MANAGING AND MONITORING DIGITAL ADVERTISING

• US 20110173071A1
• Filed: 12/17/2010
• Published: 07/14/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Evidon, Inc. (CrownPeak Technology, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Ghostery, Inc. (Burda Family)
• Inventors: Simeonov, Simeon, Jaye, Daniel, O'Malley, Colin, Kozek, Edward, Meyer, Scott B., Shnir, Felix
• Granted Patent: US 9,361,631 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.54
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

A computerized system and techniques facilitate the monitoring and management of online behaviorally-targeted advertising. In certain embodiments, electronic notifications related to advertising practices of members of an online advertising ecosystem are presented to users based on the discovery of elements of online content aimed at delivering targeted advertising messages to viewers of the content.

Claims

1. A computerized system for providing electronic notifications related to advertising practices of one or more members of an online advertising ecosystem, the service comprising:

a plurality of discovery engines, each discovery engine stored on a central service server and configured to execute against an element of electronic content and identify elements of the content aimed at delivering targeted advertising messages to viewers of the content;

a plurality of computer-executable scripts stored on the central service server and configured to be transmitted to a client device, where, when executed, cause, in response to the discovery of targeted advertising messages in the electronic content by one or more of the discovery engines, presentation of a notification indicating the use of targeted advertising methods by members of the online advertising ecosystem; and

a placement engine for facilitating the presentation of the notification.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the placement engine further comprises a configuration subsystem for facilitating the selection of the notification to be presented to the viewers of the content.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the placement engine further comprises a delivery subsystem for facilitating designation of visual and placement parameters of the notification.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the notification comprises one or more of an icon and text arranged proximate to a targeted advertisement.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the notification comprises a primary notice and a secondary notice, the secondary notice appearing upon selection by a user of the primary notice and comprising information describing behavioral targeted advertising practices of one or more members of an online advertising ecosystem having provided the targeted advertising messages.

6. The system of claim 1 further comprising a data storage module for storing one or more of indications of users'"'"' interactions with the notification, advertising practices of the one or more members of an online advertising ecosystem, and advertising preferences of the users.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the indications of users'"'"' interactions with the notification comprise one or more of a user selecting a primary notification, a user viewing a secondary notification, a user selecting a secondary notification, a user changing preferences related to online advertising, and a user viewing advertising practices of a member of the advertising ecosystem.

8. The system of claim 6 wherein the advertising preferences of the users comprise one or more of opting out of receiving behaviorally targeted advertisements from one or more members of the advertising ecosystem, agreeing to receive behaviorally targeted advertisements from one or more members of the advertising ecosystem, and specification of personal demographic information of the users.

9. The system of claim 6 further comprising a reporting engine for providing electronic access to data stored in the data storage module.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the electronic access is provided to the members of the advertising ecosystem via a web-based portal.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein one or more of the scripts are provided to the one or more members of an online advertising ecosystem such that the scripts may be embedded directly into the online content.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the online content comprises nested IFRAMES and the scripts operate within the IFRAMES to identify a top-level domain of the online content.

13. A computer-implemented method for monitoring and managing behaviorally targeted advertising practices in an online environment, the method comprising:

storing, at a centralized monitoring service (i) a plurality of discovery engines, each configured to execute against an element of electronic content and identify elements of the content aimed at delivering targeted advertising messages to viewers of the content and (ii) a plurality of computer-executable scripts and configured to be transmitted to a client device;

executing one or more of the discovery engines against the content to determine the presence of behaviorally-targeted advertisements within the content;

executing, at the client, one or more of the scripts, thereby causing the presentation of a notification indicating the use of behaviorally-targeted advertising methods by one or more parties responsible for the delivery of the content.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the notification comprises an icon and the icon is presented in proximity to a behaviorally-targeted advertisement.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the icon comprises an executable link, that, when selected, causes the presentation of a secondary notice, the secondary notice comprising information describing behavioral targeted advertising practices of one or more members of an online advertising ecosystem having provided the targeted advertising messages.

16. The method of claim 13 further comprising storing advertising preference data, the advertising preference data comprising one or more of indications of users'"'"' interactions with the notification, advertising practices of the one or more members of an online advertising ecosystem responsible for delivering the behaviorally-targeted advertisements, and preferences of the users with respect to being presented with behaviorally-targeted advertisements.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the indications of users'"'"' interactions with the notification comprise one or more of a user selecting a primary notification, a user viewing a secondary notification, a user selecting a secondary notification, a user changing preferences related to online advertising, and a user viewing advertising practices of a member of the advertising ecosystem.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the preferences of the users comprise one or more of opting out of receiving behaviorally targeted advertisements from one or more members of the advertising ecosystem, agreeing to receive behaviorally targeted advertisements from one or more members of the advertising ecosystem, and specification of personal demographic information of the users.

19. The method of claim 16 further comprising providing electronic access to the advertising preference data.