Scheduling the presentation of messages to users
First Claim
1. An advertising system for displaying advertisements to users in conjunction with a network, the advertising system comprisingplural client systems, each comprising a display a first processor a first memory coupled to the first processor a first communications interface for interfacing the client system with a network a first communications module comprising computer readable instructions for causing data to be transmitted and received via the communications interface a first computer program comprising computer readable instructions for causing the first processor to receive a plurality of advertisements through the first communications interface, wherein the advertisements are selected outside of the user'"'"'s control store the advertisements in the first memory receive priority information for the advertisements, the priority information comprising relative priorities for display of the advertisements store the priority information in the first memory set a sequential order for displaying the advertisements according to the priority information store the order for displaying the advertisements in the first memory automatically display the advertisements in the stored order on the display a server system comprising a second processor a second memory coupled to the second processor a second communications interface for interfacing the server system with the network a second communications module comprising computer readable instructions for causing data to be transmitted and received via the second communications interface a second computer program comprising computer readable instructions for causing the second processor to receive contract information for the advertisements, wherein the contact information comprises demographic profile reach and frequency, duration and time of expiry store the contract information in the second memory receive demographic information about the users of the client systems store the demographic information in the second memory select advertisements for the client systems to display based upon matches between the contract information and the demographic information store the selections in the second memory using an expected advertisement consumption for each user, and a current advertisement load and time to expiry for each user, allocate the selected advertisements to users who are more likely to be exposed to the advertisements prior to the advertisements'"'"' respective time of expiry store the allocations in the second memory.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An advertisement display scheduler resident on a user'"'"'s computer receives advertisements from a server system over a network. Upon receipt, the advertisement display scheduler determines the priority of the advertisement and assigns it to one of a plurality of prioritized advertisement queues. Each queue is sorted according to predetermined scheduling criteria so that advertisements deemed “more important” are presented to a user first. The advertisement display scheduler logs statistical information relating to the presentation of advertisements for use in updating the scheduling criteria, and makes such statistical information available to the server system.
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Citations
74 Claims
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1. An advertising system for displaying advertisements to users in conjunction with a network, the advertising system comprising
plural client systems, each comprising a display a first processor a first memory coupled to the first processor a first communications interface for interfacing the client system with a network a first communications module comprising computer readable instructions for causing data to be transmitted and received via the communications interface a first computer program comprising computer readable instructions for causing the first processor to receive a plurality of advertisements through the first communications interface, wherein the advertisements are selected outside of the user'"'"'s control store the advertisements in the first memory receive priority information for the advertisements, the priority information comprising relative priorities for display of the advertisements store the priority information in the first memory set a sequential order for displaying the advertisements according to the priority information store the order for displaying the advertisements in the first memory automatically display the advertisements in the stored order on the display a server system comprising a second processor a second memory coupled to the second processor a second communications interface for interfacing the server system with the network a second communications module comprising computer readable instructions for causing data to be transmitted and received via the second communications interface a second computer program comprising computer readable instructions for causing the second processor to receive contract information for the advertisements, wherein the contact information comprises demographic profile reach and frequency, duration and time of expiry store the contract information in the second memory receive demographic information about the users of the client systems store the demographic information in the second memory select advertisements for the client systems to display based upon matches between the contract information and the demographic information store the selections in the second memory using an expected advertisement consumption for each user, and a current advertisement load and time to expiry for each user, allocate the selected advertisements to users who are more likely to be exposed to the advertisements prior to the advertisements'"'"' respective time of expiry store the allocations in the second memory.
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15. A client system for communicating with a network and displaying advertisements to a user of the client system, the network including servers storing advertisements, the client system comprising
a display a processor a memory coupled to the processor a communications interface for interfacing the client system with a network a communications module comprising computer readable instructions for causing data to be transmitted and received via the communications interface a computer program comprising computer readable instructions for causing the processor to receive a plurality of advertisements through the communications interface, wherein the advertisements are selected outside of the user'"'"'s control store the advertisements in the memory receive priority information for the advertisements, the priority information comprising relative priorities for display of the advertisements store the priority information in the memory set a sequential order for displaying the advertisements according to the priority information store the order for displaying the advertisements in the memory automatically display the advertisements in the stored order on the display.
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23. A server system for selecting advertisements for client systems to download and for providing advertisement display information to the client systems via a network, the server system comprising
a processor a memory coupled to the processor a communications interface for interfacing the server system with the network a communications module comprising computer readable instructions for causing data to be transmitted and received via the communications interface a computer program comprising computer readable instructions for causing the processor to receive contract information for a plurality of advertisements, wherein the contract information comprises demographic profile reach and frequency, duration and time of expiry store the contract information in the memory receive demographic information about a plurality of users of the client systems store the demographic information in the memory select advertisements for the client systems to display based upon matches between the contract information and the demographic information store the selections in the memory using an expected advertisement consumption for each user, and a current advertisement load and time to expiry for each user, allocate the selected advertisements to users who are more likely to be exposed to the advertisements prior to the advertisements'"'"' respective time of expiry store the allocations in the memory.
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30. A computer program for use in a client system, the client system for communicating with a network and displaying advertisements to a user of the client system, the network including servers storing advertisements, the client system comprising a display, a processor, and a memory coupled to the processor, the computer program comprising computer readable instructions for causing the processor to
receive a plurality of advertisements, wherein the advertisements are selected outside of the user'"'"'s control store the advertisements in the memory receive priority information for the advertisements, the priority information comp-sing relative priorities for display of the advertisements store the priority information in the memory set a sequential order for displaying the advertisements according to the priority information store the order for displaying the advertisements in the memory automatically display the advertisements in the stored order on the display.
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38. A computer program for use in a server system, the server system for selecting advertisements for client systems to download and for providing advertisement display information to the client systems via a network, the server system comprising a processor and a memory coupled to the processor;
- the computer program comprising computer readable instructions for causing the processor to
receive contract information for a plurality of advertisements, wherein the contract information comprises demographic profile reach and frequency, duration and time of expiry store the contract information in the memory receive demographic information about a plurality of users of the client systems store the demographic information in the memory select advertisements for the client systems to display based upon matches between the contract information and the demographic information store the selections in the memory using an expected advertisement consumption for each user, and a current advertisement load and time to expiry for each user, allocate the selected advertisements to users who are more likely to be exposed to the advertisements prior to the advertisements'"'"' respective time of expiry store the allocations in the memory. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
- the computer program comprising computer readable instructions for causing the processor to
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45. A client system for communicating with a network and displaying advertisements to a user of the client system, the network including servers storing advertisements, the client system comprising
a display a processor a memory coupled to the processor a communications interface for interfacing the client system with a network a communications module comprising computer readable instructions for causing data to be transmitted and received via the communications interface means for receiving a plurality of advertisements through the communications interface, wherein the advertisements are selected outside of the user'"'"'s control means for storing the advertisements in the memory means for receiving priority information for the advertisements, the priority information comprising relative priorities for display of the advertisements means for storing the priority information in the memory means for setting a sequential order for displaying the advertisements according to the priority information means for storing the order for displaying the advertisements in the memory means for automatically displaying the advertisements in the stored order on the display.
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53. A server system for selecting advertisements for client systems to download and for providing advertisement display information to the client systems via a network, the server system comprising
a processor a memory coupled to the processor a communications interface for interfacing the server system with the network a communications module comprising computer readable instructions for causing data to be transmitted and received via the communications interface means for receiving contract information for a plurality of advertisements, wherein the contract information comprises demographic profile reach and frequency, duration and time of expiry means for storing the contract information in the memory means for receiving demographic information about a plurality of users of the client systems means for storing the demographic information in the memory means for selecting advertisements for the client systems to display based upon matches between the contract information and the demographic information means for storing the selections in the memory means for using an expected advertisement consumption for each user, and a current advertisement load and time to expiry for each user, to allocate the selected advertisements to users who are more likely to be exposed to the advertisements prior to the advertisements'"'"' respective time of expiry means for storing the allocations in the memory.
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60. A method of operating a client system to communicate with a network and display advertisements to a user of the client system, the network including servers storing advertisements, the client system comprising a display, a processor, and a memory coupled to the processor, the method comprising
receiving a plurality of advertisements, wherein the advertisements are selected outside of the user'"'"'s control storing the advertisements in the memory receiving priority information for the advertisements, the priority information comprising relative priorities for display of the advertisements storing the priority information in the memory setting a sequential order for displaying the advertisements according to the priority information storing the order for displaying the advertisements in the memory automatically displaying the advertisements in the stored order on the display.
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68. A method of operating a server system to select advertisements for client systems to download and provide advertisement display information to the client systems via a network, the server system comprising a processor and a memory coupled to the processor;
- the method comprising
receiving contract information for a plurality of advertisements, wherein the contract information comprises demographic profile reach and frequency, duration and time of expiry storing the contract information in the memory receiving demographic information about a plurality of uses of the client systems storing the demographic information in the memory selecting advertisements for the client systems to display based upon matches between the contract information and the demographic information storing the selections in the memory using an expected advertisement consumption for each user, and a current advertisement load and time to expiry for each user, allocating the selected advertisements to users who are more likely to be exposed to the advertisements prior to the advertisements'"'"' respective time of expiry storing the allocations in the memory. - View Dependent Claims (69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74)
- the method comprising
Specification