Method and system for the storage, viewing management, and delivery of targeted advertising

• US 8,046,787 B2
• Filed: 05/29/2003
• Issued: 10/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: OpenTV, Inc. (Kudelski SA)
• Original Assignee: OpenTV, Inc. (Kudelski SA)
• Inventors: Cerrato, Dean E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Beliveau, Scott
• Assistant Examiner(s): LUONG, ALAN H
• Application Number:
  US10/448,157
• Publication Number:
  US 20040025174A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,071 Days
• Field of Search: 725 32- 36, 725/14, 725/44, 725/45, 725/46, 725/61, 725/97, 725/105, 705/10, 705/14, 705/14.4, 705/14.25, 705/14.7
• US Class Current: 725/9
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25883 being end-user demographical data, e.g. age, family status or address arrangements for identifying locations of users in broadcast systems H04H60/52
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44016 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4542 Blocking scenes or portions of the received content, e.g. censoring scenes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4667 Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17309 Transmission or handling of upstream communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A method for managing television advertisements. The method includes determining if a subscriber has reached a minimum level of advertisement viewing and curtailing the service level of the subscriber if the subscriber does not maintain the minimum level of advertisement viewing.

Claims

1. A method for managing television advertisements, the method comprising:

tracking a minimum level of advertisement viewing at a client machine, the minimum level of advertisement viewing associated with a service level related to a number of channels available to a subscriber;

providing a plurality of television advertisements for collecting and storing at the client machine;

providing a user interface to allow a viewer to choose television advertisements from the plurality of television advertisements for viewing;

allowing the viewer to manage when the viewer views television advertisements chosen from the plurality of television advertisements;

crediting the subscriber each time one of the selected television advertisements is viewed using the client machine;

determining if the minimum level of advertisement viewing is maintained by the subscriber by using the credited television advertisements; and

curtailing the service level of the subscriber when the subscriber does not maintain the minimum level of advertisement viewing, wherein curtailing the service level includes reducing the number of channels available to the subscriber.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the client machine for collecting and storing the plurality of advertisements is a set-top box.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if a minimum level of advertisement viewing is maintained includes determining if advertisements are viewed at an acceptable frequency.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if a minimum level of advertisement viewing is maintained includes determining if advertisements are viewed in acceptable overall numbers.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if a minimum level of advertisement viewing is maintained includes determining if advertisements are viewed over an acceptable distribution of types of advertisements.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the minimum level of advertisement viewing depends on a service tier elected by the viewer.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising developing a profile of the viewer based on the advertisements selected by the viewer.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising targeting the television advertisements to the viewer based on a profile of the viewer and content of the television advertisements.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising rating the collected television advertisements for relevance based on the viewer'"'"'s profile.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising requiring interaction from the viewer when one of the television advertisements is viewed in order for the viewer to be credited for viewing one of the television advertisements.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the interaction includes accepting start and stop instructions from the viewer.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the interaction includes manually initiating the display of the advertisement.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein collecting a plurality of television advertisements includes collecting advertisements from one or more of a broadcast channel, an advertisement server, and a networked personal video recorder.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein curtailing the service level of the subscriber includes reducing the level of service of the subscriber until the subscriber reaches the minimum level of advertisement viewing.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein curtailing the service level of subscriber includes pushing advertisements to the viewer using the client machine.

20. The method if claim 1, further including determining if advertisements are viewed within an acceptable time-frame.

16. A method for managing television advertisements, the method comprising:

tracking a minimum level of advertisement viewing at a client machine, the minimum level of advertisement viewing associated with a service level being related to a number of channels available to a subscriber;

providing a plurality of television advertisements for collecting, storing and maintaining at the client machine;

providing a user interface to allow a viewer to choose television advertisements from the plurality of television advertisements for viewing;

allowing the viewer to manage when the viewer views television advertisements chosen from the plurality of television advertisements;

determining if the minimum level of advertisement viewing is maintained by the subscriber by using the tracking to monitor the viewing of the selected television advertisements is viewed using the client machine; and

negatively impacting the service level of the subscriber when the subscriber does not maintain the minimum level of advertisement viewing wherein negatively impacting the service level of the subscriber includes reducing the number of channels available to the subscriber.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein collecting, storing, and maintaining a plurality of television advertisements at the client machine, includes sorting the television advertisements for relevance based on the viewer'"'"'s profile.

18. A set-top box for an iTV, the set-top box comprising:

a memory for storing a program; and

a processor operative with the program to;

track a minimum level of advertisement viewing at a client machine, the minimum level of advertisement viewing associated with a service level gein-g related to a number of channels available to a subscriber;

collect for storing at the set-top box a plurality of television advertisements;

provide a user interface to allow a viewer to choose television advertisements from the plurality of television advertisements for viewing;

allow the viewer to manage when the viewer views television advertisements chosen from the plurality of television advertisements;

credit the subscriber each time one of the television advertisements is viewed using the client machine;

determine if the minimum level of advertisement viewing is maintained by the subscriber by using the credited television advertisements; and

curtail the service level of the subscriber when the subscriber does not maintain the minimum level of advertisement viewing wherein curtailing the service level of the subscriber includes reducing the number of channels available to the subscriber.

19. A method for managing television advertisements, the method comprising:

tracking a minimum level of advertisement viewing, the minimum level of advertisement viewing associated with a service level related to a number of channels available to a subscriber;

collecting and for locally storing at the client machine a plurality of television advertisements;

providing a user interface to allow a viewer to choose television advertisements from the plurality of television advertisements for viewing;

allowing the viewer to manage when the viewer views television advertisements chosen from the plurality of television advertisements;

crediting the subscriber each time one of the television advertisements is viewed using the client machine;

determining if the minimum level of advertisement viewing is maintained by the subscriber by using the credited television advertisements;

providing the subscriber with a discount for service if the subscriber maintains at least the minimum level of advertisement viewing; and

curtailing the service level of the subscriber when the subscriber does not maintain the minimum level of advertisement viewing, wherein curtailing the service level includes reducing the number of channels available to the subscriber.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable storage device having embedded therein a set of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of said computer causes said computer to execute the operations for managing television advertisements, the operations comprising:

using one or more computer processors and storage, tracking a minimum level of advertisement viewing, the minimum level of advertisement viewing associated with a service level related to a number of channels available to a subscriber;

providing a plurality of television advertisements for collecting and storing;

providing a user interface to allow a viewer to choose television advertisements from the plurality of television advertisements for viewing;

allowing the viewer to manage when the viewer views television advertisements chosen from the plurality of television advertisements;

crediting the subscriber each time the subscriber views one of the selected television advertisements;

determining if the minimum level of advertisement viewing is maintained by the subscriber by using the credited television advertisements; and

curtailing the service level of the subscriber when the subscriber does not maintain the minimum level of advertisement viewing, wherein curtailing the service level includes reducing the number of channels available to the subscriber.

22. A non-transitory computer-readable storage device having embedded therein a set of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of said computer causes said computer to execute a method for managing television advertisements, the method comprising:

using at least one computer processor and storage, tracking a minimum level of advertisement viewing, the minimum level of advertisement viewing associated with a service level related to a number of channels available to a subscriber;

providing a plurality of television advertisements for collecting, storing and maintaining;

providing a user interface to allow a viewer to choose television advertisements from the plurality of television advertisements for viewing;

providing signals for allowing the viewer to manage when the viewer views television advertisements chosen from the plurality of television advertisements;

determining if the minimum level of advertisement viewing is maintained by the subscriber by using the tracking to monitor the viewing of the selected television advertisements is viewed using the client machine;

negatively impacting the service level of the subscriber when the subscriber does not maintain the minimum level of advertisement viewing wherein negatively impacting the service level includes reducing the number of channels available to the subscriber.

23. A non-transitory computer-readable storage device having embedded therein a set of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of said computer causes said computer to execute a method for managing television advertisements, the method comprising:

tracking a minimum level of advertisement viewing, the minimum level of advertisement viewing associated with a service level being related to a number of channels available to a subscriber;

collecting and for locally storing at the client machine a plurality of television advertisements;

providing a user interface to allow a viewer to choose television advertisements from the plurality of television advertisements for viewing;

allowing the viewer to manage when the viewer views television advertisements chosen from the plurality of television advertisements;

crediting the subscriber each time one of the television advertisements is viewed using the client machine;

determining if the minimum level of advertisement viewing is maintained by the subscriber by using the credited television advertisements;

providing the subscriber with a discount for service if the subscriber maintains at least the minimum level of advertisement viewing; and

curtailing the service level of the subscriber when the subscriber does not maintain the minimum level of advertisement viewing, wherein curtailing the service level includes reducing the number of channels available to the subscriber.