Targeted sidebar advertising
First Claim
1. A sidebar displayed on a display associated with a computing device, comprising:
- an advertising module visibly displayed in the sidebar, the sidebar being browser-independent, the advertising module being populated with an advertisement automatically selected from a plurality of possible advertisements, said automatic selection triggers loading the advertisement based in part on user information maintained by a content provider in connection with a user and based in part on an advertising module type selected from a plurality of different types, an advertising module display state selected from a plurality of different display states comprising a closed state, a full open state and a preferred open state, and dimensional size information of the advertising module within which the selected advertisement is automatically displayed, the user information comprising user specific information related to user interactions with one or more plural services of the content provider, said user specific information comprising user preference information obtained by the content provider from the user based upon an explicit user preference indication made by the user, said explicit user preference indication related to a multi-media preference corresponding to interactions with a multi-media service provided by the content provider; and
computer code implemented by a processor, the computer code being operable to execute an operation that retrieves the advertisement from a service provider location on a network, wherein the advertising module is periodically updated based upon current advertisement content in accordance with said user information and the type, display state and dimensional size information of the advertising module.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for providing an advertisement in a sidebar, and/or in a slidesheet associated with an application module displayed in the sidebar. The advertisement is targeted to the sidebar user based upon user specific information maintained by a content provider. The user specific information can comprise, sidebar application information, user preference information, shared user information and other information associated with the user that can be used to select an advertisement targeted to the user. An advertisement displayed in a slidesheet can be selected based upon user information and/or the functionality provided by the application module associated with the slidesheet.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A sidebar displayed on a display associated with a computing device, comprising:
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an advertising module visibly displayed in the sidebar, the sidebar being browser-independent, the advertising module being populated with an advertisement automatically selected from a plurality of possible advertisements, said automatic selection triggers loading the advertisement based in part on user information maintained by a content provider in connection with a user and based in part on an advertising module type selected from a plurality of different types, an advertising module display state selected from a plurality of different display states comprising a closed state, a full open state and a preferred open state, and dimensional size information of the advertising module within which the selected advertisement is automatically displayed, the user information comprising user specific information related to user interactions with one or more plural services of the content provider, said user specific information comprising user preference information obtained by the content provider from the user based upon an explicit user preference indication made by the user, said explicit user preference indication related to a multi-media preference corresponding to interactions with a multi-media service provided by the content provider; and computer code implemented by a processor, the computer code being operable to execute an operation that retrieves the advertisement from a service provider location on a network, wherein the advertising module is periodically updated based upon current advertisement content in accordance with said user information and the type, display state and dimensional size information of the advertising module. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 30, 36)
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22. A sidebar displayed on a display associated with a computing device, comprising:
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an application module, implemented by a processor, visibly displayed in the sidebar through which a user can access functions associated with the application module, the sidebar being browser-independent, the application module being selected from a plurality of possible application modules, the sidebar visibly displaying the application module based upon sidebar application information maintained by a content provider; and a slidesheet associated with the application module, the slidesheet visibly displaying an advertisement and automatically selected from a plurality of advertisements, said automatic selection triggers loading the advertisement based in part on the functions associated with the application module and dimensional size information of the application module within which the selected advertisement is automatically displayed, wherein the application module is periodically updated based upon current advertisement content in accordance with user specific information and an application module type selected from a plurality of different types, said user specific information comprising user preference information obtained by the content provider from the user based upon an explicit user preference indication made by the user, said explicit user preference indication related to a multi-media preference corresponding to interactions with a multi-media service provided by the content provider, an application module display state selected from a plurality of display states comprising a closed state, a full open state and a preferred open state, and dimensional size information of the application module. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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25. A method comprising:
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automatically selecting an advertisement to be displayed in an advertising module of a browser-independent sidebar provided by a content provider from a plurality of possible advertisements, the content provider offering plural services to a user, said automatic selection triggers loading the advertisement based in part on user information and based in part on an advertising module type selected from a plurality of different types, an advertising display state selected from a plurality of display states comprising a closed state, a full open state and a preferred open state, and dimensional size information of the advertising module within which the selected advertisement is automatically displayed, maintained by the content provider in connection with the user, the user information comprising user specific information related to user interactions with one or more of the plural services of the content provider, said user specific information comprising user preference information obtained by the content provider from the user based upon a user preference indication made by the user, said user preference indication related to a multi-media preference corresponding to interactions with a multi-media service provided by the content provider; and communicating the advertisement to the advertising module, wherein the advertising module is periodically updated based upon current advertisement content in accordance with said user information and the type, display state and dimensional size information of the advertising module. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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31. A method comprising:
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automatically selecting an advertisement to be displayed in a slidesheet associated with an application module through which a user can access functions associated with the application module, the application module being displayed in a browser-independent sidebar, the sidebar provided by a content provider, the content provider offering plural services to the user, said automatic selection being from a plurality of possible advertisements triggers loading the advertisement based in part on the functions accessed through the application module and dimensional size information of the application module maintained by the content provider, within which the selected advertisement is automatically displayed; and communicating the advertisement to the sidebar, wherein the application module is periodically updated based upon current advertisement content in accordance with user specific information and an application module type selected from a plurality of different types, said user specific information comprising user preference information obtained by the content provider from the user based upon an explicit user preference indication made by the user, said explicit user preference indication related to a multi-media preference corresponding to interactions with a multi-media service provided by the content provider, an application module display state selected from a plurality of display states comprising a closed state, a full open state and a preferred open state, and dimensional size information of the application module. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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33. A system comprising:
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a content provider computer, having a selection application stored thereon, the selection application automatically selecting an advertisement to be displayed in an advertising module of a browser-independent sidebar from a plurality of possible advertisements, said automatic selection triggers loading the advertisement based in part on user information and based in part on an advertising module type selected from a plurality of different types, an advertising module display state selected from a plurality of display states comprising a closed state, a full open state and a preferred open state, and dimensional size information of the advertising module within which the selected advertisement is automatically displayed, maintained by the content provider in connection with a user, the user information comprising user specific information related to user interactions with one or more plural services of the content provider, said user specific information comprising user preference information obtained by the content provider from the user based upon an explicit user preference indication made by the user, said explicit user preference indication related to a multi-media preference corresponding to interactions with a multi-media service provided by the content provider; and a communication module for communicating said selected advertisement to a user, wherein the advertising module is periodically updated based upon current advertisement content in accordance with said user information and the type, display state and dimensional size information of the advertising module.
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34. A system comprising:
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a content provider computer, having a browser-independent selection application stored thereon, the selection application automatically selecting an advertisement to be displayed in a slidesheet associated with an application module through which a user can access functions associated with the application module, said automatic selection being from a plurality of possible advertisements triggers loading the advertisement based in part on the functions accessed through the application module and dimensional size information of the application module within which the selected advertisement is automatically displayed; and a communication module for communicating said selected advertisement to a user, wherein the application module is periodically updated based upon current advertisement content in accordance with user specific information and an application module type selected from a plurality of different types, said user specific information comprising user preference information obtained by the content provider from the user based upon an explicit user preference indication made by the user, said explicit user preference indication related to a multi-media preference corresponding to interactions with a multi-media service provided by the content provider, an application module display state selected from a plurality of display states comprising a closed state, a full open state and a preferred open state, and dimensional size information of the application module. - View Dependent Claims (35)
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Specification