Method and system for selective content display

• US 20020143890A1
• Filed: 03/02/2001
• Published: 10/03/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Comcast IP Holdings I LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sedna Patent Services LLC
• Inventors: Naqvi, Shamim A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,225,234 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search

Abstract

A method and system are provided for delivering content items to online users. The content items are to be displayed on user operated devices in response to a specified query. Subsets of items are generated from a set of content items responsive to the specified query. The subsets are selected to generally satisfy delivery requirements associated with each item. A different one of the subsets is delivered to each user making the query.

Claims

1. A method of delivering content items to online users, said content items to be displayed on user operated devices in response to a specified query, comprising:

providing a set of content items responsive to said specified query and generating subsets of said items, said subsets selected to generally satisfy delivery requirements associated with each item; and

delivering a subset to each user making the query.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said items comprise advertisements.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the requirement associated with each item specifies the frequency with which the item is to be displayed relative to other items.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the requirement associated with each item specifies the number of times it is to appear in a sequence of subsets relative to the total number of subsets in sequence.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein each subset includes a predetermined number of items.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the item s of a subset delivered to a user are all simultaneously displayed on a display screen of a user operated device.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the user operated device comprises a personal computer.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the user operated device comprises a mobile Internet device.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the user operated device comprises a personal digital assistant.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the user operated device comprises a mobile phone.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein said items are delivered to users via the Internet.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the subsets form a periodic sequence.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the subsets form a minimally periodic sequence.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the subsets are organized as a sequence of subsets, and wherein delivering a subset comprises delivering subsets in order in the sequence in response to successive queries.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein generating subsets of said items comprises performing a plurality of iterations, each generating a subset comprising items selected on the basis of their display requirements and how well they are represented relative to other items in other subsets.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the requirement associated with each item specifies the frequency with which the item is to be displayed relative to other items.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the requirement associated with each item specifies the number of times it is to appear in subsets relative to the total number of subsets in the sequence.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein the items of a subset delivered to a user are all simultaneously displayed on a display screen of a user operated device to avoid the need for scrolling by the user.

20. The method of claim 16 wherein the user operated device comprises a personal computer.

21. The method of claim 16 wherein the user operated device comprises a mobile Internet device.

22. The method of claim 16 wherein the user operated device comprises a personal digital assistant.

23. The method of claim 16 wherein the user operated device comprises a mobile phone.

24. The method of claim 16 wherein said items are delivered to users via the Internet.

25. The method of claim 16 wherein the subsets form a periodic sequence.

26. The method of claim 16 wherein the subsets form a minimally periodic sequence.

27. The method of claim 16 wherein delivering a different subset comprises delivering subsets in order in the sequence in response to successive queries.

28. The method of claim 16 wherein generating a sequence of subsets comprises performing a plurality of iterations, each generating a subset comprising items selected based on their display requirements and how well they are represented in subsets relative to the total number of subsets generated.

30. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein said items comprise advertisements.

31. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the requirement associated with each item specifies the frequency the item is to be displayed relative to other items.

32. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the requirement associated with each item specifies the number of times it is to appear in a sequence of subsets relative to the total number of subsets.

33. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein each subset includes a predetermined number of items.

34. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the items of a subset delivered to a user are all simultaneously displayed on a display screen of a user operated device.

35. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the user operated device comprises a personal computer.

36. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the user operated device comprises a mobile Internet device.

37. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the user operated device comprises a personal digital assistant.

38. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the user operated device comprises a mobile phone.

39. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein said items are delivered to users via the Internet.

40. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the subsets form a periodic sequence.

41. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the subsets form a minimally periodic sequence.

42. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the subsets are organized as a sequence of subsets, and wherein the means for delivering a different subset delivers subsets in order in the sequence in response to successive queries.

43. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the mean for generating subsets of said items comprises performs a plurality of iterations, each generating a subset comprising items selected on the basis of their display requirements and how well they are represented relative to other items in other subsets.

16. A method of delivering advertisements to online users, said advertisements to be displayed on user operated devices in response to a specified query, comprising:

determining the number of advertisements to be displayed on a user operated device at a time;

determining a set of advertisements that are responsive to the specified query;

determining a display requirement associated with each advertisement in the set;

generating a sequence of subsets of advertisements from the set, said subsets including advertisements selected to generally satisfy the delivery requirements associated with each advertisement; and

delivering a different subset to each user making the query until all subsets have been delivered.

29. A computer program product in computer-readable media for delivering content items to online users, said content items to be displayed on user operated devices in response to a specified query, said computer program product comprising:

means for providing a set of content items responsive to said specified query and generating subsets of said items, said subsets selected to generally satisfy delivery requirements associated with each item; and

means for delivering a different subset to each user making the query.

44. A computer, comprising

at least one processor;

memory associated with the at least one processor;

a display; and

a program supported in the memory for selecting content items to deliver to online users, said content items to be displayed on user operated devices in response to a specified query, said program comprising means for providing a set of content items responsive to said specified query and generating subsets of said items, said subsets selected to generally satisfy delivery requirements associated with each item, a different subset to be delivered to each user making the query.

45. A computer system for delivering advertisements to online users, said advertisements to be displayed on user operated devices in response to a specified query, the system comprising at least one processor;

memory associated with the at least one processor;

a display; and

a program supported in the memory, comprising;

(a) means for determining the number of advertisements to be displayed on a user operated device at a time;

(b) means for determining a set of advertisements that are responsive to the specified query;

(c) means for determining a display requirement associated with each advertisement in the set;

(d) means for generating a sequence of subsets of advertisements from the set, said subsets including advertisements selected to generally satisfy the delivery requirements associated with each advertisement; and

(e) means for delivering a different subset to each user making the query until all subsets have been delivered.