Method and apparatus for displaying ads directed to personas having associated characteristics

• US 10,482,501 B2
• Filed: 01/05/2018
• Issued: 11/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rally AG LLC (Teledisc Corporation)
• Original Assignee: AutoGraph Incorporated
• Inventors: Roundtree, Brian, Huseby, Thomas S., Allan, Kevin, Munslow, William, Pratt, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Loftis, Johnna R
• Application Number:
  US15/863,708
• Publication Number:
  US 20180211279A1
• Time in Patent Office: 683 Days
• Field of Search: 705 1449, 705 145, 705 1466
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement

Abstract

A system and method for directing self-targeted advertising to users who are interested in receiving it. A user creates or adopts one or more personas that define a number of characteristics that the user has or wants to be associated with. The characteristics of the personas can be used by advertisers to define members of a target audience. Each persona included in a target audience has an address or identifier to which ads are sent. In one embodiment, users are shown a user interface screen with icons representing a number of brands. The user provides input that indicates whether they have different opinions of the brands. Based on the input received, an estimate is made of the likelihood that the user has a number of characteristics. In one embodiment, the user can arrange the icons representing the brands on the user interface screen to indicate if the user likes or dislikes the brand.

Claims

1. A processor-based system for receiving advertisements, comprising:

memory for storing instructions that are executable by processor electronics;

a display screen;

processor electronics configured to execute the instructions in order to;

display a plurality of icons to which advertisements can be directed to a user;

receive a selection from the user to activate a first icon of the plurality of icons to which advertisements can be directed during a time period when the icon is active, wherein the first icon defines one or more characteristics of the user that can be analyzed by an advertiser to determine a target audience for an ad;

in response to the selection of the first icon, select a cookie associated to the first icon, wherein the cookie is configured to reference a portion of user interest data collected during the period of time when the first icon is active;

display an ad directed to the selected first icon;

determine if a predetermined triggering event has occurred;

in response to the determination of the triggering event occurring, automatically select a second icon from the plurality of icons that defines one or more characteristics of the user to which ads are to be directed; and

in response to the selection of the second icon, select a second cookie associated to the second icon, wherein the second cookie is configured to reference a portion of user interest data collected during a second time period that the second icon is active.

2. The processor-based system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a clock for determining a time and wherein the predetermined triggering event is a predetermined time.

3. The processor-based system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises an input device for determining user input into the system and wherein the predetermined triggering event is a user input.

4. The processor-based system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a location sensor for determining a location of the system and wherein the instructions cause the processor electronics to:

display ads based on a determined geographic location of the user.

5. The processor-based system of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor electronics to:

display ads that are valid within a desired distance of the user.

6. The processor-based system of claim 1, further comprising a clock for determining a time, wherein the instructions cause the processor electronics to:

determine the time from the clock; and

display ads based on the determined time.

7. The processor-based system of claim 1, wherein the instructions are executable by the processor electronics to:

download one or more characteristics of a persona from a remote computing device;

combine the one or more characteristics of the persona with the one or more characteristics associated to the first icon; and

receive ads selected by the advertiser based on the combined data comprising the one or more characteristics of the persona and the one or more characteristics of the user associated to the first icon.

8. The processor-based system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the processor electronics to download a persona from a remote computing device;

modify the persona by deleting at least one characteristic associated to the downloaded persona in response to a user request; and

receive ads selected by the advertiser based on the modified persona.

9. The processor-based system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the processor electronics to:

display a representation of a persona created by another user and stored on a remote computing device;

in response to user selection of the representation, transmit an indication to the remote computing device indicating selection of the persona; and

receive ads selected for the persona.

10. The processor-based system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of icons displayed to the user on the screen comprises at least four icons.

11. A processor-based system for receiving advertisements, comprising:

memory for storing instructions that are executable by processor electronics;

a user input device;

processor electronics configured to execute the instructions in order to;

receive a selection from a user to activate an icon to which advertisements can be directed during a time period when the icon is active, wherein the icon defines one or more characteristics of the user that can be analyzed by an advertiser to determine a target audience for an ad;

in response to the selection of the icon, select a cookie associated to the icon, wherein the cookie is configured to reference a portion of user interest data collected during the period of time when the icon is active;

display an ad directed to the selected icon;

determine if a predetermined triggering event has occurred;

automatically selecting a second icon that defines one or more characteristics of the user to which ads are to be directed in response to the determined triggering event;

in response to the selection of the second icon, select a second cookie associated to the second icon, wherein the second cookie is configured to reference a portion of user interest data collected during a second time period that the second icon is active;

in further response to the selection of the second icon, display to the user the second icon defining one or more characteristics of the user, wherein the active icon is displayed to the user as the currently active icon; and

in response to receiving a user query by operation of the user input device, transmit the user query and data based at least on cookie data associated to the second icon to a search engine.

12. The processor-based system of claim 11, wherein cookie associated to the second icon is stored within the memory.

13. The processor-based system of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the processor electronics to:

display a representation of a persona created by another user and stored on a remote computing device;

in response to user selection of the representation, transmit an indication to the remote computing device indicating selection of the persona; and

receive ads selected for the persona.

14. The processor-based system of claim 11, wherein the instructions are executable by the processor electronics to:

download one or more characteristics of a persona from a remote computing device;

combine the one or more characteristics of the persona with the one or more characteristics associated to the icon; and

receive ads selected by the advertiser based on the combined data comprising the one or more characteristics of the persona and the one or more characteristics of the user associated to the icon.

15. The processor-based system of claim 11, wherein the system further comprises a clock for determining a time and wherein the predetermined triggering event is a predetermined time.

16. The processor-based system of claim 11, wherein the predetermined triggering event is a user input entered by operation of the user input device.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that are executable by processor electronics to:

receive a selection from a user to activate an icon to which advertisements can be directed during a time period when the icon is active, wherein the icon defines one or more characteristics of the user that can be analyzed by an advertiser to determine a target audience for an ad;

in response to the selection of the icon, select a cookie associated to the icon, wherein the cookie is configured to reference a portion of user interest data collected during the period of time when the icon is active;

display an ad directed to the selected icon;

determine if a predetermined triggering event has occurred;

automatically selecting a second icon that defines one or more characteristics of the user to which ads are to be directed in response to the determined triggering event;

in response to the selection of the second icon, select a second cookie associated to the second icon, wherein the second cookie is configured to reference a portion of user interest data collected during a second time period that the second icon is active;

in further response to the selection of the second icon, display to the user the second icon defining one or more characteristics of the user, wherein the active icon is displayed to the user as the currently active icon; and

in response to receiving a user query by operation of a user input device, transmit the user query and data based at least on cookie data associated to the second icon to a search engine.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions further cause the processor electronics to:

download one or more characteristics of a persona from a remote computing device;

combine the one or more characteristics of the persona with the one or more characteristics associated to the icon; and

receive ads selected by the advertiser based on the combined data comprising the one or more characteristics of the persona and the one or more characteristics of the user associated to the icon.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions further cause the processor electronics to determine a time from a clock and wherein the predetermined triggering event is a predetermined time.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the predetermined triggering event is a user input entered by operation of the user input device.