Engagement Time-Based Content Delivery System

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing systems fail to effectively serve online content, such as advertisements, to users in a way that ensures they consume the most important information, leading to abandonment of content before key messaging points and inefficient use of network resources due to partial consumption.

Innovation Solution

An engagement time-based system that determines a user's historical engagement duration with online content and matches it with content items having target engagement times, ensuring that ads are displayed for durations likely to keep users engaged through key messaging points, while also adjusting compensation based on actual engagement.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If online content items are served to users without considering engagement duration, then network resource allocation is simplified, but users abandon content before consuming key messaging points

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontent consumption completion rateVSAvoidtime spent on partially viewed content

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary analysis of user engagement duration with online content items before serving them. By determining how long users typically engage with content of a given type, the system can pre-filter and select content items that are most likely to be fully consumed, preventing wasted network resources on content that will be abandoned.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses feedback from actual user engagement behavior to improve content selection. By monitoring how long users actually engage with served content items and comparing this to predicted engagement durations, the system continuously refines its content recommendation algorithm to better match user preferences and consumption patterns.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Reliability

If online content items are selected without matching user engagement preferences, then content selection process is simpler, but advertising effectiveness decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveadvertising message delivery reliabilityVSAvoidcontent selection system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary analysis of user engagement duration with online content items before serving them. By determining how long users typically engage with content of a given type, the system can pre-filter and select content items that are most likely to be fully consumed, preventing wasted network resources on content that will be abandoned.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes the selection parameters from simple content matching to engagement-duration-based matching. By using engagement duration as a key parameter for content selection, the system ensures that advertising messages are delivered to users who are likely to consume the full content, thereby improving advertising effectiveness without requiring overly complex selection mechanisms.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

3Loss of energy

If the system serves all online content items equally, then content distribution is more uniform, but network resources are wasted on partially viewed content

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvenetwork resource wasteVSAvoidcontent distribution flexibility

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of energyVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies different content selection strategies to different users based on their individual engagement patterns. Instead of uniform content distribution, the system tailors content selection to each user's demonstrated engagement duration preferences, ensuring that network resources are allocated efficiently to content that each specific user is likely to consume completely.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary analysis of user engagement duration with online content items before serving them. By determining how long users typically engage with content of a given type, the system can pre-filter and select content items that are most likely to be fully consumed, preventing wasted network resources on content that will be abandoned.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS11544741B2Systems and methods for serving online content based on user engagement duration

Publication Date: 2023.01.03 GOOGLE LLC

AI summary

An engagement time computer system for serving online content based on user engagement duration includes an output device, at least one memory, and one or more processors. The processors are configured to determine a historical engagement time of an online user and to identify a plurality of online content items. Each online content item of the plurality of online content items has a target engagement time. The processors are further configured to receive a request for a content item. The request is associated with the online user. The processors are also configured to select a first online content item from the plurality of online content items based at least in part on the historical engagement time of the online user and the target engagement time of the first online content item and to transmit the first online content item for display to the online user.