IMMI^SM can identify a Panel Members exposure to media with greater than 99% accuracy.

TECHNOLOGY

Unobtrusive Data Collection

IMMI's patented proprietary measurement platform features tracking modules for both PCs and phones that can be implemented together or individually.

Digital media monitoring – whether on PC or phone – is totally passive occurring without any action from the IMMI panel member, broadcaster or advertiser. Information collected by both phone and PC tracking modules provide a complete 360 degree view of media consumption behavior for each individual panel member.

How Modular Tracking Works on the Phone

After agreeing to participate, each panelist downloads IMMI’s patented proprietary software platform on their own smartphone or a smartphone supplied by IMMI. (IMMI provides phones for projects that include non-smartphone owners.) The phone randomly samples ambient audio in the room several times a minute, tracking exposure to TV, movies, radio, etc. In addition, IMMI software monitors mobile web surfing activity and measures Internet use. Audio samples are converted to digital signatures, which are uploaded to IMMI servers continuously, together with the panelist’s Internet activity.

To identify specific media content, IMMI compares the uploaded audio signatures computed by IMMI software on the phones with audio signatures computed by IMMI from contemporaneously monitored media, target content files, commercials, promos, movies, and songs. By matching the audio signatures, IMMI knows which media each individual panel member is exposed to. The process only takes a few seconds.

How Modular Tracking Works for Mobile Phone Media

The IMMI mobile phone software also detects URLs accessed by the panel member on the phone and their exposure to streaming video content. These events are reported to IMMI servers to provide complete details of media accessed directly by the phone itself in addition to the phone’s continuous identification via audio signatures of exposures to external media within hearing range of the phone.

How Modular Tracking Works on the Personal Computer

The IMMI software installed on a panelist's home and office computers continuously monitors which targeted websites the panel member visits. The set of targeted, measured websites is defined by each client based on their interest, so monitored Internet activities are retained only for relevant site visits. The IMMI PC software also detects and measures audio playback events on the computer and converts these data into digital signatures just like the signatures IMMI software obtains from the smartphone samples.

The PC audio samples are taken directly from the computer sound card so they are not missed if the panel member is listening through headphones or has the mute function activated. Both URL data and the audio event codes are uploaded to IMMI servers, where the location and duration of every Internet media experience is computed.

IMMI Tracks Audible Media While Protecting Privacy

If a panel member’s phone hears any media content being tracked in the IMMI databases, the IMMI matching process will correctly identify the exposure with greater than 99% accuracy. Any other audio, including panel member conversations and street sounds are simply noise that is filtered out. What people say is never tracked by IMMI.

No Special Encoding Required

IMMI can identify audio samples captured by the IMMI cell phone software without requiring any form of encoding by the content owner, broadcaster, platform operator or client. There are no limitations on the types of media for which IMMI software can track and identify media exposures. As long as there is an audio component, any form of media can be measured.

Data Is Carefully Protected

IMMI's processing hardware and data storage are housed in a high-security facility with 24/7 support. State-of-the-art systems protect the collected data. All data are secured against unauthorized access and are not shared with other IMMI clients. Routine remote backups ensure that data can be retrieved in any kind of disaster scenario.

Data Integration with Other Data Sources

Data collected from the mobile and computer devices where IMMI software modules are installed can be effectively integrated with data reporting and analysis software used by IMMI clients and their third party consultants. IMMI can partner with other research providers to correlate IMMI media measurements with other proprietary data sets, providing clients with even richer insights into the media usage behavior of target audiences.