Location Based, Content Targeted Online Advertising

• US 20080086368A1
• Filed: 10/05/2006
• Published: 04/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Schmidt, Keith, Bauman, Shannon P., Preuss, Dominic
• Application Number:
  US11/539,109
• Publication Number:
  US 20080086368A1
• 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 30/0205 Location or geographical consideration
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

An online advertisement is targeted to a publication medium (e.g., a website) based on a location of a user visiting the website, the content of the website and/or a location associated with the website content. Static and/or dynamic maps can be presented with the targeted advertisements on the website. The targeted advertisements can include a click-to-call link and/or other features for allowing a user to interact with and explore the targeted advertisement.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving content;

determining an ad context from the content;

determining a geographic region;

determining an advertisement associated with the ad context; and

generating a map of at least a portion of the geographic region, the map including a marker for identifying a location in the geographic region that is associated with the advertisement.

2. The method of claim 1, where determining a geographic region comprises:

determining the geographic region from the content.

3. The method of claim 1, where determining a geographic region comprises:

receiving an Internet Protocol (IP) address; and

determining the geographic region from the IP address.

4. The method of claim 1, where determining a geographic region comprises:

receiving a Uniform Resource Locator (URL); and

determining the target geographic region from the URL.

5. The method of claim 1, where determining a geographic region comprises:

receiving information specifying the geographic region; and

determining the geographic region from the information.

6. The method of claim 1, where determining an advertisement comprises:

storing multiple advertisements in a repository, the advertisements associated with geographic regions and ad contexts;

generating an index for retrieving an advertisement based on a specified geographic region and ad context; and

responsive to a request for an advertisement specifying a geographic region and an ad context, using the index to retrieve one or more advertisements from the repository that match the specification.

7. The method of claim 1, where generating a map comprises:

receiving information specifying the geographic region; and

generating a map image using the information.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprises:

generating one or more web pages including the map and the advertisement; and

serving the one or more web pages to a user system for presentation on a target advertising display.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

inserting a user interface element in the advertisement for establishing a communication link with the one or more advertisers associated with the advertisement.

10. The method of claim 9, where establishing a communication link further comprises:

automatically establishing a telephone connection with an advertiser associated with the advertisement.

11. A method comprising:

requesting an advertisement, the request including information for targeting a geographic region and determining an ad context; and

receiving an advertisement associated with the ad context and a map, the map showing at least a portion of the targeted geographic region including a marker showing a location associated with the advertisement.

12. A system, comprising:

a processor configurable for requesting an advertisement, the request including information for targeting a geographic region and determining an ad context; and

an interface operatively coupled to the processor and configurable for receiving an advertisement associated with the ad context and a map, the map showing at least a portion of the targeted geographic region including a marker showing a location associated with the advertisement.

13. A system, comprising:

an ad server configurable for receiving content;

a context server operatively coupled to the ad server and configurable to determine an ad context from the content;

a location server operatively coupled to the ad server and configurable to determine a geographic region;

an ad repository operatively coupled to the ad server and configurable for providing the ad server with an advertisement associated with the ad context; and

a map server operatively coupled to the ad server and configurable to generate a map containing at least a portion of the geographic region and a marker for identifying a location in the geographic region that is associated with the advertisement.

14. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the operations of:

receiving content;

determining an ad context from the content;

determining a geographic region;

determining an advertisement associated with the ad context; and

generating a map of at least a portion of the geographic region, the map including a marker for identifying a location in the geographic region that is associated with the advertisement.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, where determining a geographic region comprises:

determining the geographic region from the content.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, where determining a geographic region comprises:

receiving an Internet Protocol (IP) address; and

determining the geographic region from the IP address.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, where determining a geographic region comprises:

receiving a Uniform Resource Locator (URL); and

determining the target geographic region from the URL.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, where determining a geographic region comprises:

receiving information specifying the geographic region; and

determining the geographic region from the information.

19. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the operations of:

requesting an advertisement, the request including information for targeting a geographic region and determining an ad context; and

receiving an advertisement associated with the ad context and a map, the map showing at least a portion of the targeted geographic region including a marker showing a location associated with the advertisement.

20. A system, comprising:

means for receiving content;

means for determining an ad context from the content;

means for determining a geographic region;

means for determining an advertisement associated with the ad context; and

means for generating a map of at least a portion of the geographic region, the map including a marker for identifying a location in the geographic region that is associated with the advertisement.