Method and apparatus for tracing users of online video web sites

1. A method for collecting viewer behavior data for at least one viewer of at least one video clip displayed on a web page, the method comprising:

receiving the web page that makes use of a video player of the at least one viewer, a data collection agent (DCA) being embedded within the video player, and the web page providing access to the at least one video clip, said DCA communicatively coupled by using a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) to a viewership analytics server (VAS), said DCA containing a script code for collecting viewership information associated with said at least one video clip;

generating a first HTTP request by the DCA when the video player is in use, said first HTTP request including metadata associated with said at least one video clip, said metadata including (1) an identification for said at least one video clip, (2) a publisher identifier, (3) a web page identifier, and (4) at least one of a length of said at least one video clip or a current time;

generating a second HTTP request by the DCA, said second HTTP request including said viewership information associated with said at least one video clip of said web page, said viewership information including (1) an action performed on said video player that displays said at least one video clip on said web page and (2) a timestamp of start and end times for said at least one video clip displayed by said video player on said web page; and

sending said first HTTP request and said second HTTP request to said VAS such that said VAS (1) analyzes said metadata associated with said at least one video clip and said viewership information associated with said at least one video clip and (2) generates at least one report of said metadata associated with said at least one video clip and said viewership information associated with said at least one video clip.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said action performed on said video player includes at least one of playing, pausing, rewinding, or forwarding.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first HTTP request and said second HTTP request are generated at least once a minute, once an hour, once a day, once a week, or once a month.

4. A method for processing viewer behavior data for at least one viewer of at least one video clip, the method comprising:

embedding a data collection agent (DCA) into a video player of a client for use by a web page, said DCA collecting at least (1) metadata associated with said at least one video clip and including at least one of a length of said at least one video clip or a current time, and (2) viewership information associated with said at least one video clip when said at least one video clip is displayed by the video player on said web page, said viewership information including (1) an action performed on said video player that displays said at least one video clip on said web page, and (2) a timestamp of start and end times for said at least one video clip displayed by said video player on said web page;

receiving, at a viewership analytics server (VAS), a first hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) request including said metadata associated with said at least one video clip and a second HTTP request including said viewership information associated with said at least one video clip collected by the DCA when the video player is in use displaying said at least one video clip, said metadata and said viewership information associated with an individual viewer that views said at least one video clip displayed by the video player on said web page;

associating said metadata and said viewership information with tracking information associated with said at least one video clip;

processing said metadata, said viewership information, and said tracking information; and

generating at least one report respective of viewership of said at least one video clip based on said metadata, said viewership information, and said tracking information.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising saving said metadata and said viewership information to a database.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein said database includes a table including at least one of a publisher identifier, an internet protocol (IP) address of the at least one viewer, an operating system (OS) identifier, or a browser type identifier.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein said tracking information includes at least one of an internet protocol (IP) address, an operating system (OS) identifier, or a browser identifier for said at least one video clip.

8. The method of claim 4 , wherein said at least one report includes viewership-related analytics data, said viewership-related analytics data includes an identifier of at least one viewer of said at least one video clip during a period of time, said at least one video clip is displayed by the video player on said web page.

9. The method of claim 4 , wherein said at least one report includes an attention span report, said attention span report including at least one of a duration identifier and a repetition identifier of each viewer of said at least one video clip, a total number of viewers for said at least one video clip, or a number of viewers of a total length of said at least one video clip.

10. The method of claim 4 , wherein said at least one report includes viewership demographics, said viewership demographics including a number of viewers for said at least one video clip including at least one of a country identifier, a race identifier, an age identifier, a gender identifier, an income identifier, an education identifier, or an employment status identifier.

11. A server system for collecting viewer behavior data for at least one viewer of at least one video clip, comprising:

a data collection agent (DCA) implemented in at least one of a memory or a processing device, the DCA configured to be embedded into a video player of a web page of a client, said DCA configured to collect (1) metadata associated with said at least one video clip and including at least one of a length of said at least one video clip and a current time, and (2) viewership information associated with said at least one video clip when said at least one video clip is displayed by the video player on said web page, said viewership information including (1) an action performed on said video player that displays said at least one video clip on said web page, and (2) a timestamp of start and end times for said at least one video clip displayed by said video player on said web page, said DCA containing a script code for collecting said viewership information;

an information collection component implemented in a viewership analytics server (VAS), the information collection component for receiving, from the DCA, a first hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) request including said metadata and a second HTTP request including said viewership information when the video player is in use displaying said at least one video clip;

an analyzing component implemented in the viewership analytics server (VAS), the analyzing component for analyzing said metadata and said viewership information; and

a graphical user interface (GUI) component for generating at least one report associated with said at least one video clip based at least in part on results of said analyzing of said metadata and said viewership information.

12. The server system of claim 11 , wherein said DCA is configured to receive said tracking information including at least one of an internet protocol (IP) address, an operating system (OS) identifier, or a browser identifier for said video clip.

13. The server system of claim 12 , further comprising a database for storing said metadata, said viewership information, and said tracking information.

14. The server system of claim 13 , wherein said database includes a table including at least one of a publisher identifier, an internet protocol (IP) address of the at least one viewer, an operating system (OS) identifier, or a browser type identifier.

15. The server system of claim 11 , wherein said at least one report is defined based at least in part on at least one of viewership demographics, timestamps of start and end times for viewership of said at least one video clip, viewership geography, or said at least one video clip.