Auction for targeted content
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method of displaying advertisements to viewers via a display device in order to increase value received over time from advertisers for display of the advertisements, the method comprising:
- receiving, for each of multiple advertisements, instructions from an advertiser regarding display of an advertisement,wherein the instructions comprise a value to be received from the advertiser for each display of the advertisement,wherein the value to be received from the advertiser varies for the same advertisement based on a characteristic of at least one of the viewers, andwherein the value to be received from the advertiser further varies for the same advertisement based on a number of viewers;
ascertaining, at or just prior to the time of an advertisement display opportunity, a number of viewers in a vicinity of the display device and a distinctive characteristic of at least one of the viewers, wherein the distinctive characteristic is ascertained without requiring action by the at least one viewer;
selecting, at or just prior to the time of the advertisement display opportunity, one of the multiple advertisements to display, wherein the selection is made based on the received instructions and the ascertained distinctive characteristic of the at least one viewer;
displaying, via the display device, the selected advertisement to the number of viewers, including the at least one viewer;
recording an indication that the displayed advertisement was displayed to the number of viewers; and
receiving the value from the advertiser based on the recorded indication regarding the number of viewers and the ascertained distinctive characteristic of the at least one viewer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Displaying personalized content to content observers by content providers (e.g., advertisers) who disseminate content over a network is disclosed. In particular, enabling the display of targeted content to television viewers is disclosed. Identification of the content observer(s) observing a content display device at a particular time (and/or identification of the content display site) is made, and targeted content for display is selected based on a determination of content appropriate for display to those content observer(s) in accordance with a criterion based on the identity and/or a characteristic of the content observer(s) (and/or the content display site). The attention of each content observer can be sold to the content provider that places the highest value on that content observer'"'"'s attention. In particular, the value paid by content providers over time can be maximized.
190 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method of displaying advertisements to viewers via a display device in order to increase value received over time from advertisers for display of the advertisements, the method comprising:
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receiving, for each of multiple advertisements, instructions from an advertiser regarding display of an advertisement, wherein the instructions comprise a value to be received from the advertiser for each display of the advertisement, wherein the value to be received from the advertiser varies for the same advertisement based on a characteristic of at least one of the viewers, and wherein the value to be received from the advertiser further varies for the same advertisement based on a number of viewers; ascertaining, at or just prior to the time of an advertisement display opportunity, a number of viewers in a vicinity of the display device and a distinctive characteristic of at least one of the viewers, wherein the distinctive characteristic is ascertained without requiring action by the at least one viewer; selecting, at or just prior to the time of the advertisement display opportunity, one of the multiple advertisements to display, wherein the selection is made based on the received instructions and the ascertained distinctive characteristic of the at least one viewer; displaying, via the display device, the selected advertisement to the number of viewers, including the at least one viewer; recording an indication that the displayed advertisement was displayed to the number of viewers; and receiving the value from the advertiser based on the recorded indication regarding the number of viewers and the ascertained distinctive characteristic of the at least one viewer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for displaying advertisements to at least one viewer via a display device in order to increase value received over time from advertisers for display of the advertisements, the system comprising:
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means for receiving, for each of multiple advertisements, instructions from an advertiser regarding display of an advertisement, the instructions comprising; a value to be received from the advertiser for each display of the advertisement, wherein the value to be received varies for the same advertisement based on a characteristic of the at least one viewer, wherein the value to be received further varies for the same advertisement based on a number of viewers, a selected number of times that the advertisement is to be displayed to the viewer, and a last available date on which the advertisement may be displayed to the viewer; means for ascertaining, at or just prior to the time of an advertisement display opportunity, a number of viewers in a vicinity of the display device and a distinctive characteristic of at least one of the viewers, wherein the distinctive characteristic is ascertained without requiring action by the viewer; means for selecting, at or just prior to the time of the advertisement display opportunity, one of the multiple advertisements to display, wherein the selection is made based on the received instructions and the ascertained distinctive characteristic of the at least one viewer, and wherein an advertisement with a higher value to be received from an advertiser is selected before an advertisement with a lower value to be received from an advertiser, unless; the advertisement with the higher value has already been displayed the selected number of times, or the last available date of the advertisement with the lower value occurs before the last available date of the advertisement with the higher value, so that the value received over time from the advertisers is increased for a set of advertisement display opportunities even if the advertisement with the higher value is not selected for the advertisement display opportunity, wherein the set of advertisement display opportunities includes the advertisement display opportunity; means for displaying, via the display device, the selected advertisement to the at least one viewer; means for recording an indication that the displayed advertisement was displayed to the at least one viewer; and means for receiving the value from the advertiser based on the recorded indication that the advertisement was displayed, the ascertained distinctive characteristic of the viewer, and the ascertained number of viewers. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A computer-readable medium encoded with processing instructions for implementing a method, performed by a computer, for displaying content to content observers via a display device in order to increase value received over time from content providers for display of the content, the method comprising:
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receiving, for each of multiple sets of content, instructions from a content provider regarding display of a set of content, the instructions comprising; a value to be received from the content provider for each display of the set of content, wherein the value to be received varies for the same set of content based on a characteristic of at least one of the content observers, and wherein the value to be received further varies for the same set of content based on a number of content observers, a selected number of times that the set of content is to be displayed to a content observer, and a last available date on which the set of content may be displayed to the content observer; ascertaining, at or just prior to the time of a content display opportunity, a number of content observers in a vicinity of the display device and a distinctive characteristic of at least one of the content observers, wherein the distinctive characteristic is ascertained without requiring action by the at least one content observer; selecting, at or just prior to the time of the content display opportunity, one of the multiple sets of content to display, wherein the selection is made based on the received instructions and the ascertained distinctive characteristic of the at least one content observer, and wherein a set of content with a higher value to be received from a content provider is selected before a set of content with a lower value to be received from a content provider, unless; the set of content with the higher value has already been displayed the selected number of times, or the last available date of the set of content with the lower value occurs before the last available date of the set of content with the higher value, so that the value received over time from the content providers is increased for a set of content display opportunities even if the set of content with the higher value is not selected for the content display opportunity, wherein the set of content display opportunities includes the content display opportunity; displaying, via the display device, the selected set of content to the number of content observers, including the at least one content observer; recording an indication that the displayed set of content was displayed to the number of content observers; and receiving the value from the content provider based on the recorded indication regarding the number of content observers and the ascertained distinctive characteristic of the at least one content observer. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification