Patent ID: 11449893

Abstract:
Automated methods are provided for identifying when a first advertisement (ad) is a likely variant of a second ad. The first and second ads each include a plurality of sequential segments of a predefined time length, wherein the second ad is a reference ad, and the first ad is a sample ad. In one embodiment, a vector of segment hits is created for the second ad, wherein the second ad is used as both the sample ad and the reference ad for creating the vector of segment hits for the second ad. A vector of segment hits is also created for the first ad, wherein the first ad is used as the sample ad and the second ad is used as the reference ad for creating the vector of segment hits for the first ad. The vector of segment hits for the first ad is compared with the vector of segment hits for the second ad, and the first ad is identified as being a likely variant of the second ad when the vector of segment hits for the first ad matches at least a predetermined percentage of the segments of the second ad, and the vector of segment hits for the first ad is not the same as the vector of segment hits of the second ad. Other embodiments create different vectors of segment hits for the first and second ads which are likewise compared to one another to determine when ad variants are present.