Data pass-through to sponsors

• US 6,847,992 B1
• Filed: 07/31/2000
• Issued: 01/25/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: NetZero Incorporated (B. Riley Financial, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: NetZero Incorporated (B. Riley Financial, Inc.)
• Inventors: Zebian, Marwan, Warren, Terry, Blaser, Shane, Giffen, Colin, Haitsuka, Stacy, Burr, Ronald, MacKenzie, Harold
• Primary Examiner(s): YOUNG, JOHN L
• Application Number:
  US09/628,465
• Time in Patent Office: 1,639 Days
• Field of Search: 709/219, 709/218, 705/10.14
• US Class Current: 709/218
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1396 specially adapted for monitoring users' activity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a client application for enabling access to an online service and displaying advertisements while the user is accessing the online service. The client application receives play lists from the online service provider. The play lists include information about advertisements to be played and the order of play. The client application displays advertisements continuously within a dedicated client window while the user is connected to and/or using the online service. The client application preferably records informational data related to the user. When the user clicks-on an advertisement, the client application and an online server forward the user'"'"'s informational data to the advertisement'"'"'s sponsor. The sponsor uses the information to provide the user with customized information related to the advertisement.

Claims

1. A method of providing an advertisement-related electronic presentation to a user of an online service, and tracking user response, the method comprising:

a client application on a local device obtaining personal profile information from the user;

the client application causing an advertisement to be displayed on the local device;

the client application monitoring if the user performs a click-through on the advertisement, wherein the client application is not a browser application;

the user performing a click-through on the advertisement;

the client application creating and locally storing a click-through record, the click-through record including the time the user performed the click-through, the date the user performed the click through, geographic location data of the local device, an advertisement identifier code associated with the advertisement, a user identifier code associated with the user, and a sponsor identifier code associated with the sponsor;

the client application transmitting a notification signal to the online server notifying the online server that the user clicked on the advertisement, wherein the notification signal includes the advertisement identifier code and the use identifier code;

the client application receiving one or more resource locators based on a selection protocol associated with the advertisement, the personal profile information, and the advertisement identifier code;

the client application causing the local device to access one or more resources associated with the one or more source locators.

2. The method of providing an advertisement-related electronic presentation to a user of an online service, and tracking user response of claim 1 wherein the advertisement is displayed in a client window displayed by the client application.

3. The method of providing an advertisement-related electronic presentation to a user of an online service, and tracking user response of claim 1, wherein at least one of the resource locators is a uniform resource locator specifying the address of an Internet web page.

4. A method of providing a sponsor access to click-through data related to an advertisement that is displayed to a user of an online service administered by an online service provider, the user using a client application on a local device to access an online server associated with the online service, the local device include an input device and an output device, wherein the online service display the advertisement to the user on behalf of a sponsor, the method comprising:

the client application causing the advertisement to be displayed on the output device;

the client application monitoring if the user performs a click-through on the advertisement, wherein the client application is not a browser application;

the user performing a click-through on the advertisement;

the client application creating and locally storing a click-through record, the click-through record including the time the user performed the click-through, the date the user performed the click through, geographic location data of the local device, an advertisement identifier code associated with the advertisement, a user identifier code associated with the user, and a sponsor identifier code associated with the sponsor;

the client application transmitting the click-through record to the online server via a communication channel from the local device to the online server;

the client application receiving one or more resource locators based on a selection protocol associated with the advertisement, personal profile information associated with the user, and the advertisement identifier code;

the online server storing the click-through record in a format that is accessible by the sponsor.

5. The method of providing a sponsor access to click-through data related to an advertisement of claim 4, wherein the advertisement is displayed in a client window displayed by the client application.

6. The method of providing a sponsor access to click-through data related to an advertisement of claim 4, wherein the communication channel from the local device to the online server comprises a public switched telephone connection.

7. The method of providing a sponsor access to click-through data related to an advertisement of claim 4, wherein the communication channel from the local device to the online server comprises a digital subscriber line.

8. The method of providing a sponsor access to click-through data related to advertisement of claim 4, wherein the communication channel from the local device to the online server includes a wireless communications link.

9. The method of providing a sponsor access to click-through data related to an advertisement of claim 4, wherein the data set includes information related to the user comprises at least one of the user'"'"'s:

name, street address, city, state, education level, income level, gender, age, and marriage status.

10. The method of providing a sponsor access to click-through data related to an advertisement of claim 4, wherein the online server storing the data set in a format that is accessible by the sponsor comprises the online server electronically storing the data set in a data store, wherein the sponsor has access-privileges to the data store.

11. The method of providing a sponsor access to click-through data related to an advertisement of claim 4, wherein the online server storing the data set in a format that is accessible by the sponsor comprises the online server causing a printer to print the information on a print-out and thereafter providing the print-out to the sponsor.

12. A method of assembling data related to a user'"'"'s interaction with an advertisements, the user accessing an online service via a local device and a client application, the local device including an input device and an output device, the method comprising:

the user providing the client application with data descriptive of the user, wherein the data includes the user'"'"'s name, address, occupation, marriage status, age, gender, state, country, zip code, income, education level, hobbies, family size, sports interest, and musical interests;

the client application locally storing the user-descriptive data in a first data set;

the client application causing an advertisement to be displayed on the output device;

the user using the input device to perform a click-through on the advertisement;

the client application creating and locally storing a click-through record, the click-through record including the time the user performed the click-through, the date the user performed the click through, geographic location data of the local device, an advertisement identifier code associated with the advertisement, the user-descriptive data, and a sponsor identifier code associated with the sponsor;

the client application transmitting the click-through record to an online server associated with the online service via a communication channel linking the local device to the online server.

13. The method of assembling data related of claim 12, wherein the advertisement is displayed in a client window displayed by the client application.

14. The method of assembling data related of claim 12, further comprising the online service provider provides the sponsor with the information contained within the click-through record.

15. The method of assembling data related of claim 13, wherein the online service provider provides the sponsor with the information contained within the click-through record via an electronic medium.

16. The method of assembling data related of claim 12, additionally comprising the client application establishing the communication channel from the local device to the online server via a public switched telephone network.

17. The method of assembling data related of claim 12, wherein the communication channel linking the local device to the online server comprise a wireless connection.