Method and apparatus for switching targeted advertisements at a set top terminal
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system for targeting advertising to at least one subscriber comprising:
- a processor having means for selecting an advertisement from pre-selected advertising categories, wherein the selecting means selects a plurality of advertisements, and wherein the processor is a network controller;
means for gathering information corresponding to currently watched television programs;
means for correlating the currently watched programs information with categories of the pre-selected advertisements, wherein each advertisement category includes at least one advertisement; and
a transmitter, wherein a selected advertisement selected by selecting means is transmitted, and wherein the transmitter transmits the selected advertisements on a single channel; and
a display, operably connected to a set top terminal, on which the transmitted advertisement is displayed via a single channel, wherein the set top terminal switches channels based on which advertisement is selected, the selected advertisement corresponding to the correlated currently watched programs information and categories of the pre-selected advertisements.
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Abstract
A system and method for switching targeted advertisements is described. In one embodiment one primary advertisement is assigned to a first channel, where the first channel carries a program. At least one alternate advertisement is assigned to one or more alternate channels. Selected set top terminals switch to one or more of the alternate channels to display alternate advertisements, where the selection of the alternate channel is based on information related to users of the set top terminals.
68 Citations
45 Claims
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1. A system for targeting advertising to at least one subscriber comprising:
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a processor having means for selecting an advertisement from pre-selected advertising categories, wherein the selecting means selects a plurality of advertisements, and wherein the processor is a network controller; means for gathering information corresponding to currently watched television programs; means for correlating the currently watched programs information with categories of the pre-selected advertisements, wherein each advertisement category includes at least one advertisement; and a transmitter, wherein a selected advertisement selected by selecting means is transmitted, and wherein the transmitter transmits the selected advertisements on a single channel; and a display, operably connected to a set top terminal, on which the transmitted advertisement is displayed via a single channel, wherein the set top terminal switches channels based on which advertisement is selected, the selected advertisement corresponding to the correlated currently watched programs information and categories of the pre-selected advertisements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for targeting advertising, comprising:
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selecting an advertisement from pre-selected advertising categories, wherein a plurality of advertisements are selected; gathering information corresponding to currently watched television programming; correlating the currently watched programming information with categories of the pre-selected advertisements, wherein each advertisement category includes at least one advertisement; and transmitting a selected advertisement; and displaying, using a terminal device, the transmitted advertisement, wherein the terminal device switches datastreams based on which advertisement is selected, the selected advertisement corresponding to the correlated currently watched programming information and categories of the pre-selected advertisements. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. One or more machine-readable media including machine-executable instructions, that, when executed, cause a device to perform a method for targeting advertising comprising:
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selecting an advertisement from pre-selected advertising categories, wherein a plurality of advertisements are selected; gathering information corresponding to currently watched television programming; correlating the currently watched programming information with categories of the pre-selected advertisements, wherein each advertisement category includes at least one advertisement; and transmitting a selected advertisement; and displaying, using a terminal device, the transmitted advertisement, wherein the terminal device switches datastreams based on which advertisement is selected, the selected advertisement corresponding to the correlated currently watched programming information and categories of the pre-selected advertisements. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for targeting advertising comprising:
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a network controller processor, configured to perform the following; select a plurality of advertisements from pre-selected advertising categories; gather information corresponding to currently watched television programming; and correlate the currently watched programming information with categories of the pre-selected advertisements, wherein each advertisement category includes at least one advertisement; a transmitter configured to transmit a selected advertisement; and a terminal device, configured to cause the display of the transmitted advertisement, wherein the terminal device is configured to switch datastreams based on which advertisement is selected, the selected advertisement corresponding to the correlated currently watched programming information and categories of the pre-selected advertisements. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for targeting advertising, comprising:
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gathering, by a computing device, information corresponding to currently watched programming; correlating the currently watched programming information with a plurality of advertising categories each associated with one or more advertisements of a plurality of advertisements; selecting an advertisement from the plurality of advertisements based on the correlated currently watched programming information; and transmitting the selected advertisement. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. One or more non-transitory machine-readable media including machine-executable instructions that, when executed, cause an apparatus to:
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gather information corresponding to currently watched programming; correlate the currently watched programming information with a plurality of advertising categories each associated with one or more advertisements of a plurality of advertisements; select an advertisement from the plurality of advertisements based on the correlated currently watched programming information; and transmit the selected advertisement. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A system for targeting advertising comprising:
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a processor configured to; gather information corresponding to currently watched programming, correlate the currently watched programming information with a plurality of advertisement categories each associated with one or more advertisements of a plurality of advertisements, and select an advertisement from the plurality of advertisements based on the correlated currently watched programming information; and a transmitter configured to transmit the selected advertisement. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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Specification