In an information-based society, the rate at which information is received and disseminated may prove crucial with respect to the value of that information. The value of this information may be even more greatly impacted in sectors in which the decisions being made that are associated with the data are highly dependent upon the freshness of such information.
For example, advertisers have limited advertising budgets and choose which television/radio stations to advertise on based upon the ratings of that particular television/radio station. Unfortunately, the information provided to the advertisers that is used to make such advertising determinations may be stale. For example, rating information is typically presented in ratings books, which are often only compiled and released every three months. Accordingly, this may result in decisions being made based upon aged data that may have since changed considerably.