초록 ▼

A subscriber characterization system is presented in which the subscriber's requests are transmitted to a server which fulfills those requests and performs monitoring of the subscriber requests for subsequent characterization of the subscriber. Monitoring includes maintaining records of the time dur

A subscriber characterization system is presented in which the subscriber's requests are transmitted to a server which fulfills those requests and performs monitoring of the subscriber requests for subsequent characterization of the subscriber. Monitoring includes maintaining records of the time duration programming is watched, the volume at which the programming is listened to, and any available information regarding the type of programming, including category and sub-category of the programming. The characterization system works across a network to extract textual information related to the programming from closed captioning data, electronic program guides, or other text sources associated with the programming. The extracted information is used to form program characteristics vectors. The programming characteristics vectors can be used in combination with the subscriber selection data to form a subscriber profile. Heuristic rules indicating the relationships between programming choices and demographics can be applied to generate additional probabilistic information regarding demographics and programming and product interests. The probabilistic information can be accessed at the server by other entities on the network.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A method for generating a subscriber profile, the method comprising:monitoring subscriber interactions with a television; processing the subscriber interactions to generate viewing characteristics that identify viewing traits associated with the subscriber; retrieving heuristic rules associated w

1. A method for generating a subscriber profile, the method comprising:monitoring subscriber interactions with a television; processing the subscriber interactions to generate viewing characteristics that identify viewing traits associated with the subscriber; retrieving heuristic rules associated with the viewing characteristics, wherein the heuristic rules predict traits about the subscriber not related to the viewing characteristics; and generating the subscriber profile by applying the heuristic rules to the viewing characteristics.