Methods and apparatus for enhanced advertising and promotional delivery in a network

• US 20090210899A1
• Filed: 02/19/2008
• Published: 08/20/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC (Charter Communications Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC (Charter Communications Incorporated)
• Inventors: Lawrence-Apfelbaum, Marc, Pfeffer, Howard, Webb, William
• Granted Patent: US 9,503,691 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2801 Broadband local area networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2747 Remote storage of video programs received via the downstream path, e.g. from the server
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4335 Housekeeping operations, e.g. prioritizing content for deletion because of storage space restrictions storage management, e.g. defragmentation G06F3/0604; unloading stored programs G06F9/445; storage management in file systems G06F16/10; buffering arrangements in a network node or in an end terminal in packet networks H04L49/90
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4751 for defining user accounts, e.g. accounts for children
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4756 for rating content, e.g. scoring a recommended movie
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4758 for providing answers, e.g. voting
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8586 by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for enhanced advertising selection and delivery in a communications network. In one embodiment, the network comprises a cable television network, and the methods and apparatus enable a viewer to individually select and view advertisements during real-time broadcast program settings, as well as during “trick mode” operation in recorded program settings. Guess-work associated with skipping commercials via manual fast-forwarding through recorded content is eliminated, and a viewer is presented with several options regarding which advertisements to view and when to view them. In one variant, decoupling of advertising or promotions from a previously recorded program is provided, thus affording the network operator flexibility to insert various advertising content options, or selectively replace dated or expired advertisements, or those having less correlation to a current program content stream. In another variant, advertising or commercial skipping is substantially frustrated by presenting a viewer with several viewing options.

Claims

1. For use in a content-based network having a plurality of users associated therewith, a method of providing advertising content to a selected one or more of said users, the method comprising:

initiating a triggering event;

indicating available advertisements;

selecting one or more of said available advertisements by or for one of said users; and

providing said one or more selected advertisements to at least one of said users based on said selecting step.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said triggering event comprises a discontinuity or marker disposed within a real-time broadcast.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said triggering event comprises beginning a period of prescribed duration within a real-time broadcast program.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said triggering event comprises beginning or recommencing the playback of a recorded program.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said triggering event comprises fast-forwarding a recorded program at a certain point in said program.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said act of selecting one or more of said available advertisements is accomplished by a computer program.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said one or more available advertisements are selected based at least in part on a determination of the length of at least one of said available advertisements.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein said act of selecting comprises:

accessing metadata associated with at least one of said available advertisements; and

evaluating said metadata with respect to program descriptive information.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said program descriptive information comprises metadata associated with a program substantially with which said at least one available advertisement will be provided.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein said act of selecting comprises:

assessing metadata associated with at least one of said available advertisements; and

evaluating said metadata with respect to user descriptive information.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

enabling a user to enter one or more advertisement selection criteria;

comparing metadata associated with at least one of said available advertisements to said criteria; and

selecting at least a subset of said available advertisements based at least in part on said act of comparing.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein said act of providing one or more selected advertisements comprises displaying said one or more selected advertisements temporally proximate with non-advertising program content at one or more prescribed insertion points within said content.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining a user response to said one or more selected advertisements;

accessing metadata associated with at least one of said available advertisements;

evaluating the correlation of said metadata with said user response; and

providing a selectable listing of available and correlated advertisements.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein said act providing said one or more selected advertisements comprises sending information relating to said one or more selected advertisements to an electronic mail account.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein said act of providing one or more selected advertisements comprises saving said one or more selected advertisements to a storage device of a recording apparatus.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein said storage device comprises at least one of a hard disk drive (HDD) or NAND flash memory, and said recording apparatus comprises a digital video recorder (DVR).

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing an option for selecting none of the available advertisements for delivery during a recorded program playback.

18. A computer-readable apparatus, said apparatus comprising a storage medium adapted to store a computer program thereon, said computer program comprising a plurality of instructions which, when executed:

generate a list of advertisements available for display;

display said list of advertisements to a user;

enable selection of one or more of said advertisements; and

cause delivery of said selected one or more advertisements to at least said user.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said computer-readable apparatus is disposed on a client premises device in communication with a cable network, and said act of generating a list of advertisements comprises obtaining metadata from a network server.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said program is adapted to enable a user to exit or terminate said one or more advertisement during display thereof.

21. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said program is adapted to enable a user to view said one or more advertisement and simultaneously record a real-time broadcast program.

22. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said program is adapted to obtain a user input relating to said one or more advertisement.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein said program is adapted to:

compare said user input to metadata relating to said available advertisements; and

generate a second list of available advertisements based at least in part on said comparison.

24. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said delivery to at least said user comprises storing said selected advertisements on a consumer premises device.

25. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said method of delivery comprises storing said selected advertisements on a network server accessible to a consumer premises device of said at least user.

26. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said program is adapted to:

enable a user to enter one or more advertisement criteria;

evaluate metadata associated with said list of available advertisements; and

generate a second list of available advertisements that at least partly correlate with one or more of said criteria.

27. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said program is adapted to:

provide a user interface, said interface adapted to enable a user to enter user information;

save said user-entered preference information as a user profile;

evaluate metadata regarding said available advertisements;

generate said list of available advertisements based at least in part on said user information in said user profile.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein said user information comprises at least one of:

(i) name;

(ii) age;

(iii) gender;

(iv) marital status;

(v) household income;

(vi) hobbies;

(vii) zip code; and

(viii) occupation.

29. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein said user information comprises user selection or de-selection of advertisement themes.

30. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said program is adapted to:

utilize metadata to determine an expiration date of said available advertisements;

identify one or more of said available advertisements that have expired;

request and receive updated advertisement content from a content source; and

replace said expired advertisements with said updated advertisements.

31. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said selection of one or more of said available advertisements is performed by said computer program based at least in part by inputs received from said user regarding at least one user preference, said computer program adapted to evaluate metadata associated with at least one of said available advertisements relating to said at least one preference.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein said evaluation of metadata associated with at least one of said available advertisements comprises performing at least one of:

evaluating the length of at least one of said available advertisements;

evaluating the correlation of said metadata with program descriptive information;

or

evaluating the correlation of said metadata with viewer supplied information.

33. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said storage medium comprises a hard disk drive (HDD) of a consumer premises recording device, said computer program adapted run on said computer premises recording device.

34. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said storage medium comprises a storage device of a network server.

35. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said computer program is adapted to enable a user to select that no advertisements be delivered.

36. For use in a content based network, an apparatus adapted for advertisement delivery, said apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a network interface;

a storage device in data communication with said processor; and

a software process operative to run on said processor, wherein said software process is adapted to;

request and receive information from a network entity related to available advertisements;

generate a list of available advertisements;

receive a user selection of one or more of said available advertisements; and

deliver said selected one or more available advertisements.

37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein said apparatus comprises a consumer premises device.

38. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein said apparatus comprises a broadcast switched architecture (BSA) controller.

39. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein said apparatus comprises a VoD server.

40. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein said delivery comprises storing advertisement content of said one or more selected advertisements on said storage device.

41. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein said delivery comprises sending advertisement content to a designated network address or location.

42. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein said delivery comprises displaying advertisement content of said one or more selected advertisements on a display device in data communication with said apparatus.

43. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein said software process is further adapted to:

obtain viewer feedback after the display of said one or more selected advertisements; and

utilize said viewer feedback and metadata of said one or more displayed advertisements to generate a viewer-specific list of available advertisements.

44. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein said software process is further adapted to:

receive input relating to one or more advertisement criteria; and

utilize the input and metadata of said available advertisements to generate a custom list of available advertisements.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein said software process is further adapted to store said imputed advertisement criteria as a user profile stored on said storage device.

46. A system for the delivery of advertisements in a communications network, said system comprising:

a processing apparatus, said processing apparatus being adapted to generate a list of available advertisements;

a user interface enabling a viewer to select one or more available advertisements;

a mechanism adapted to allocate a carrier to deliver advertisement content for said selected one or more advertisements; and

a receiving apparatus, said receiving apparatus adapted to receive said advertisement content.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein said processing apparatus comprises a cable television network headend or switching hub server.

48. The system of claim 46, wherein said processing apparatus is located substantially on a consumer premises device, and said receiving apparatus comprises the hard disk drive of the consumer premises device.

49. The system of claim 46, wherein said receiving apparatus comprises a display apparatus.

50. The system of claim 46, wherein said receiving apparatus comprises an e-mail server.

51. A method of operating a content delivery network, comprising:

delivering program content to at least one user of said network, said user having a storage device in communication with said network;

providing said at least one user with an option to process advertising content associated with said program content in at least two of a plurality of ways;

receiving input from said at least one user as to their preference for said option; and

providing said advertising content to said at least one user at least according to said preference.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein said option to process in at least a plurality of ways comprises:

a first option to have said advertising content delivered to said storage device for at least later viewing; and

a second option to have said advertising content or information relating thereto sent via at least a packetized IP-based network to a particular network address.

53. The method of claim 51, wherein said packetized IP-based network comprises the Internet, and said particular network address comprises an e-mail account designated by said at least one user.

54. The method of claim 51, wherein said program content and said advertising content are recorded on said storage device, and said option is presented to said at least one user upon the user fast-forwarding through at least a portion of said advertising content.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein said option to process in at least a plurality of ways comprises:

a first option to view at least a portion of said advertising content; and

a second option to not view at least portions of said advertising content.

56. The method of claim 54, further comprising:

accessing at least a portion of metadata associated with said advertising content; and

presenting said at least one user with said option based at least in part on said accessed metadata.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein said presenting said at least one user with said option comprises presenting said user with a list of one or more advertisements that comprise said advertising content, and said receiving input comprises receiving input from said user as to whether they wish to view one or more of said advertisements or not.

58. For use in a content based network, an apparatus adapted for advertisement delivery to a user of said network, said apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a network interface;

a storage device in data communication with said processor; and

a software process operative to run on said processor, wherein said software process is adapted to;

receive information from a network entity related to available advertising content;

receive input from said user regarding at least one preference; and

transmit at least a portion of said input to said network entity; and

receive at least one of (i) said advertising content, or (ii) links to said advertising content, over said network.

59. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein:

said apparatus comprises a consumer premises device;

said storage device comprises a mass storage device; and

said receipt of at least one of said content or links to said content comprises receipt of said content and storage thereof on said mass storage device.

60. The apparatus of claim 59, wherein said network entity comprises a computer program adapted to control a plurality of advertising functions, and said program selects said at least one of content or links based at least in part on said at least one preference.

61. The apparatus of claim 59, wherein said receipt of at least one of content or links comprises receipt of links, selection by said user of one of said links causing display of said content stored on said storage device.

62. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein said receipt of at least one of content or links comprises receipt of links, said links being selected based at least in part on said at least one preference.

63. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein said links are stored within a prescribed area on said storage device, and are periodically updated or replaced by said network entity.

64. For use in a content based network, an apparatus adapted for advertisement delivery to a user of said network, said apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a network interface;

a storage device in data communication with said processor; and

a software process operative to run on said processor, wherein said software process is adapted to;

distribute information related to available advertising content to a user within said network;

receive input from said user regarding at least one preference relating to said advertising content;

store at least one of;

(i) said advertising content, or (ii) links to a first storage location where said advertising content is stored, to a second storage location, said second location being substantially specific to said user.

65. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein said apparatus comprises a network server, and said information comprises a list of available advertisements.

66. The apparatus of claim 65, wherein said list further comprises an option for a viewer to view at least some of said available advertisements as a group and eliminate commercial interruption during playback of a recorded program.

67. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein said first location comprises a network storage location, and said second location comprises a storage device at said user'"'"'s premises.

68. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein said first and second locations comprise a storage device at said user'"'"'s premises.

69. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein said second storage location comprises a directory within a digital video recorder (DVR) at said user'"'"'s premises.

70. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein said second storage location comprises a directory within a network PVR.

71. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein said links each comprise a hyperlink to at least one URL address associated with an advertiser.

72. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein said storage at least one of:

(i) said advertising content, or (ii) links to a first storage location where said advertising content is stored, comprises storage of said links, and said software process is further adapted to display a list of said links automatically upon a user accessing said second storage location.

73. A method of operating a content based network, comprising:

receiving information relating to one or more preferences of a user of said network;

evaluating a plurality of available advertisement content based at least in part on said one or more preferences; and

providing said user with a user-specific list of available advertisement content, the content on said list being selected based at least in part on said evaluation.

74. The method of claim 73, wherein said providing a user with a user-specific list comprises downloading one or more URLs associated with said advertisement content on said list to a recording device of said user.

75. A method of operating a content-based network, comprising:

showing at least one first user an advertisement;

receiving input from said at least one first user as to said advertisement;

providing at least one second user a plurality of advertising options from which they may choose via a user interface, said options comprising said advertisement; and

providing said at least one second user said input via said user interface.

76. The method of claim 75, wherein:

said input comprises a user-assigned rating of said advertisement, said rating comprising at least one rating selected from a predetermined rating scale; and

wherein said providing said input comprises providing input from a plurality of users.