METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR TARGETING USERS WITH AUDIO ADVERTISEMENTS

• US 20140164139A1
• Filed: 12/12/2012
• Published: 06/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Excalibur IP, LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: LONIKAR, Kiran B.
• Application Number:
  US13/712,458
• Publication Number:
  US 20140164139A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.66
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements

Abstract

Methods and systems for providing audio advertisements to client devices are disclosed. A request for an advertisement may be received at a server computer from a software library on a client device. The request may include one or more targeting criteria. An advertisement may be selected based at least in part on the one or more targeting criteria. The advertisement may be configured as text data. The text data may be encoded using speech synthesis markup language (SSML). The advertisement may be transmitted to the client device from the server computer. The software library may be configured to convert the text data to synthesized sound, and output the sound from the client device. The software library may include a text-to-speech (TTS) software module, which may convert the text data into synthesized sound, and output the sound from the client device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a server computer, a request for an advertisement from a software library on a client device, wherein the request comprises one or more targeting criteria;

selecting an advertisement based at least in part on the one or more targeting criteria, wherein the advertisement is configured as text data; and

transmitting the advertisement to the client device, wherein the software library is configured to convert the text data to synthesized sound, and wherein the sound is output from the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the text data is encoded as Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more targeting criteria include one or more of age, gender, location, and language.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request comprises receiving the request at predetermined intervals.

5. The method of claim 1, receiving the request comprises receiving the request at a predetermined event.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the software library is further configured to display a prompt on the user device to obtain permission from the user before outputting the sound.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the software library is configured to output the sound at a predetermined time.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the software library includes a text-to-speech (TTS) converter module.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the software library is further configured to display a popup including a hyperlink associated with the advertisement.

10. A system comprising:

one or more server computers coupled to a network;

wherein the one or more server computers are for;

receiving a request for an advertisement from a software library on a client device, wherein the request comprises one or more targeting criteria;

selecting an advertisement based at least in part on the one or more targeting criteria, wherein the advertisement is configured as text data; and

transmitting the advertisement to the client device, wherein the software library is configured to convert the text data to synthesized sound, and wherein the sound is output from the client device.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the text data is encoded as Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML).

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the one or more targeting criteria include one or more of age, gender, location, and language.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein receiving the request comprises receiving the request at predetermined intervals.

14. The system of claim 10, receiving the request comprises receiving the request at a predetermined event.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the software library is further configured to display a prompt on the user device to obtain permission from the user before outputting the sound.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the software library is configured to output the sound at a predetermined time.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the software library includes a text-to-speech (TTS) converter module.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein the software library is further configured to display a popup including a hyperlink associated with the advertisement.

19. The system of claim 10, wherein the client device is selected from the group comprising a smart phone, an e-reader, a tablet, a desktop PC, and a laptop PC.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions for causing a computer to execute a method, the method comprising:

receiving at predetermine intervals, at a server computer, a request for an advertisement from a software library on a client device, wherein the request comprises one or more targeting criteria;

selecting an advertisement based at least in part on the one or more targeting criteria;

configuring the advertisement as text data encoded as speech synthesis markup language (SSML); and

transmitting the advertisement to the client device, wherein the software library is configured to convert the text data to synthesized sound, and wherein the sound is output from the client device.