Engagement-based compensation for interactive advertisement

• US 8,190,474 B2
• Filed: 09/11/2008
• Issued: 05/29/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Say Media, Inc. (theMaven, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lerman, David Ross, Young, Troy William, Sanchez, Matthew Allen
• Primary Examiner(s): Weiss, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): VANDERHORST, MARIA VICTORIA
• Application Number:
  US12/209,062
• Publication Number:
  US 20090012867A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,356 Days
• Field of Search: 715/822
• US Class Current: 705/14.41
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0248 Avoiding fraud
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0272 Period of advertisement exposure
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement

Abstract

Systems and methods for dynamically sizing, structuring and operating advertisements that include a variety of content, including interaction prompts and other elements, which enable an engagement-based revenue generation model. According to one embodiment, a computer implemented method comprises storing advertising content, serving an XML file from an advertising server to an advertisement manager in order to control a player on a user computer, dynamically generating the advertisement through the player based on directions from the advertisement manager and the stored content, and tracking and reporting a user'"'"'s engagement with the advertisement in order to determine compensation for the publisher.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for compensating a publisher for engagement by a user with an advertisement associated with an advertiser and displayed on a computer, comprising the steps of:

determining whether the user has performed an action with the computer that indicates the user has interacted with the advertisement, the advertisement including an engagement warning displayed on the computer in response to the action, wherein the engagement warning informs the user that a further interaction with the advertisement will cause an additional advertisement asset to be displayed on the computer, wherein the additional advertisement asset is displayed after an expiration of the engagement warning;

measuring a degree of engagement based on the action, wherein the degree of engagement includes at least displaying the additional advertisement asset after the expiration of the engagement warning, and closing the engagement warning if the user stops interacting with the advertisement before expiration of the engagement warning; and

compensating the publisher based on the degree of engagement.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the action includes a movement by the user of a cursor controlled by the computer over a portion of the advertisement.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the degree of engagement includes allowing a countdown to expire before the user moves the cursor from over the portion.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the degree of engagement includes allowing the advertisement to expand from an invitation advertisement to a full advertisement.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the degree of engagement includes the user clicking through the advertisement to access a website associated with the advertiser.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the degree of engagement includes a period of time during which the user has continued to interact with the advertisement.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertisement includes a share tool, wherein the degree of engagement includes using the share tool to enable the user to share the advertisement with a third party.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the degree of engagement includes the user clicking through the advertisement to access a website associated with the advertiser.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the degree of engagement includes the user selecting a next advertisement tool to view a different advertisement by the same advertiser.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the degree of engagement includes one or more activities associated with the action and an amount of time spent by the user for each activity among the one or more activities.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the degree of engagement includes allowing a countdown to expire before the user moves the cursor from over the portion.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the degree of engagement includes allowing the advertisement to expand from an invitation advertisement to a full advertisement.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of aggregating the action and the degree of engagement of the user with a plurality of actions and degrees of engagement by a plurality of other users, and wherein the step of compensating includes compensating the publisher based on a proportion of the action and the degree of engagement by the user among the plurality of actions and degrees of engagement by the plurality of other users.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of detecting a fraudulent use of the advertisement by the user, and wherein the step of compensating includes reducing the degree of engagement by the fraudulent use.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of compensating includes the step of determining a level of compensation for the publisher based on an amount the advertiser agreed to pay after an auction with a plurality of other advertisers.

16. The method of claim 15, where the amount is based on the action.

17. The method of claim 15, where the amount is based on the degree of engagement.

18. The method of claim 15, where the amount is based on a number of actions performed by the user with the advertisement.

19. A computer-implemented method for compensating a publisher for engagement by a user with an advertisement associated with an advertiser and displayed on a computer, comprising the steps of:

determining whether the user has performed one or more activities with the computer that indicates the user has interacted with the advertisement, the advertisement including an engagement warning displayed on the computer in response to the one or more activities, wherein the engagement warning informs the user that a further interaction with the advertisement will cause an additional advertisement asset to be displayed on the computer, wherein the additional advertisement asset is displayed after an expiration of the engagement warning;

measuring a degree of engagement based on the one or more activities and an amount of time spent by the user on each activity among the one or more activities, wherein the degree of engagement includes at least displaying the additional advertisement asset after the expiration of the engagement warning, and closing the engagement warning if the user stops interacting with the advertisement before expiration of the engagement warning; and

compensating the publisher based on the degree of engagement.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the one or more activities include a movement by the user of a cursor controlled by the computer over a portion of the advertisement.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the degree of engagement includes allowing a countdown to expire before the user moves the cursor from over the portion.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the degree of engagement includes allowing the advertisement to expand from an invitation advertisement to a full advertisement.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein the degree of engagement includes the user using the cursor to select a website associated with the advertiser.

24. The method of claim 19, wherein the advertisement includes a share tool, wherein the degree of engagement includes using the share tool to enable the user to share the advertisement with a third party.

25. The method of claim 19, wherein the degree of engagement includes the user using a cursor controlled by the computer to click through the advertisement to access a website associated with the advertiser.

26. The method of claim 19, wherein the degree of engagement includes the user selecting a next advertisement tool to view a different advertisement by the same advertiser.

27. The method of claim 19, wherein the degree of engagement includes allowing a countdown to expire before the user moves a cursor controlled by the computer from over the portion.

28. The method of claim 19, wherein the degree of engagement includes allowing the advertisement to expand from an invitation advertisement to a full advertisement.

29. The method of claim 19, further comprising the step of aggregating the one or more activities, the amount of time spent, and the degree of engagement of the user with a plurality of one or more activities, amounts of time spent, and degrees of engagement by a plurality of other users, and wherein the step of compensating includes compensating the publisher based on a proportion of the one or more activities, the amount of time spent, and the degree of engagement by the user among the plurality of one or more activities, amounts of time spent, and degrees of engagement by a plurality of other users.

30. The method of claim 19, further comprising the step of detecting a fraudulent use of the advertisement by the user, and wherein the step of compensating includes reducing the degree of engagement by the fraudulent use.

31. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of compensating includes the step of determining a level of compensation for the publisher based on an amount the advertiser agreed to pay after an auction with a plurality of other advertisers.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the amount is based on the one or more activities.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the amount is based on the amount of time.

34. The method of claim 31, wherein the amount is based on the degree of engagement.

35. The method of claim 31, wherein the amount is based on a number of one or more activities performed by the user with the advertisement.