FULL PAGE VIDEO INTERSTITIAL ADVERTISEMENT

• US 20100023398A1
• Filed: 10/01/2009
• Published: 01/28/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: VideoEgg, Inc. (theMaven, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sanchez, Nicholas Marshall, Young, Troy William, Brown, Darrick, Sanchez, Matthew Allen, Lerman, David Ross
• Granted Patent: US 8,386,317 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.490
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0276 Advertisement creation

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a full-page video interstitial advertisement. The interstitial advertisement offers advertisers a high quality, full screen video distribution opportunity for a set period of time, such as a 15 second spot, however the duration of the video may vary depending on the content of the video or the configuration of the webpage. A session manager controls the exposure of the interstitial advertisement to the user, to prevent the user from experiencing too frequent interstitial advertisements during a web session. The interstitial advertisement includes a fuse for displaying the playing progress of the video. The use of sound is preferred as part of the interstitial advertisement since it is important for the delivery of the media value of the advertisement. The interstitial advertisement spans the entire web browser screen, overlaid on top of the current web page using a transparency layer.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising the steps of:

storing an advertisement on a server, the advertisement including a set of media assets including a video, a sound, and a fuse illustrating a progression of the video;

storing a set of instructions on a client computer in communication with the server, the client computer in communication with a web site including a webpage having a webpage display width and a webpage display height and specifying how the webpage will be displayed on the client computer, the set of instructions specifying one or more properties of the advertisement including an advertisement display width, an advertisement display height, and one or more transparency values, the advertisement display width being equal to or less than the webpage display width and the advertisement display height being equal to or less than the webpage display height, the set of instructions specifying how the advertisement will be displayed on the client computer as an overlay on the webpage when the client computer is in communication with the web site and how at least a portion of the webpage will be visible behind the overlay based on the one or more transparency values;

serving the advertisement from the server to the client computer for display of the video and for play of the sound on the client computer based on the set of instructions; and

managing an exposure period between when the advertisement is served to the client computer and when the advertisement or a second advertisement is served to the client computer.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of serving is based on one or more events, the one or more events selected from a group consisting of the webpage loading, the webpage being left, the user moving a mouse, the user interacting with the webpage, or a timer expiring.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the one or more events are configurable by an operator of the webpage.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more transparency values change with the progression of the video.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the set of media assets includes a close button allowing a user of the client computer to close the advertisement after the user has seen a portion of the video.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the set of media assets includes closed captioning for the video.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the step of serving includes the step of determining if the client computer supports or allows the sound to be played and serving the closed captioning with the video for display on the client computer if the client computer does not support or allow the sound.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the set of media assets includes an initial transition between the webpage and the advertisement.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the set of media assets includes a conclusion transition between the advertisement and the webpage.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the conclusion transition causes the fuse to remain visible to a user of the client computer as the one or more transparency values change and cause the overlay to become less visible to the user.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the set of media assets includes one or more engagement options, the step of serving including the step of serving the engagement options for display on the client computer at an end of the progression of the video.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the set of media assets includes a custom message for display on the client computer.

13. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the set of media assets includes a cookie, wherein the step of managing is performed by the cookie.

14. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the cookie applies to a single IP address.

15. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the cookie applies to a domain.