suitable menu option. The program guide may also provide real-time ratings information to the user automaticali.y. Screen 176 con;.ains title 178, real-time ratings information 180, options buttors 182, and cancel button 183 (for cancelling screen 176). xn the example of FIG. 10a, screen 176 is shown as displaying information related to the current top five programs in the nation. By selecting options button 182, the user may be provided with suitable opportunities to direct the program guide to display other types of real-time ratings inforniation.
If desired, the program guide may provide a movable highliglit region such as highlight region 185.
The user may use highlight region to select a program of interest fror,.i the programs .listed on real-time ratings screen 3.76. The program guide may provide the user with an opportunity to take vaarious actions with respect to the selected program. 1?or example, the program guide may allow the user to set a reminder for the selected program The program guide may also allow the user to purchase the selected program if the selected program is a pay-per-view program. If desired, the program guide may provide the user with an opportunity to set up a recording of the selected program. Steps involved in this process are shown in mmG. lOb. At step 187 the program guide provides the user with an opportunity to select a desired listing (e.g., a program). At step 189, after tl-ae user has selected a 1ist.i;-ig, the program guide provides the user with an opportunity to take an action in the program guide, e.g., to set a reminder for a procrram, to purchase a pay-per-view program, or to record a program.
The real-time ratings screen may be presented as a full screen or as a partial screen overlay le.g., over a television program that the user is watching).
Steps involved in handlinig real-time ratings information are shown in FIG. 11. At step 184 system 20 collects realT-time ratings information (e.g., by monitoring the viewing activities of the user with viewing activities monitor 102) Col3ecting the ratings information typically i.nvolires the use of a data processor, vrhich may be located at <mai.n facility 22, television distribution facility 2II or other suitable data processing facility. At step 18.6 the real-time ratings information may be displayed (by the program guide or other suitable appl.icat:ion or passively on a special television channel) on user television equipment 32 usirig a screen such as real-time ratings screen 176 of FIG. 10a or aray other suitable display format.
When the user selects options button 182, the user is provided with opportunities to select the type of real-time ratzngs information that the user desires to view. For example, at step 188 the user is provided with an opportunity to select the geographi.c, area for which real-time ratings information is desired. The user may direct the program guide to display real-time ratings information for the natio:a for a state, for a metropolitan area,, a city or town or any other suitable geographic aream A-L step 190 an opportunity is provided for the user to select a programming genre or aenres of interest (eo g m, sports, movies comedy, etc.)o Ib the user selects the genre sports real-time ratings for sports-=rel.ated programs may be displayed on screen 176 of FIC3. l0a. If the user selects the genres movies and comedy, the top. five comedy movies :iay be displayed on rea.l-time ratings screen 176 of FIG. 10a. At step .192, an opportunity is provided for the user to define a su itable time frame for the real-time ratings. For example, the user may opt to have real-time ratirigs displayed for programs during the last hour, programs for the current evening, programs for the current week, or programs being aired at that instant, etc. These time frames are illustrative and any other suitable time frames or combination of time frames rnay be used if desir'ed. At step 194, the user is provided with an opportunity to select the type of ratings that the user wishes to view. For example, the user may opt to have real-time ratings information displayed for television programs (e.g., the top five movies being viewed on television this evening in the nation) . The user sriay also opt to have real-time ratings information displayed for set-top applications such as video games (e.g., the top five video games being played in the metropolitan area at this instant) . These are only illustrative examples of the types of ratings information that may be displayed. Any other suitable ratings information may be displayed if desi.red After the user has selected from the options presented at steps 188, 190, 192, and 194, real-time ratings informats.on is displayed again at:. step 186.
Although the opportunities provided in steps 188, 190, 192, and 194 are preferably opportunities that are provided by the interactive program guide implemented on user television equipment 32, these steps may be provided using any other suitable application implemented on user television erruipnient 32 or system 20 if desired. Moreover, steps 288, 190, 192, and 194 are merely iliusti:ative examples of the t: e of conf i guration opt :~ons that may be provided to the user.
Any other suitabli: configuration options for the real-time ratings feature may be provided if d.esi.red The program guide may support multiple user profiles. For exEimple, each user may set up a profile with a different set of favorite chaianels. The program guide may ascertain which users are watching a given program by determining which profiles are currently active. Steps involved in monitorinc; the viewing activities of users in a system with multiple user profiles are showr, in FIG. I'd'.. At st:ep 196, the program guide allows the users to set: up multiple user nrofi?es. At step 198 the program guide collects information for each of the active profiles The ir:formation collection processes that are used during step 198 may be run concurrently. At step 200 the collected information for the monitored profi.les is processed. If multiple profiles were active the system can use this information to determine the probable number of viewers for a televisio.n program.
For example, if three profiles were active dura.ng a given program, the system may conclude that there were at least three viewers for the progralii. The system can also process the collected information for each monitored profile individually to provide a more detailed picture of the viewexship of the program.
? f necessarv to reduce the amount of data coilected i ra the system, information niay be collected from a subset of u.sers Znformation rriay also be collected from the user television eauipment 32 of substantially all of the users in system 20 if it is desired to provide the most accurzite usage data possible. Data collected by each user's-user television equipment 32 may be uploaded to a central data processing location periodical.ly. For example data uploading iiiay be performed over a cable return path such as link 34 or a telephone modem line, or other suitable crommunications path. Data collection may be based on a polling cycle in which each user's user television equipment is periodically polled for the data to be c.ollected. Data may also be transmitted from user television equipment 32 unsolicited at regular interrral.s. I f desired, information confirming the successful transmission of the data being collected may be collected from each user's user television equipment 32 at regular intervals.
The amount of data handled by the system may be reduced by filtering out less important data at suitable stages during the data collection and data analysis processes. Steps involved in data filtering are shown in FIG. 13. At step 202, data of interest is collected at user television equipment -32. At step 204, less i:r.portant data is filtered from the data collected at step 202. Step 204 may be. perforr.:ed at user television equipment 32 prior to data transmission. At step 206, the data is conveyed to a data processing facility, which may be for example, one of television distribution faci'ities 28, main facility 22, or other suitable facility. At step 208, additional data is filtered out of the collected data at the data processing faci'ity.
Filter:ing may be performed at iiser television equipment 32 (as in step 204) using a fi:lter such as filter 210 in user television equipment 32 of FIG. 14.
Filtering may also be performed using a filter 212 at a data processing facility 214 as shown in FIG. 14 (as in step 208). If desired, filtering may be performed at any other suitable location, or at a combination of such locations.
As shown in FIG. 15, a suitable data collection filter 216 may.involve the use of a filter 218 that is based on specific adverti.serrients or actions to be collected. This arrangement allows inf:ormation for only a particular advertisement or set of advertisements to be collected by the system. It also alloWs information for only a particular action (e.c:{., the purchasing of a product or ordering of a pay-per-view program) to be collected by the system. Data collection filter 216 may in addition or alternatively be based on a filter 220 that is based on user demographic information. This arrangement allows information to be collected for only certain demographic attr.ibutes, such as users with a certain income leve1:- etc.
The demographic attributes on which the operation of filter 220 is based may be automatically calculated by the program guide. A program guicie with the capacit:y for handling advertisements based on automatic demographics information is described in Kraee et al. European patent No. 1078525 granted on September 2.5, 2002.
The forego.irig is merely illustrative of the principles of this an-~rention and various modifications can be made by t~.hose skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventi nm
Program guide screens 52 and 62 of FIG. 2 and program guide scr+rens 74 and 84 are :i1lustrative only.
Any other suitable interactive television program guide screen may be provided in the program guide if desired.
Such program guide screens may or may not include advertisements and program listings.
In order to measure the effectiveness of certain advertisementsa system 20 may monitor how 30 advertisements aae distributed to user television equipment 32. System 20 may also monitor the location in the procran: au :de where the advertisements are 1~ ~
displayed and may monitor how often advertisements are displayed. SystenB 20 may also monitor usage of various program guide screens (even if no advertisements are present). If desired, information oin the user P s viewing activities may be monitored. 7'hf: program guide may also collect information on which nora-program--guide applications the user runs. Any other suitable type of information on the user's activities or use of the proaram guide may be monitored if desired. The data that is collected on the user s activities may be analyzed at any stiitable data processing facility, such as a data processor located at main facility 212 of FIG.
1, television distribution facility 28 of FIG. 1, or any other suitable facility or facilities.
As showri in FIG. 4, television distributiori facility 28, main facility 22, or both may be provided with advertisement transmission monitors 92 and 93 to monitor each advertisement as it is transmitted from main facility 22 to television distribution facility 28 and as it is transmitted from television distribution facility 28 to user television equipment 32. This arrangement is advantageous in situations in which, for example, main facility 22 or teievision distrl.bution facility 28 performs tasks associated with analyzing the collected data.
Advertisement distribution may also be monitored using an advertisement reception monitor 94 in the user television equipment 32 of each user.
Advertisemer.t reception monit.or 94 keeps track of which advertisements are received by user television equipment 32.
_ 15 _ Another way in which advertisement usage may be monitored is with advertisement usage monitor 96.
Advertisement usage monitor 96 collects information on which advertisements are dasplayed by the program guide. Advertisement usage monitor. 96 is shown as being part of program guide application 99.. Other suitable usage monitors that may be provided as part of program guide application 98 include screen usage monitor 100 (for collecting information on which screens are visited by the user), viewing activities monitor 102 (for collecting information on which programs the usea: watches), and non-program-guide applications usage monitor 104 (for collecting information on which applications are used by the user ?5 other than the program guide.
If desired, one or more of monitors 96, 100, 102, and 104 may be implemented on user televi.sion equipment 32 fully or partially separate from program guide application 98. Advertisement reception monitor may also be fully or partially incorporated into program guide appl i cation 98 i f desi.red. The arrangement of FIG. 4 is illustrative only. Any other suitable monitor arrangement may be used if desired.
For example, it may not generally be necessary to provide three advertisement monitors (i.e., monitors 92, 94, and 96), oniy one or two suci-i monitorrs may be satisfactory.
When znonitnring usage of ari advertisement, system 20 may col:lect a number of different items of data. An illustrative advertisement usage data structure 106 that may be used by system 20 in ccl?ecting advertisement usage data is shown in FIG. 5.
Data structure 106 preferably contains a unique advertisement identifier 108 for identifying the advertisement to which the data in data structure 106 relates.
If transmission monitors such as advertisement transmission monitors 92 and 93 of FIG. 4 are used, data structure 106 may contain information 110 on whether the advertisement was transmitted correctly from main facility 22 (FIGS. 1 and 4) to television distribution facility 28 (FIGS. 1 and 4) and whether the advertisement was transmitted correctly from television distribution facility 28 (FIGS. 1 and 4) to user television equipment 32 (FIGS. 1 and 4).
If a reception monitor such as advertisement reception monitor 94 of FIG. 4 is used, data structure 106 may contain information 112 on w.kiether the advertisement that was transmitted from television distribution facility 28 (FIGS. 1 and 2) to user television equipment 32 (FIGS. 1 and 2) was received correctly by user television equipment .320 :f an advertisement usage m.onitor such as advertisement usage monitor 96 of FIG. 4 is used, data structure 106 mav contain various data on when and where in the program guide the advertisement was displayed. For example, data structure 106 may contain information 114 on the number of times that the advertisement was displayed. Data structure 106-may also contain information 116 on which program guide screens the advertisement was displayed on. Data structure 106 may contain information 118 on which program guide screens was acti-ve each time the advertisement was selected by the use:. ;s'other type of information that data structure 106 may be provided with is information 120 on the user actions that resulted directly from the user's selection of the advertisement. Informati.on 120 may also include information on actions taken automatically by the program guide. The actions includeci in .i.nformation. 120 may include watching a program, recording a program purchasing a program, etc If desirod the date and time the advertisement or action wad; taken in the program guide may be monitored and appropriate information 122 may be stored in data structure 106.
If system 20 contains a screen usage monitor sucn as screen usage monitor 100 of FIG. 4, the system may mai.nta n data structures such as scree: a usage data szructure 124 of FIG. 6. Data structure 124 may include information 126 that uniquely identifies the interactive television program guide screen viewed by the user. Data structure 124 may also contain information 128 on the frequency with which the program guide screen is displayed. Information 130 may be provided in data structure 124 cn the dura--ion for which the screen is displayed. --f desired, information 132 may be provided in data structure 124 on how the user arrived at the screen ( e. g., which menu options were selected to allow the user to navigate through the program guide to the screen)., Data struc-0mure 124 may also include information 134 on whicrt actions the user takes from the screen.
If system 20 contains a viewing activities monitor such as viewing activities monitor 102 of FIG.
4, the system may mai.ntain data structures such as:
viewing activities data structure 136 of FIG. 7 to keep track of the programs that each viewer watches. Data structure 136 preferably contains a program identifier 138 for unique? yidentifying the prograsn watched by the user. Data structure 136 may also contaira information 140 on whether the user interacts with the program guide while the program is displayed. If the user is not interacting with the program guide, then it is possible that the user has left the room and is no longer watching the program. The time elapsed from the last user interaction may be used by the program guide in evaluating ratings for v-arious programs. Another type of information that may be included in data structure 136 relates to informatioia on whether the user has blocked the audio or video of the program that is being displayed. This also indicates that the user is not actively watching the program. Iinforxnat.ion on blocked audio or video may 4-nclude infonirtation 142 on whether the user has invoked an audio mute function or information 144 on whether any screen overlays are present while the program is displayed.
If syscem, 20 contains a non-program-guide monitor such as non-program-guide monitor 104 of FIG.
4, the system may maintain data structures such as non-program-guide application data structure 146 of FIG. 8 to keep track of which non-p,rogram-gui.de applications are used Examples of such non-program-guide applicatioras include set-top based video gagnes home shoppirg applications, web browser a;pplicati.ons, home bankirig applications etc. Data striacture 146 preferably contains a non-program-gu:ide application ;dentifier 148 that uniquely identifies which nora-program-guide application is being used. Data structure 146 may also include information 150 on how the user invokes the application (e.g., whether or not the user invokes the nora-program-guide application from the program guide, which program guilde screen the user invokes the application from, etc.) Information 152 may also be included in data. structure 1.46 on the amount of use of 'the non-program-guide application.
Data structures such as data structure 106, data structure 12.1, data structure 136, and data structure 146 may be collected in various locations within system 20 and may be distributed and maintained in various locations within system 20. For example, such data structures may be collected in whole or in part in user television equipment 32 (FZGS. 1 and 2) and passed to television distribution facility 28 or other suitable data processing facility for analysis.
.~I.nother suitable location for data pr,ocessing is main facility 22 or a separate data processing facility.
After the collected data is processed, the results may be used at any suitable locations within system 20, such as at ir.ain facil.ity 22, television d:Lst_ibution facility 28, or user television equipxnent 32.
Steps involved in monitoring various activities with system 20 are shown in FIG. 9. Steps 154 involve information collection. Steps 156 involve data analysis. Steps 158 involve using the results,of the data analysis. Although shown in FZG.. 9 as steps that may be performed successively, steps 154, 156, and 158 and their substeps may be performed (in whole or in part) in any suitable order or concurrently if desired.
Moreover, these steps are only illustrative, any other i~formatian collection, data analysis, and data analysis usage steps may be perforrned by system 20 if desired At step 160 information on advertisement usage is collected (e.g., by one oz: more advertisement monitors such as advertisement monitors 92, 94, and 96 of FIGa 4) m At step 162, information on the userea use of various program guide screens is collected At step 164, information is collected on the viewing activities of the user (e e g., which progratns the user watches and what audio and video blocking functions are used). At step 166, information is collected on the non-program-guide applications run by the user At step 168, the collected information is used to determine the relative value of vari us advertisements and various program guide screens. For example, if it is determined that users very frequently view a particular program guide screen and often select advertisements that appear on that particular screen it can be concluded that that particular program guide screen is a valutable location to place at3vertisements within the progrsrrn guide. If it is determined that a certain advertisemer.t is selected frequently regardless of its location tqithin the program guide, it may be concluded that that type of advertisement is effecta.ve At step 170, the information collected in step 154 is used to generate real-ti:,ne ratings such as real-time ratings of how popular (or unpopular) certain television programs are or real-time ratinas indicating which non-prograr,-guicie appl.ications such as video games are being used most (or least) often.
At sten 172 information on the relative value of different advertising locations determined at step 168 may be used in modifying various advertising promotions. Information on the relative values of advertising locations may also be used to generate advertising rates for sales personnel to use in selling advertisements. If desired, information on the value of different program guide locations may be used to automatically charge advertisers fees that are proportional in some respect to the value received when advertisements are placed in various locations Information on the value of advertising locations within the guide may also be used in redesigning guides to maximice advertising effecta.veness. Information on a particular aavertisement's effectiveness may be used to design other advertisements of the same type.
At step 174, the weal--time ratings information generated at step 170 msy be distributed to user television equipment 32 and displayed (e..g: on each user s television 38). Real-time ratings information rnay include information on w:hich programs are being watched or which video games or other applications are being used.
Real-time ratings may be pdovided to users at user television equipment 32 for display on television 38 in real time. F.n illustrative real-time ratings program guide screen 176 is shown in FIG. 10a. The user may direct the program guide to display screeri 176 by pressing a suitable remote control button or.
selecting a suitable menu option. The program guide may also provide real-time ratings information to the user automaticali.y. Screen 176 con;.ains title 178, real-time ratings information 180, options buttors 182, and cancel button 183 (for cancelling screen 176). xn the example of FIG. 10a, screen 176 is shown as displaying information related to the current top five programs in the nation. By selecting options button 182, the user may be provided with suitable opportunities to direct the program guide to display other types of real-time ratings inforniation.
If desired, the program guide may provide a movable highliglit region such as highlight region 185.
The user may use highlight region to select a program of interest fror,.i the programs .listed on real-time ratings screen 3.76. The program guide may provide the user with an opportunity to take vaarious actions with respect to the selected program. 1?or example, the program guide may allow the user to set a reminder for the selected program The program guide may also allow the user to purchase the selected program if the selected program is a pay-per-view program. If desired, the program guide may provide the user with an opportunity to set up a recording of the selected program. Steps involved in this process are shown in mmG. lOb. At step 187 the program guide provides the user with an opportunity to select a desired listing (e.g., a program). At step 189, after tl-ae user has selected a 1ist.i;-ig, the program guide provides the user with an opportunity to take an action in the program guide, e.g., to set a reminder for a procrram, to purchase a pay-per-view program, or to record a program.
The real-time ratings screen may be presented as a full screen or as a partial screen overlay le.g., over a television program that the user is watching).
Steps involved in handlinig real-time ratings information are shown in FIG. 11. At step 184 system 20 collects realT-time ratings information (e.g., by monitoring the viewing activities of the user with viewing activities monitor 102) Col3ecting the ratings information typically i.nvolires the use of a data processor, vrhich may be located at <mai.n facility 22, television distribution facility 2II or other suitable data processing facility. At step 18.6 the real-time ratings information may be displayed (by the program guide or other suitable appl.icat:ion or passively on a special television channel) on user television equipment 32 usirig a screen such as real-time ratings screen 176 of FIG. 10a or aray other suitable display format.
When the user selects options button 182, the user is provided with opportunities to select the type of real-time ratzngs information that the user desires to view. For example, at step 188 the user is provided with an opportunity to select the geographi.c, area for which real-time ratings information is desired. The user may direct the program guide to display real-time ratings information for the natio:a for a state, for a metropolitan area,, a city or town or any other suitable geographic aream A-L step 190 an opportunity is provided for the user to select a programming genre or aenres of interest (eo g m, sports, movies comedy, etc.)o Ib the user selects the genre sports real-time ratings for sports-=rel.ated programs may be displayed on screen 176 of FIC3. l0a. If the user selects the genres movies and comedy, the top. five comedy movies :iay be displayed on rea.l-time ratings screen 176 of FIG. 10a. At step .192, an opportunity is provided for the user to define a su itable time frame for the real-time ratings. For example, the user may opt to have real-time ratirigs displayed for programs during the last hour, programs for the current evening, programs for the current week, or programs being aired at that instant, etc. These time frames are illustrative and any other suitable time frames or combination of time frames rnay be used if desir'ed. At step 194, the user is provided with an opportunity to select the type of ratings that the user wishes to view. For example, the user may opt to have real-time ratings information displayed for television programs (e.g., the top five movies being viewed on television this evening in the nation) . The user sriay also opt to have real-time ratings information displayed for set-top applications such as video games (e.g., the top five video games being played in the metropolitan area at this instant) . These are only illustrative examples of the types of ratings information that may be displayed. Any other suitable ratings information may be displayed if desi.red After the user has selected from the options presented at steps 188, 190, 192, and 194, real-time ratings informats.on is displayed again at:. step 186.
Although the opportunities provided in steps 188, 190, 192, and 194 are preferably opportunities that are provided by the interactive program guide implemented on user television equipment 32, these steps may be provided using any other suitable application implemented on user television erruipnient 32 or system 20 if desired. Moreover, steps 288, 190, 192, and 194 are merely iliusti:ative examples of the t: e of conf i guration opt :~ons that may be provided to the user.
Any other suitabli: configuration options for the real-time ratings feature may be provided if d.esi.red The program guide may support multiple user profiles. For exEimple, each user may set up a profile with a different set of favorite chaianels. The program guide may ascertain which users are watching a given program by determining which profiles are currently active. Steps involved in monitorinc; the viewing activities of users in a system with multiple user profiles are showr, in FIG. I'd'.. At st:ep 196, the program guide allows the users to set: up multiple user nrofi?es. At step 198 the program guide collects information for each of the active profiles The ir:formation collection processes that are used during step 198 may be run concurrently. At step 200 the collected information for the monitored profi.les is processed. If multiple profiles were active the system can use this information to determine the probable number of viewers for a televisio.n program.
For example, if three profiles were active dura.ng a given program, the system may conclude that there were at least three viewers for the progralii. The system can also process the collected information for each monitored profile individually to provide a more detailed picture of the viewexship of the program.
? f necessarv to reduce the amount of data coilected i ra the system, information niay be collected from a subset of u.sers Znformation rriay also be collected from the user television eauipment 32 of substantially all of the users in system 20 if it is desired to provide the most accurzite usage data possible. Data collected by each user's-user television equipment 32 may be uploaded to a central data processing location periodical.ly. For example data uploading iiiay be performed over a cable return path such as link 34 or a telephone modem line, or other suitable crommunications path. Data collection may be based on a polling cycle in which each user's user television equipment is periodically polled for the data to be c.ollected. Data may also be transmitted from user television equipment 32 unsolicited at regular interrral.s. I f desired, information confirming the successful transmission of the data being collected may be collected from each user's user television equipment 32 at regular intervals.
The amount of data handled by the system may be reduced by filtering out less important data at suitable stages during the data collection and data analysis processes. Steps involved in data filtering are shown in FIG. 13. At step 202, data of interest is collected at user television equipment -32. At step 204, less i:r.portant data is filtered from the data collected at step 202. Step 204 may be. perforr.:ed at user television equipment 32 prior to data transmission. At step 206, the data is conveyed to a data processing facility, which may be for example, one of television distribution faci'ities 28, main facility 22, or other suitable facility. At step 208, additional data is filtered out of the collected data at the data processing faci'ity.
Filter:ing may be performed at iiser television equipment 32 (as in step 204) using a fi:lter such as filter 210 in user television equipment 32 of FIG. 14.
Filtering may also be performed using a filter 212 at a data processing facility 214 as shown in FIG. 14 (as in step 208). If desired, filtering may be performed at any other suitable location, or at a combination of such locations.
As shown in FIG. 15, a suitable data collection filter 216 may.involve the use of a filter 218 that is based on specific adverti.serrients or actions to be collected. This arrangement allows inf:ormation for only a particular advertisement or set of advertisements to be collected by the system. It also alloWs information for only a particular action (e.c:{., the purchasing of a product or ordering of a pay-per-view program) to be collected by the system. Data collection filter 216 may in addition or alternatively be based on a filter 220 that is based on user demographic information. This arrangement allows information to be collected for only certain demographic attr.ibutes, such as users with a certain income leve1:- etc.
The demographic attributes on which the operation of filter 220 is based may be automatically calculated by the program guide. A program guicie with the capacit:y for handling advertisements based on automatic demographics information is described in Kraee et al. European patent No. 1078525 granted on September 2.5, 2002.
The forego.irig is merely illustrative of the principles of this an-~rention and various modifications can be made by t~.hose skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventi nm
Claims (46)
1. A system for providing real-time ratings information on the popularity of monitored activities to users of user equipment platforms, comprising:
means for monitoring user viewing activities at a plurality of user equipment platforms;
means for collecting data at a central facility in response to the means for monitoring of the user viewing activities at the plurality of user equipment platforms;
means for generating real-time ratings information based on the collected data, wherein the means for generating the real-time ratings information comprises means for determining the popularity of the monitored activities;
and means for displaying the real-time ratings information on a display screen of at least one of the plurality of user equipment platforms in real time.
means for monitoring user viewing activities at a plurality of user equipment platforms;
means for collecting data at a central facility in response to the means for monitoring of the user viewing activities at the plurality of user equipment platforms;
means for generating real-time ratings information based on the collected data, wherein the means for generating the real-time ratings information comprises means for determining the popularity of the monitored activities;
and means for displaying the real-time ratings information on a display screen of at least one of the plurality of user equipment platforms in real time.
2. The system defined in claim 1 further comprising means for defining a time frame for the displayed real-time ratings information.
3. The system defined in claim 2 wherein the means for defining the time frame comprises means for defining a time frame of a particular hour for the displayed real-time ratings information.
4. The system defined in claim 2 wherein the means for defining the time frame comprises means for defining a time frame of a particular evening for the displayed real-time ratings information.
5. The system defined in claim 2 wherein the means for defining the time frame comprises means for defining a time frame of a particular day for the displayed real-time ratings information.
6. The system defined in claim 2 wherein the means for defining the time frame comprises means for defining a time frame of a particular week for the displayed real-time ratings information.
7. The system defined in claim 2 wherein the means for defining the time frame comprises means for defining a time frame of a particular instant for the displayed real-time ratings information.
8. The system defined in claim 1 further comprising means for selecting a geographic area in order to display real-time ratings information for the selected geographic area.
9. The system defined in claim 1 further comprising means for selecting a genre in order to display real-time ratings information for the selected genre.
10. The system defined in claim 1 further comprising means for selecting whether to display real-time ratings information for television programs.
11. The system defined in claim 1 further comprising means for selecting whether to display real-time ratings information for applications.
12. The system defined in claim 1 further comprising means for selecting whether to display real-time ratings information for non-program-guide applications.
13. The system defined in claim 1 further comprising means for selecting whether to display real-time ratings information for video games.
14. The system defined in claim 1 wherein the means for displaying the real-time ratings information comprises means for displaying real-time television program ratings information.
15. The system defined in claim 1 wherein the means for displaying the real-time ratings information comprises means for displaying real-time video game ratings information.
16. The system defined in claim 1 wherein the means for displaying the real-time ratings information comprises means for displaying real-time ratings information for a time period of a particular evening.
17. The system defined in claim 1 wherein the means for displaying the real-time ratings information comprises means for displaying real-time ratings information for a time period of a particular instant.
18. The system defined in claim 1 further comprising means for allowing each user to select which type of real-time ratings information is displayed.
19. The system defined in claim 1 wherein the means for monitoring data on user viewing activities comprises means for monitoring information on whether a muting function is used when certain programs are watched.
20. The system defined in claim 1 wherein the means for monitoring data on user viewing activities comprises means for monitoring information on whether any portion of the video of a program is blocked as that program is watched.
21. The system defined in claim 1 wherein the real-time ratings information comprises a list of programs, the system further comprising means for selecting one of the programs to purchase.
22. The system defined in claim 1 wherein the real-time ratings information comprises a list of programs, the system further comprising means for selecting one of the programs to set a reminder for that program.
23. The system defined in claim 1 wherein the real-time ratings information comprises a list of programs, the system further comprising means for selecting one of the programs to record.
24. A method for providing real-time ratings information on the popularity of monitored activities to users of user equipment platforms, comprising the steps of:
monitoring user viewing activities at a plurality of user equipment platforms;
collecting data at a central facility in response to the monitoring of the user viewing activities at the plurality of user equipment platforms;
generating real-time ratings information based on the collected data, wherein generating the real-time ratings information comprises determining the popularity of the monitored activities; and displaying the real-time ratings information on a display screen of at least one of the plurality of user equipment platforms in real time.
monitoring user viewing activities at a plurality of user equipment platforms;
collecting data at a central facility in response to the monitoring of the user viewing activities at the plurality of user equipment platforms;
generating real-time ratings information based on the collected data, wherein generating the real-time ratings information comprises determining the popularity of the monitored activities; and displaying the real-time ratings information on a display screen of at least one of the plurality of user equipment platforms in real time.
25. The method defined in claim 24 further comprising the step of defining a time frame for the displayed real-time ratings information.
26. The method defined in claim 25 wherein the step of defining the time frame for the displayed real-time ratings information comprises the step of defining a time frame of a particular hour for the real-time ratings information.
27. The method defined in claim 25 wherein the step of defining the time frame for the displayed real-time ratings information comprises the step of defining a time frame of a particular evening for the real-time ratings information.
28. The method defined in claim 25 wherein the step of defining the time frame for the displayed real-time ratings information comprises the step of defining a time frame of a particular day for the real-time ratings information.
29. The method defined in claim 25 wherein the step of defining the time frame for the displayed real-time ratings information comprises the step of defining a time frame of a particular week for the real-time ratings information.
30. The method defined in claim 25 wherein the step of defining the time frame for the displayed real-time ratings information comprises the step of defining a time frame of a particular instant for the real-time ratings information.
31. The method defined in claim 24 further comprising the step of selecting a geographic area in order to display real-time ratings information for the selected geographic area.
32. The method defined in claim 24 further comprising the step of selecting a genre in order to display real-time ratings information for the selected genre.
33. The method defined in claim 24 further comprising the step of selecting whether to display real-time ratings information for television programs.
34. The method defined in claim 24 further comprising the step of selecting whether to display real-time ratings information for applications.
35. The method defined in claim 24 further comprising the step of selecting whether to display real-time ratings information for non-program-guide applications.
36. The method defined in claim 24 further comprising the step of selecting whether to display real-time ratings information for video games.
37. The method defined in claim 24 wherein the step of displaying the real-time ratings information comprises the step of displaying real-time television program ratings information.
38. The method defined in claim 24 wherein the step of displaying the real-time ratings information comprises the step of displaying real-time video game ratings information.
39. The method defined in claim 24 wherein the step of displaying the real-time ratings information comprises the step of displaying real-time ratings information for a time period of a particular evening.
40. The method defined in claim 24 wherein the step of displaying the real-time ratings information comprises the step of displaying real-time ratings information for a time period of a particular instant.
41. The method defined in claim 24 further comprising the step of allowing each user to select which type of real-time ratings information is displayed.
42. The method defined in claim 24 wherein the step of monitoring user viewing activities comprises the step of monitoring information on whether a muting function is used when certain programs are watched.
43. The method defined in claim 24 wherein the step of monitoring user viewing activities comprises the step of monitoring information on whether any portion of the video of a program is blocked as that program is being watched.
44. The method defined in claim 24 wherein the real-time ratings information comprises a list of programs, the method further comprising the step of selecting one of the programs to purchase.
45. The method defined in claim 24 wherein the real-time ratings information comprises a list of programs, the method further comprising the step of selecting one of the programs to set a reminder for that program.
46. The method defined in claim 24 wherein the real-time ratings information comprises a list of programs, the method further comprising the step of selecting one of the programs to record.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002632667A CA2632667A1 (en) | 1998-03-04 | 1999-02-25 | Program guide system with monitoring of advertisement usage and user activities |
Applications Claiming Priority (7)
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|---|---|---|---|
| US3493998A | 1998-03-04 | 1998-03-04 | |
| US09/034,939 | 1998-03-04 | ||
| US8560798P | 1998-05-15 | 1998-05-15 | |
| US60/085,607 | 1998-05-15 | ||
| US13979898A | 1998-08-25 | 1998-08-25 | |
| US09/139,798 | 1998-08-25 | ||
| CA002322536A CA2322536A1 (en) | 1998-03-04 | 1999-02-25 | Program guide system with monitoring of advertisement usage and user activities |
Related Parent Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002322536A Division CA2322536A1 (en) | 1998-03-04 | 1999-02-25 | Program guide system with monitoring of advertisement usage and user activities |
Related Child Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002632667A Division CA2632667A1 (en) | 1998-03-04 | 1999-02-25 | Program guide system with monitoring of advertisement usage and user activities |
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| CA2454011A1 CA2454011A1 (en) | 1999-09-10 |
| CA2454011C true CA2454011C (en) | 2008-09-02 |
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| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002454011A Expired - Lifetime CA2454011C (en) | 1998-03-04 | 1999-02-25 | Program guide system with monitoring of advertisement usage and user activities |
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|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2454011C (en) |
Cited By (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US8613024B2 (en) | 2005-12-13 | 2013-12-17 | United Video Properties, Inc. | Cross-platform predictive popularity ratings for use in interactive television applications |
| US9191722B2 (en) | 1997-07-21 | 2015-11-17 | Rovi Guides, Inc. | System and method for modifying advertisement responsive to EPG information |
| US9319735B2 (en) | 1995-06-07 | 2016-04-19 | Rovi Guides, Inc. | Electronic television program guide schedule system and method with data feed access |
| US9426509B2 (en) | 1998-08-21 | 2016-08-23 | Rovi Guides, Inc. | Client-server electronic program guide |
Families Citing this family (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US7801888B2 (en) | 2007-03-09 | 2010-09-21 | Microsoft Corporation | Media content search results ranked by popularity |
| US11663628B2 (en) | 2012-05-14 | 2023-05-30 | Iqzone, Inc. | Systems and methods for unobtrusively displaying media content on portable devices |
| US10091549B1 (en) | 2017-03-30 | 2018-10-02 | Rovi Guides, Inc. | Methods and systems for recommending media assets based on the geographic location at which the media assets are frequently consumed |
| WO2021081520A1 (en) | 2019-10-25 | 2021-04-29 | Iqzone, Inc. | Monitoring operating system methods to facilitate unobtrusive display of media content on portable devices |
-
1999
- 1999-02-25 CA CA002454011A patent/CA2454011C/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Cited By (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US9319735B2 (en) | 1995-06-07 | 2016-04-19 | Rovi Guides, Inc. | Electronic television program guide schedule system and method with data feed access |
| US9191722B2 (en) | 1997-07-21 | 2015-11-17 | Rovi Guides, Inc. | System and method for modifying advertisement responsive to EPG information |
| US9426509B2 (en) | 1998-08-21 | 2016-08-23 | Rovi Guides, Inc. | Client-server electronic program guide |
| US8613024B2 (en) | 2005-12-13 | 2013-12-17 | United Video Properties, Inc. | Cross-platform predictive popularity ratings for use in interactive television applications |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| CA2454011A1 (en) | 1999-09-10 |
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