ADVERTISING WITH AN INFLUENTIAL PARTICIPANT IN A VIRTUAL WORLD

• US 20090091565A1
• Filed: 10/09/2007
• Published: 04/09/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zhigu Holdings Limited
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Porter, Erik, Booth, Ernest A., Titus, Tobin R., Carnahan, Jeffrey D., Robbins, Daniel C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,600,779 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/419
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5506 using advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Technologies are described herein for advertising with an influential participant in a virtual world. A facilitator rating is determined for each of a plurality of participants in the virtual world. The facilitator rating may indicate an influence of each of the plurality of participants on other participants in the virtual world. One or more participants are identified from the plurality of participants based on the facilitator rating. The one or more participants are utilized to provide an advertisement in the virtual world.

Claims

1. A method for advertising with an influential participant in a virtual world, the method comprising:

determining a facilitator rating for each of a plurality of participants in the virtual world, the facilitator rating indicating an influence of each of the plurality of participants on other participants in the virtual world;

identifying one or more participants from the plurality of participants based on the facilitator rating; and

utilizing the one or more participants to provide an advertisement in the virtual world.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a facilitator rating for each of a plurality of participants in the virtual world comprises:

providing, by way of a network, an interface for inputting a facilitator search criterion, the facilitator search criterion defining the facilitator rating for each of the plurality of participants;

receiving the facilitator search criterion; and

determining the facilitator rating for each of the plurality of participants in the virtual world based on the facilitator search criterion.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the facilitator rating comprises a popularity level for each of the plurality of participants with respect to an advertiser.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising determining the popularity level for each of the plurality of participants based on one or more of a number of friends associated with each of the plurality of participants, an amount of area roamed in the virtual world by each of the plurality of participants, and a chat frequency of each of the plurality of participants.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the facilitator rating comprises a popularity level for each of the plurality of participants with respect to an administrator of the virtual world.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising determining the popularity level for each of the plurality of participants based on one or more of a login frequency of each of the plurality of participants, an amount of time spent by each of the plurality of participants in the virtual world, and an amount of content created by each of the plurality of participants for the virtual world.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the facilitator rating comprises a popularity level for each of the plurality of participants with respect to other participants in the virtual world.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising determining the popularity level for each of the plurality of participants based on one or more of a quality of content created by each of the plurality of participants for the virtual world, an amount of participation by each of the plurality of participants in the virtual world, an amount of technical support provided by each of the plurality of participants for other participants in the virtual world, and a level of adoption of content created by each of the plurality of participants in the virtual world.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying one or more participants from the plurality of participants based on the facilitator rating comprises:

providing, by way of a network, a list of participants ranked in order of popularity in the virtual world according to the facilitator rating; and

receiving a selection of the one or more participants from the plurality of participants.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein utilizing the one or more participants to provide an advertisement in the virtual world comprises placing the advertisement onto a virtual object owned by the one or more participants in the virtual world.

11. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of claim 1.

12. A method for advertising with an influential participant in a virtual world, the method comprising:

determining a target rating for each of a plurality of participants in the virtual world, the target rating indicating a relevance of each of the plurality of participants to receive an advertisement;

identifying one or more participants from the plurality of participants based on the target rating; and

providing the advertisement in the virtual world to the one or more participants.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein determining a target rating for each of a plurality of participants in the virtual world comprises:

providing, by way of a network, an interface for inputting a target search criterion, the target search criterion defining the target rating for each of the plurality of participants;

receiving the target search criterion; and

determining the target rating for each of the plurality of participants in the virtual world based on the target search criterion.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein determining a target rating for each of the plurality of participants in the virtual world comprises determining the relevance of each of the plurality of participants with respect to a demographic criterion.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the demographic criterion comprises one of an age of each of the plurality of participants, a gender of each of the plurality of participants, and a location of each of the plurality of participants.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein identifying one or more participants from the plurality of participants based on the target rating comprises:

providing, by way of a network, a list ranked in order of relevance to receive the advertisement according to the target rating; and

receiving a selection of the one or more participants from the plurality of participants.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein providing the advertisement in the virtual world to the one or more participants comprises placing the advertisement onto a virtual object viewable by the one or more participants.

18. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of claim 12.

19. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

receive, by way of a network, a facilitator search criterion and a target search criterion;

determine a facilitator rating for each of a plurality of participants in a virtual world based on the facilitator search criterion, the facilitator rating indicating an influence of each of the plurality of participants on other participants in the virtual world;

determine a target rating for each of a plurality of participants in the virtual world based on the target search criterion, the target rating indicating a relevance of each of the plurality of participants to receive an advertisement;

provide a first list of participants ranked in order of popularity in the virtual world according to the facilitator rating;

provide a second list ranked in order of relevance to receive the advertisement according to the associated target rating;

receive, by way of the network, a first selected participant from the first list and a second selected participant from the second list; and

utilize the first selected participant to provide the advertisement to the second selected participant in the virtual world.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein utilizing the first selected participant to provide the advertisement to the second selected participant in a virtual world comprises placing the advertisement onto a virtual object owned by the first selected participant and viewable by the second selected participant.