An attention application measures a user's attention focused on publisher content and advertisements to create an attention metric. Attention can be measured via hardware sensors or by user interactions with input/output hardware. A user attention metric profile can be used to modify content, content presentation, and/or match ads. Aggregate attention metrics can be used by publishers or third parties. Attention consumers may reward attention with a digital asset. A proof-of-attention can be made based on secure attention sensor hardware and/or a zero-knowledge proof.

Classification of the user of an attention application is moved from the cloud, where the classification is performed by advertisers based on trackers that follow a user, to the attention application itself. A user of the attention application controls inputs to the classification model and can exclude sensitive privacy information from inclusion in the classification model. The classification model is applied locally at the attention application to a catalog of advertisements and without revealing to trackers and advertisers whether attention was paid to particular ads. An analytics provider may have increased access to attention applications and can form ad campaigns and provide performance data thereon to advertisers without infringing attention user privacy. The system directs value away from trackers and advertisers and to attention application users and publishers.

A system is provided for providing action inducers to target consumer entities. The system accesses transactions relating to actions involving a consumer entity and a provider entity. The system generates training data based on the transactions. The training data includes a feature vector for each consumer entity that includes values for features derived from the transactions involving that consumer entity and a provider entity. Each feature vector is labeled with an outcome that indicates whether a previously provided action inducer induced the consumer entity to take an action. The system trains a classifier based on the training data, generates a target feature vector for a target consumer entity, applies the classifier to the target feature vector to generate a predicted outcome for the target action inducer, and when the predicted outcome satisfies an inducement criterion, provides the target action inducer to the target consumer entity.

Methods, systems, and products deliver target content to a pool of candidates. A target specification is received. A database of subscribers is queried for the target specification, and a pool of communications addresses is retrieved having demographic information matching the target specification. An auction is conducted for the pool of communications addresses, and a winning bidder's content is sent to the pool of communications addresses.

A system directs a browser or browsing application associated with a user to a targeted web site after the user performs at least two activations or clicks of his pointing device. The first click is typically on a communication provided by the system, serving as an intermediary, and the second click is typically on a first data object or web page of the intermediary, before the browser of the user is redirected to a second data object or targeted web page, typically associated with a party unrelated to the party or entity controlling the system.

Methods and apparatus to generate corrected online audience measurement data are disclosed. An example apparatus includes an impressions collector to receive a first audience count indicative of first impressions attributed to a first media category for a demographic group, a second audience count indicative of second impressions attributed to a second media category accessed by the demographic group, and a third audience count indicative of third impressions attributed to the first media category and the second media category accessed by the demographic group, the first audience count including a duplicated audience count; a factor generator to calculate a deduplication factor using the first audience count, the second audience count, and the third audience count; an audience calculator to determine a corrected audience count of the first media category to correct the duplicated audience count; and a ratings data generator to generate ratings information for the first media category.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer-readable storage medium, for providing content. A method includes receiving a request for an advertisement to be displayed in a slot associated with a third-party content site; identifying a relevant advertisement to be provided in the slot; determining information to be included in an annotation associated with the advertisement, the annotation including customized information to be presented along with the advertisement; providing the advertisement responsive to the request including providing the annotation along with a control for re-publishing the advertisement along with the relevant advertisement; receiving user input selecting the control and designating the advertisement for re-publishing to a group, the group being designated by the user; and targeting additional content to the group based on the received user input.

The disclosure relates to securing and enabling user control of profiling data, blockchain-driven matching of users and advertiser-identified anonymous profiling data records of interest, and smart contracts encoded by blockchain for executing transactions. The system may include an anonymized database of profiling data, which is unlinked to any user. The system may implement a private blockchain to store user-defined settings that provide user control over whether and how the profiling data may be used. If a grant to use the data is received, a link is stored that allows the system to identify a user associated with the anonymous profiling data records. If the grant is revoked, the link may be removed. The system may also implement public blockchain technology to record a public information relating to grants, online marketing transactions, making them verifiable, immutable, and transparent for various stakeholders including advertisers, publishers, and users.

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a device having a controller programmed to store a subscriber selectable preference for advertisements used for selecting advertisements to send to a set top box and receive a signal from a broadcast stream indicating the location for insertion of an advertisement based on the subscriber selectable preference. Other embodiments are disclosed.

A method includes generating, by a server, an inventory corresponding to a plurality of time slots. The method also includes receiving data corresponding to a plurality of inventory bookings associated with the inventory. A subset of time slots that are assigned to a digital display of a plurality of networked digital displays may be identified by the server based on the data corresponding to the plurality of bookings. Media content that is assigned to each slot of the subset of time slots is identified by the server. The method may further include generating, based on slot criteria corresponding to the subset of time slots, a schedule template that defines a rotation loop. The media content is displayable on the digital display at times defined by the display rotation loop. The schedule template is transmitted to the digital display via a network.