Advertisement selecting apparatus, advertisement selecting method and storage medium

• US 20040054577A1
• Filed: 10/08/2003
• Published: 03/18/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Inoue, Toshio, Hoshino, Masaaki, Tsunoda, Tomohiro, Ohsumi, Tomoharu
• Granted Patent: US 9,154,823 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0258 Registration
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0272 Period of advertisement exposure
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25866 Management of end-user data customer care in data networks H04L41/5077
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25883 being end-user demographical data, e.g. age, family status or address arrangements for identifying locations of users in broadcast systems H04H60/52
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26233 involving content or additional data duration or size, e.g. length of a movie, size of an executable file
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309

Abstract

An advertisement selecting system is disclosed providing, when selecting advertisements to be exposed to subscribers over the Internet, exposure control reflecting the inventory of advertisements by taking into account results of past exposure of each of the advertisements. When subscribers with a particular profile biased to specific tastes or preferences gain access to contents carrying advertisements, the first-ranked advertisement, i.e., the one best targeted for the subscribers in question, is exposed repeatedly but in a manner also making way for the advertisements in second and subsequent places which would be less likely to be exposed if handled conventionally, so that the stocked advertisements are exposed in fairly averaged fashion. Advertisement exposure is thus controlled in a manner averting lopsided exposure of certain (or partial) advertisement information by giving consideration to the advertisement inventory.

Claims

1. An advertisement selecting system for selecting advertisement information to be inserted into contents requested by a subscriber for audiovisual use in an information-providing space involving parties made up of a content provider providing contents, a commercial sponsor offering advertisement information to be attached to said contents, and said subscriber, said advertisement selecting system comprising means of:

comparing means for comparing attribute information held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber, with requirements held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber regarding the selection of advertisements, in order to acquire individual degrees of satisfaction for said content provider, said commercial sponsor, and said subscriber; and

selecting means for selecting the advertisement which maximizes the overall degree of satisfaction for said content provider, said commercial sponsor, and said subscriber, as the selected advertisement to be inserted into the contents requested by said subscriber for audiovisual use.

2. An advertisement selecting system according to claim 1, wherein said contents hold the requirements related to attributes and advertisements;

said advertisement information holds the requirements related to attributes, contents and subscribers; and

said subscriber holds the requirements related to attributes and advertisements; and

wherein said comparing means further comprises;

first comparing means for comparing said attribute information held by said advertisement information with said requirements of said contents;

second comparing means for comparing said attribute information held by said contents with said requirements of said advertisement information;

third comparing means for comparing said attribute information held by said subscriber with said requirements of said advertisement information; and

fourth comparing means for comparing said attribute information held by said advertisement information with said requirements of said subscriber.

3. An advertisement selecting system according to claim 1, wherein said contents hold the requirements related to attributes and advertisements;

said advertisement information holds the requirements related to attributes, contents and subscribers; and

said subscriber holds the requirements related to attributes and advertisements; and

wherein said selecting means further comprises selecting the advertisement to be inserted into said contents requested by said subscriber for audiovisual use, based on the comparison between at least one requirement and the corresponding attribute.

4. An advertisement selecting system according to claim 1, wherein said selecting means further comprises assigning score to said individual degrees of satisfaction for said content provider, said commercial sponsor, and said subscriber in a manner reflecting a policy for advertisement selection, before selecting the advertisement which maximizes the degree of satisfaction for the system as a whole.

5. An advertisement selecting system according to claim 1, wherein said attribute information held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber is made up of a plurality of items;

and said requirements held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber regarding the selection of advertisements with respect to the other parties involved are constituted by a plurality of items;

wherein said content provider sets the relevant items in a manner representing the attributes of the contents provided by said convent provider and the requirements of said content provider with respect to the other parties involved;

wherein said commercial sponsor sets the relevant items in a manner representing the attributes of the contents offered by said commercial sponsor and the requirements of said commercial sponsor with respect to the other parties involved regarding the selection of advertisements; and

wherein said subscriber sets the relevant items in a manner representing the attributes of said subscriber and the requirements of said subscriber with respect to the other parties involved regarding the selection of advertisements.

6. An advertisement selecting system according to claim 1, wherein said attribute information held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber is made up of a plurality of items;

and said requirements held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber regarding the selection of advertisements with respect to the other parties involved are constituted by a plurality of items; and

wherein said content provider, said commercial sponsor and said subscriber each set the items making up said attribute information and the items constituting said requirements for the selection of advertisements in one of the manners consisting of a restricting manner, a preferring manner, an inhibiting manner, and a scoring manner;

said restricting manner comprising making the selection exclusively if a requirement is met;

said preferring manner comprising making the selection preferably, not exclusively, if a requirement is met;

said inhibiting manner comprising inhibiting the selection if a requirement is met;

said scoring manner comprising representing in numbers the degree of preference for each requirement.

7. An advertisement selecting system according to claim 1, wherein said attribute information held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber is made up of a plurality of items;

and said requirements held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber regarding the selection of advertisements with respect to the other parties involved are constituted by a plurality of items; and

wherein said content provider, said commercial sponsor, and said subscriber are each allowed to set, on an item-by-item basis, said attribute information and said requirements held thereby regarding the selection of advertisements and are each allowed to specify whether each item of said requirements is to be either met or not met regarding the selection of advertisements.

8. An advertisement selecting system according to claim 1, wherein said comparing means comprises representing in numbers the degree of satisfaction for each of the parties involved.

9. An advertisement selecting system according to claim 1, wherein, upon comparison, said comparing means clearly distinguishes said attribute information held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber, from said requirements held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber regarding the selection of advertisements.

10. An advertisement selecting system according to claim 1, wherein either said attribute information or said requirements alone are allowed to be set;

and

wherein said comparing means handles the settings either of said attribute information or of said requirements as those of the other as well.

11. An advertisement selecting system according to claim 1, wherein said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber each have a plurality of items of attribute information and/or a plurality of requirements regarding the selection of advertisements;

and

wherein said comparing means either handles said attribute information and said requirements selectively, or compares any of said plurality of items and said plurality of requirements, depending on circumstances.

12. An advertisement selecting system according to claim 1, wherein said attribute information held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber is made up of a plurality of items;

and said requirements held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber regarding the selection of advertisements with respect to the other parties involved are constituted by a plurality of items; and

wherein said content provider, said commercial sponsor and said subscriber each set the items making up said attribute information and the items constituting said requirements for the selection of advertisements in one of the manners consisting of a restricting manner, a preferring manner, an inhibiting manner, and a scoring manner;

said restricting manner comprising making the selection exclusively if a requirement is met;

said preferring manner comprising making the selection preferably, not exclusively, if a requirement is met;

said inhibiting manner comprising inhibiting the selection if a requirement is met;

said scoring manner comprising representing in numbers the degree of preference for each requirement; and

wherein said comparing means compares initially the items set in said restricting manner and in said inhibiting manner, before comparing the items set in said scoring manner.

13. An advertisement selecting system according to claim 12, wherein said comparing means verifies initially the items set in said restricting manner before verifying the items set in said inhibiting manner.

14. An advertisement selecting method for selecting advertisement information to be inserted into contents requested by a subscriber for audiovisual use in an information-providing space involving parties made up of a content provider providing contents, a commercial sponsor offering advertisement information to be attached to said contents, and said subscriber, said advertisement selecting method comprising the steps of:

a comparing step for comparing attribute information held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber, with requirements held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber regarding the selection of advertisements, in order to acquire individual degrees of satisfaction for said content provider, said commercial sponsor, and said subscriber; and

a selecting step for selecting the advertisement which maximizes the overall degree of satisfaction for said content provider, said commercial sponsor, and said subscriber, as the selected advertisement to be inserted into the contents requested by said subscriber for audiovisual use.

15. An advertisement selecting method according to claim 14, wherein said contents hold the requirements related to attributes and advertisements;

said advertisement information holds the requirements related to attributes, contents and subscribers; and

said subscriber holds the requirements related to attributes and advertisements; and

wherein said comparing step further comprises the steps of;

a first step for comparing said attribute information held by said advertisement information with said requirements of said contents;

a second step for comparing said attribute information held by said contents with said requirements of said advertisement information;

a third step for comparing said attribute information held by said subscriber with said requirements of said advertisement information; and

a fourth step for comparing said attribute information held by said advertisement information with said requirements of said subscriber.

16. An advertisement selecting method according to claim 14, wherein said contents hold the requirements related to attributes and advertisements;

said advertisement information holds the requirements related to attributes, contents and subscribers; and

said subscriber holds the requirements related to attributes and advertisements; and

wherein said selecting step further comprises selecting the advertisement to be inserted into said contents requested by said subscriber for audiovisual use, based on the comparison between at least one requirement and the corresponding attribute.

17. An advertisement selecting method according to claim 14, wherein said selecting step further comprises assigning score to said individual degrees of satisfaction for said content provider, said commercial sponsor, and said subscriber in a manner reflecting a policy for advertisement selection, before selecting the advertisement which maximizes the degree of satisfaction for the system as a whole.

18. An advertisement selecting method according to claim 14, wherein said attribute information held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber is made up of a plurality of items;

and said requirements held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber regarding the selection of advertisements with respect to the other parties involved are constituted by a plurality of items;

wherein said content provider sets the relevant items in a manner representing the attributes of the contents provided by said convent provider and the requirements of said content provider with respect to the other parties involved;

wherein said commercial sponsor sets the relevant items in a manner representing the attributes of the contents offered by said commercial sponsor and the requirements of said commercial sponsor with respect to the other parties involved regarding the selection of advertisements; and

wherein said subscriber sets the relevant items in a manner representing the attributes of said subscriber and the requirements of said subscriber with respect to the other parties involved regarding the selection of advertisements.

19. An advertisement selecting method according to claim 14, wherein said attribute information held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber is made up of a plurality of items;

and said requirements held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber regarding the selection of advertisements with respect to the other parties involved are constituted by a plurality of items; and

wherein said content provider, said commercial sponsor and said subscriber each set the items making up said attribute information and the items constituting said requirements for the selection of advertisements in one of the manners consisting of a restricting manner, a preferring manner, an inhibiting manner, and a scoring manner;

said restricting manner comprising making the selection exclusively if a requirement is met;

said preferring manner comprising making the selection preferably, not exclusively, if a requirement is met;

said inhibiting manner comprising inhibiting the selection if a requirement is met;

said scoring manner comprising representing in numbers the degree of preference for each requirement.

20. An advertisement selecting method according to claim 14, wherein said attribute information held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber is made up of a plurality of items;

and said requirements held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber regarding the selection of advertisements with respect to the other parties involved are constituted by a plurality of items; and

wherein said content provider, said commercial sponsor, and said subscriber are each allowed to set on an item-by-item basis said attribute information and said requirements held thereby regarding the selection of advertisements and are each allowed to specify whether each item of said requirements is to be either met or not met regarding the selection of advertisements.

21. An advertisement selecting method according to claim 14, wherein said comparing step comprises representing in numbers the degree of satisfaction for each of the parties involved.

22. An advertisement selecting method according to claim 14, wherein, upon comparison, said comparing step clearly distinguishes said attribute information held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber, from said requirements held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber regarding the selection of advertisements.

23. An advertisement selecting method according to claim 14, wherein either said attribute information or said requirements alone are allowed to be set;

and

wherein said comparing step handles the settings either of said attribute information or of said requirements as those of the other as well.

24. An advertisement selecting method according to claim 14, wherein said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber each have a plurality of items of attribute information and/or a plurality of requirements regarding the selection of advertisements;

and

wherein said comparing step either handles said attribute information and said requirements selectively, or compares any of said plurality of items and said plurality of requirements, depending on circumstances.

25. An advertisement selecting method according to claim 14, wherein said attribute information held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber is made up of a plurality of items;

and said requirements held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber regarding the selection of advertisements with respect to the other parties involved are constituted by a plurality of items;

wherein said content provider, said commercial sponsor and said subscriber each set the items making up said attribute information and the items constituting said requirements for the selection of advertisements in one of the manners consisting of a restricting manner, a preferring manner, an inhibiting manner, and a scoring manner;

said restricting manner comprising making the selection exclusively if a requirement is met;

said preferring manner comprising making the selection preferably, not exclusively, if a requirement is met;

said inhibiting manner comprising inhibiting the selection if a requirement is met;

said scoring manner comprising representing in numbers the degree of preference for each requirement; and

wherein said comparing step compares initially the items set in said restricting manner and in said inhibiting manner, before comparing the items set in said scoring manner.

26. An advertisement selecting method according to claim 25, wherein said comparing step verifies initially the items set in said restricting manner before verifying the items set in said inhibiting manner.

27. A storage medium which stores physically, in a computer-readable format, computer software for causing a computer system to select advertisement information to be inserted into contents requested by a subscriber for audiovisual use in an information-providing space involving parties made up of a content provider providing contents, a commercial sponsor offering advertisement information to be attached to said contents, and said subscriber, said computer software comprising the steps of:

a comparing step for comparing attribute information held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber, with requirements held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber regarding the selection of advertisements, in order to acquire individual degrees of satisfaction for said content provider, said commercial sponsor, and said subscriber; and

a selection step for selecting the advertisement which maximizes the overall degree of satisfaction for said content provider, said commercial sponsor, and said subscriber, as the selected advertisement to be inserted into the contents requested by said subscriber for audiovisual use.

28. An advertisement selecting apparatus for selecting advertisement information for exposure to a subscriber, said advertisement selecting apparatus comprising means of:

advertisement exposure result managing means for managing results of the past exposure to said subscriber of individual advertisements constituting said advertisement information; and

advertisement information selecting means for selecting, from among candidate advertisements, those to be exposed to said subscriber based on said results of said past exposure.

29. An advertisement selecting apparatus according to claim 28, wherein said advertisement information selecting means selects said advertisement information by taking into account an exposure count quota imposed on each of said individual advertisements.

30. An advertisement selecting apparatus according to claim 28, further comprising means for acting, in response to a content viewing request made by said subscriber, to insert the advertisement information selected by said advertisement information selecting means into a slot within contents before providing said contents to said subscriber.

31. An advertisement selecting apparatus according to claim 28, wherein, in an information-providing space involving parties made up of a content provider providing contents, of a commercial sponsor offering advertisement information to be attached to said contents, and of said subscriber, said advertisement information selecting means compares attribute information held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber, with requirements held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber regarding the selection of advertisements, in order to acquire individual degrees of satisfaction for said content provider, said commercial sponsor, and said subscriber, said advertisement information selecting means further obtaining at least one candidate advertisement through calculation based on said individual degrees of satisfaction for the parties involved, said advertisement information selecting means further selecting the advertisement from the obtained candidate advertisements in accordance with the result of the past exposure regarding each of said individual advertisements.

32. An advertisement selecting apparatus according to claim 28, wherein each of said individual advertisements has a selection priority for exposure to said subscriber;

and

wherein said advertisement information selecting means selects the advertisement information to be exposed to said subscriber by taking into account said selection priority of each of said individual advertisements and said results of said past exposure.

33. An advertisement selecting apparatus according to claim 28, wherein each of said individual advertisements has a selection priority for exposure to said subscriber;

and

wherein said advertisement information selecting means selects the advertisement information to be exposed to said subscriber based on said selection priority of each of said individual advertisements which is multiplied by a degree of exposure inhibition derived from a predetermined inhibition coefficient being raised to the power of a past advertisement exposure count of the advertisement in question.

34. An advertisement selecting apparatus according to claim 28, wherein each of said individual advertisements has a selection priority for exposure to said subscriber;

and

wherein said advertisement information selecting means selects the advertisement information to be exposed to said subscriber by taking into account said selection priority of each of said individual advertisements, said results of said past exposure, and an exposure count quota imposed on each of said individual advertisements.

35. An advertisement selecting apparatus according to claim 28, wherein each of said individual advertisements has a selection priority for exposure to said subscriber;

and

wherein said advertisement information selecting means selects the advertisement information to be exposed to said subscriber by inhibiting said selection priority of each of said individual advertisements in keeping with an increase of a quota attainment quotient obtained by dividing said results of said past exposure by an exposure count quota imposed on each of said individual advertisements.

36. An advertisement selecting apparatus according to claim 28, wherein each of said individual advertisements has a selection priority for exposure to said subscriber, said selection priority of said advertisement information being determined based on an overall degree of satisfaction for a system in an information-providing space involving parties made up of a content provider providing contents, a commercial sponsor offering advertisement information to be attached to said contents, and said subscriber.

37. An advertisement selecting method for selecting advertisement information for exposure to a subscriber, said advertisement selecting method comprising the steps of:

a managing step for managing results of the past exposure to said subscriber of individual advertisements constituting said advertisement information; and

a selecting step for selecting, from among candidate advertisements, those to be exposed to said subscriber based on said results of said past exposure.

38. An advertisement selecting method according to claim 37, wherein said advertisement information selecting step selects said advertisement information by taking into account an exposure count quota imposed on each of said individual advertisements.

39. An advertisement selecting method according to claim 37, further comprising the step of acting, in response to a content viewing request made by said subscriber, to insert the advertisement information selected in said advertisement information selecting step into a slot within contents before providing said contents to said subscriber.

40. An advertisement selecting method according to claim 37, wherein, in an information-providing space involving parties made up of a content provider providing contents, of a commercial sponsor offering advertisement information to be attached to said contents, and of said subscriber, said advertisement information selecting step compares attribute information held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber, with requirements held individually by said contents, said advertisement information, and said subscriber regarding the selection of advertisements, in order to acquire individual degrees of satisfaction for said content provider, said commercial sponsor, and said subscriber, said advertisement information selecting step further obtaining at least one candidate advertisement through calculation based on said individual degrees of satisfaction for the parties involved, said advertisement information selecting step further selecting the advertisement from the obtained candidate advertisements in accordance with the result of the past exposure regarding each of said individual advertisements.

41. An advertisement selecting method according to claim 37, wherein each of said individual advertisements has a selection priority for exposure to said subscriber;

and

wherein said advertisement information selecting step selects the advertisement information to be exposed to said subscriber by taking into account said selection priority of each of said individual advertisements and said results of said past exposure.

42. An advertisement selecting method according to claim 37, wherein each of said individual advertisements has a selection priority for exposure to said subscriber;

and

wherein said advertisement information selecting step selects the advertisement information to be exposed to said subscriber based on said selection priority of each of said individual advertisements which is multiplied by a degree of exposure inhibition derived from a predetermined inhibition coefficient being raised to the power of a past advertisement exposure count of the advertisement in question.

43. An advertisement selecting method according to claim 37, wherein each of said individual advertisements has a selection priority for exposure to said subscriber;

and

wherein said advertisement information selecting step selects the advertisement information to be exposed to said subscriber by taking into account said selection priority of each of said individual advertisements, said results of said past exposure, and an exposure count quota imposed on each of said individual advertisements.

44. An advertisement selecting method according to claim 37, wherein each of said individual advertisements has a selection priority for exposure to said subscriber;

and

wherein said advertisement information selecting step selects the advertisement information to be exposed to said subscriber by inhibiting said selection priority of each of said individual advertisements in keeping with an increase of a quota attainment quotient obtained by dividing said results of said past exposure by an exposure count quota imposed on each of said individual advertisements.

45. An advertisement selecting method according to claim 37, wherein each of said individual advertisements has a selection priority for exposure to said subscriber, said selection priority of said advertisement information being determined based on an overall degree of satisfaction for a system in an information-providing space involving parties made up of a content provider providing contents, a commercial sponsor offering advertisement information to be attached to said contents, and said subscriber.

46. A storage medium which stores physically, in a computer-readable format, computer software for causing a computer system to select advertisement information for exposure to a subscriber, said computer software comprising the steps of:

a managing step for managing results of the past exposure to said subscriber of individual advertisements constituting said advertisement information; and

a selecting step for selecting, from among candidate advertisements, those to be exposed to said subscriber based on said results of said past exposure.