Method for in-stream aggregation of ad interaction data for a population of users viewing ad content

1. A method for characterizing user engagement with visual elements loaded with visual content and viewed on a population of mobile devices over a period of time, the method comprising, at a remote computer system remote from the population of mobile devices:

via a computer network, receiving a first ping from a visual element accessed by a mobile device in the population of mobile devices, the first ping containing:

a first time value; and

a first value representing a first amount of the visual element viewed at the mobile device at a first time corresponding to the first time value;

in response to the first value exceeding a threshold value, grouping the first ping with a first group of pings in a ping feed, containing pings received from the population of mobile devices, each ping in the first group of pings received from the visual element prior to the first ping; and

in response to the first value falling below the threshold value:

deriving a first engagement metric based on the first group of pings, the first engagement metric representing user interactions with visual content rendered within the visual element;

populating a view session packet with the first engagement metric; and

inserting the view session packet into a browse session packet representing a browse session at the mobile device and comprising a set of view session packets representing periods of visibility of the visual element within a viewport at the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1 :

wherein receiving the first ping containing the first value representing the amount of the visual element viewed at the mobile device at the first time comprises receiving the first ping containing a first in-view value representing the first amount of the visual element rendered within a viewport at the mobile device at the first time;

wherein grouping the first ping with the first group of pings in response to the first value exceeding the threshold value comprises grouping the first ping with the first group of pings in response to the first in-view value exceeding a threshold in-view value; and

wherein deriving the first engagement metric in response to the first value falling below the threshold value comprises deriving the first engagement metric in response to the first in-view value falling below the threshold in-view value.

3. The method of claim 1 :

wherein calculating the first engagement metric based on the first group of pings comprises calculating a first time spent value for visibility of visual content loaded within the visual element based on time values of pings in the first group of pings; and

wherein populating the first view session packet with the first engagement metric comprises populating the first view session packet with the first time spent value.

4. The method of claim 3 :

wherein receiving the first ping containing the first value comprises receiving the first ping containing a first in-view value representing the first amount of the visual element rendered within a viewport at the mobile device at the first time; and

wherein calculating the first time spent value comprises:

for each ping, in the first group of pings:

calculating a time offset between the ping and a contiguous ping, in the first group of pings, based on time values contained in the ping and the contiguous ping;

calculating a product of the time offset and an in-view value contained in the ping; and

inserting the product into a set of products derived for the first group of pings; and

based on the set of products, calculating the first time spent value for the visual element.

5. The method of claim 1 ,

further comprising, in response to termination of the browse session, storing the browse session packet in a first database.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising, in response to termination of the browse session, writing the ping feed to a second database.

7. The method of claim 1 :

wherein receiving the first ping from the visual element comprises receiving the first ping from the visual element loaded with a first visual media associated with a first advertising campaign; and

further comprising:

based on the first engagement metric, calculating an engagement score representing user engagement with visual content presented within the visual element at the mobile device; and

in response to the engagement score falling below a threshold score, selecting a second visual media, associated with a second advertising campaign, for presentation within a second visual element at the mobile device.

8. The method of claim 1 :

wherein receiving the first ping from the visual element comprises receiving the first ping from the visual element loaded with a first visual media associated with a first advertising campaign; and

further comprising:

based on the first engagement metric, calculating an engagement score representing user engagement with visual content presented within the visual element at the mobile device; and

in response to the engagement score exceeding a threshold score, selecting a second visual media, associated with the first advertising campaign, for presentation within a second visual element at the mobile device.

9. The method of claim 8 :

wherein calculating the engagement score based on the first engagement metric comprises calculating the engagement score based on a set of engagement metrics, comprising the first engagement metric, stored in the set of view session packets in the browse session packet.

10. The method of claim 1 :

wherein deriving the first engagement metric based on the first group of pings comprises deriving the first engagement metric representing user interactions with visual content rendered within the visual element during a first view session; and

further comprising:

via the computer network, receiving a second ping from the visual element, the second ping containing:

a second time value; and

a second value representing a second amount of the visual element viewed at the mobile device at a second time, succeeding the first time, corresponding to the second time value; and

in response to the first value falling below the threshold in-view value:

in response to the second value exceeding the threshold value, grouping the second ping with a second group of pings in the ping feed, each ping in the second group of pings received from the visual element after the first ping and prior to the second ping; and

in response to the second value falling below the threshold value:

deriving a second engagement metric based on the second group of pings, the second engagement metric representing user interactions with visual content rendered within the visual element during a second view session; and

populating a second view session packet, representing the second group of pings, with the second engagement metric.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

inserting the second view session packet into the browse session packet;

deriving an engagement score based on the first engagement metric and the second engagement metric; and

storing the engagement score in the browse session packet.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising writing the ping feed to a database at a second time succeeding the first time.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

accessing a second engagement metric definition defined at a third time succeeding the second time;

accessing the ping feed from the database;

based on pings in the ping feed received from the visual element, calculating a second engagement metric for the visual element according to the second engagement metric definition; and

writing the second engagement metric to the first view session packet.

14. A method for characterizing user engagement with visual elements loaded with visual content and viewed on a population of mobile devices over a period of time, the method comprising, at a remote computer system remote from the population of mobile devices:

via a computer network, receiving a first ping from a visual element, accessed by a mobile device, in the population of mobile devices, the first ping containing:

a first time value; and

a first value representing a first amount of the visual element rendered within a viewport at the mobile device at a first time corresponding to the first time value;

in response to the first value exceeding a threshold value, grouping the first ping with a first group of pings in a ping feed, each ping in the first group of pings received from the visual element prior to the first ping, the ping feed containing pings received from the population of mobile devices;

via the computer network, receiving a second ping from the visual element, the second ping containing:

a second time value; and

a second value representing a second amount of the visual element rendered within the viewport at the mobile device at a second time, succeeding the first time, corresponding to the second time value; and

in response to the second value falling below the threshold value:

deriving an engagement metric for a view session based on the first group of pings, the engagement metric representing user interactions with visual content rendered within the visual element during the view session;

writing the engagement metric to a view session packet;

inserting the view session packet into a browse session packet representing a browse session at the mobile device.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising, in response to the second value falling below the threshold value:

storing the browse session packet in a first database.

16. The method of claim 14 :

wherein receiving the first ping containing the first time value and the first value comprises receiving the first ping containing:

the first time value;

an identifier associated with the mobile device; and

the first value comprising a first in-view value representing the first amount of the visual element rendered within a viewport at the mobile device at the first time; and

wherein receiving the second ping containing the second time value and the second value comprises receiving the second ping containing:

the second time value;

the identifier associated with the mobile device; and

the second value comprising a second in-view value representing the second amount of the visual element rendered within the viewport at the mobile device at the second time.

17. A method for characterizing user engagement with visual elements loaded with visual content and viewed on a population of mobile devices over a period of time, the method comprising, at a remote computer system remote from the population of mobile devices:

via a computer network, receiving a first ping from a visual element accessed by a mobile device, in the population of mobile devices, the first ping containing:

a first time value;

an identifier associated with the mobile device; and

an in-view value representing a first amount of the visual element rendered within a viewport at the mobile device at a first time corresponding to the first time value;

in response to the in-view value exceeding a threshold in-view value, grouping the first ping with a first group of pings received from the visual element prior to the first ping; and

in response to the in-view value falling below the threshold in-view value:

deriving an engagement metric for a view session based on the first group of pings, the engagement metric representing user interactions with visual content rendered within the visual element during the view session;

writing the engagement metric to a view session packet; and

inserting the view session packet into a browse session packet comprising a set of view session packets representing periods of visibility of the visual element within the viewport at the mobile device.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein grouping the first ping with the first group of pings comprises grouping the first ping with the first group of pings in a ping feed containing pings received from the population of mobile devices, each ping in the first group of pings received from the visual element prior to the first ping and containing the identifier.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

storing the browse session packet in a first database; and

writing the ping feed to a second database.

20. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

via the computer network, receiving a second ping from the visual element, the second ping containing:

a second time value;

the identifier associated with the mobile device; and

a second in-view value representing a second amount of the visual element rendered within a viewport at the mobile device at a second time, preceding the first time, corresponding to the second time value; and

in response to the second in-view value exceeding the threshold in-view value, grouping the second ping with the first group of pings, each ping, in the first group of pings, received from the visual element prior to the second ping and containing the identifier.