Advertisement distribution system for distributing targeted advertisements in television systems
First Claim
1. In a television network system, subscriber equipment for displaying targeted advertisements to a subscriber, the subscriber equipment comprising:
- a communications interface for receiving at least one queue of targeted advertisements, wherein the at least one queue is selectively distributed to the subscriber;
memory for storing the at least one queue of selectively distributed advertisements;
a processor for inserting the targeted advertisements in program streams for display to the subscriber; and
a trigger circuit for determining if the at least one queue has reached a low-level, wherein said communications interface receives at least one additional queue of targeted advertisements in response to a low-level determination by said trigger circuit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Providing refreshed advertisements to subscriber equipment 210, such as a set-top box. A “client” application runs on the subscriber equipment 210 and includes a queue 404 for storing targeted advertisements, a processor 402 for monitoring the display of each advertisement to the subscriber, a counter 410 for counting each display, and a trigger circuit 406 for initiating an advertisement download each time it is determined that the queue of advertisements stored at the client application has reached a low-level threshold. An advertisement management system 202 provides advertisements to the client application. These advertisements may be network-based advertisements or may be targeted to each individual subscriber, based on a subscriber profile that is provided by a subscriber characterization system 204.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. In a television network system, subscriber equipment for displaying targeted advertisements to a subscriber, the subscriber equipment comprising:
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a communications interface for receiving at least one queue of targeted advertisements, wherein the at least one queue is selectively distributed to the subscriber;
memory for storing the at least one queue of selectively distributed advertisements;
a processor for inserting the targeted advertisements in program streams for display to the subscriber; and
a trigger circuit for determining if the at least one queue has reached a low-level, wherein said communications interface receives at least one additional queue of targeted advertisements in response to a low-level determination by said trigger circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. In a television network, a system for displaying targeted advertisements to subscribers, the system comprising:
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an advertisement management system for identifying targeted advertisements for a subscriber by correlating advertisement profiles with a subscriber profile, and generating at least one queue of targeted advertisements for the subscriber, wherein each of the at least one queue identifies a sequence for presenting the targeted advertisements to the subscriber;
an advertisement distribution system for distributing the targeted advertisements and at least one of the at least one queue to the subscriber over the television network; and
subscriber equipment for receiving the targeted advertisements and the at least one queue and displaying the targeted advertisements to the subscriber, the subscriber equipment including;
a communications interface for communicating with said advertisement management system advertisement and said distribution system, memory for storing the targeted advertisements and the at least one queue, a processor, responsive to the queue, for inserting the targeted advertisements in program streams for display to the subscriber, and a trigger circuit for determining if the at least one queue has reached a low-level, wherein said subscriber equipment receives at least one additional queue in response to a low-level determination by said trigger circuit.
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13. A set-top box for inserting targeted advertisements in place of default advertisements within television program streams, the set-top box comprising:
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a communications interface for receiving a plurality of targeted advertisements and a queue identifying criteria for inserting the targeted advertisements;
memory for storing the targeted advertisements and the queue;
a processor for determining when and what targeted advertisement should be inserted into the program stream based on the queue;
an inserter for inserting the targeted advertisement into the program stream; and
a trigger circuit for determining when the targeted advertisements and the queue need to be refreshed.
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14. A method for inserting targeted advertisements in place of default advertisements within television program streams, the method comprising:
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receiving a plurality of targeted advertisements and a queue identifying criteria for inserting the targeted advertisements;
storing the targeted advertisements and the queue in memory;
determining when and what targeted advertisement should be inserted into the program stream based on the queue;
inserting the targeted advertisement into the program stream; and
determining when the targeted advertisements and the queue need to be refreshed.
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Specification