Method and apparatus for targeted advertising

• US 10,108,980 B2
• Filed: 06/24/2011
• Issued: 10/23/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Morris, Nadia, Basso, Andrea, Hines, Tara, Ivanov, Aleksey, Mikan, Jeffrey
• Primary Examiner(s): Long, Fonya M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shorter, Rashida R
• Application Number:
  US13/167,998
• Publication Number:
  US 20120330756A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,678 Days
• Field of Search: 705 1466, 705 14
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0192 Sponsored, subsidised calls via advertising, e.g. calling cards with ads or connecting to special ads, free calling time by purchasing goods

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a controller operable to determine a behavioral pattern of at least one of a subscriber leader and a plurality of subscriber followers who track activities of the subscriber leader. The controller can be further operable to detect a first request to transmit first media content from a first device of a first plurality of devices of the subscriber leader to a second plurality of devices of the plurality of subscriber followers, identify in the first media content a first substitutable advertisement product, substitute the first substitutable product in the first media content with a first advertisement product selected according to the determined behavioral pattern to generate updated first media content, and transmit the updated first media content to the second plurality of devices of the plurality of subscriber followers. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

identifying, by a processing system including a processor, an individual subscriber to a communication service as a subscriber leader, wherein the identifying the subscriber leader is performed electronically via a network;

transmitting, by the processing system, a message from a provider of the communication service to equipment associated with the subscriber leader, the message comprising an opt-in offer to monitor consumption and transmission of media content by the equipment associated with the subscriber leader, wherein the transmitting the message is performed electronically via the network;

identifying, by the processing system responsive to an acceptance of the opt-in offer, a plurality of subscriber followers who track activities of the subscriber leader, wherein the identifying the plurality of subscriber followers is performed electronically via the network, wherein the plurality of subscriber followers are identified in accordance with interactions between the subscriber leader and the plurality of subscriber followers, wherein the interactions are performed electronically via the network, and wherein the interactions performed electronically via the network are identified electronically by the processing system;

detecting, by the processing system, a detected behavioral pattern, wherein the detecting the detected behavioral pattern is based on monitoring media content consumed at the equipment associated with the subscriber leader and media content transmitted by the equipment associated with the subscriber leader to a plurality of subscriber follower devices respectively associated with the plurality of subscriber followers, wherein the detected behavioral pattern comprises a behavioral pattern of the subscriber leader or a behavioral pattern of the subscriber leader and the plurality of subscriber followers, wherein the behavioral pattern of the subscriber leader influences a product consumption behavior of the plurality of subscriber followers, and wherein the detecting the detected behavioral pattern is performed electronically via the network;

detecting, by the processing system, a first request from the equipment of the subscriber leader for first media content, wherein an element of the first media content represents a marketable product comprising a substitutable product, and wherein the detecting the first request is performed electronically via the network;

identifying, by the processing system, in the first media content a first substitutable product;

substituting, by the processing system, the first substitutable product in the first media content with a first advertisement product selected according to the detected behavioral pattern to generate updated first media content;

transmitting, by the processing system, the updated first media content to the equipment associated with the subscriber leader, wherein the transmitting the updated first media content is performed electronically via the network;

detecting, by the processing system, a second request from the equipment of the subscriber leader to transmit second media content to the plurality of subscriber follower devices, the second media content comprising video program content, wherein the detecting the second request is performed electronically via the network;

identifying, by the processing system, in the second media content a second substitutable product;

substituting, by the processing system, the second substitutable product in the second media content with a second advertisement product selected according to the detected behavioral pattern to generate updated second media content, the second substitutable product being substituted with the second advertisement product by removing an image, corresponding to the second substitutable product, from the video program content and by inserting into the video program content, in place of the image that had been removed, an image corresponding to the second advertisement product, wherein the image corresponding to the second advertisement product is inserted into the video program content in a manner that adapts to movements of an item worn by an actor in the video program content, as the movements of the item had existed in the video program content prior to the substituting; and

transmitting, by the processing system, the updated second media content to the plurality of subscriber follower devices, wherein the transmitting the updated second media content is performed electronically via the network;

wherein the first media content prior to the substituting corresponds to an original media program.

2. The method of claim 1,

wherein the opt-in offer comprises an offer to monitor the media content consumed at the equipment associated with the subscriber leader and the media content transmitted by the equipment associated with the subscriber leader to the plurality of subscriber follower devices;

wherein the acceptance of the opt-in offer is received from the equipment associated with the subscriber leader; and

further comprising;

monitoring, by the processing system, the media content consumed at the equipment associated with the subscriber leader and the media content transmitted by the equipment associated with the subscriber leader to the plurality of subscriber follower devices responsive to the acceptance of the opt-in offer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first substitutable product has a first product type, and further comprising:

identifying, by the processing system, the first product type; and

selecting, by the processing system, the first advertisement product according to the first product type and the detected behavioral pattern.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second substitutable product has a second product type, and further comprising:

identifying, by the processing system, the second product type; and

selecting, by the processing system, the second advertisement product according to the second product type and the detected behavioral pattern.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, by the processing system, the updated second media content to a communication system of a social network communicatively coupled to the plurality of subscriber follower devices.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the processing system, the first media content;

processing, by the processing system, the first media content to determine that at least a portion of the first media content represents the marketable product;

associating, by the processing system, the first substitutable product with an identifier; and

responsive to receiving the first request, identifying, by the processing system, the first substitutable product in the first media content according to the identifier.

7. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first advertisement product is supplied by a first advertiser of a plurality of advertisers;

wherein the second advertisement product is supplied by a second advertiser of the plurality of advertisers; and

further comprising;

charging, by the processing system, the first advertiser a first fee for promoting the first advertisement product; and

charging, by the processing system, the second advertiser a second fee for promoting the second advertisement product.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising determining, by the processing system, the first and second fees according to a marketable score assigned to the subscriber leader.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining, by the processing system, the marketable score from a total number of the plurality of subscriber followers, a growth rate of subscriber followers tracking activities of the subscriber leader, a value of media content consumed by the subscriber leader, or a value of media content consumed by the subscriber followers.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the detected behavioral pattern corresponds to a detected bias for a product type.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising crediting, by the processing system, an account of the subscriber leader, in accordance with the acceptance of the opt-in offer, resulting from the processing system transmitting the updated first media content or the updated second media content.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the item worn by the actor comprises male apparel, female apparel, a watch, or a combination thereof.

12. A device, comprising:

a processing system including a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising;

transmitting a message from a communication service provider to equipment associated with an individual identified as a subscriber leader by the communication service provider, the message comprising an opt-in offer to monitor activities of the subscriber leader wherein the transmitting the message is performed electronically via a network;

responsive to an acceptance of the opt-in offer, determining a detected behavioral pattern, wherein the detected behavioral pattern comprises a behavioral pattern of the subscriber leader or a behavioral pattern of the subscriber leader and a plurality of subscriber followers who track the activities of the subscriber leader, wherein the behavioral pattern of the subscriber leader influences a product consumption behavior of the plurality of subscriber followers wherein the plurality of subscriber followers are identified in accordance with interactions between the subscriber leader and the plurality of subscriber followers, wherein the interactions are performed electronically via the network, wherein the interactions performed electronically via the network are identified electronically by the processing system, and wherein the determining the detected behavioral pattern is performed electronically via the network;

detecting a first request from the equipment associated with the subscriber leader to transmit first media content to a plurality of subscriber follower devices respectively associated with the plurality of subscriber followers, wherein an element of the first media content represents a marketable product comprising a substitutable product, wherein the first media content comprises video program content, and wherein the detecting the first request is performed electronically via the network;

identifying in the first media content a first substitutable product;

substituting the first substitutable product in the first media content with a first advertisement product supplied by a first advertiser, wherein the first advertisement product is selected according to the detected behavioral pattern to generate updated first media content, the first substitutable product being substituted with the first advertisement product by removing an image, corresponding to the first substitutable product, from the video program content and by inserting into the video program content, in place of the image that had been removed, an image corresponding to the first advertisement product, wherein the image corresponding to the first advertisement product is inserted into the video program content in a manner that adapts to movements of an item worn by an actor in the video program content, as the movements of the item had existed in the video program content prior to the substituting; and

transmitting the updated first media content to the plurality of subscriber follower devices, wherein the transmitting the updated first media content is performed electronically via the network;

wherein the first media content prior to the substituting corresponds to an original media program.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise:

detecting a second request from the equipment associated with the subscriber leader for second media content;

identifying in the second media content a second substitutable product;

substituting the second substitutable product in the second media content with a second advertisement product supplied by a second advertiser, wherein the second advertisement product is selected according to the detected behavioral pattern, to produce updated second media content; and

transmitting the updated second media content to the equipment associated with the subscriber leader.

14. The device of claim 12, wherein the opt-in offer is presented at the equipment associated with the subscriber leader;

and wherein the operations further comprise receiving the acceptance of the opt-in offer.

15. The device of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise identifying the first substitutable product from an image contour of the first substitutable product in a frame of the video program content.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the first substitutable product is identified using a repository of image content.

17. The device of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise identifying the first substitutable product from information received with the first media content.

18. The device of claim 15,

wherein the substituting comprises inserting the image corresponding to the first advertisement product in a location of the image contour.

19. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor of a communication service provider, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:

identifying an individual as a subscriber leader, wherein the identifying the subscriber leader is performed electronically via a network;

transmitting a message regarding the identifying of the subscriber leader from the communication service provider to equipment associated with the subscriber leader, the message comprising an opt-in offer to monitor activities of the subscriber leader, wherein the transmitting the message is performed electronically via the network;

identifying a plurality of subscriber followers that track the activities of the subscriber leader, wherein the identifying the plurality of subscriber followers is performed electronically via the network, wherein the plurality of subscriber followers are identified in accordance with interactions between the subscriber leader and the plurality of subscriber followers, wherein the interactions are performed electronically via the network, and wherein the interactions performed electronically via the network are identified electronically by the processing system;

responsive to an acceptance of the opt-in offer, detecting from the activities of the subscriber leader a detected behavioral pattern that influences a product consumption behavior of the plurality of subscriber followers, wherein the detecting the detected behavioral pattern is performed electronically via the network;

receiving a request for media content from a subscriber follower device associated with any of the plurality of subscriber followers, wherein an element of the media content represents a marketable product comprising a substitutable product, and wherein the media content comprises video program content, and wherein the receiving the request is performed electronically via the network;

substituting the substitutable product in the media content with an advertisement product selected according to the detected behavioral pattern to generate updated media content, the substitutable product being substituted with the advertisement product by removing an image, corresponding to the substitutable product, from the video program content and by inserting into the video program content, in place of the image that had been removed, an image corresponding to the advertisement product, wherein the image corresponding to the advertisement product is inserted into the video program content in a manner that adapts to movements of an item worn by an actor in the video program content, as the movements of the item had existed in the video program content prior to the substituting; and

transmitting the updated media content to the subscriber follower device, wherein the transmitting the updated media content is performed electronically via the network;

wherein the media content prior to the substituting corresponds to an original media program.