NETWORK GAMING SYSTEM

• US 20100235233A1
• Filed: 05/21/2010
• Published: 09/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/1996
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Beneficial Innovations Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Beneficial Innovations Incorporated
• Inventors: Goldberg, Sheldon F., Antwerp, John Van
• Application Number:
  US12/785,336
• Publication Number:
  US 20100235233A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.450
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/407 Data transfer via internet
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/409 Data transfer via television network
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5506 using advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/387 Payment using discounts or coupons relating to marketing G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0244 Optimization
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0246 Traffic
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0252 based on events or environment, e.g. weather or festivals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3227 Configuring a gaming machine, e.g. downloading personal settings, selecting working parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/252 Processing of multiple end-users' preferences to derive collaborative data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25883 being end-user demographical data, e.g. age, family status or address arrangements for identifying locations of users in broadcast systems H04H60/52
• 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 21/4667 Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4722 for requesting additional data associated with the content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4781 : Games
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17354 : in an intermediate station common to a plurality of user terminals

Abstract

The present invention is a method and apparatus for collecting information about network (internet) users for determining advertising to be presented to the users. In one embodiment, user profiles are determined, and advertising is selectively provided by comparing user personal information in such profiles with a desired demographic profile. User responses to advertising are used for evaluating advertising effectiveness. The invention is useful for test marketing of products, advertisements, and reduces advertising costs.

Claims

1. A method of providing game and advertising information via Internet transmissions, comprising:

for each user of a plurality of users, each user having a corresponding user computer, performing the following steps;

(A1) receiving, on a corresponding Internet connection by the user'"'"'s computer, an Internet communication from the user'"'"'s computer requesting access to a game playing website of the Internet, said game playing website providing access to information for an interactive game, wherein said communication includes an Internet address identifying the game playing website, and wherein said interactive game is interactive on the Internet with the user;

(A2) providing a second Internet communication, from the game playing website and to the user'"'"'s computer, said second Internet communication providing game playing website related information including;

(i) information obtained from one or more previous user interactions with the game playing website is accessed by the game playing website for obtaining data for the second Internet communication; and

(ii) combined data having advertising related data and data identifying the interactive game, combined therein, the combined data for displaying at the user'"'"'s computer a combined presentation of information for accessing the interactive game and an advertising presentation corresponding to the advertising related data, wherein the advertising presentation has predetermined Internet link data associated therewith such that the link data is activated by a user input to the advertising presentation resulting in a corresponding Internet transmission of data indicative of said user input being transmitted to a predetermined Internet presentation; and

(A3) subsequently receiving a third Internet communication corresponding to a user input to the user'"'"'s computer for playing the interactive game;

(A4) subsequently transmitting a fourth Internet communication for the user'"'"'s computer, wherein as a consequence of the fourth Internet communication, additional advertising related data for presenting unrequested advertising of one or more of a purchasable product or a purchasable service for one of a plurality of advertisers is displayed at the user'"'"'s computer together with information related to the interactive game, wherein the additional advertising related data is selected according to information previously received from the user by the game playing website.

2. The method of claim 1, further including receiving access information indicative of the link data being activated by the user, wherein the access information is used in deriving advertising effectiveness information which is subsequently made available to the one advertiser.

3. A method of providing game and advertising information via Internet transmissions, comprising:

receiving, at an Internet service provider, a request for access to the Internet by each of a plurality of users'"'"' computers;

providing, by the Internet service provider, a corresponding Internet connection for each of the users'"'"' computers;

for each user of at least first and second of the users, performing the following steps;

(A1) receiving, on the corresponding Internet connection by the user'"'"'s computer, an Internet communication from the user'"'"'s computer requesting access to a game playing website of the Internet, said game playing website providing access to information for an interactive game, wherein said communication includes an Internet address identifying the game playing website, and wherein said interactive game is interactive on the Internet with the user;

(A2) providing a second Internet communication, from the game playing website and to the user'"'"'s computer, said second Internet communication providing information for said interactive game, wherein information indicative of one or more previous user interactions with the game playing website is accessed by the game playing website for obtaining data for the second Internet communication, and wherein advertising related data;

wherein the second Internet communication includes combined data having advertising related data and data identifying the interactive game, combined therein, the combined data for displaying at the user'"'"'s computer a combined presentation of information for accessing the interactive game and an advertising presentation corresponding to the advertising related data, wherein the advertising presentation has predetermined Internet link data associated therewith such that the link data is activated by a user input to the advertising presentation resulting in a corresponding Internet transmission of data indicative of said user input being transmitted to a predetermined Internet presentation; and

(A3) subsequently receiving a third Internet communication corresponding to a user input to the user'"'"'s computer for playing the interactive game;

(A4) subsequently transmitting a fourth Internet communication for the user'"'"'s computer, wherein as a consequence of the fourth Internet communication, additional advertising related data for presenting unrequested advertising of one or more of a purchasable product or a purchasable service for one of a plurality of advertisers is displayed at the user'"'"'s computer together with information related to the interactive game, wherein the additional advertising related data is selected according to information previously received from the user by the game playing website.