Dynamic Configuration of an Advertisement

• US 20090006213A1
• Filed: 09/11/2008
• Published: 01/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: VideoEgg, Inc. (theMaven, Inc.)
• Inventors: Young, Troy William, Sanchez, Matthew Allen, Lerman, David Ross
• Granted Patent: US 8,306,859 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.610
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0264 based upon schedule
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0276 Advertisement creation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement

Abstract

Systems and methods for dynamically sizing, structuring and operating advertisements that include a variety of content, including interaction prompts and other elements, which enable an engagement-based revenue generation model. According to one embodiment, a computer implemented method comprises storing advertising content, serving an XML file from an advertising server to an advertisement manager in order to control a player on a user computer, dynamically generating the advertisement through the player based on directions from the advertisement manager and the stored content, and tracking and reporting a user'"'"'s engagement with the advertisement in order to determine compensation for the publisher.

Claims

1. A method for dynamically configuring an advertisement for display on a computer of a user, the computer being connected to a computer network, comprising the steps of:

allowing an application running on the computer to make an application request for the advertisement based on a set of targeting data over the computer network, the set of targeting data including a set of user information, a set of advertisement information, and a set of space information;

receiving the application request and the set of targeting data from the computer network;

requesting from the computer network a particular type of advertisement based on the application request and the set of targeting data;

receiving a metadata file from the computer network, the metadata file defining a set of available media assets corresponding to the particular type of advertisement and how the set of available media assets should be used to create the advertisement, the metadata file being based on the set of targeting data and a set of advertising server data;

selecting one or more media assets from the set of available media assets based on the metadata file;

downloading from the computer network the one or more media assets;

configuring the one or more media assets to use in the advertisement based on the set of space information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of user information include an age of the user and a gender of the user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of advertisement information includes a type of advertisement to be requested by the application and a type of advertisement allowed by the application.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of advertisement information includes a set of instructions on how the advertisement should be displayed to the user.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of advertisement information includes a set of instruction on how to hide the advertisement.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of advertisement information includes a callback that informs the application that the advertisement has been shown or is being shown.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of space information includes a size and shape of the advertisement.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of advertising server data includes a set of information on advertisements that perform best for an advertiser.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of advertising server data includes a set of information on advertisements that make more money for an advertiser.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of advertising server data includes a set of information on a total number of a particular type of advertisement to be delivered over the computer network.

11. The method of claim 1, the metadata file further defining a set of engagement data for the advertisement to be collected and where the set of engagement data should be sent over the computer network.

12. The method of claim 1, the metadata file further defining a set of data necessary to render and track the advertisement.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of configuring the one or more media assets to use in the advertisement is further based on an action being performed by the application.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the action is an amount of video played by the application.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of configuring the one or more media assets to use in the advertisement is further based a time of day.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of configuring the one or more media assets includes the steps of:

placing a media asset from the one or more media assets within the advertisement;

shaping the media asset to fit a shape within the advertisement; and

sizing the media asset to fit within the shape.

17. An advertising manager for dynamically configuring an advertisement for display on a computer of a user, the computer being connected to a network including an advertisement server and a media asset server, comprising:

an application programming interface for interfacing with an application running on the computer, the application programming interface enabling the application to make an application request over the network to the advertising manager for the advertisement and to pass on a set of targeting data to the advertising manager;

an advertisement requester for making an advertisement request to the advertisement server based on the application request and the set of targeting data; and

an advertisement configuror for receiving a metadata file from the advertisement server in response to the advertisement request, selecting a set of media assets to deploy within the advertisement based on the metadata file, downloading over the network the set of media assets from the media asset server, and configuring the set of media assets for the advertisement.

18. The advertising manager of claim 17, wherein the set of targeting data includes a set of user information, a set of advertisement information, and a set of space information.

19. The advertising manager of claim 18, wherein the advertisement configuror configures the set of media assets for the advertisement based on the set of space information.

20. The advertising manager of claim 17, wherein the metadata file defines a set of available media assets on the media asset server that correspond to the advertisement request and how the set of available media assets should be used to create the advertisement, and wherein the metadata file is based on the set of targeting data and a set of advertising server data.