Patent ID: 9584840
Date: 2017-02-28
CPC Classifications: G06Q,H04H,H04N

Claim:
1. A method comprising: accessing, by one or more processors of a content analysis machine, a datastream of media content of which a portion is uninterrupted by commercials and includes a frame within which a visual object that corresponds to an advertiser is depicted, an image of the visual object being stored in a database with data describing a corresponding characteristic of the visual object, the media content being accessed from a content merger machine communicatively coupled to the content analysis machine via a network; accessing, by the one or more processors of the content analysis machine, a viewer count that represents a plurality of viewers of the portion of the media content, the viewer count being accessed from a server machine that is providing a viewership determination service and communicatively coupled to the content analysis machine via the network; determining, by the one or more processors of the content analysis machine, a duration during which the visual object is presented within the portion of the media content by comparing the stored data that describes the characteristic of the visual object to the portion of the media content; accessing, by the one or more processors of the content analysis machine, a boost factor from the server machine that is providing the viewership determination service, the boost factor quantifying an increase in popularity of the media content in which the portion is uninterrupted by commercials and includes the frame in which the visual object is depicted; determining, by the one or more processors of the content analysis machine, an impact factor based on multiplying together: the determined duration during which the visual object appears in the portion of the media content, the accessed viewer count, and the accessed boost factor that quantifies the increase in popularity of the media content in which the portion is uninterrupted by commercials and includes the frame in which the visual object is depicted; and controlling, by the one or more processors of the content analysis machine, a system communicatively coupled to the content analysis machine via the network by providing the determined impact factor to the system, the provided impact factor being a basis on which the system generates and provides a communication to the advertiser that corresponds to the visual object.