Controlling user experience

• US 8,682,722 B1
• Filed: 01/30/2006
• Issued: 03/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yahoo AD Tech LLC
• Original Assignee: Advertisingcom LLC (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Des Jardins, G. Thomas, Slavin, Bryan, Westling, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Weiss, John G
• Assistant Examiner(s): Macasiano, Marilyn G
• Application Number:
  US11/341,873
• Time in Patent Office: 2,976 Days
• Field of Search: 707/101, 707/104.1, 725/34, 725/87, 725/146, 455/3.01, 365/200, 846/09, 705/14.49, 705/7.11
• US Class Current: 705/14.49
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2408 Monitoring of the upstream path of the transmission network, e.g. client requests monitoring data switching networks utilization H04L43/0876; scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/251 Learning process for intelligent management, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies details of learning user preferences for the retrieval of video data in a video database G06F16/739; computer systems using learning methods G06N3/08
• 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 21/458 Scheduling content for creating a personalised stream, e.g. by combining a locally stored advertisement with an incoming stream; Updating operations, e.g. for OS modules ; time-related management operations arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast or during the distribution H04H20/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4825 using a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlists
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02

Abstract

A client-side advertising application may work with an advertising back-end and a content downloading system to perform one or more of the following functions: download advertising content, manage the downloaded advertising content, define the user experience, facilitate the dynamic insertion of the downloaded advertising content into or around downloaded programming content, and ensure auditing messages are sent to an auditing server.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

at least one processing device located at a client device; and

at least one storage device located at the client device and storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processing device, cause the processing device to implement;

an interface component configured to present an interface that allows a user to select a piece of editorial content for download;

an experience manager configured to request selection of a set of advertising content pieces for the piece of selected editorial content from an ad selector, receive an indication of a selected set of advertising content pieces from the ad selector, and associate the selected set of advertising content pieces with the piece of selected editorial content; and

a download manager configured to request and receive from a first server the selected piece of editorial content when the user selects the piece of editorial content for download and, based on the association of the selected set of advertising content pieces with the selected piece of editorial content, to request and receive from a second server the set of advertising content pieces,

wherein the experience manager is further configured to;

obtain a set of rules from a back-end advertising system, wherein the set of rules include campaign business rules for the set of advertising content pieces;

select, when a network connection from the client device to the ad selector is unavailable, at least one piece of advertising content from the set of downloaded advertising content pieces based on the campaign business rules when the user selects the downloaded piece of editorial content for presentation; and

provide a playlist to the user interface component when the user selects the downloaded piece of editorial content for presentation, the playlist including the downloaded piece of editorial content and the selected at least one piece of advertising content, wherein the user interface component is configured to use the playlist to sequentially present the downloaded piece of editorial content and the selected at least one piece of advertising content.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the set of rules further include user experience business rules and the experience manager is configured to select the at least one piece of advertising content based on both the campaign business rules and the user experience business rules.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the experience manager is further configured to select the at least one piece of advertising content from the set of advertising content pieces based on the obtained campaign business rules and the obtained user experience business rules when a network connection from the client device to an ad selector is unavailable.

4. The system of claim 2 wherein, to obtain the campaign business rules and the user experience business rules, the experience manager is configured to communicate with an ad selector to receive the campaign business rules and the user experience business rules.

5. The system of claim 2 wherein the campaign business rules indicate one or more of the following:

one or more content categories of editorial content, timing of when the advertising content pieces should be presented, percentage of users to whom the advertising content pieces should be presented, frequency with which the advertising content pieces should be presented, number of times the advertising content pieces should be presented in a period of time, or geographic locations.

6. The system of claim 2 wherein the user experience business rules indicate one or more of the following:

one or more ratios of advertising content pieces presented to editorial content presented, one or more types of advertising content pieces that should be presented, and one or more orders in which advertising content pieces and editorial content should be presented.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein, to select the at least one piece of advertising content from the set of downloaded advertising content pieces, the experience manager is configured to communicate with an ad selector to obtain an indication of the at least one piece of advertising content.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein, to associate the selected set of advertising content pieces with the piece of editorial content, the experience manager is configured to insert an identifier of the set of advertising content pieces into a content list that includes an identifier for the piece of editorial content.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the user interface component is configured to send an auditing message to the experience manager when the user interface component presents the at least one piece of advertising content while a network connection to an ad auditor is unavailable.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the experience manager is configured to send the auditing message to the ad auditor when a network connection to the ad auditor is available.

11. A method comprising:

executing instructions on one or more processing devices such that the one or more processing devices perform the following;

presenting an interface that allows a user to select a piece of editorial content for download;

requesting selection of a set of advertising content pieces for the selected piece of editorial content from an ad selector;

receiving an indication of a selected set of advertising content pieces from the ad selector;

associating the selected set of advertising content pieces with the selected piece of editorial content;

requesting and receiving from a first server the selected piece of editorial content when the user selects the piece of editorial content for download;

requesting and receiving, based on the association of the selected set of advertising content pieces with the selected piece of editorial content, the associated set of advertising content pieces;

obtaining a set of rules from a back-end advertising system, wherein the set of rules include campaign business rules for the set of advertising content pieces;

selecting, when a network connection to the ad selector is unavailable, at least one piece of advertising content from the set of downloaded advertising content pieces based on the campaign business rules when the user selects the downloaded piece of editorial content for presentation;

providing a playlist to the interface when the user selects the downloaded piece of editorial content for presentation, the playlist including the downloaded piece of editorial content and the selected at least one piece of advertising content; and

sequentially presenting the downloaded piece of editorial content and the selected at least one piece of advertising content using the playlist.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the set of rules further include user experience business rules, and selecting the at least one piece of advertising content comprises selecting the at least one piece of advertising content based on both the campaign business rules and the user experience business rules.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein selecting the at least one piece of advertising content further comprises selecting the at least one piece of advertising content from the set of advertising content pieces based on the obtained campaign business rules and the obtained user experience business rules when a network connection to an ad selector is unavailable.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein obtaining the campaign business rules and the user experience business rules comprises communicating with an ad selector to receive the campaign business rules and the user experience business rules.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein selecting the at least one piece of advertising content comprises communicating with an ad selector to obtain an indication of the at least one piece of advertising content.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein associating the selected set of advertising content pieces with the piece of editorial content comprises inserting an identifier of the set of advertising content pieces into a content list that includes an identifier for the piece of editorial content.

17. The method of claim 11 further comprising storing an auditing message when the at least one piece of advertising content is presented while a network connection to an ad auditor is unavailable.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising sending the auditing message to the ad auditor when a network connection to the ad auditor is available.

19. The method of claim 11 wherein selecting the at least one piece of advertising content from the set of downloaded advertising content pieces comprises selecting the at least one piece of advertising content from the set of downloaded advertising content pieces based on the obtained campaign business rules when a network connection from the client device to an ad selector is unavailable.

20. A system comprising:

at least one processing device located at a client device; and

at least one storage device located at the client device and storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processing device, cause the processing device to implement;

an interface component configured to present an interface that allows a user to select a piece of editorial content for download;

an experience manager configured to request selection of a set of advertising content pieces for the selected piece of editorial content from an ad selector, receive an indication of a selected set of advertising content pieces from the ad selector, and associate the selected set of advertising content pieces with the selected piece of editorial content; and

a download manager configured to request and receive from a first server the selected piece of editorial content when the user selects the piece of editorial content for download and, based on the association of the selected set of advertising content pieces with the selected piece of editorial content, to request and receive from a second server the set of advertising content pieces,

wherein the experience manager is further configured to;

obtain a set of campaign business rules for the set of advertising content pieces and a set of user experience business rules from a back-end advertising system;

select, when a network connection from the client device to an ad selector is unavailable, at least one piece of advertising content from the set of downloaded advertising content pieces based on the set of campaign business rules and the set of user experience business rules when the user selects the downloaded piece of editorial content for presentation; and

provide a playlist to the user interface component when the user selects the downloaded piece of editorial content for presentation, the playlist including the downloaded piece of editorial content and the selected at least one piece of advertising content, wherein the user interface component is configured to use the playlist to sequentially present the downloaded piece of editorial content and the selected at least one piece of advertising content,

wherein the campaign business rules indicate one or more of the following;

one or more content categories of editorial content, timing of when the advertising content pieces should be presented, percentage of users to whom the advertising content pieces should be presented, frequency with which the advertising content pieces should be presented, number of times the advertising content pieces should be presented in a period of time, or geographic locations, and

wherein the user experience business rules indicate one or more of the following;

one or more ratios of advertising content pieces presented to editorial content presented, one or more types of advertising content pieces that should be presented, and one or more orders in which advertising content pieces and editorial content should be presented.

21. A system comprising:

at least one server configured to send a piece of editorial content, a set of advertising content pieces, and a set of campaign business rules for the set of advertising content pieces to a client device, such that the client device implements;

an interface component configured to present an interface that allows a user to select the piece of editorial content for download;

an experience manager configured to request selection of the set of advertising content pieces for the selected piece of editorial content from the server, receive an indication of a selected set of advertising content pieces from the server, and associate the selected set of advertising content pieces with the selected piece of editorial content; and

a download manager configured to request and receive from the server the selected piece of editorial content when the user selects the piece of editorial content for download and, based on the association of the selected set of advertising content pieces with the selected piece of editorial content, to request and receive from a second server the set of advertising content pieces, wherein the experience manager is further configured to;

obtain the set of campaign business rules for the set of advertising content;

select, when a network connection from the client device to the server is unavailable, at least one piece of advertising content from the set of downloaded advertising content pieces based on the campaign business rules and the user experience business rules when the user selects the downloaded piece of editorial content for presentation; and

provide a playlist to the user interface component when the user selects the downloaded piece of editorial content for presentation, the playlist including the downloaded piece of editorial content and the selected at least one piece of advertising content, wherein the user interface component is configured to use the playlist to sequentially present the downloaded piece of editorial content and the selected at least one piece of advertising content.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein the server is further configured to send a set user experience business rules and the experience manager is configured to select the at least one piece of advertising content based on both the campaign business rules and the user experience business rules.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein the experience manager is further configured to select the at least one piece of advertising content from the set of downloaded advertising content pieces based on the obtained campaign business rules and the obtained user experience business rules when a network connection from the client device to an ad selector is unavailable.

24. The system of claim 22 wherein, to obtain the campaign business rules and the user experience business rules, the experience manager is configured to communicate with an ad selector to receive the campaign business rules and the user experience business rules.

25. The system of claim 22 wherein the campaign business rules indicate one or more of the following, including:

one or more content categories of editorial content, timing of when the advertising content pieces should be presented, percentage of users to whom the advertising content pieces should be presented, frequency with which the advertising content pieces should be presented, number of times the advertising content pieces should be presented in a period of time, or geographic locations.

26. The system of claim 22 wherein the user experience business rules indicate one or more of the following, including:

one or more ratios of advertising content pieces presented to editorial content presented, one or more types of advertising content pieces that should be presented, and one or more orders in which advertising content pieces and editorial content should be presented.

27. The system of claim 21 wherein, to select the at least one piece of advertising content from the set of downloaded advertising content pieces, the experience manager is configured to communicate with an ad selector, when a network connection is available, to obtain an indication of the at least one piece of advertising content.

28. The system of claim 27 wherein the experience manager is configured to send the auditing message to the ad auditor when a network connection to the ad auditor is available.

29. The system of claim 21 wherein, to associate the selected set of advertising content pieces with the piece of editorial content, the experience manager is configured to insert an identifier of the set of advertising content pieces into a content list that includes an identifier for the piece of editorial content.

30. The system of claim 21 wherein the user interface component is configured to send an auditing message to the experience manager when the user interface component presents the at least one piece of advertising content while a network connection to an ad auditor is unavailable.

31. A method comprising:

configuring a server to send a piece of editorial content, a set of advertising content pieces, and a set of campaign business rules for the set of advertising content pieces to a client device, such that the client device implements;

an interface component configured to present an interface that allows a user to select the piece of editorial content for download;

an experience manager configured to request selection of the set of advertising content pieces for the selected piece of editorial content from the server, receive an indication of a selected set of advertising content pieces from the server, and associate the selected set of advertising content pieces with the selected piece of editorial content; and

a download manager configured to request and receive from the server the selected piece of editorial content when the user selects the piece of editorial content for download and, based on the association of the selected set of advertising content pieces with the selected piece of editorial content, to request and receive from a second server the set of advertising content pieces,

wherein the experience manager is further configured to;

obtain the set of campaign business rules for the set of advertising content;

select, when a network connection from the client device to the server is unavailable, at least one piece of advertising content from the set of downloaded advertising content pieces based on the campaign business rules and the user experience business rules when the user selects the downloaded piece of editorial content for presentation; and

provide a playlist to the user interface component when the user selects the downloaded piece of editorial content for presentation, the playlist including the downloaded piece of editorial content and the selected at least one piece of advertising content, wherein the user interface component is configured to use the playlist to sequentially present the downloaded piece of editorial content and the selected at least one piece of advertising content.