System and method of providing advertisements to Wi-Fi devices

• US 20060242010A1
• Filed: 04/20/2005
• Published: 10/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ServiceNow Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.P.
• Inventors: Crolley, C. Wayne
• Granted Patent: US 7,778,873 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.640
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences

Abstract

A method of advertising is disclosed an includes monitoring at least one Wi-Fi access point of a Wi-Fi network. Also, the method includes identifying at least one Wi-Fi device after the at least one Wi-Fi device associates with the Wi-Fi access point and determining at least one type of media file that is supported by the Wi-Fi device. Further, the method includes transmitting at least one advertisement to the device that is specific to the location of the Wi-Fi access point. The advertisement is transmitted in a format that corresponds to the at least one type of media file supported by the Wi-Fi device.

Claims

1. A method of advertising, the method comprising:

monitoring at least one Wi-Fi access point of a Wi-Fi network;

identifying at least one Wi-Fi device after the at least one Wi-Fi device associates with the Wi-Fi access point;

determining at least one type of media file supported by the Wi-Fi device; and

transmitting at least one advertisement to the device specific to the location of the Wi-Fi access point, wherein the advertisement is transmitted in a format corresponding to the at least one type of media file supported by the Wi-Fi device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the Wi-Fi access point is deployed adjacent to a freeway exit and the advertisement is associated with a business accessible via the freeway exit.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring advertisements sent and Wi-Fi devices to which advertisements are sent.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising generating a billing report and generating a usage report based on the advertisements sent and Wi-Fi devices to which the advertisements were sent.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring movement of one or more Wi-Fi devices within the Wi-Fi network and transmitting a plurality of advertisements to the one or more Wi-Fi devices, wherein the advertisements comply with one or more types of media files supported by each of the one or more Wi-Fi devices.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the movement of the Wi-Fi devices is monitored based on a plurality of time and date stamps recorded for each Wi-Fi device as each Wi-Fi device associates within a plurality of Wi-Fi access points within the Wi-Fi network.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising polling the at least one Wi-Fi device in order to determine the at least one type of media file supported.

8. The method of claim 1, querying a database with a Wi-Fi device identification in order to determine the at least one type of media file supported.

9. The method of claim 1, querying a database with a make and model of the Wi-Fi device in order to determine the at least one type of media file supported.

10. A system, comprising:

at least one Wi-Fi access point along a freeway;

a database including a plurality of advertisements, wherein at least one of the plurality of advertisements is associated with a business located along the freeway, wherein at least one of the plurality of advertisements is stored as multiple media file formats;

a server coupled to the database and having access to the at least one Wi-Fi access point, the server comprising;

a processor;

a computer readable medium accessible to the processor; and

a computer program embedded within the computer readable medium, the computer program comprising;

instructions to monitor the at least one Wi-Fi access point;

instructions to determining at least one type of media file supported by the Wi-Fi device after the at least one Wi-Fi device associates with the Wi-Fi access point; and

instructions to transmit at least one advertisement to the device specific to a freeway exit proximal to the Wi-Fi access point, wherein the advertisement is transmitted in a format corresponding to the at least one type of media file supported by the Wi-Fi device.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the computer program further comprises instructions to transmit at least one advertisement to the device specific to a freeway exit that is not located within a coverage area provided by the Wi-Fi access point.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the computer program further comprises instructions to charge an advertising customer for a transmitted advertisement based on whether the Wi-Fi device is located within the coverage area provided by the Wi-Fi access point.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising instructions to charge an advertising customer based on a type of media file transmitted to the at least one Wi-Fi device for the advertisement.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the type of media file transmitted to the at least one Wi-Fi device for the advertisement corresponds to a service tier of a service level agreement.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the type of media file transmitted to the at least one Wi-Fi device for the advertisement corresponds to a lower service tier than a service tier of a service level agreement.

16. A server, comprising:

a processor;

a computer readable medium accessible to the processor; and

a computer program embedded within the computer readable medium, the computer program comprising;

instructions to determine one or more types of media files that are supported by a Wi-Fi device in communication with a Wi-Fi access point; and

instructions to transmit one or more advertisements to the at least one Wi-Fi device as the Wi-Fi device moves along a freeway within a vehicle, the one or more advertisements transmitted in a format associated with one or more types of media files supported by the Wi-Fi device.

17. The server of claim 16, further comprising a database, the database storing a plurality of advertisements associated with one or more business located along the freeway.

18. The server of claim 17, wherein each of the plurality of advertisements is stored in multiple formats of associated with multiple types of media files.

19. The server of claim 18, wherein the computer program further comprises instructions to charge an advertising customer only for transmitted advertisements that comply with the one or more types of media files supported by the Wi-Fi device.

20. The server of claim 19, wherein the database stores the types of media files supported by the one or more Wi-Fi device.