IP Library Granted Patent US 7,991,661
Granted Patent B1
US 7,991,661 · App. 11/732,758 · Granted Aug 2, 2011

Method and system for providing market analysis for wireless voice markets

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,991,661
App. No.
11/732,758
Granted
Aug 2, 2011
Kind
B1
Abstract

A computer-implemented method and computer system for providing market analysis for a wireless voice market. Embodiments provide convenient and effective mechanisms for obtaining wireless voice information from online bills of a panel of wireless subscribers, thereby reducing subscriber interaction and enabling more complete and frequent access to the wireless voice information used to provide market analysis. The wireless voice information is scraped from the online bill (e.g., after obtaining permission from a wireless subscriber) and stored in a database for subsequent access, processing and output (e.g., in the form of a presentation, datafeed, as part of an online tool used by a client to access the information, etc.). The processing may include standardizing, cleaning, classifying and applying additional information (e.g., census data comprising demographic information, user-supplied information, etc.) to the voice information to provide further and/or more relevant market analysis.

Claims (37)

1. A computer-implemented method of accessing, collecting and classifying that uses information of wireless voice market subscribers, said method comprising:

receiving, with a survey participant computer system, subscriber access information from a wireless subscriber to access a wireless carrier webpage, the access information including an indication of a first candidate carrier;

accessing, with the survey participant computer system, a webpage of the first candidate carrier and using the access information to access an online bill of the wireless subscriber via the webpage;

when the access of the online bill via the webpage of the first candidate carrier is unsuccessful, accessing the online bill via a webpage of a subsequent candidate carrier from a list of candidate carriers generated by an online survey system, the survey participant computer system to access each of the candidate carrier webpages until access to the online bill of the wireless subscriber is successful via the subsequent candidate carrier webpage using the subscriber access information;

collecting voice information from the accessed online bill associated with the subsequent candidate carrier webpage, and saving the voice information to a memory associated with the survey participant computer system;

processing said voice information to generate processed voice information associated with the wireless subscriber; and

classifying said processed voice information to generate market analysis information for said wireless voice market.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said voice information from the accessed online bill comprises at least one of charge information and usage information for wireless calls associated with the wireless subscriber that is a panelist member.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said wireless subscriber is identified using responses from an online survey, said responses indicating subscribers who fit a profile.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said processing said voice information comprises at least one of standardizing said voice information, cleaning said voice information, or applying additional information to said voice information to provide further market analysis for said wireless voice market.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

grouping a plurality of wireless subscribers into a plurality of groupings based upon a characteristic shared by members of each of said plurality of groupings;

performing a comparison of a number of members within a select grouping with respect to a predetermined number of people having said characteristic within a predetermined geographical area; and

assigning a weighting factor to members of said select grouping based upon said comparison, wherein an application of said weighting factor to said select grouping provides a panel that is more representative of a population within said predetermined geographical area.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

in response to an input identifying said wireless voice market, outputting said market analysis information using at least one of a presentation, a datafeed, or an online access tool enabling a third party to retrieve select portions of said voice information.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

accessing archived market analysis information for said wireless voice market; and

processing said archived market analysis information along with said voice information to provide further voice information that indicates a change in said generated market analysis information over time.

8. A computer system to access, collect and process that uses information of wireless voice market subscribers comprising a processor coupled to a bus and a memory coupled to said bus, wherein said memory comprises instructions to, when executed on said processor, at least:

receive subscriber access information from a wireless subscriber to access a wireless carrier webpage, the access information including an indication of a first candidate carrier;

access a webpage of the first candidate carrier and use the access information to access an online bill of the wireless subscriber via the webpage;

when the access of the online bill via the webpage of the first candidate carrier is unsuccessful, accessing the online bill via a webpage of a subsequent candidate carrier from a list of candidate carriers, and to access each of the candidate carrier webpages until access to the online bill of the wireless subscriber is successful via the subsequent candidate carrier webpage using the subscriber access information;

collect wireless voice information from the accessed online bill associated with the subsequent candidate carrier webpage, and saving the voice information to the memory; and

process said wireless voice information to provide market analysis information for said wireless voice market.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein said wireless voice information from the accessed online bill comprises at least one of charge information and usage information for wireless calls associated with the wireless subscriber.

10. The system of claim 8 further comprising a plurality of wireless subscribers assembled using responses from an online survey, said responses indicating subscribers who fit a profile.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein said processing said wireless voice information comprises at least one of standardizing said wireless voice information, cleaning said wireless voice information, classifying said wireless voice information, or applying additional information to said wireless voice information to provide further market analysis information for said wireless voice market.

12. The system of claim 8 , further comprising:

to group members of a plurality of wireless subscribers into a plurality of groupings based upon a characteristic shared by members of each of said plurality of groupings;

to perform a comparison of a number of members within a select grouping with respect to a predetermined number of people having said characteristic within a predetermined geographical area; and

to assign a weighting factor to members of said select grouping based upon said comparison, wherein an application of said weighting factor to said select grouping provides a panel that is more representative of a population within said predetermined geographical area.

13. The system of claim 8 , further comprising:

in response to an input identifying said wireless voice market, to output said market analysis information using at least one of a presentation, a datafeed, or an online access tool enabling a third party to retrieve select portions of said wireless voice information.

14. The system of claim 8 , further comprising:

to access archived market analysis information for said wireless voice market; and

to process said archived market analysis information along with said wireless voice information to provide further wireless voice information that indicates a change in said provided market analysis over time.

Assignments (14)
RELEASE (REEL 054066 / FRAME 0064) Recorded May 11, 2023
From: CITIBANK, N.A.
To: A. C. NIELSEN COMPANY, LLC; EXELATE, INC.; GRACENOTE, INC.; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC; NETRATINGS, LLC
Reel/Frame 063605/0001 →
RELEASE (REEL 053473 / FRAME 0001) Recorded May 11, 2023
From: CITIBANK, N.A.
To: A. C. NIELSEN COMPANY, LLC; EXELATE, INC.; GRACENOTE, INC.; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC; NETRATINGS, LLC
Reel/Frame 063603/0001 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 8, 2023
From: GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; GRACENOTE, INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
To: ARES CAPITAL CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 063574/0632 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Apr 28, 2023
From: GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; GRACENOTE, INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
To: CITIBANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 063561/0381 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jan 31, 2023
From: GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; GRACENOTE, INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.
Reel/Frame 063560/0547 →
RELEASE (REEL 037172 / FRAME 0415) Recorded Oct 13, 2022
From: CITIBANK, N.A.
To: THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
Reel/Frame 061750/0221 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE PATENTS LISTED ON SCHEDULE 1 RECORDED ON 6-9-2020 PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 053473 FRAME 0001. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE SUPPLEMENTAL IP SECURITY AGREEMENT. Recorded Oct 7, 2020
From: A.C. NIELSEN (ARGENTINA) S.A.; A.C. NIELSEN COMPANY, LLC; ACN HOLDINGS INC.; ACNIELSEN CORPORATION; ACNIELSEN ERATINGS.COM; AFFINNOVA, INC.; ART HOLDING, L.L.C.; ATHENIAN LEASING CORPORATION; CZT/ACN TRADEMARKS, L.L.C.; EXELATE, INC.; GRACENOTE, INC.; GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; NETRATINGS, LLC; NIELSEN AUDIO, INC.; NIELSEN CONSUMER INSIGHTS, INC.; NIELSEN CONSUMER NEUROSCIENCE, INC.; NIELSEN FINANCE CO.; NIELSEN FINANCE LLC; NIELSEN INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, INC.; NIELSEN MOBILE, LLC; NMR INVESTING I, INC.; TCG DIVESTITURE INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC; VIZU CORPORATION; VNU MARKETING INFORMATION, INC.; NMR LICENSING ASSOCIATES, L.P.; NIELSEN HOLDING AND FINANCE B.V.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY B.V.; VNU INTERNATIONAL B.V.
To: CITIBANK, N.A
Reel/Frame 054066/0064 →
SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 9, 2020
From: A. C. NIELSEN COMPANY, LLC; ACN HOLDINGS INC.; ACNIELSEN CORPORATION; ACNIELSEN ERATINGS.COM; AFFINNOVA, INC.; ART HOLDING, L.L.C.; ATHENIAN LEASING CORPORATION; CZT/ACN TRADEMARKS, L.L.C.; EXELATE, INC.; GRACENOTE, INC.; GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; NETRATINGS, LLC; NIELSEN AUDIO, INC.; NIELSEN CONSUMER INSIGHTS, INC.; NIELSEN CONSUMER NEUROSCIENCE, INC.; NIELSEN FINANCE CO.; NIELSEN FINANCE LLC; NIELSEN INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, INC.; NIELSEN MOBILE, LLC; NIELSEN UK FINANCE I, LLC; NMR INVESTING I, INC.; TCG DIVESTITURE INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC; VIZU CORPORATION; VNU MARKETING INFORMATION, INC.; NMR LICENSING ASSOCIATES, L.P.; NIELSEN HOLDING AND FINANCE B.V.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY B.V.; VNU INTERNATIONAL B.V.
To: CITIBANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 053473/0001 →
SUPPLEMENTAL IP SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Nov 30, 2015
From: THE NIELSEN COMPANY ((US), LLC
To: CITIBANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT FOR THE FIRST LIEN SECURED PARTIES
Reel/Frame 037172/0415 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 22, 2013
From: NIELSEN MOBILE, LLC
To: THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
Reel/Frame 030262/0487 →
CONVERSION Recorded Apr 22, 2013
From: NIELSEN MOBILE, INC., A DELAWARE CORPORATION
To: NIELSEN MOBILE, LLC
Reel/Frame 030260/0618 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Apr 22, 2013
From: TELEPHIA, INC., A DELAWARE CORPORATION
To: NIELSEN MOBILE, INC.
Reel/Frame 030272/0993 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 26, 2009
From: NIELSEN MOBILE, LLC
To: NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC, THE
Reel/Frame 023428/0418 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 3, 2007
From: GAFFNEY, TAMARA; KIM-BROWN, STUART
To: TELEPHIA
Reel/Frame 019189/0879 →