Proxy Log Crediting for Third-Party Streaming Media Sessions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems fail to accurately credit media publishers and presenters for media sessions, particularly in online media distributions, due to difficulties in identifying and classifying streaming media sessions, which are often hosted by third parties and consume device resources, leading to unreliable monitoring and crediting.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a crediting model at a central facility using a proxy server to monitor media traffic, analyze proxy logs, and separately credit streaming media sessions, distinguishing between child and parent sessions to accurately attribute presentation durations to publishers and presenters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If media sessions are monitored directly on media devices, then monitoring accuracy is improved, but device processing burden increases
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring function is extracted from the media device and relocated to a central facility. The media device no longer performs monitoring operations locally; instead, it transmits media session data to the central facility which performs all monitoring and analysis operations, thereby eliminating the processing burden from the device while maintaining monitoring accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
A proxy server is introduced as an intermediary component between the media device and the central facility. The proxy server captures media traffic locally and forwards it to the central facility, acting as a buffer that eliminates the need for the media device to directly process monitoring operations while ensuring accurate data capture.
2Measurement precision
If third-party hosted media sessions are monitored, then crediting accuracy is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The central facility is designed to handle multiple types of media sessions (locally-hosted and third-party-hosted) through a unified monitoring system. The same infrastructure and crediting logic process all media sessions regardless of hosting location, eliminating the need for separate monitoring systems and reducing overall system complexity despite the multi-functional capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The monitoring system segments media sessions into child sessions (specific media content) and parent sessions (media application or website), allowing the system to track and credit third-party hosted content independently within the broader session structure. This segmentation enables accurate attribution without requiring complex tracking of every nested media element.
3Reliability
If media traffic is routed through a proxy server, then monitoring reliability is improved, but network complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The proxy server is configured to automatically capture and forward media traffic without requiring manual intervention or complex configuration on the media device. The device simply routes traffic through the proxy, and the proxy autonomously performs logging and data extraction, reducing the operational complexity despite the additional network component.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus to credit media presentations for online media distributions are disclosed. Example methods and apparatus determine a presenter of a media session based on a user agent identifier extracted from a proxy record associated with the media session, and in response to determining that the user agent identifier does not identify a publisher, identify a first domain referenced by a URL associated with the media session, and, in response to determining that the first domain matches a domain pattern associated with a publisher and does not match a domain in a list of hosting domains, classify the media of the media session as being published by the publisher associated with the matching domain pattern, the publisher being different from the presenter.