System and method of providing targeted advertising during video telephone calls
First Claim
1. A system for providing advertising to subscribers conducting a video telephone call, said system comprising:
- a calling subscriber'"'"'s video telephone having a display screen;
an information source which stores a plurality of video advertisements;
a calling subscriber'"'"'s switch connected to the calling subscriber'"'"'s video telephone and the information source, said switch including;
means for retrieving the video advertisements from the information source; and
means for sending the retrieved advertisements to the calling subscriber'"'"'s video telephone; and
a database of individual subscriber advertising preferences connected to the calling subscriber'"'"'s switch, said database including;
advertising preferences for the calling subscriber; and
a first set of advertising preferences for a first called subscriber that the calling subscriber is currently calling; and
wherein the means for retrieving the advertisements from the information source includes means for retrieving advertisements from the information source based on the advertising preferences of the calling subscriber and the first called subscriber that the calling subscriber is currently calling.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system in a telecommunications network for providing targeted advertising to subscribers utilizing display screens to conduct a video telephone call. The system comprises a centralized database of subscriber advertising preferences, an information source, a calling subscriber'"'"'s switch connected to the database and the information source, and a called subscriber'"'"'s switch connected to the calling subscriber'"'"'s switch. The database of subscriber advertising preferences stores advertising preferences for subscribers in the network, and is updated whenever a subscriber selects a displayed advertisement for more information. The information source stores a plurality of advertisements, and includes an advertisement selector which selects advertisements based on the advertising preferences for an identified subscriber such as the calling subscriber. The calling subscriber'"'"'s switch retrieves the advertising preferences for the calling subscriber from the database and sends the preferences to the information source. The switch then retrieves the selected advertisements from the information source and generates a window on the calling subscriber'"'"'s display screen which displays the retrieved advertisements. The retrieved advertisements are also sent to the called subscriber'"'"'s switch for simultaneous display to the called subscriber.
305 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A system for providing advertising to subscribers conducting a video telephone call, said system comprising:
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a calling subscriber'"'"'s video telephone having a display screen; an information source which stores a plurality of video advertisements; a calling subscriber'"'"'s switch connected to the calling subscriber'"'"'s video telephone and the information source, said switch including; means for retrieving the video advertisements from the information source; and means for sending the retrieved advertisements to the calling subscriber'"'"'s video telephone; and a database of individual subscriber advertising preferences connected to the calling subscriber'"'"'s switch, said database including; advertising preferences for the calling subscriber; and a first set of advertising preferences for a first called subscriber that the calling subscriber is currently calling; and wherein the means for retrieving the advertisements from the information source includes means for retrieving advertisements from the information source based on the advertising preferences of the calling subscriber and the first called subscriber that the calling subscriber is currently calling. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A system for providing targeted advertising to subscribers utilizing display screens to conduct a video telephone call, said system comprising:
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a database of subscriber advertising preferences, said database including advertising preferences for a calling subscriber; an information source including; a plurality of advertisements; and means for selecting advertisements from the plurality of advertisements based on the advertising preferences for the calling subscriber; a calling subscriber'"'"'s switch connected to the database and the information source, said switch including; means for retrieving the advertising preferences for the calling subscriber from the database and sending the preferences to the information source; means for retrieving the selected advertisements from the information source; and means for generating a window on the calling subscriber'"'"'s display screen, said window displaying the retrieved advertisements; and a called subscriber'"'"'s switch connected to the calling subscriber'"'"'s switch. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A system in a telecommunications network for providing targeted advertising to a calling subscriber and a called subscriber utilizing display screens to conduct a video telephone call, said system comprising:
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a centralized database of subscriber advertising preferences, said database including advertising preferences for subscribers within the network; an information source including; a plurality of advertisements; and means for selecting advertisements from the plurality of advertisements based on the advertising preferences for the calling subscriber and the called subscriber; a calling subscriber'"'"'s switch connected to the database and the information source, said calling subscriber'"'"'s switch including; means for retrieving the advertising preferences for the calling subscriber from the database and sending the preferences to the information source; means for retrieving advertisements selected from the calling subscriber'"'"'s preferences from the information source; and means for generating a window on the calling subscriber'"'"'s display screen, said window displaying the retrieved advertisements selected from the advertising preferences for the calling subscriber; and a called subscriber'"'"'s switch connected to the database and the information source, said called subscriber'"'"'s switch including; means for retrieving the advertising preferences for the called subscriber from the database and sending the preferences to the information source; means for retrieving advertisements selected from the called subscriber'"'"'s preferences from the information source; and means for generating a window on the called subscriber'"'"'s display screen, said window displaying the retrieved advertisements selected from the advertising preferences for the called subscriber. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
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25. A method of building a database of preferences for a first consumer comprising the steps of:
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adding a preference to the first consumer'"'"'s database whenever the first consumer purchases or requests information about a product; determining a plurality of additional consumers with whom the first consumer interacts; building a database of preferences for each of the plurality of additional consumers based on purchases or requests for information made by each specific additional consumer; and selectively combining preferences from the first consumer'"'"'s database and preferences from the database of a specific additional consumer with whom the first consumer is currently interacting. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
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Specification