Web Page Ad Viewability Detection via Test Feature Monitoring

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current pay-per-impression models for online advertising do not accurately reflect whether an advertisement is viewed by a user, especially when served within iframes, leading to uncertainty in ad value and suppressed demand, as they rely on browser viewport information which is inaccessible to client-side code due to domain restrictions.

Innovation Solution

A method to determine if a region within a web page is in view by using test features that monitor behavioral characteristics such as redraw rates, frame progression rates, and API events, allowing for accurate viewability assessment without requiring knowledge of the host web page's dimensions or viewport position, even in restricted environments like iframes.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If pay-per-impression model is used to charge advertisers, then advertising revenue can be generated, but the accuracy of measuring whether advertisement is actually viewed is poor

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveadvertisement viewability measurement accuracyVSAvoidcomplexity of viewability detection system

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces test features (intermediary elements) as mediators between the advertisement and the viewability measurement system. These test features are embedded within the advertisement region and serve as proxies to indirectly measure whether the advertisement is in view, resolving the contradiction by providing accurate measurement without requiring direct access to browser viewport information.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The advertisement region itself performs the measurement function by monitoring the behavioral characteristics of its own test features. The system uses self-contained monitoring mechanisms that track redraw rates and frame progression within the advertisement region, eliminating the need for external measurement systems and reducing overall complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

2Measurement precision

If browser viewport information is used to determine advertisement viewability, then measurement accuracy improves, but accessibility to this information is blocked due to domain restrictions in iframes

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveadvertisement viewability measurement accuracyVSAvoidaccessibility of viewport information to client-side code

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of trying to access browser viewport information directly (which is blocked), the patent inverts the approach by having the advertisement region monitor its own test feature behavior. This indirect method bypasses the domain restrictions while achieving the same measurement goal, resolving the accessibility contradiction.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

Solution Approach 2:

Test features serve as intermediaries that bridge the gap between the restricted advertisement environment and the viewability measurement objective. These intermediaries enable measurement without requiring direct access to blocked viewport information, solving the ease of operation problem.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Reliability

If advertisement is served within iframes for security isolation, then host web page protection is improved, but access to viewport and scroll position information is lost

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesecurity isolation of host web pageVSAvoidloss of viewport and scroll position data

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The advertisement within the iframe performs viewability measurement independently by monitoring its own test features. This self-service approach eliminates the need for external viewport information that would compromise security isolation, maintaining reliability while preventing information loss.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the measurement parameters from direct viewport coordinates to behavioral characteristics of test features (redraw rates, frame progression). This parameter transformation allows viewability measurement within the isolated iframe environment without requiring access to restricted host page information.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS9535889B2Method to determine whether advertisements in a web page are in view

Publication Date: 2017.01.03 GOOGLE LLC

AI summary

A technique is provided to determine whether a region within a web page is viewable to a user through a browser window. Often, browsers will only show part of a web page at given time, creating a difficulty in establishing whether a region of the web page, which may be an advertisement for example, is in view. This is addressed by providing one or more test features within the region, rendering the web page, monitoring a behavioral characteristic of the test features and determining whether the region is in view based on the monitored behavioral characteristic, wherein the behavioral characteristic varies according to whether the test feature is currently being displayed. One example of a behavioral characteristic is a frame progression rate. Browsers will typically redraw elements of a web page at a higher rate if they are currently in view through the browser window, and this characteristic can therefore be used to determine whether the test feature, and thus the region, is in view. The present invention finds particular utility where the region contains an advertisement, as it allows an advertiser to discover whether the advertisement has been seen by users.