E-mail software and method and system for distributing advertisements to client devices that have such e-mail software installed thereon

• US 20010044736A1
• Filed: 12/01/2000
• Published: 11/22/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/1999
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Jacobs, Paul E., Ross, David J., Dorner, Steven, Noerenberg, John W., Boyd, John D., Antonio, Franklin P., Bird, Alan, Ogdon, Benjamin P., Beckley, Jeffrey D., Dudziak, Matthew J., Belk, Jeffrey K., Rhodes, William J., Purlia, John S.
• Application Number:
  US09/728,053
• Publication Number:
  US 20010044736A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0247 Calculate past, present or future revenues
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0264 based upon schedule
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0272 Period of advertisement exposure
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/063 Content adaptation, e.g. replacement of unsuitable content
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/18 Commands or executable codes

Abstract

In one aspect, the present invention provides an advertisement distribution system for distributing advertisements to a multiplicity of client devices via a communications network, which system includes at least one ad server that stores the advertisements to be distributed to the client devices, each advertisement being stored in a storage location designated by a source address, and at least one playlist server that provides at least one playlist for each client device. Preferably, the at least one playlist provided for each client device identifies advertisements to be downloaded by that client device.

Claims

1. An advertisement distribution system for distributing advertisements to a multiplicity of client devices via a communications network, the system comprising:

at least one ad server that stores the advertisements to be distributed to the client devices, each advertisement being stored in a storage location designated by a source address;

at least one playlist server that provides at least one playlist for each client device; and

wherein the at least one playlist provided for each client device identifies advertisements to be downloaded by that client device.

2. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the communications network comprises the Internet.

3. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein each of the client devices is equipped with software that effects communications with both the advertisement distribution system and with a data communications service provider.

4. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 3

, wherein the software is subsidized by revenues attributable to the downloaded advertisements.

5. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the data communications service provider comprises an e-mail service provider.

6. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the data communications service provider comprises an Internet service provider.

7. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 3

, wherein the software is e-mail software.

8. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 7

, wherein the e-mail software is subsidized by revenues attributable to the downloaded advertisements.

9. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 3

, wherein the data communications service provider comprises an e-mail service provider.

10. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the data communications service provider comprises an Internet service provider.

11. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 7

, wherein the data communications service provider comprises an e-mail service provider.

12. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 3

, wherein the advertisement distribution system is operated by a producer of the software.

13. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 3

, wherein the advertisement distribution system is operated by a vendor of the software.

14. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 12

, wherein the software is e-mail software.

15. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 13

, wherein the software is e-mail software.

16. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 3

, wherein:

the at least one playlist server is controlled by a vendor of the software; and

the at least one ad server comprises a plurality of ad servers that each store one or more advertisements to be distributed to clients of the vendor of the software; and

at least one of the plurality of ad servers is controlled by the vendor of the software.

17. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 3

, wherein:

the at least one playlist server is controlled by a vendor of the software; and

the at least one ad server comprises a plurality of ad servers that each store one or more advertisements to be distributed to clients of the vendor of the software; and

at least one of the plurality of ad servers is controlled by an entity other than the vendor of the software that has granted the vendor of the software and its clients access to its ad server(s).

18. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist provided for each client device contains a list of ad identifiers that identify respective ones of the advertisements to be downloaded by that client device, and a list of corresponding source addresses that identify the corresponding storage location from which each respective advertisement can be fetched by that client device.

19. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein:

the at least one playlist provided for each client device contains ad display parameters; and

each of the client devices displays at least selected ones of the downloaded advertisements in accordance with the ad display parameters contained in the at least one playlist provided for that client device.

20. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 19

, wherein the ad display parameters specify, for each of at least prescribed ones of the at least selected ones of the downloaded advertisements, how many times that advertisement is to be displayed for a given time period, and how long that advertisement is to be displayed each time that it is displayed.

21. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 19

, wherein the ad display parameters specify, for each of at least prescribed ones of the at least selected ones of the downloaded advertisements, how many times that advertisement is to be displayed for a given time period.

22. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 19

, wherein the ad display parameters specify, for each of at least prescribed ones of the at least selected ones of the downloaded advertisements, how long that advertisement is to be displayed each time that it is displayed.

23. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 19

, wherein the ad display parameters specify, for each of at least prescribed ones of the at least selected ones of the downloaded advertisements, a start date/time before which the associated advertisement should not be displayed, and the end date/time after which the associated advertisement should not be displayed.

24. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 20

, wherein the ad display parameters specify, for each of the at least prescribed ones of the at least selected ones of the downloaded advertisements, a start date/time before which the associated advertisement should not be displayed, and the end date/time after which the associated advertisement should not be displayed.

25. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 19

, wherein the ad display parameters specify, for each of at least prescribed ones of the at least selected ones of the downloaded advertisements, the total/cumulative amount of time that advertisement is to be displayed.

26. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 20

, wherein the ad display parameters specify, for each of the at least prescribed ones of the at least selected ones of the downloaded advertisements, the total/cumulative amount of time that advertisement is to be displayed.

27. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 24

, wherein the ad display parameters specify, for each of the at least prescribed ones of the at least selected ones of the downloaded advertisements, the total/cumulative amount of time that advertisement is to be displayed.

28. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist server receives a playlist request from each client device that includes an identification of a current playlist(s) for that client device, and based thereupon, the at least one playlist server transmits a playlist response to each client device that includes either status data that indicates that client device'"'"'s current playlist(s) is valid and does not need to be augmented, or a new playlist(s).

29. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 18

, wherein the at least one playlist server receives a playlist request from each client device that includes an identification of a current playlist(s) for that client device, and based thereupon, the at least one playlist server transmits a playlist response to each client device that includes either status data that indicates that client device'"'"'s current playlist(s) is valid and does not need to be augmented, or a new playlist(s).

30. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 29

, wherein each of the client devices compares the ad identifiers listed in its current playlist(s) with the ad identifiers listed in its new playlist(s), generates a list of source addresses for the advertisements corresponding to the ad identifiers in its new playlist(s) that are different from the ad identifiers contained in its current playlist(s), and then fetches the advertisements corresponding to the generated list of source addresses from the appropriate storage locations, over one or more advertisement download sessions.

31. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 28

, wherein the at least one playlist server receives the playlist request from each of the client devices at prescribed playlist check intervals.

32. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 29

, wherein the at least one playlist server receives the playlist request from each of the client devices at prescribed playlist check intervals.

33. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 32

, wherein each of the client devices compares the ad identifiers listed in its current playlist(s) with the ad identifiers listed in its new playlist(s), generates a list of source addresses for the advertisements corresponding to the ad identifiers in its new playlist(s) that are different from the ad identifiers contained in its current playlist(s), and then fetches the advertisements corresponding to the generated list of source addresses from the appropriate storage locations, over one or more advertisement download sessions.

34. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 33

, wherein each advertisement download session is limited to a prescribed maximum time duration.

35. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the advertisements comprise advertisement files each of which includes an image.

36. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 35

, wherein each image comprises one of a GIF image, a PNG image, and a JPEG image.

37. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist server receives from each of the client devices a respective cookie containing information relating to user/client device behavior and/or user demographics specific to that particular client device.

38. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 37

, wherein the at least one playlist server selects the at least one playlist provided for each client device based at least partially on the respective cookie received from that client device.

39. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist server selects the at least one playlist provided for each client device based at least partially on monitored behavior of that client device.

40. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist server selects the at least one playlist provided for each client device based at least partially on user demographics.

41. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist provided for each client device is customized to that client device.

42. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist provided for each client device is tailored to that client device.

43. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein:

the at least one playlist server receives client information from each client device; and

the at least one playlist server selects the at least one playlist provided for that client device based at least partially on the client information received from that client device.

44. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist server transmits playlist handling instructions to each client device to instruct that client device how to handle the at least one playlist provided for that client device.

45. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 29

, wherein the playlist response transmitted to each client device further includes a client information portion that instructs that client device with regard to handling of the playlist included in the respective playlist response received by that client device.

46. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 45

, wherein the client information portion of the playlist response transmitted to each client device includes a merge/not merge data field that has a first state and a second state, whereby that client device merges its new playlist(s) with its current playlist(s) in response to the first state of the merge/not merge data field, and does not merge its new playlist(s) with its current playlist(s) in response to the second state of the merge/not merge data field.

47. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist server receives client information from each client device that includes usage data relating to the amount of time that the user has engaged in at least one monitored activity over a prescribed most recent time interval.

48. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 47

, wherein the at least one playlist server selects the at least one playlist provided for each client device based at least partially on the usage data included in the client information received by the at least one playlist server from that client device.

49. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 3

, wherein the at least one playlist server receives client information from each client device that includes a user data field that includes information identifying the software installed on that client device.

50. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist server receives client information from each client device that includes a user data field that includes information identifying an operating platform of that client device.

51. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 49

, wherein the user data field included in the client information received by the at least one playlist server from each client device further includes information identifying an operating platform of that client device.

52. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 3

, wherein the at least one playlist server receives client information from each client device that includes usage data relating to the amount of time that the user has used the software installed on that client device over a prescribed most recent time interval.

53. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 52

, wherein the at least one playlist server selects the at least one playlist provided for each client device based at least partially on the usage data included in the client information received by the at least one playlist server from that client device.

54. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist server receives client information from each client device that includes a display time remaining data field that specifies the total amount of display time required for the advertisements that remain to be displayed by that client device.

55. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist server receives client information from each client device that includes a display time used recently data field that specifies the total amount of times that advertisements that were displayed by that client device during a prescribed latest time interval.

56. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 55

, wherein the prescribed latest time interval comprises the present day.

57. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist server receives client information from each client device that includes client device display screen data that specifies dimensions of a display screen associated with that client device.

58. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 57

, wherein the dimensions include the height, width, and depth of the display screen, in pixels.

59. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 3

, wherein each of the client devices includes a custom installer function that generates a distributor identifier that identifies a distributor that distributed the software installed on that client device.

60. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 59

, wherein the at least one playlist server receives client information from each client device that includes the distributor identifier that identifies the distributor that distributed the software installed on that client device.

61. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 60

, wherein a vendor of the software uses the distributor identifiers received from the client devices to apportion revenues attributable to advertisements downloaded by the client devices to distributors of the software installed on the client devices.

62. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 60

, wherein a producer of the software uses the distributor identifiers received from the client devices to apportion revenues attributable to advertisements downloaded by the client devices to distributors of the software installed on the client devices.

63. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist server receives client information from each client device that includes ad display information that identifies the advertisements that have been displayed by that client device during a prescribed recent time interval.

64. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 63

, wherein the at least one playlist server selects the at least one playlist provided for each client device based at least partially on the ad display information included in the client information received by the at least one playlist server from that client device.

65. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 55

, wherein the at least one playlist server selects the at least one playlist provided for each client device based at least partially on the display time used recently data field included in the client information received by the at least one playlist server from that client device.

66. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 54

, wherein the at least one playlist server selects the at least one playlist provided for each client device based at least partially on the display time remaining data field included in the client information received by the at least one playlist server from that client device.

67. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 43

, wherein the at least one playlist server receives client information from each client device that includes display statistics for advertisements that were displayed and/or advertisements that remain to be displayed by that client device during a prescribed time interval.

68. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 43

, wherein the client information received from each client device includes information regarding behavior of the client device during a prescribed time interval.

69. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 43

, wherein the client information received from each client device includes information regarding behavior of a user(s) of the client device during a prescribed time interval.

70. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 43

, wherein the client information received from each client device includes information regarding activity of the client device during a prescribed time interval.

71. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 43

, wherein the client information received from each client device includes information regarding activity of a user(s) of the client device during a prescribed time interval.

72. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 3

, wherein:

wherein the at least one playlist server receives client information from each client device that includes level of usage data that is indicative of the level of usage of the software installed on that client device during a prescribed time interval; and

the at least one playlist server selects the at least one playlist provided for that client device based at least partially on the level of usage data included in the client information received from that client device.

73. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 31

, wherein the playlist response transmitted by the at least one playlist server to each client device further includes a playlist request interval data field that specifies the prescribed playlist check intervals for that client device.

74. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 32

, wherein the playlist response transmitted by the at least one playlist server to each client device further includes a playlist request interval data field that specifies the prescribed playlist check intervals for that client device.

75. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 33

, wherein the playlist response transmitted by the at least one playlist server to each client device further includes a playlist request interval data field that specifies the prescribed playlist check intervals for that client device.

76. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 75

, wherein the prescribed playlist check intervals are scheduled independently of the advertisement download sessions.

77. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 75

, wherein the prescribed playlist check intervals span a plurality of on-line e-mail sessions during which the respective client device is online for the purpose of sending and/or receiving e-mail messages.

78. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist server transmits to each client device an ad history interval data field that specifies the time period for which that client device must remember that it displayed a particular advertisement.

79. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist server transmits to each client device an ad display sequence data field that specifies whether that client device should select advertisements for display in a linear or random manner.

80. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist server transmits to each client device an ad display window data field that specifies the dimensions of an ad display window within which the advertisements are to be displayed on a display associated with that client device.

81. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein:

the advertisements identified in the at least one playlist provided for each client device include a plurality of regular ads and at least one runout ad; and

the at least one playlist server transmits to each client device a display time quota field that specifies the maximum display time for which that client device should display the regular ads before displaying the at least one runout ad.

82. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist server transmits to each client device instructions for that client device to control the manner in which that client device obtains, handles, and displays advertisements.

83. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 29

, wherein the playlist response transmitted by the at least one playlist server to each client device further includes a mix/block data field that specifies whether the advertisements identified in that client device'"'"'s new playlist(s) can be mixed with previously-stored advertisements from other playlists, or must be displayed as a block.

84. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 29

, wherein the playlist response transmitted by the at least one playlist server to each client device further includes a block ad display sequence data field that specifies whether that client device should select advertisements identified in the new playlist(s) for display in a linear or random manner.

85. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 83

, wherein the playlist response transmitted by the at least one playlist server to each client device further includes a block ad display sequence data field that specifies whether that client device should select advertisements identified in the new playlist(s) for display in a linear or random manner.

86. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein each of the client devices includes a clickthrough tracking function that, in response to the user clicking on a displayed advertisement, appends a clickbase URI to a URI associated with that displayed advertisement, to thereby facilitate counting of the number of times that the user clicks on that displayed advertisement.

87. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 86

, wherein the at least one playlist server transmits to each client device a clickbase data field that specifies the clickbase URI.

88. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 87

, wherein the clickbase URI designates a web page associated with the advertisement distribution system.

89. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 88

, wherein the web page designated by the clickbase URI is administered by a vendor of the software.

90. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 88

, wherein the web page designated by the clickbase URI is administered by a producer of the software.

91. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist server transmits to each client device a user-friendly title of each of the advertisements identified in the at least one playlist included in that playlist response.

92. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist server transmits to each client device an ad type data field that specifies an ad type of each of the advertisements identified in the at least one playlist included in that playlist response.

93. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 92

, wherein the ad type is one of a regular ad, a runout ad, a toolbar button ad, or a sponsor placard ad.

94. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the wherein the at least one playlist server transmits to each client device an ad click URI for each of the advertisements identified in the at least one playlist provided for that client device, whereby the ad click URI specifies a web page to be displayed in response to the user clicking on the associated advertisement.

95. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the at least one playlist provided for each client device includes a plurality of playlists.

96. The advertisement distribution system as set forth in

claim 95

, wherein the plurality of playlists provided for each client device includes at least one playlist for relatively long-lived advertisements, and at least one playlist for relatively short-lived advertisements.