Automatic Content Recognition (ACR)

Automatic content recognition (ACR) refers to the ability of a client application (typically a smartphone or media tablet app) to identify a content element within its proximity _ audio, video or digital image _ based on sampling a portion of the audio or video (or image), processing the sample and comparing it with a source service that identifies content by its unique characteristics such as audio or video fingerprints or watermarks.

How Automatic Content Recognition Works
ACR works across a wide variety of media platforms, such as CTV systems, linear cable television, and even video games. The technology works by comparing the small in-the-moment snippet to a vast library of properly cataloged data to find exactly what the snippet is. In greater detail:

• Media companies create a reference library of content. This is the archive of everything on television that future snippets will be compared to. Data centers catalog each moment, adding in all the metadata about when the media plays (on linear television), what video game, movie, or television show the snippet comes from, and any other useful information. Managing companies expend a lot of time and effort cleaning the data to create a refined, reliable library of listening posts.
• ACR pulls a snippet from a viewer's current media and compares it to the library.
• The content is matched with the right file full of metadata. These images or sound elements can happen once every 10 seconds or multiple times a second; as more snippets are compared in the library, the library continues to grow.

"To create the reference library, you need 'listening posts,'" explains Jane Clarke, CEO and managing director of CIMM. "Computers in data centers 'watch' TV and catalog what they see. Then, that reference library is matched against a schedule of what ran, so the computer can match the image and audio to a 9 p.m. prime-time episode, for example."

Uses of Automatic Content Recognition
There are several uses of ACR technology. Some of the more prominent ones are –

• Detection of copyright infringement: Copyrighted material such as video and audio are often used indiscriminately without attributing or paying royalties to the original content creators. If a database of copyrighted content exists, then large UGC platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Vimeo, etc. could check to see if user-uploaded content contains copyrighted material or not.
• Ad-tracking: ACR has found a lot of use in the advertising industry and for good reason. Here’s why –
  • Unless you have the ability to determine if an ad was played and watched by the end-user (instead of being buried at the end of a long landing page), then your metrics don’t make a lot of sense and it could lead to inflated data with respect to ad impressions, plays, and completion rates. This requires SDKs and changes to the players that can consume a lot of effort and development cycles.
  • However, ACR has the ability to recognize the content that is being played by sampling certain pixels of video, or by recognizing the audio. This enables ACR to provide a better picture to the advertisers and publishers on the ad delivery and engagement.
• Collating information from different sources: This is a very interesting use-case of ACR. In most homes, there is one big TV in the living room where people gather to watch movies. However, the content streaming to the TV could come from an STB, Chromecast, Roku, FireStick, or an Xbox. Instead of embedding code inside all these devices, SmartTVs with ACR can recognize the content being played (from the “glass”) and report on it. This allows for content attribution and normalization across a variety of sources.
• Understanding Audiences and their preferences: Similar to other methods of gathering usage analytics, ACR allows broadcasters and content providers to know how their audience is responding to their content, marketing, strategies, etc. By having fine-grained information about their audience and their usage patterns, broadcasters can better invest their dollars and get a much higher ROI.
• Ad Retargeting by OEMs: Samsung includes ACR technology in their SmartTVs and sells ad inventory and provides ad-retargeting services. According to their website, “Samsung Ads offers TV Ad Retargeting that empowers brands to identify audiences who saw or missed their TV spots and reconnect with them via mobile, tablet, desktop or OTT.” And, “Samsung Smart TVs have built-in Automated Content Recognition (ACR) technology that can understand viewing behavior and usage including programs, movies, ads, gaming content and OTT apps in real-time”.

How Advertisers Can Benefit from ACR<ref>How can advertisers benefit from ACR? ACR’s most significant benefit is its ability to enable advertisers to align their broadcast TV and digital media strategies with a cohesive and consistent message across all device types. Because ACR data is collected via smart TVs, advertisers are able to gain insight into ad views on linear TV and can use that data to inform granular targeting decisions on digital. Let’s look at a few examples of how advertisers can use ACR to enhance their holistic media strategy.

1. Retarget linear TV audiences across screens ACR vendors can verify that a user has seen a particular ad on linear TV and use that information to send the user a follow-up message.

2. Target non-exposed TV audiences on other devices ACR vendors can verify that a user has not seen a particular ad on linear TV. Advertisers can extend their reach by targeting those users through additional channels.

3. Conquest audience categories exposed to ads Advertisers can use ACR to target audiences based on linear ads they’ve been exposed to.

4. Target show level syndicated audiences Advertisers can use ACR technology to target viewers of a particular show in a digital environment.

Data providers create segments beginning with the data they collect from ACR and then model out that data to reach an appropriate scale. Because advertisers run campaigns of varying sizes, advertisers should consider widening their audience pool with additional targeting components when building out campaigns to ensure reach.