Interactive advertisement overlays on full-screen content

• US 20080319852A1
• Filed: 06/25/2007
• Published: 12/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Vong, William H., Gardner, David
• Application Number:
  US11/821,770
• Publication Number:
  US 20080319852A1
• 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 30/0241 Advertisements

Abstract

In accordance with one or more aspects, an interactive advertisement overlay is displayed on a full-screen display of program and/or video commercial content. At the end of display of the video commercial content, the display of the interactive overlay is terminated, and an advertising icon is displayed during a full-screen display of program content. The display of the interactive advertisement overlay is reinstated in response to a user selecting the advertising icon. In accordance with one or more other aspects, program content and video commercial content are displayed on a full-screen display of a display device. An interactive advertisement overlay is also displayed on the full-screen display. The interactive advertisement overlay includes advertising information associated with a sponsor of the program content.

Claims

1. One or more computer storage media having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the one or more processors to:

display an interactive advertisement overlay on a full-screen display of video commercial content;

at the end of display of the video commercial content, terminate the display of the interactive overlay and display an ad icon during a full-screen display of program content; and

re-display the interactive advertisement overlay in response to user selection of the ad icon.

2. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 1, the interactive advertisement overlay including a link to the video commercial content, selection of the link causing display of the program content to be paused to allow the video commercial content to be displayed.

3. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 1, the interactive advertisement overlay including multiple overlay panels that a user can navigate through to obtain advertising information regarding a sponsor of the program content.

4. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 1, the instructions further causing the one or more processors to remove the ad icon from the full-screen display after the ad icon has been displayed for an amount of time.

5. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 4, the instructions further causing the one or more processors to determine, after the ad icon has been removed from the full-screen display, that the ad icon is to be displayed, and re-displaying the ad icon on the full-screen display when it is determined that the ad icon is to be displayed.

6. A method comprising:

displaying program content and video commercial content on a full-screen display of a display device; and

displaying an interactive advertisement overlay on the full-screen display, the interactive advertisement overlay including advertising information associated with a sponsor of the program content.

7. A method as recited in claim 6, further comprising:

displaying an ad icon on the full-screen display;

keeping the ad icon displayed on the full-screen display after display of the interactive advertisement overlay has been terminated;

receiving a user selection of the ad icon; and

re-displaying the interactive advertisement overlay in response to the user selection.

8. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein displaying the ad icon on the full-screen display comprises displaying the ad icon while the interactive advertisement overlay is being displayed on the full-screen display.

9. A method as recited in claim 7, further comprising:

determining that the ad icon has been displayed for a particular amount of time; and

removing the ad icon from the full-screen display in response to the ad icon having been displayed for the particular amount of time.

10. A method as recited in claim 9, further comprising:

re-displaying the ad icon on the full-screen display in response to a remote control device being moved.

11. A method as recited in claim 6, the interactive advertisement overlay including a link to the video commercial content, the method further comprising:

receiving a user-selection of the link;

displaying, in response to the user-selection, the video commercial content on the full-screen display; and

continuing displaying the program content after the video commercial content has been displayed, skipping displaying the video commercial content when the video commercial content would otherwise have been displayed had the user-selection not been received.

12. A method as recited in claim 6, the interactive advertisement overlay including multiple overlay panels that a user can navigate through to obtain advertising information regarding a sponsor of the program content.

13. A method as recited in claim 12, one of the multiple overlay panels including an advertisement credits panel that lists different video commercials in the video commercial content.

14. A method as recited in claim 6, further comprising:

tracking a user'"'"'s interaction with the interactive advertisement overlay; and

maintaining tracking information describing the user'"'"'s interaction with the interactive advertisement overlay.

15. A method as recited in claim 14, further comprising:

sending the tracking information to the sponsor in exchange for a fee.

16. A device comprising:

a player module to display program content and video commercial content on a full-screen display of a display device; and

an advertising module to display, independent of any user request for display of an interactive advertisement overlay, advertisement information in the interactive advertisement overlay on the full-screen display, the interactive advertisement overlay being displayed over one or both of the program content and the video commercial content.

17. A device as recited in claim 16, the device comprising the display device.

18. A device as recited in claim 16, further comprising:

a tracking module to track a user'"'"'s interaction with the interactive advertisement overlay, and maintain tracking information describing the user'"'"'s interaction with the interactive advertisement overlay.

19. A device as recited in claim 16, wherein the advertising module is further to determine that the interactive advertisement overlay is to be displayed in response to a user request to display the interactive advertisement overlay, and to display the advertising information in the interactive advertisement overlay in response to the user request.

20. A device as recited in claim 19, wherein the advertising module is further to display an ad icon on the full-screen display, and wherein the user request is a user selection of the ad icon.