Method of reactive targeted advertising

• US 8,769,440 B2
• Filed: 01/22/2010
• Issued: 07/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: B.E. Technology, L.L.C.
• Original Assignee: B.E. Technology, L.L.C.
• Inventors: Hoyle, Martin David
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Kevin
• Application Number:
  US12/692,290
• Publication Number:
  US 20100114705A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,621 Days
• Field of Search: 715700-715, 715762-765, 715740-749, 715851- 85, 715/854, 715/839, 709/209, 709/210
• US Class Current: 715/854
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 Software deployment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/00 Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units program control for peripheral devices G06F13/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/30 Arrangements for executing machine instructions, e.g. instruction decode for executing microinstructions G06F9/22
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0254 based on statistics
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute

Abstract

In one inventive aspect, a method of reactive targeted advertising provides for display of advertising, via the internet, to computers of users. In a particular example, a plurality of keywords are stored in a memory. The method comprises determining whether one or more of those keywords are used in a web page, and for any keywords determined to be used, an advertisement is selected using those keywords. The advertisement is for display on the computer of the user who is accessing the web page. A request is received for the selected advertisement, and the advertisement is provided, from an advertising server and over the internet, for display on the computer of the user.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

permitting a computer user to access one or more servers via a network;

transferring a copy of software to a computer associated with the computer user, the software being configured to run on the computer to display advertising content and record computer usage information associated with utilization of the computer, wherein the computer usage information includes data regarding one or more programs run on the computer;

determining a unique identifier associated with the computer, wherein the identifier uniquely identifies information sent from the computer to the one or more servers;

selecting an advertisement to be displayed on the computer, the selection based at least on information associated with the unique identifier identifying the computer;

receiving a request for an advertisement from the computer; and

providing the selected advertisement for display on the computer in response to the request.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more servers include a plurality of libraries containing one or more files, wherein the libraries include a user library for the computer user, and wherein the method further includes the step of providing the user with access to the user library over the network.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more servers include a plurality of profiles, including a user profile for the computer user, and wherein the method further includes the step of providing the computer with access to the user profile over the network.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the user profile includes at least one link to one of the files in the user library.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the transferring step further comprises transferring software that, when run on the computer, displays graphical items representing user-selectable items, wherein each of the user-selectable items has an associated link to an information resource accessible to the computer over the network, such that selection by the user of one of the user-selectable items permits access to the information resource identified by the link associated with the selected user-selectable item.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining advertiser registration information;

(b) receiving advertising material associated with the advertiser;

(c) obtaining from the advertiser information used in combination with user demographic data to provide reactive targeting of the advertising material to one or more users over the network;

(d) sending the advertising material to the computer over the network for purposes of presentation to the user as informational data selected by a program module;

(e) providing information to the advertiser concerning the sent advertising material; and

(f) carrying out a financial transaction with the advertiser related to the sent advertising material.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein step (b) further comprises receiving from the advertiser one or more criteria used in selecting advertising material to be presented to the user.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein step (c) further comprises providing a keyword that is associated with the advertising material and is used to provide reactive targeting of the advertising material to one or more users.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the computer comprises a mobile device and wherein step (d) further comprises sending the advertising material wirelessly to the mobile device over the network.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving user demographic information at an advertising and data management (ADM) server(s), wherein the user demographic information is received from the computer using a digital network protocol;

(b) storing advertisements associated with advertisers on the ADM server(s);

(c) sending a number of the advertisements to the computer using a digital network protocol;

(d) receiving user input entered at the computer via a program module; and

(e) selecting one of the advertisements based on the user demographic information, the user input, or both.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein step (e) further comprises selecting the one or more advertisements using one or more program modules.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein steps (d) and (e) are carried out at a server remote from the computer and wherein step (c) further comprises sending the selected advertisement to the computer after step (e).

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer comprises a processing device, display, and a data storage device storing the at least a portion of the software as program modules including first and second program modules;

said first program module presenting, on said display upon execution by said processing device, a graphical user interface (GUI) having a number of regions on said display including a first region containing a number of user-selectable items and a second region comprising an information display region;

said second program module, upon execution by said processing device, being operable to obtain one or more display objects at said computer, said display object(s) being received at said computer via a wireless communication path using a digital network protocol;

wherein, said first program module is operable to access an information resource, the display object(s) being presented on the display in the information display region of the graphical user interface.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said first program module is operable to access the information resource in response to user selection of one of the user-selectable items.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein said data storage device is a non-volatile data storage device.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein said first program module is operable to access the information resource over the wireless communication path.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the computer comprises a mobile device.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said first and second program modules together comprise an application stored on said mobile device.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the data storage device includes an update program module containing programming used to update third party software stored on the data storage device.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein one of the program modules stored on said data storage device is operable upon execution to access electronic copies of printed materials via the network or from a non-volatile storage device located at the mobile device.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of receiving at least one digital file comprising third party software, music, a movie or an electronic copy of published printed material via the network and storing the digital file(s) in an electronic library.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising the step of carrying out a monetary transaction and permitting access to the digital file(s) based on the monetary transaction.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising the step of carrying out a monetary transaction and permitting storage of the digital file(s) in the electronic library based on the monetary transaction.

24. The method of claim 21, further comprising the step of distributing digital copies of the digital file(s) from the electronic library.

25. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of providing reactive targeting of advertising to the user in real time by selecting and presenting an advertisement based at least in part on user interaction with the computer.

26. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of presenting one or more display objects on the computer based at least in part of the user'"'"'s previous interaction with the computer.

27. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of presenting one or more display objects on the computer based at least in part on the user'"'"'s current interaction with the computer.

28. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of downloading scripting software to a user'"'"'s computer which collects information concerning web site visitations by the user.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising the step of selecting advertising based at least in part on the collected information.

30. The method of claim 28, whereby the scripting software is JavaScript.

31. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one step of the method includes downloading scripting software to a user'"'"'s computer.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the scripting software is JavaScript.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one step of the method includes downloading scripting software to a user'"'"'s computer which can aid in the targeting of advertising to the user.

34. The method of claim 33, whereby the scripting software is JavaScript.

35. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one step of the method includes downloading scripting software to a user'"'"'s computer which can aid in the acquiring of demographic information about the user not specifically provided by the user.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising the step of selecting advertising to be displayed to the user based in part on the acquired demographic information.

37. The method of claim 35, whereby the scripting software is JavaScript.