Abstract: Unknown potential commercials are detected in a video data stream that contains segments of program type content, and blocks of commercial content. Each block includes a plurality of successive individual commercials. A library of known commercials is maintained in a first database. A video data stream is received in a video processing engine which includes a search engine that is in communication with the first database. The search engine identifies all known commercials in the video data stream and their respective start and end times. The video processing engine identifies all time segments that are sandwiched between the known commercials. The video processing engine filters out as a potential commercial any identified time segments that are significantly longer than the time length of a commercial. The video processing engine designates content of each of the time segments that were not filtered out as being one or more unknown potential commercials.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for detecting potential repeating content, such as commercials, in a video data stream by receiving one or more video data streams, parsing each video data stream into a plurality of segments, creating a representation of each segment such as a segment fingerprint, storing the plurality of segment representations in a database, and identifying any segment representations in the received and parsed one or more video data streams that match segment representations in the database that were previously stored from video data streams that were previously received and parsed.

Abstract: Automated methods are provided for determining a user's likely exposure to media content being output by a media device based on user interactions with a mobile device that is monitoring the media content being outputted by the media device. When a user interacts with their mobile device, such as by using telephone functionality on the mobile device, or by interacting with an application on the mobile device, media content being played on a media device that is in proximity of the media device is sensed and detected using automatic content recognition technology. Media impressions are recorded for the detected media impression.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for generating an audio signature. An audio signal generator generates an audio signal. A speaker responsive to the audio signal generator outputs the generated audio signal. A probe including a microphone samples the generated audio signal detected by the microphone. An audio signature generator is connected to the probe and generates an audio signature from the sampled audio signal detected by the microphone. The audio signature generator generates the audio signature without requiring detection of any additional audio signal. A transmitter connected to the audio signature generator transmits the audio signature to a communications channel.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for determining a lift metric regarding effectiveness of a digital ad campaign for an audio-visual work on subsequent viewership of the audio-visual work. Viewed content from a universe of monitored AV audio-visual devices is collected. Identifiers of audio-visual devices that received an ad impression for the audio-visual work are also collected. The lift metric may be determined from statistical analysis of this data.

Abstract: Audio information is monitored by a user device that performs audio content recognition of any received audio content. The user device includes a scheduling logic unit, a probe, and an audio signature generator. The scheduling logic unit maintains a set of scheduling rules that define conditions that were present when previous audio content recognition of audio content received by the user device was successful. The scheduling logic unit receives currently present conditions of the user device, and compares the currently present conditions to the set of scheduling rules to determine if the currently present conditions match any scheduling rules. The user devices captures ambient audio content via the probe and generates audio signatures of the captured audio content using the audio signature generator if a match occurs, and inhibits capturing audio content by the user device and/or inhibits generating audio signatures if a match does not occur.

Abstract: An audio signature is generated by a user device by generating an audio signal indicative of the user device, outputting the audio signal indicative of the user device through a speaker of the user device, using a microphone of the user device to sense audio, generating an audio signature of the audio sensed by the microphone in the user device, and transmitting the audio signature from the user device to a communication channel. The audio signal may be used by another user device which generates its own audio signature, and which can be compared to the audio signature of the user device that originally generated the audio signal to determine if the user devices are co-located.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for automatically removing erroneously logged commercials from a listing of commercials that are detected in a video data stream by performing automatic content recognition on the video data stream and detecting the identity of each of the commercials played in a commercial break, temporarily logging the identity and start and end time of each detected commercial in a log of played commercials, forming clusters from commercials that overlap in time and have related content, or have significant overlap in time, forming permutations of commercial break timelines from the detected commercials, ranking the timelines based on best fit criteria and selecting the best fit timeline, permanently logging only the commercials in the best fit timeline, and removing the remaining commercials from the temporary log. The remaining logged commercials are presumed to be either erroneously identified commercials or properly identified commercials with erroneous start and end times.

Abstract: An automatic content recognition system that includes a user device for the purpose of capturing audio and generating an audio signature. The user device may be a smartphone or tablet. The system is also capable of determining sound level at a user device and refraining from audio monitoring and/or generating audio signatures when the sound level is below a threshold. Sound level may also be used to reduce the frequency of audio monitoring and/or signature generation. The system may have a database within the user device or the user device may communicate with a server having a database that contains reference audio signatures.

Abstract: Co-location of devices is determined by receiving at a query engine from a device, a remote audio signature and associated remote device identification and device location data and comparing in the query engine remote audio signatures stored in a database to the remote audio signature. The remote database further stores remote device identification and device location data associated with the stored audio signatures. The query engine only performs the comparisons for remote audio signatures that have the same location data. The query engine thereby limits its query set of remote audio signatures in the database. A processor reports a remote device identification associated with the remote audio signature of the device received over the communication channel and the remote device identification associated with the stored remote audio signature when an audio signature received over the communication channel matches an audio signature stored in the database within a threshold confidence level.

Abstract: An automatic content recognition system that includes a user device for the purpose of capturing audio and generating an audio signature. The user device may be a smartphone or tablet. The system is also capable of determining whether a user device is in motion and refraining from audio monitoring and/or generating audio signatures when the user device is in motion. Motion may also be used to reduce the frequency of audio monitoring and/or signature generation. The system may have a database within the user device or the user device may communicate with a server having a database that contains reference audio signatures.

Abstract: Audio information is monitored by a user device by generating audio signatures of ambient audio content captured by the user device, receiving conditions of the user device that were present when the ambient audio content for each audio signature was captured, performing audio content recognition on the audio signatures by comparing in a query engine the generated audio signatures to audio signatures previously stored in a database associated with the query engine, identifying generated audio signatures that match audio signatures stored in the database within a threshold confidence level, thereby establishing successful audio content recognition, identifying the conditions of the user device that were present for successful audio content recognition, generating scheduling rules regarding the conditions present during successful audio content recognition and controlling when the user device captures audio content and/or generates audio signatures based on the scheduling rules.

Abstract: An automatic content recognition system that includes a user device for the purpose of capturing audio and generating an audio signature. The user device may be a smartphone or tablet. The system is also capable of determining sound level at a user device and refraining from audio monitoring and/or generating audio signatures when the sound level is below a threshold. Sound level may also be used to reduce the frequency of audio monitoring and/or signature generation. The system may have a database within the user device or the user device may communicate with a server having a database that contains reference audio signatures.

Abstract: An automatic content recognition system that includes a user device for the purpose of capturing audio and generating an audio signature. The user device may be a smartphone or tablet. The system is also capable of determining the conditions present at the time of capture of the audio information, environmental conditions. The environmental conditions may include one or more of day, date, time, location, network, motion, orientation, etc. The system may have a database within the user device or the user device may communicate with a server having a database that contains reference audio signatures. The system can identify conditions present at the time of capture of an audio signature that is an acceptable match to a reference audio signature and use the identified conditions to determine conditions under which the system will capture audio content and generate audio signatures.

Abstract: An automatic content recognition system that includes a user device for the purpose of capturing audio and generating an audio signature. The user device may be a smartphone or tablet. The system is also capable of determining whether a user device is in motion and refraining from audio monitoring and/or generating audio signatures when the user device is in motion. Motion may also be used to reduce the frequency of audio monitoring and/or signature generation. The system may have a database within the user device or the user device may communicate with a server having a database that contains reference audio signatures.

Abstract: An system for determining time offset of an audio signature from a reference signature time stamp may have a server connected to one or more remote devices. The server may have a receiver connected to one of more communication channels configured to receive an audio signature generated by the remote device and transmitted over the communication channel. The system may have a database at or connected to the server that contains one or more reference audio signatures. Each of the reference audio signatures may have a time stamp also stored in the database. A query engine may compare the remote audio signature to one or more reference audio signatures stored in the database. A processor may be provided to compare a reference timestamp to a timestamp associated with said remote audio signature. The system may be used to evaluate viewing habits and particularly delayed viewing and program playback manipulation such as Fast-forward, slow-motion, skip, rewind and program abandonment.

Abstract: Automatic content recognition may be utilized to compare audio sampled by one remote user device to audio sampled by another remote user device. Comparisons that match with a sufficient level of confidence may permit a conclusion that the remote user devices are co-located. A remote user device may be associated with an individual or a location. The remote user device may be a device used to collect or process audio information. The remote user device may be a smart phone, tablet or other device. A remote user device may have a probe to collect information for use in automatic content recognition. The remote user device may generate device identification in the form of inaudible audio to assist in determining co-location. The processing may be more efficient by limiting the signature comparisons location and temporal proximate entries.