METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRESENTING ADVERTISEMENTS

• US 20080033794A1
• Filed: 07/18/2006
• Published: 02/07/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: SBC Knowledge Ventures LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: LI, ZHI, GREENBERG, ALBERT, SAVOOR, RAGHVENDRA G., SPOSATO, STEPHEN A., PARK, SUN-UK, OSATO, JEROLD D., KALMANEK, CHARLES R., GERBER, ALEXANDRE, SPATSCHECK, OLIVER, BRIDGES, J. BRADLEY, OU, CANHUI
• Granted Patent: US 10,181,135 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 30/0246 Traffic
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0258 Registration
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement

Abstract

A method and apparatus for presenting advertisements is disclosed. An apparatus that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a system having an inspection element that monitors packet traffic associated with an end user, and determines a behavioral profile of the end user from the monitored packet traffic, a publisher element that detects an end user visiting a website managed thereby, and generates an advertisement request associated with the website, and advertisement element that selects one or more advertisements according to the behavioral profile of the end user, and submits said one or more advertisements to the publisher element for presentation thereof to the end user. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising computer instructions for:

monitoring packet traffic associated with an end user;

determining a behavioral profile of the end user from the monitored packet traffic; and

submitting to an advertisement element the behavioral profile.

2. The storage medium of claim 1, comprising computer instructions for:

receiving search criteria from the advertisement element;

detecting a website selection by the end user;

monitoring according to a deep packet inspection process packet traffic associated with the website according to the search criteria;

determining from the monitored packet traffic at least one among a demographic profile and a psychographic profile associated with the end user; and

updating the behavioral profile according to at least one among said profiles.

3. The storage medium of claim 1, comprising computer instructions for monitoring at least one layer of a protocol conforming to one among an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model and a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) applied to the packet traffic.

4. The storage medium of claim 1, comprising computer instructions for monitoring the packet traffic according to a deep packet inspection process.

5. The storage medium of claim 1, comprising computer instructions for monitoring at least one among headers and payloads of the packet traffic.

6. The storage medium of claim 1, wherein the behavioral profile comprises at least one among a demographic profile and a psychographic profile.

7. The storage medium of claim 1, comprising computer instructions for:

receiving search criteria from the advertisement element;

detecting a website selection by the end user;

monitoring packet traffic associated with the website according to the search criteria; and

updating the behavioral profile according to the monitored packet traffic.

8. The storage medium of claim 7, wherein the search criteria comprises search terms with associated search guidelines.

9. The storage medium of claim 1, comprising computer instructions for:

monitoring packet traffic corresponding to advertisement information from the advertisement element to a web server operating a website; and

updating the behavioral profile according to the monitored packet traffic.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising computer instructions for:

receiving an advertisement request from a publisher element in response to an end user visiting a website operated by the publisher element;

receiving from an Internet Service Provider (ISP) a behavioral profile of the end user;

selecting one or more advertisements according to the behavioral profile of the end user; and

submitting the one or more advertisements to the publisher element.

11. The storage medium of claim 10, comprising computer instructions for determining a publisher profile from content associated with the website, wherein the one or more advertisements are selected according to the behavioral profile of the end user and the publisher profile.

12. The storage medium of claim 11, comprising computer instructions for:

receiving a registration request from the publisher element; and

determining the publisher profile in response to the registration request.

13. The storage medium of claim 10, wherein the behavioral profile of the end user is determined by the ISP according to at least one among monitoring at least one layer of a protocol conforming to one among an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model and a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) applied to the packet traffic, monitoring the packet traffic according to a deep packet inspection process, and monitoring at least one among headers and payloads of the packet traffic.

14. The storage medium of claim 10, wherein the behavioral profile comprises at least one among a demographic profile and a psychographic profile.

15. The storage medium of claim 10, comprising computer instructions for submitting search criteria to the ISP to assist the ISP in determining the behavioral profile of the end user.

16. The storage medium of claim 15, wherein the search criteria comprises search terms with associated search guidelines.

17. The storage medium of claim 10, wherein the advertisement request comprises one or more operational parameters associated with the website, and wherein the storage medium comprises computer instructions for tailoring the one or more advertisements according to the one or more operational parameters.

18. The storage medium of claim 10, comprising computer instructions for submitting to each of one or more advertisers associated with the one or more advertisements a charge for submitting said one or more advertisements to the web server.

19. The storage medium of claim 10, comprising computer instructions for:

receiving a notice from the publisher element for the end user'"'"'s selection of one among the one or more advertisements;

submitting a charge to an advertiser associated with the selected advertisement;

receiving a payment from the advertiser in response to the charge submitted; and

submitting a portion of the payment to the publisher element.

20. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising computer instructions for:

detecting an end user visit to a website;

submitting an advertisement request associated with the website to an advertisement element; and

receiving from the advertisement element one or more advertisements selected according to a behavioral profile of the end user supplied by an Internet Service Provider (ISP).

21. The storage medium of claim 20, comprising computer instructions for presenting the one or more advertisements to the end user.

22. The storage medium of claim 20, wherein the advertisement element determines a publisher profile from content associated with the website, and wherein the one or more advertisements are selected according to the behavioral profile of the end user and the publisher profile.

23. The storage medium of claim 20, wherein the behavioral profile of the end user is determined by the ISP according to at least one among monitoring at least one layer of a protocol conforming to one among an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model and a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) applied to the packet traffic, monitoring the packet traffic according to a deep packet inspection process, and monitoring at least one among headers and payloads of the packet traffic, and wherein the behavioral profile comprises at least one among a demographic profile and a psychographic profile.

25. The storage medium of claim 20, wherein the advertisement request comprises one or more operational parameters associated with the website.

26. The storage medium of claim 20, comprising computer instructions for submitting a fee to the advertisement element in response to the end user selecting one or more of the advertisements.

27. The storage medium of claim 20, comprising computer instructions for submitting a charge to advertisement element for the one or more of the advertisements.

28. The storage medium of claim 20, comprising computer instructions for:

submitting a notice to the advertisement element in response to the end user'"'"'s selection of one among the one or more advertisements; and

receiving a payment from the advertisement element in response to said notice.

24. The storage medium of 20, wherein the ISP receives search criteria from the advertisement element to assist the ISP in determining the behavioral profile of the end user, and wherein the search criteria comprises search terms with associated search guidelines.

29. A system, comprising:

an inspection element that monitors packet traffic associated with an end user, and determines a behavioral profile of the end user from the monitored packet traffic;

a publisher element that detects an end user visiting a website managed thereby, and generates an advertisement request associated with the website; and

an advertisement element that selects one or more advertisements according to the behavioral profile of the end user, and submits said one or more advertisements to the publisher element for presentation thereof to the end user.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the inspection element receives from the advertisement element search criteria for monitoring packet traffic associated with the website and for determining the behavioral profile, wherein the search criteria comprises search terms with associated search guidelines.

31. A method, comprising submitting a payment in response to receiving a billing request for one or more advertisements presented by a publisher according to a behavioral profile associated with an end user supplied by an Internet Service Provider (ISP).