US6286005B1 — Method and apparatus for analyzing data and adver…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 146 words

A computer system comprising: a CPU; a memory coupled to the CPU; a database residing in the memory, the database comprising a plurality of person-by-person media-related records which describe a series of choices and decisions made by an identified sample audience in relation to a media vehicle; a database mining engine residing in the memory and being executed by the CPU; and a scoring mechanism residing in the memory, the scoring mechanism evaluating the series of choices and decisions made by individual persons in the identified sample audience as described in the person-by-person media-related records and generating a score for a proposed advertising schedule based on the person-by-person media-related records in the database, the score of the proposed advertising schedule quantifying the effectiveness of the proposed advertising schedule based upon the series of choices and decisions made bv the individual persons in the identified sample audience.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 146 words

A computer system comprising: a CPU; a memory coupled to the CPU; a database residing in the memory, the database comprising a plurality of person-by-person media-related records which describe a series of choices and decisions made by an identified sample audience in relation to a media vehicle; a database mining engine residing in the memory and being executed by the CPU; and a scoring mechanism residing in the memory, the scoring mechanism evaluating the series of choices and decisions made by individual persons in the identified sample audience as described in the person-by-person media-related records and generating a score for a proposed advertising schedule based on the person-by-person media-related records in the database, the score of the proposed advertising schedule quantifying the effectiveness of the proposed advertising schedule based upon the series of choices and decisions made bv the individual persons in the identified sample audience.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 36 words

The computer system of claim 1 wherein the scoring mechanism scores the proposed advertising schedule by computing a overall exposure value for each individual member of the sample audience and summing the computed overall exposure values.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 42 words

The computer system of claim 2 wherein the scoring mechanism computes the overall exposure value for each individual member of the sample audience by including a audience valuation value for each individual member based on corresponding demographic characteristics for each individual member.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 43 words

The computer system of claim 2 wherein the scoring mechanism computes the overall exposure value for each individual member of the sample audience by including a exposure valuation value for each individual member based on their individual exposures to the proposed advertising schedule.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 57 words

The computer system of claim 4 wherein the exposure valuation value for each individual member of the sample audience is generated using time weighted effective frequency techniques such that the exposure valuation value for each individual member is determined by the number of exposures of the individual member and the spacing between exposures of the individual member.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 133 words

The computer system of claim 2 wherein data base includes an array of person objects, with each person object corresponding to an individual member of the sample audience, and wherein each of the person objects includes fields representing the age of the corresponding person, and wherein each field representing the age of the corresponding person includes a sequence of bits, with each bit assigned to correspond to one of a plurality of age ranges and wherein the bit corresponding to the age range of the corresponding person is set, such that the data mining engine can quickly retrieve viewing data from persons of one or more selected age ranges by utilizing a boolean operation with a boolean filter having a corresponding sequence of bits with each bit corresponding to a selected age range.

Claim 8

Independent Claim 45 words

An apparatus comprising: a CPU; a memory coupled to the CPU; an advertising optimization mechanism residing in the memory and being executed by the CPU, the advertising optimization mechanism iteratively modifying and scoring a base advertising schedule in order to achieve an optimal advertising schedule.

Claim 9

Independent Claim 45 words

An apparatus comprising: a CPU; a memory coupled to the CPU; an advertising optimization mechanism residing in the memory and being executed by the CPU, the advertising optimization mechanism iteratively modifying and scoring a base advertising schedule in order to achieve an optimal advertising schedule.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 25 words

The pparats of claim 7 further comprising a graphical user interface with a plurality of icons which provide a plurality of choices for advertising optimization.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 236 words

A computer system for analyzing data and optimizing an advertising schedule, the system comprising: a CPU; a memory coupled to the CPU; a database residing in the memory, the database comprising a plurality of person-by-person records which describe a series of television choices and decisions made by an identified sample audience in relation to a media vehicle, and wherein the database comprises a plurality of portions, with each of the plurality of portions including person-by-person records corresponding to a different time period and wherein the each of the plurality of portions includes a viewing index that indexes the person-by-person records for the corresponding time period; a database mining engine residing in the memory, the database mining engine comprising utilizing the plurality of viewing indices to selectively access data from the database; and a scoring mechanism residing in the memory and being executed by the CPU, wherein the scoring mechanism accesses the person-by-person records in the database via the database mining engine and provides a score for a proposed incremental change in an advertising schedule based on the person-by-person media-related records in the database by computing a overall exposure value for each individual member of the sample audience due to the proposed incremental change and summing the computed overall exposure values, the score thus quantifying the effectiveness proposed incremental change based upon the series of choices and decisions made by each individual member of the sample audience.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 236 words

A computer system for analyzing data and optimizing an advertising schedule, the system comprising: a CPU; a memory coupled to the CPU; a database residing in the memory, the database comprising a plurality of person-by-person records which describe a series of television choices and decisions made by an identified sample audience in relation to a media vehicle, and wherein the database comprises a plurality of portions, with each of the plurality of portions including person-by-person records corresponding to a different time period and wherein the each of the plurality of portions includes a viewing index that indexes the person-by-person records for the corresponding time period; a database mining engine residing in the memory, the database mining engine comprising utilizing the plurality of viewing indices to selectively access data from the database; and a scoring mechanism residing in the memory and being executed by the CPU, wherein the scoring mechanism accesses the person-by-person records in the database via the database mining engine and provides a score for a proposed incremental change in an advertising schedule based on the person-by-person media-related records in the database by computing a overall exposure value for each individual member of the sample audience due to the proposed incremental change and summing the computed overall exposure values, the score thus quantifying the effectiveness proposed incremental change based upon the series of choices and decisions made by each individual member of the sample audience.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 57 words

The computer system of claim 9 wherein the scoring mechanism determines the overall value for each individual member of the sample audience by utilizing a weighted effective frequency method to determine an exposure valuation value for each individual member, and wherein the weighted effective frequency method is determined by the number of exposures of each individual member.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 68 words

The computer system of claim 9 wherein the scoring mechanism determines the overall value for each individual member of the sample audience by utilizing a time weighted effective frequency method to determine an exposure valuation value for each individual member, and wherein the weighted effective frequency method is determined by the number of exposures of each individual member and the time spacing between exposures of the individual member.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 39 words

The computer system of claim 9 wherein the scoring mechanism determines the overall value for each individual member of the sample audience by including a audience valuation for each individual based on corresponding demographic characteristics for each individual member.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 24 words

The computer system of claim 9 wherein the database comprises data adapted from a plurality of television viewing records received from A. C. Nielsen.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 32 words

The system of claim 7 further comprising at least one index residing in the memory and cooperating with the the advertising optimization mechanism to iteratively modify and score the base advertising schedule.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 27 words

The computer system of claim 14 wherein the selected data fields include person ages, and wherin each of the sequence of bits represents a range of ages.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 32 words

The system of claim 7 further comprising a plurality of indices residing in the memory and cooperating with the the advertising optimization mechanism to iteratively modify and score the base advertising schedule.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 35 words

The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the at least one index comprises at least one of an exposure valuation index, an audience valuation index, an exposure recency index, a response index and a cost index.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 15 words

The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising a database mining engine residing in the memory.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 29 words

The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the database mining engine further comprises a plurality of Boolean filters used to screen the plurality of person-by-person records contained in the database.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 15 words

The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising a data conversion mechanism residing in the memory.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 26 words

The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the data conversion mechanism comprises a mechanism to convert data from a first data format to a second data format.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 85 words

A computer system with a graphical user interface comprising: a CPU; a memory coupled to the CPU; a database residing in the memory, the database comprising a plurality of person-by-person media-related records which describe a series of choices and decisions made by an identified sample audience in relation to a media vehicle; a database mining engine residing in the memory and being executed by the CPU; a scoring mechanism for evaluating a plurality of alternative advertising options based on the plurality of person-by-person media-related records.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 85 words

A computer system with a graphical user interface comprising: a CPU; a memory coupled to the CPU; a database residing in the memory, the database comprising a plurality of person-by-person media-related records which describe a series of choices and decisions made by an identified sample audience in relation to a media vehicle; a database mining engine residing in the memory and being executed by the CPU; a scoring mechanism for evaluating a plurality of alternative advertising options based on the plurality of person-by-person media-related records.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 39 words

The computer system of claim 22 wherein the scoring mechanism for evaluating a plurality of alternative advertising options comprises a mechanism for evaluating advertisement value over time and space based on actual or anticipated individual or collective advertising exposure.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 32 words

The computer system of claim 22 wherein the scoring mechanism for evaluating a plurality of alternative advertising options comprises a mechanism for assigning advertising response values to a plurality of media alternatives.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 48 words

The computer system of claim 22 wherein the scoring mechanism for evaluating a plurality of alternative advertising options comprises a mechanism for assigning costs to the plurality of alternative advertising options based on time or space boundaries for the purpose of scoring the plurality of alternative advertising options.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 48 words

The computer system of claim 22 wherein the scoring mechanism for evaluating a plurality of alternative advertising options comprises a mechanism for assigning individual exposure values to the plurality of alternative advertising options according to the value of at least one of a plurality of individual demographic measurements.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 36 words

The computer system of claim 26 wherein the scoring mechanism for assigning individual exposure values comprises a mechanism for displaying the individual exposure values of the at least one of a plurality of individual demographic measurements.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 38 words

The computer system of claim 22 wherein the scoring mechanism for evaluating a plurality of alternative advertising options comprises a mechanism for displaying the estimated influence of advertising messages based on the declining influence of advertising over time.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 35 words

The computer system of claim 22 wherein the scoring mechanism for evaluating a plurality of alternative advertising options comprises a mechanism for displaying the estimated influence of advertising messages based accumulated advertising messages over time.

Claim 34

Dependent Claim 36 words

The computer system of claim 22 wherein the scoring mechanism for evaluating a plurality of alternative advertising options comprises a mechanism for assigning advertising value to multiple levels of advertising exposure based on frequency of exposure.

Claim 35

Dependent Claim 35 words

The computer system of claim 30 wherein the scoring mechanism for assigning advertising value to multiple levels of advertising exposure based on frequency of exposure further comprises a mechanism for displaying the assigned advertising values.

Claim 36

Dependent Claim 47 words

The computer system of claim 30 wherein the scoring mechanism for assigning advertising value to multiple levels of advertising exposure based on frequency of exposure comprises a mechanism for assigning advertising value to multiple levels of advertising exposure based on actual or anticipated exposure to an advertisement.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2004-09-03	2005-03-05	2005-09-04	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2008-09-03	2009-03-05	2009-09-04	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2012-09-03	2013-03-05	2013-09-04	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Method and apparatus for analyzing data and advertising optimization

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