IP Library Granted Patent US 11,836,758
Granted Patent B1
US 11,836,758 · App. 17/379,699 · Granted Dec 5, 2023

Systems, methods, and media for detecting content view ability

Inventors: David William Luttrell (Philadelphia, PA); Micah Freedman (New York, NY); Aashi Deacon (Brooklyn, NY); Moshe Silberman (Brooklyn, NY)
Assignee: Integral Ad Science, Inc.
G06Q30/0246G06Q30/0242
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,836,758
App. No.
17/379,699
Granted
Dec 5, 2023
Kind
B1
Abstract

Systems, methods, and media are disclosed for tracking viewability of content, such as Internet content, by associating a color-changing animated image file with the content and determining, based on whether color of an image is changing, whether the content is in a viewable region of a browser.

Claims (40)

1. A method for detecting viewability, the method comprising:

receiving, using at least one hardware processor, an animated image file configured to change between a plurality of states;

intercepting, using the at least one hardware processor, an advertisement call, which was redirected from transmission between a computing device and an advertisement server, to serve an advertisement in an advertising region on a webpage;

selecting, using the at least one hardware processor, tracking code from a plurality of types of tracking codes based on the animated image file used to determine whether the advertisement in the advertising region on the webpage is viewable and based on web browser information associated with the computing device, wherein the tracking code is configured to monitor states of the animated image file that is loaded in association with the advertisement using a tracking technique;

inserting, using the at least one hardware processor, code into the advertisement call, where the code renders the animated image file and wherein the code executes the tracking code to monitor states of the animated image file;

transmitting, using the at least one hardware processor, the advertisement with the inserted code to the computing device, wherein the tracking code within inserted code returns states of the animated image file; and

determining, using the at least one hardware processor, whether the advertisement is viewable based on the returned state of the animated image file.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a plurality of animated image files that are each configured to rotate through a sequence of different colors over a predetermined time period.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of animated image files begins animating by rotating through the sequence of different colors upon being displayed within a viewable region of a browser viewport and ceases animating upon not being displayed within the viewable region of the browser viewport.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein each color in the sequence of different colors is associated with a time from a start time at which an animated image file began animating.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the inserted code renders each of the plurality of animated image files in one of a plurality of different positions adjacent to the advertisement in the advertising region on the webpage.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the inserted code causes the plurality of animated image files to be rendered in the plurality of different positions adjacent to the advertising region on the webpage.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein, in response to detecting that a first animated image file of the plurality of animated image files is currently being displayed within a viewable region of a browser viewport, the first animated image files is caused to rotate through the sequence of different colors over the predetermined time period.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein, in response to detecting that a second animated image file of the plurality of animated image files is not currently being displayed within the viewable region of the browser viewport, the second animated image file is caused to cease rotating through the sequence of different colors.

9. The method of claim 2 , wherein the method further comprises retrieving, from the computing device using the tracking code, at a first sampling time, color information corresponding to at least a first portion of the plurality of animated image files.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises retrieving, from the computing device using the tracking code, at a second sampling time, color information corresponding to at least a second portion of the plurality of animated image files, wherein the second portion of the plurality of animated image files is different than the first portion of the plurality of animated image files.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the advertisement is determined to be viewable based on the received color information from the first portion of the plurality of animated image files and the received color information from the second portion of the plurality of animated image files and based on the time associated with colors associated with each of the plurality of animated image files.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises transmitting, to the advertisement server, viewability information corresponding to the advertisement based on the determination.

13. The method of claim 2 , wherein the advertisement call to serve an advertisement is received from the computing device running an application that loaded the webpage and wherein the method further comprises using the tracking code to determine a color of each of the plurality of animated image files.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising transmitting information determined by the tracking code to a remote site that is different from a content provider site associated with the webpage.

15. The method of claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of animated image files is formatted in Graphics Interchange Format (GIF).

16. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining whether the advertisement is viewable further comprises comparing a current detected state of each of the plurality of animated image files to a previously detected state of each of the plurality of animated image files.

17. The method of claim 2 , wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a request to serve a plurality of advertisements on the webpage, wherein the content and the plurality of advertisements on the webpage are displayed within a browser window; and

assigning a copy of each of the plurality of animated image files to each of the plurality of advertisements on the webpage, wherein each of the plurality of animated image files changes between the plurality of states upon detecting that the associated advertisement is displayed within the viewable region of the browser window.

18. A system for detecting content viewability, the system comprising:

at least one hardware processor that is configured to:

receive an animated image file configured to change between a plurality of states;

intercept an advertisement call, which was redirected from transmission between a computing device and an advertisement server, to serve an advertisement in an advertising region on a webpage;

select tracking code from a plurality of types of tracking codes based on the animated image file used to determine whether the advertisement in the advertising region on the webpage is viewable and based on web browser information associated with the computing device, wherein the tracking code is configured to monitor states of the animated image file that is loaded in association with the advertisement using a tracking technique;

insert code into the advertisement call, where the code renders the animated image file and wherein the code executes the tracking code to monitor states of the animated image file;

transmit the advertisement with the inserted code to the computing device, wherein the tracking code within inserted code returns states of the animated image file; and

determine whether the advertisement is viewable based on the returned state of the animated image file.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for detecting content viewability, the method comprising:

receiving, using at least one hardware processor, an animated image file configured to change between a plurality of states;

intercepting, using the at least one hardware processor, an advertisement call, which was redirected from transmission between a computing device and an advertisement server, to serve an advertisement in an advertising region on a webpage;

selecting, using the at least one hardware processor, tracking code from a plurality of types of tracking codes based on the animated image file used to determine whether the advertisement in the advertising region on the webpage is viewable and based on web browser information associated with the computing device, wherein the tracking code is configured to monitor states of the animated image file that is loaded in association with the advertisement using a tracking technique;

inserting, using the at least one hardware processor, code into the advertisement call, where the code renders the animated image file and wherein the code executes the tracking code to monitor states of the animated image file;

transmitting, using the at least one hardware processor, the advertisement with the inserted code to the computing device, wherein the tracking code within inserted code returns states of the animated image file; and

determining, using the at least one hardware processor, whether the advertisement is viewable based on the returned state of the animated image file.

Assignments (3)
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jan 9, 2026
From: INTEGRAL AD SCIENCE, INC.
To: ROYAL BANK OF CANADA, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 074280/0900 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT COLLATERAL, RECORDED ON SEPTEMBER 18, 2025 AT REEL/FRAME NO. 72916/0431 Recorded Jan 9, 2026
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: INTEGRAL AD SCIENCE, INC.
Reel/Frame 074281/0009 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 18, 2025
From: INTEGRAL AD SCIENCE, INC.
To: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 072916/0431 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation 13836700 · Mar 15, 2013
Provisional Application 61735530 · Dec 10, 2012