Abstract:
A method of determining a location based advertising campaign is disclosed. A specification of location based advertising campaign characteristics is received. Available spots in an advertising supply are scored based on the specification. Selected spots are automatically determined from among the available spots in physical locations to include in the location based advertising campaign, based on an advertising budget and the scoring of the available spots. A description of the location based advertising campaign for displaying the selected spots is outputted.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    There are hundreds of different digital media companies, each focusing upon establishing the presence of location based advertising or digital signs in some segment of the locales where people might view them. These are called digital sign networks or DSN&#39;s. The digital signs in these DSN&#39;s present content as well as advertising to their viewers. Placing location based advertising across many DSN&#39;s is therefore complex, since there is no common frame of reference for how to uniformly target, plan, traffic, measure, and pay for this campaign across the diverse networks. Therefore, there exists a need to determine a location based advertising campaign efficiently for an advertiser. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0002]    Various embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. 
           [0003]      FIG. 1  is a flowchart illustrating a general flow for location based advertising. 
           [0004]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the supply for a location based advertising campaign. 
           [0005]      FIG. 3  is a diagram of a system to determine a location based advertising campaign for an advertiser, purchase a location based advertising campaign for an advertiser, and measure the effectiveness of a location based advertising campaign for an advertiser. 
           [0006]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process to determine a location based advertising campaign from an advertiser&#39;s specification of campaign characteristics. 
           [0007]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process for a location based advertising campaign to be determined from a set of Distribution Lists. 
           [0008]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an advertiser&#39;s portions of the process for the distribution of location based advertising. 
           [0009]      FIG. 7  is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process to distribute a location based advertising campaign. 
           [0010]      FIG. 8  is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process to determine, reserve and book a location based advertising campaign. 
           [0011]      FIG. 9  is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process for the storyboard creative editorial cycle. 
           [0012]      FIG. 10  is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process for the final creative editorial cycle. 
           [0013]      FIG. 11A  is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process for storyboard creative quality assurance. 
           [0014]      FIG. 11B  is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process for final creative quality assurance. 
           [0015]      FIG. 12  is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process for a location based advertising campaign launch and end. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    The invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as a process, an apparatus, a system, a composition of matter, a computer readable medium such as a computer readable storage medium or a computer network wherein program instructions are sent over optical or communication links. In this specification, these implementations, or any other form that the invention may take, may be referred to as techniques. A component such as a processor or a memory described as being configured to perform a task includes both a general component that is temporarily configured to perform the task at a given time or a specific component that is manufactured to perform the task. In general, the order of the steps of disclosed processes may be altered within the scope of the invention. 
         [0017]    A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the invention is provided below along with accompanying figures that illustrate the principles of the invention. The invention is described in connection with such embodiments, but the invention is not limited to any embodiment. The scope of the invention is limited only by the claims and the invention encompasses numerous alternatives, modifications and equivalents. Numerous specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. These details are provided for the purpose of example and the invention may be practiced according to the claims without some or all of these specific details. For the purpose of clarity, technical material that is known in the technical fields related to the invention has not been described in detail so that the invention is not unnecessarily obscured. 
         [0018]      FIG. 1  is a flowchart illustrating a general flow for location based advertising. In a step  102 , an advertiser plans and determines a location based advertising campaign. In a step  104 , an advertiser buys and launches a location based advertising campaign. In a step  106 , an advertiser is given a measurement of the effectiveness of the location based advertising campaign. 
         [0019]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the supply for a location based advertising campaign. In the example shown, location based advertising inventory  202  is comprised of physical locations  204  for view by consumer  222 . In some embodiments a physical location  204  could be determined by a geographic specification that represents a combination of:
       address—a street, city, county, state/province, postal code, and/or country;   geographic regions represented as areas surrounding, or within a fixed radius of, specific input addresses;   latitude and longitude pair;   Designated Market Areas, or DMA; and   major metropolitan areas, or Combined Statistical Areas, or CSA.         
         [0025]    In some embodiments a physical location  204  can have a category specification associated with it that represents a combination of
       fixed hierarchy, such as “grocery”, “university”, and “bars/restaurants”, with subcategories like “sports bar”, “family restaurant” and “fast food”; and   tags/keyword associations, such as “kiosk”, “fantasy”, or “extreme”.       
 
         [0028]    Each physical location  204  contains at least one player  206 , a server for location based advertising at that location. At a specific physical location  204 , there may be a plurality of players  206 , for example, one player  206  for a pharmacy within a supermarket, and another player  206  for a supermarket checkout stand. In some embodiments, a player  206  will have a venue specification associated with it that represents a combination of:
       demographic information about the consumers  222  for player  206 , including average age, gender, income and ethnicity. In some embodiments this information is a percentage of the traffic that falls into a standard set of demographic groupings, for example:
           Male—53%   Female—47%   Age under 17—6%   Age 18-24—14%   Age 25-34—19%   Age 35-44—18%   Age 45-54—14%   Age 55-64—12%   Age 65+—17%;   
           physical placement information of associated location based advertising for player  206  within the location  204 , including whether audio advertising is available;   traffic information about the consumers  222  of associated location based advertising for player  206 , for example the weekly volume of consumers  222  that pass by the associated location based advertising;   awareness information about the consumers  222  of associated location based advertising for player  206 , for example a ratio of consumers  222  who recall the associated location based advertising to the total consumers  222  that pass by the associated location based advertising;   net impressions information about the consumers  222  of associated location based advertising for player  206 , where       
 
         [0000]      Net impressions=Traffic×Awareness,           the number of consumers  222  who recall the associated location based advertising in a given period; and       pricing information for advertisers of associated location based advertising for player  206 , for example pricing in terms cost per net impressions, or CPM.         
         [0045]    Each player  206  displays location based advertising to at least one screen  208 . A player  206  may have a plurality of screens  208 , in which case it will display the location based advertising at the same time on each screen  208 . Each screen  208  can be made of one or more frames, which when there are more are arranged in a specific fashion: banner (along the top)  210 , skyscraper (along the side)  214  and main screen  212 . Each frame  210 ,  212 , and  214  is assigned a schedule  216 , which is a table of specified location based advertising loops  218  assigned to times of a specified day. Each loop  218  contains a specified number of spots  220 , where a spot  220  is made up of an advertisement, content or both advertisement and content. In some embodiments the spot  220  can have a specification associated with it that represents a combination of:
       specified frame  210 ,  212 ,  214 ;   time for the spot, for example 15 or 30 seconds;   aspect ratio of the spot; and   media type of the spot.       
 
         [0050]      FIG. 3  is a diagram of a system to determine a location based advertising campaign for an advertiser, purchase a location based advertising campaign for an advertiser, and measure the effectiveness of a location based advertising campaign for an advertiser. An advertiser can use advertiser browser  302  to connect by communication network  304  to a demand web server  306 . Communication network  304  may be a public or private network and/or combination thereof, for example the Internet, an Ethernet, serial/parallel bus, intranet, NAS, SAN, LAN, WAN, and other forms of connecting multiple systems and/or groups of systems together. Demand web server  306  guides the advertiser through advertiser browser  302  to form a specification of the advertiser&#39;s preferences for location based advertising campaign characteristics and transmits it to business logic server  308 . In some embodiments, a specification of the advertiser&#39;s preferences may include a combination of geographic specifications, category specifications, venue specifications and the campaign time. 
         [0051]    Business logic server  308  receives the advertiser&#39;s location based advertising campaign characteristics. Business logic server  308  also accesses inventory database  310  of the available location based advertising inventory. Business logic server  308  may update the inventory database  310  using a supply server  312 , which is connected through communications network  304  to various network servers  314 . In some embodiments the network server  314  may include player  106 . In some embodiments demand web server  306 , business logic server  308 , inventory database  310  and supply server  312  may be on one server, or spread out across multiple servers. 
         [0052]    Business logic server  308  uses the received location based advertising campaign characteristics and inventory database  310  to determine the location based advertising campaign. When the advertiser has purchased the location based advertising campaign, the business logic server  308  updates the inventory database  310  using supply server  312 , and then executes the location based advertising campaign with the relevant network servers  314 . 
         [0053]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process to determine a location based advertising campaign from an advertiser&#39;s specification of campaign characteristics. In some embodiments, the process of  FIG. 4  is included in  102  of  FIG. 1 . The process may be implemented in business logic server  308 . The advertiser&#39;s specifications can be divided into three types of campaign attributes: Boolean attributes, independent gradient attributes, and distribution gradient attributes. In some embodiments, a campaign&#39;s Boolean attributes can include:
       date range;   geographic specification;   category specification;   minimum CPM; and   audio requirements,
 
a campaign&#39;s independent gradient attributes can include demographics, and a campaign&#39;s distribution gradient attributes can include:
   geographic specification—specifying a distribution of a plurality of geographic locations, including an even distribution or an uneven distribution;   category specification—specifying a distribution of a plurality of categories, including an even distribution or an uneven distribution; and   campaign week specification—specifying a distribution of location based advertising, including an even distribution through all the weeks, a “front-end” distribution with more location based advertising in earlier weeks over later weeks, and a “back-end” distribution with more location based advertising in later weeks over earlier weeks.         
         [0062]    In a step  402 , the venues that are good matches for the advertiser&#39;s specification with an available loop, or Candidates, are selected from the inventory database  310  by filtering those that meet the campaign&#39;s Boolean attributes. Each Candidate is assigned an independent priority weighting, based on the campaign&#39;s independent gradient attributes. Each Candidate and its associated price is inserted into a collection, ordered by the independent priority weighting, called a Master List. In some embodiments, the associated price can be either expressed in CPM or dollar cost. 
         [0063]    In some embodiments, the campaign&#39;s independent gradient attribute used is demographic: for each target demographic, multiply its independent priority weighting by its demographic percent and sum the result, for example for an advertiser targeting males, a venue that achieves 60% male gets a score of 0.6, a venue that achieves 30% male gets a score of 0.3. 
         [0064]    In a step  404 , a collection called a Distribution List is created for each of the campaign&#39;s distribution gradient attributes. The Candidates and associated price in the Master List are subdivided into each Distribution List, and ordered by the independent priority weighting. A Candidate could be in more than one Distribution List. 
         [0065]    In some embodiments, a detailed example can be given with an advertiser specifying a campaign distribution attribute for geography and category, with 60% New York and 40% San Francisco, and 50% Grocery and 50% University. In the detailed example, the Master List with the following ordered Candidates and associated price:
       (Loop 1) New York, Week 1, Grocery, $1;   (Loop 2) New York, Week 2, Grocery, $2;   (Loop 3) San Francisco, Week 1, University, $1;   (Loop 4) New York, Week 2, Grocery, $3; and   (Loop 5) San Francisco, Week 4, University, $1,
 
would be divided into an ordered New York Distribution List:
   (Loop 1) New York, Week 1, Grocery, $1;   (Loop 2) New York, Week 2, Grocery, $2; and   (Loop 4) New York, Week 2, Grocery, $3,
 
an ordered San Francisco Distribution List:
   (Loop 3) San Francisco, Week 1, University, $1; and   (Loop 5) San Francisco, Week 4, University, $1,
 
an ordered Grocery Distribution List:
   (Loop 1) New York, Week 1, Grocery, $1;   (Loop 2) New York, Week 2, Grocery, $2; and   (Loop 4) New York, Week 2, Grocery, $3,
 
and an ordered University Distribution List:
   (Loop 3) San Francisco, Week 1, University, $1; and   (Loop 5) San Francisco, Week 4, University, $1.       
 
         [0081]    In a step  406 , the location based advertising campaign, or Campaign, is determined by adding the next affordable Candidate from the appropriate Distribution List to follow the campaign distribution gradient attribute specified. The resultant Campaign is the determined location based advertising campaign for the advertiser. 
         [0082]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process for a location based advertising campaign to be determined from a set of Distribution Lists. In some embodiments, the process of  FIG. 5  is included in  406  of  FIG. 4 . The process may be implemented in business logic server  308 . 
         [0083]    In a step  502 , a Distribution List is selected based on an advertiser&#39;s campaign&#39;s distribution gradient attributes. In the detailed example, the New York Distribution List will be selected if the Campaign has less than 60% of its loops with a venue in New York. There may be a plurality of Distribution Lists that could be selected at one time, and in some embodiments the Distribution List with the highest independent priority weighting top Candidate can be selected. 
         [0084]    In a step  504 , the top Candidate of the ordered Distribution List will be added to the Campaign if the associated price of the Candidate is less than or equal to the remaining Campaign budget. If the top Candidate&#39;s associated price is greater than the remaining Campaign budget, remove the top Candidate and repeat step  504  with the next Candidate on the Distribution List. In the detailed example, if the New York Distribution List was selected and the remaining Campaign budget was $3, the top Candidate may be (Loop 1) in New York, Week 1, Grocery with an associated price of $1, so that (Loop 1) would be added to the Campaign. 
         [0085]    In a step  506 , the added Candidate from step  504  is removed from all Distribution Lists and the Campaign budget is updated to reflect the added Candidate&#39;s associated price. In the detailed example, (Loop 1) would be removed from the New York Distribution List and the Grocery Distribution List, and the remaining Campaign budget would be updated to be $2. 
         [0086]    If it is determined at step  508  that the remaining Campaign budget is not less than a prespecified threshold, then control is transferred back to step  502 . If it is determined at step  508  that the remaining Campaign budget is less than a prespecified threshold, then the resultant Campaign is the determined location based advertising campaign for the advertiser. 
         [0087]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an advertiser&#39;s portions of the process for the distribution of location based advertising. An advertiser is made up of one or more team members. Each team member would assume one or more of the portions shown, client  602 , media agency  604 , buying service  606 , and creative agency  608 . Each portion has a set of privileges associated with the portion that defines what the associated team member with the portion can do, and what information the associated team member can receive. 
         [0088]    Privileges that define what the associated team member with the portion can do include:
       Add Team Members: adding a new team member and associate the new team member with a portion. This privilege might be assigned to a client  602 , or a lead coordinator of the location based advertising campaign from media agency  604 ;   Upload Creative Only: upload creative assets (“creative”) but not view a location based advertising campaign. This privilege might be assigned to a specialist at a creative agency  608 , who is concerned only with specific creative works;   View Campaigns: access a location based advertising campaign. This privilege might be assigned to a client  602 , media agency  604 , buying service  606 , and a manager at a creative agency  608 ;   Can Upload: upload creative to a location based advertising campaign. This privilege would be assigned to those with a View Campaigns privilege, for example a creative agency  608 ;   Can Edit: edit a location based advertising campaign. This privilege would be assigned to those with a View Campaigns privilege, for example a media agency  604 ; and   Can Buy: make financial decisions for a location based advertising campaign. This privilege would be assigned to those with a View Campaigns privilege, for example a buying service  606  or client  602 .       
 
         [0095]    Privileges that define what information the associated team member can receive include:
       Traffic Notification: be notified of distribution of a location based advertising campaign. This privilege might be assigned to a client  602  or creative agency  608 ;   Planning/Buying Notification: be notified of planning and purchase of a location based advertising campaign. This privilege might be assigned to a client  602 , media agency  604  or buying service  606 ; and   Billing: be notified of location based advertising campaign billing. This privilege might be assign to a client  602  or media agency  604 .       
 
         [0099]      FIG. 7  is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process to distribute a location based advertising campaign. In some embodiments, the process of  FIG. 7  is included in  104  of  FIG. 1 . The process may be implemented in business logic server  308 . 
         [0100]    In a step  702 , the advertiser determines the location based advertising campaign using the process of  FIG. 4 . The advertiser then has the option to reserve the campaign and associated inventory for a reservation period to consider the campaign. In some embodiments, the reservation period is 48 hours. The advertiser can then financially commit, or “book”, the campaign. 
         [0101]    In a step  704 , the advertiser&#39;s team members collaborate on the storyboard creative. Storyboard creative includes idea and marketing content for the location based advertising campaign. An editorial cycle of review, change and approval will iterate until the advertiser is satisfied with the storyboard creative. 
         [0102]    In a step  706 , the location based advertising network reviews the storyboard creative for quality assurance and technical compliance with the player  206  and screen  208 . An editorial cycle of review, change and approval will iterate until the location based advertising network and advertiser are satisfied. 
         [0103]    In a step  708 , the advertiser&#39;s team members collaborate on the final creative. Final creative includes look and feel, and technical adherence of the advertising for the location based advertising campaign. An editorial cycle of review, change and approval will iterate until the advertiser is satisfied with the final creative. 
         [0104]    In a step  710 , the location based advertising network reviews the final creative for quality assurance and technical compliance with the player  206  and screen  208 . An editorial cycle of review, change and approval will iterate until the location based advertising network and advertiser are satisfied. 
         [0105]    In a step  712 , the location based advertising network launches the approved location based advertising campaign. The advertiser is updated periodically with a status until the campaign ends, when a final status and affidavit are sent to the advertiser. 
         [0106]      FIG. 8  is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process to determine, reserve and book a location based advertising campaign. In some embodiments, the process of  FIG. 8  is included in  702  of  FIG. 7 . The process may be implemented in business logic server  308 . 
         [0107]    In a step  802 , the advertiser determines the campaign, using the process of  FIG. 4 . In a step  804 , the business logic server  308  updates inventory  310  to reserve the campaign. In some embodiments, business logic server  308  maintains a local count of inventory  310  that business logic server  308  is allowed to purchase from location based advertising networks with venues that are a part of the campaign. By maintaining a local count, the location based advertising networks do not need to be notified at this step. The advertiser is reminded to book, or purchase, the campaign before the reservation period expires. In some embodiments, the reminders are sent using e-mail. 
         [0108]    If it is determined in a step  806  that the advertiser wishes to buy the location based advertising campaign, then control is transferred to step  808 . If it is determined in a step  806  that the advertiser does not wish to buy the location based advertising campaign by cancelling the reservation or allowing the reservation to expire, then control is transferred to step  810 . 
         [0109]    In a step  808 , the location based advertising networks book the inventory by notifying the location based advertising networks and booking the periods for the associated venues. In some embodiments, the business logic server  308  permanently reduces a local count of inventory  310  that business logic server  308  is allowed to book. In a step  810 , the business logic server  308  releases its count of inventory  310 . In some embodiments, the business logic server  308  updates its local count of inventory  310  so that another advertiser can reserve or book the venues. 
         [0110]      FIG. 9  is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process for the storyboard creative editorial cycle. In some embodiments, the process of  FIG. 9  is included in  704  of  FIG. 7 . The process may be implemented in demand web server  306 , business logic server  308 , or both. 
         [0111]    In a step  902 , the advertiser designs the storyboard creative. Demand web server  306 , business logic server  308 , or both may be used to facilitate the design of the storyboard creative between various members of the advertiser&#39;s team. 
         [0112]    In a step  904 , the members of the advertiser&#39;s team will submit a version of part or all of the storyboard creative to demand web server  306 , business logic server  308 , or both. In some embodiments, submission will use file transfer protocol (FTP) or secure FTP for uploading. The members of the advertiser&#39;s team will then review the storyboard creative to see if the story creative is to be made available. 
         [0113]    If it is determined at step  906  that the storyboard creative is not completely available, then control is transferred to step  908 . Otherwise, the storyboard creative is made available and the storyboard creative editorial cycle is considered complete. In a step  908 , at the end of a repeating specified period (the “storyboard creative reminder period”) the advertiser is reminded to make the storyboard creative available well before the campaign launch. In some embodiments, e-mail is used to remind the advertiser. 
         [0114]      FIG. 10  is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process for the final creative editorial cycle. In some embodiments, the process of  FIG. 10  is included in  708  of  FIG. 7 . The process may be implemented in demand web server  306 , business logic server  308 , or both. 
         [0115]    In a step  1002 , the advertiser designs the final creative. Demand web server  306 , business logic server  308 , or both may be used to facilitate the design of the final creative between various members of the advertiser&#39;s team. 
         [0116]    In a step  1004 , the members of the advertiser&#39;s team will submit a version of part or all of the final creative to demand web server  306 , business logic server  308 , or both. In some embodiments, submission will use FTP or secure FTP for uploading. The members of the advertiser&#39;s team will then review the final creative to see if the story creative is to be made available. 
         [0117]    If it is determined at step  1006  that the final creative is not completely available, then control is transferred to step  1008 . Otherwise, the final creative is made available and the final creative editorial cycle is considered complete. In a step  1008 , at the end of a repeating specified period (the “final creative reminder period”) the advertiser is reminded to make the final creative available well before the campaign launch. In some embodiments, e-mail is used to remind the advertiser. 
         [0118]      FIG. 11A  is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process for storyboard creative quality assurance. In some embodiments, the process of  FIG. 11A  is included in  706  of  FIG. 7 . The process may be implemented in demand web server  306 , business logic server  308 , supply server  312 , or a combination of the three. 
         [0119]    In a step  1102 , the storyboard creative is made available to the location based advertising networks for review. In some embodiments the storyboard creative is available on supply server  312 , business logic server  308 , or both. In some embodiments, the storyboard creative can be downloaded using FTP or secure FTP. The location based advertising networks then review the storyboard creative for content and technical specification compliance, which if positive passes quality assurance. 
         [0120]    If it is determined in a step  1104  that the location based advertising networks determine the storyboard creative does not pass quality assurance, then control is transferred to step  1106 . If it is determined in a step  1104  that the location based advertising networks determine the storyboard creative passes quality assurance, then control is transferred to step  1108 . 
         [0121]    In a step  1106 , the content discrepancy is reported to the advertiser for revision. Depending on the scale of the discrepancy, the advertiser may follow the process of  FIG. 9  or  FIG. 10  one or more times to resolve the discrepancy. Control is then transferred back to step  1102  for a review. 
         [0122]    In a step  1108 , the location based advertising networks push the storyboard creative for a campaign launch, by downloading the storyboard creative to the associated players  206  and setting the appropriate schedules  216  with the location based advertising campaign loops  220 . 
         [0123]      FIG. 11B  is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process for final creative quality assurance. In some embodiments, the process of  FIG. 11B  is included in  710  of  FIG. 7 . The process may be implemented in demand web server  306 , business logic server  308 , supply server  312 , or a combination of the three. 
         [0124]    In a step  1122 , the final creative is made available to the location based advertising networks for review. In some embodiments the final creative is available on supply server  312 , business logic server  308 , or both. In some embodiments, the final creative can be downloaded using FTP or secure FTP). The location based advertising networks then review the final creative for content and technical specification compliance, which if positive passes quality assurance. 
         [0125]    If it is determined in a step  1124  that the location based advertising networks determine the final creative does not pass quality assurance, then control is transferred to step  1126 . If it is determined in a step  1124  that the location based advertising networks determine the final creative passes quality assurance, then control is transferred to step  1128 . 
         [0126]    In a step  1126 , the content discrepancy is reported to the advertiser for revision. Depending on the scale of the discrepancy, the advertiser may follow the process of  FIG. 9  or  FIG. 10  one or more times to resolve the discrepancy. Control is then transferred back to step  1122  for a review. 
         [0127]    In a step  1128 , the location based advertising networks push the final creative for a campaign launch, by downloading the final creative to the associated players  206  and setting the appropriate schedules  216  with the location based advertising campaign loops  220 . 
         [0128]      FIG. 12  is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process for a location based advertising campaign launch and end. In some embodiments, the process of  FIG. 12  is included in  712  of  FIG. 7 . The process may be implemented in business logic server  308  or network server  314 . 
         [0129]    In a step  1202 , the campaign launches at the associated venues using players  206  on screens  208  for consumers  222 . In a step  1204 , a status report is sent at the end of a repeating specified period (the “status period”). In some embodiments the status period is a month. In some embodiments, the status report includes a log indicating the status of the associate players  206  over time. In some embodiments, the status report includes an invoice for the advertiser. 
         [0130]    In a step  1206 , the campaign ends. The location based advertising networks remove the loops from schedule  216  and from player  206 . In a step  1208 , a final status and affidavit is sent to the advertiser. In some embodiments, the affidavit is based partially on “Proof of Play”, play validation data, with a log of when each specified loop was confirmed to have been played. In some embodiments, the affidavit matches units of net impressions with those of the number of plays, taking into account mean time between failures (MTBF) of the associated hardware and log coverage of the duration of the campaign. 
         [0131]    For example, if a campaign has venues that total 320,000 net impressions, has 20,160 possible total plays of the campaign&#39;s loop, and a MTBF of 90%, then it is held for the affidavit that 320,000 net impressions is equivalent to 90% of 20,160, or 18,144 plays. 
         [0132]    To further the same example, if a campaign has a log coverage of 80%, then 18,144 plays multiplied by 80% is the 14,515 expected plays during log coverage. Similarly the net impressions expected during log coverage is the 320,000 net impressions multiplied by 80%, or 256,000 net impressions during log coverage. If the logs only show 12,000 actual plays, then a performance score of 12,000 over 14,515 plays, or 83% is assigned. 
         [0133]    To further the same example, the performance score is multiplied by the net impressions expected during log coverage, or 83% is multiplied by 256,000 to give the performance adjusted impression count of 211,640. A linear adjustment can then be made to refund some of the cost of the location based advertising campaign based on any reduction in the impression count. In some embodiments, a specified threshold is used to indicate whether or not to refund the cost of the location based advertising campaign, to ensure only significant amounts of money are refunded. 
         [0134]    Although the foregoing embodiments have been described in some detail for purposes of clarity of understanding, the invention is not limited to the details provided. There are many alternative ways of implementing the invention. The disclosed embodiments are illustrative and not restrictive.