System and method for coordinating communications network advertising material

• US 20030001965A1
• Filed: 04/01/2002
• Published: 01/02/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/1998
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: RadioWave.com, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: RadioWave.com, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Price, Edwin C., Walsh, John S., Cao, XiWei, Kim, Mike H.
• Application Number:
  US10/114,424
• Publication Number:
  US 20030001965A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/515
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/02 Arrangements for relaying broadcast information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/18 Arrangements for synchronising broadcast or distribution via plural systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/82 using signals not modulated onto a carrier
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/40 characterised in that additional data relating to the broadcast data are available via a different channel than the broadcast channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/31 Arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/39 for identifying broadcast space-time use of Electronic Programme Guides H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1881 with schedule organisation, e.g. priority, sequence management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/613 for the control of the source by the destination control signals issued by the client directed to the server or network components specially adapted for selective content distribution H04N21/637
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/765 intermediate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A system and method of coordinating a visual display with audio advertisements broadcast over a communications network such as the Internet is provided. A run-time procedure in which the visual display is retrieved and concurrently displayed at about the time the audio advertisement is broadcast is described. In addition, a set-up procedure, in which scheduled broadcast times for the audio advertisements are captured and provided for use in scheduling the broadcasts of the corresponding visual displays, is also described. The system and method can be beneficially employed in other environments, such as the case in which a first audio, visual, or audiovisual segment or stream is coordinated with a predetermined second audio, visual, or audiovisual segment or stream, and a selected one of the first and second segments or streams includes or comprises advertising material.

Claims

1. A system for coordinating a visual display with an audio broadcast over a communications network comprising:

a client in the communications network for accessing a player configured to (1) receive over the communications network data representative of a plurality of audio segments;

(2) detect and play an audio segment which includes advertising material; and

(3) display generally concurrently with the playing of the segment an image related to the advertising material;

at least one server in the network accessible by the player and a first system executable on the at least one server configured to (1) maintain information related to the advertising material, including a schedule for the advertising material, and data representative of the image relating to the advertising material; and

(2) manage display of the image consistently with the schedule for the advertising material; and

at least one interface between a second system, executable on one or more machines for managing broadcasts of audio advertisements, and the first system, the at least one interface executable on one or more machines for providing to the first system the information related to the advertising material derived at least in part from data maintained by the second system.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising at least one broadcast server for broadcasting data over a communications network, the data representative of a plurality of audio segments.

3. The system of claim 1 in which the player is further configured to provide a user access to additional information relating to the advertising material responsive to the user clicking on the image.

4. The system of claim 3 in which the player is configured to obtain access to the additional information using a link stored on the at least one server.

5. The system of claim 1 in which the at least one interface comprises a first interface for interacting with a user, and a second interface for updating data maintained by the first system.

6. The system of claim 1 in which the player is configured to execute on the client.

7. The system of claim 1 in which the player is configured to execute on a server accessible by the client.

8. The system of claim 1 in which the at least one server includes a first server for maintaining a digital representation of the image related to the advertising material, and a second server on which the first system executes.

9. The system of claim 8 in which the at least one server includes a third server on which the at least one interface executes.

10. The system of claim 8 in which a link to the digital representation of the image is maintained on the second server.

11. The system of claim 9 in which the at least one server includes a fourth server for interfacing between the player and the second server.

12. The system of claim 3 in which the player is configured to obtain access to the additional information by spawning a browser.

13. The system of claim 12 in which the additional information is maintained on a server.

14. The system of claim 1 in which the communications network is the Internet.

15. The system of claim 1 in which the player is configured to coordinate the display of the image with the broadcast of the audio segment using an identifying code inserted within the segment.

17. The system of claim 16 further comprising at least one broadcast server for broadcasting the first segment of material over a communications network.

18. The system of claim 16 in which the first segment is a segment from a group comprising audio material, visual material, and audiovisual material.

19. The system of claim 16 in which the second segment is a segment from a group comprising audio material, visual material, and audiovisual material.

16. A system for coordinating in a communications network a presentation of a first segment of material with a presentation of a second segment of material, a selected one of the first and second segments comprising or including advertising material, the system comprising:

a machine on which executes a player configured to (1) receive the first segment of material over the communications network;

(2) present the first segment;

(3) present the second segment generally concurrently with the presentation of the first segment;

at least one server in the network accessible by the player and a first system executable on the at least one server configured to (1) store information relating to the advertising material, including a schedule for the advertising material, and data representative of the second segment; and

(2) manage the presentation of the selected one of the first and second segments consistently with the schedule for the advertising material; and

at least one interface between a second system, executable on one or more machines for managing broadcasts of advertisements, and the first system, the at least one interface executable on one or more machines for providing to the first system the information related to the advertising material derived at least in part from data maintained by the second system.

20. A system for enabling coordination of a visual display with an audio broadcast over a communications network comprising:

at least one server in the network and a first system executable on the at least one server configured to (1) store information related to advertising material, including a schedule for the advertising material, and data representative of an image relating to the advertising material; and

(2) manage display of the image in accordance with the schedule; and

at least one interface between a second system, executable on one or more machines for managing broadcasts of audio advertisements, and the first system, the at least one interface executable on one or more machines for providing to the first system the information related to the advertising material derived at least in part from data maintained by the second system.

21. A system for enabling coordination in a communications network between a presentation of a first segment of material and a presentation of a second segment of material, a selected one of the first and second segments comprising or including advertising material, the system comprising:

at least one server in the network and a first system executable on the at least one server configured to (1) store information related to the advertising material, including a schedule for the advertising material, and data representative of the second segment; and

(2) manage presentation of the second segment in accordance with the schedule; and

at least one interface between a second system, executable on one or more machines for managing broadcasts of advertisements, and the first system, the at least one interface executable on one or more machines for providing to the first system the information related to the advertising material derived at least in part from data maintained by the second system.

22. A method for coordinating a visual display with an audio broadcast over a communications network comprising:

receiving over a communications network data representative of a plurality of audio segments;

playing an audio segment which includes advertising material;

displaying generally concurrently with the playing of the segment an image related to the advertising material;

displaying the image consistently with a schedule for the advertising material;

maintaining in a first system information related to the advertising material, including the schedule for the advertising material; and

providing to the first system the information related to the advertising material derived at least in part from data maintained by a second system for managing broadcasts of audio advertisements.

23. The method of claim 22 further comprising broadcasting the data representative of a plurality of audio segments over the communications network.

24. The method of claim 22 further comprising allowing a user access to additional information relating to the advertising material responsive to the user clicking on the image.

25. The system of claim 24 further comprising spawning a browser allowing the user access to the additional information.

26. The method of claim 22 in which the advertising material relates to a product or service, and the method further comprises allowing the user access to additional information about the product or service.

27. The method of claim 22 further comprising coordinating the display of the image with the broadcast of the audio segment using an identifying code inserted within the segment.

29. The method of claim 28 further comprising broadcasting the first segment of material over a communications network.

30. The method of claim 28 in which the step of presenting the first segment is from a group comprising playing audio material, displaying visual material, and concurrently playing and displaying audiovisual material.

31. The method of claim 28 in which the step of presenting the second segment is from a group comprising playing audio material, displaying visual material, and concurrently playing and displaying audiovisual material.

39. The method of claim 28 further comprising presenting the first segment to a user.

28. A method for coordinating in a communications network a presentation of a first segment of material with a presentation of a second segment of material, a selected one of the first and second segments comprising or including advertising material, the method comprising:

receiving the first segment of material over a communications network;

presenting the first segment;

presenting the second segment generally concurrently with the presentation of the first segment;

presenting the selected one of the first and second segments consistently with a schedule for the advertising material;

maintaining in a first system information related to the advertising material, including the schedule for the advertising material; and

providing to the first system the information related to the advertising material derived at least in part from data maintained by a second system for managing broadcasts of advertisements.

32. A method for enabling coordination of a visual display with an audio broadcast over a communications network, a selected one of the visual display and audio broadcast including or comprising advertising material, comprising:

maintaining, in a first system for managing displays of advertisements over a communications network, information related to the advertising material, including the schedule for the advertising material, and data representative of an image relating to the advertising material; and

providing to the first system the information related to the advertising material derived at least in part from data maintained by a second system for managing broadcasts of audio advertisements.

33. A method for enabling coordination in a communications network of a presentation of a first segment of material with a presentation of a second segment of material, a selected one of the first and second segments comprising or including advertising material, the system comprising:

maintaining, in a first system for managing presentations of advertisements over a communications network, information related to the advertising material, including a schedule for the advertising material, and data representative of the second segment; and

providing to the first system the information related to the advertising material derived at least in part from data maintained by a second system for managing broadcasts of advertisements.

35. The media of claim 34 in which the method further comprises broadcasting over the communications network the data representative of a plurality of audio segments.

40. The method of claim 39 further comprising presenting the second segment to the user generally concurrently with the presentation of the first segment.

34. Computer-readable media on which is stored a series of computer software instructions embodying a method for coordinating a visual display with an audio broadcast over a communications network, the method comprising the following steps:

receiving data over a communications network, the data representative of a plurality of audio segments;

playing an audio segment which includes advertising material;

displaying generally concurrently with the playing of the segment an image related to the advertising material;

displaying the image consistently with a schedule for the advertising material;

maintaining in a first system information related to the advertising material, including the schedule for the advertising material; and

providing to the first system the information related to the advertising material derived at least in part from data maintained by a second system for managing broadcasts of audio advertisements.

36. Computer readable media on which is stored a series of computer software instructions embodying a method for enabling coordination of a visual display with an audio broadcast over a communications network, the method comprising:

maintaining a first system for managing displays of advertisements over the communications network;

maintaining in the first system information related to advertising material, including the schedule for the advertising material, and data representative of an image relating to the advertising material; and

deriving the information related to the advertising material at least in part from data maintained by a second system for managing broadcasts of audio advertisements.

37. Computer readable media on which is stored a series of computer software instructions embodying a method for enabling coordination in a communications network of a presentation of a first segment of material with a presentation of a second segment of material, a selected one of the first and second segments comprising or including advertising material, the method comprising:

maintaining, in a first system for managing presentations of advertisements over the communications network, information related to the advertising material, including a schedule for the advertising material, and data representative of the second segment; and

providing to the first system the information related to the advertising material derived at least in part from data maintained by a second system for managing broadcasts of advertisements.

38. A system for coordinating in a communications network a presentation of a first segment of material with a presentation of a second segment of material, a selected one of the first and second segments comprising or including advertising material, the system comprising:

first means for (1) receiving the first segment of material over the communications network;

(2) presenting the first segment;

(3) presenting the second segment generally concurrently with the presentation of the first segment;

second means for (1) storing information relating to the advertising material, including a schedule for the advertising material, and data representative of the second segment; and

(2) managing presentation of the selected one of the first and second segments consistently with a schedule for the advertising material; and

third means for providing to the first system the information related to the advertising material derived at least in part from data maintained by the second system.