Communications system and method for serving electronic content

• US 8,965,787 B2
• Filed: 06/18/2008
• Issued: 02/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bonev
• Original Assignee: Smooth Productions Inc.
• Inventors: Bonev, Robert, Palahnuk, Samuel Louis
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Brannon W
• Application Number:
  US12/141,106
• Publication Number:
  US 20090157658A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,442 Days
• Field of Search: 707/999.006, 707/705, 707/769, 705/14.27, 705/14.49
• US Class Current: 705/14.49
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/4393 Multimedia presentations, e.g. slide shows, multimedia albums
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0252 based on events or environment, e.g. weather or festivals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/963 Calendar or scheduling

Abstract

A method and system for serving electronic content for placement in a user interface provided by an online service provider system is described. The system stores user data in a user database based on user interaction with the user interface and stores filters associated with the electronic content. The user data is compared to the filters associated with the electronic content and it is determined if the user data matches conditions of the filters. If a match is determined the electronic content is provided for presentation by the user interface.

Claims

1. A method of serving configurable electronic advertising content targeting a user of an online service provider system for presentation in a user interface provided in association with the online service provider system, the system including one or more user databases and one or more processing devices, the method comprising:

storing user data in at least one of the one more user databases based on a particular user'"'"'s interaction with the user interface, the user data including data associated with a user calendar and a future event stored in association with the user calendar of the particular user;

accessing, by at least one of the one more processing devices, the configurable electronic advertising content including electronic advertisements stored in at least one advertising database, each electronic advertisement having at least four associated configurable filters each configured with a condition by at least one of an online service provider, system partner, or advertiser to target the electronic advertisement to a user, the four configurable filters including a first filter configured to target demographic or other data identifying who a user associated with an event is, a second filter configured to target data associated with the user calendar and the future event indicative of what the user associated with the event is going to do at the event, a third filter configured to target where a location of the event associated with the user is, and a fourth filter configured to target when the event associated with the user is going to occur;

comparing, by at least one of the one more processing devices, data of the future event associated with the particular user to each of the four configurable filters of one or more the electronic advertisements;

determining, by at least one of the one more processing devices, that a condition of each of the four configurable filters of at least one electronic advertisement matches data of the future event associated with the particular user; and

serving the at least one electronic advertisement determined to match data of the future event associated with the particular user as advertising content for presentation by the user interface.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the configurable filter condition configured to target who the user of the event is includes a condition indicating a type of relationship of the user to another person.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the configurable filter condition configured to target where the location of the event of the user is includes a condition indicating one of a type of location or an address associated with the event.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the configurable filter condition configured to target what the user is going to do at the event includes a condition indicating one or more of a user activity, a type of user event, a category of product or service, a brand, a product or service name, and a stock keeping unit.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the configurable filter condition configured to target when the event of the user is going to occur includes a condition indicating a predetermined period of time before or a date relative to a time the event is scheduled to occur.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein determining that the condition of each of the configurable filters matches data of the future event includes determining that the condition of a configurable filter that is left unspecified is determined to match the future event.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein serving the at least one electronic advertisement includes providing a graphical advertisement (Glad) for presentation by the user interface.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the Glad for presentation includes information indicating one of an incentive, a coupon, a value, a price, a discount, an offer, and a rebate associated with a product or a service.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising monitoring indications of an interaction of a user with the Glad and storing data about the interaction.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the four configurable filters includes digital data configurable from a range of conditions from general to specific that is selected by the online service provider, the system partner, or the advertiser to tailor targeting of the advertisement to a particular user associated with an event.

11. A system to serve configurable electronic content targeting a user of an online service provider system for presentation in a user interface provided in association with the online service provider system, the system comprising:

a database configured to store user data based on a particular user'"'"'s interaction with the user interface, the user data including data associated with a user calendar and a future event stored in association with the user calendar of the particular user; and

one or more processing devices configured to;

access the configurable electronic advertising content including electronic advertisements stored in at least one advertising database, each electronic advertisement having at least four associated configurable filters each configured by at least one of an online service provider, system partner, or advertiser to target the electronic advertisement to a user, the four configurable filters including a first filter configured to target demographic or other data identifying who a user associated with an event is, a second filter configured to target data associated with the user calendar and the future event indicative of what the user associated with the event is going to do at the event, a third filter configured to target where a location of the event associated with the user is, and a fourth filter configured to target when the event associated with the user is going to occur;

compare data of the future event associated with the particular user to the four configurable filters of one or more the electronic advertisements;

determine that a condition of each of the four configurable filters of at least one electronic advertisement matches data of the future event associated with the particular user; and

serve the at least one electronic advertisement determined to match data of the future event associated with the particular user as advertising content for presentation by the user interface.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the configurable filter condition configured to target who the user of the event is includes a condition indicating a type of relationship of the user to another person.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein the configurable filter condition configured to target where the location of the event of the user is includes a condition indicating one of a type of location or an address associated with the event.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein the configurable filter condition configured to target what the user is going to do at the event includes a condition indicating one or more of a user activity, a type of user event, a category of product or service, a brand, a product or service name, and a stock keeping unit.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein the configurable filter condition configured to target when the event of the user is going to occur includes a condition indicating a predetermined period of time before or a date relative to a time the event is scheduled to occur.

16. The system of claim 11 wherein the one or more processing devices configured to determine that a condition of each of the configurable filters matches data of the future event is further configured to determine that the condition of a configurable filter that is left unspecified is determined to match the future event.

17. The system of claim 11 wherein the at least one advertisement is a graphical advertisement (Glad) configured for presentation by the user interface.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the Glad is configured to present information indicating one of an incentive, a coupon, a value, a price, a discount, an offer, and a rebate associated with a product or a service.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein at least one of the one or more processing devices is configured to monitor indications of an interaction of a user with the Glad and store data about the interaction in a database.

20. The system of claim 11 wherein each of the four configurable filters includes digital data configurable from a range of conditions from general to specific that is selected by the online service provider, the system partner, or the advertiser to tailor targeting of the advertisement to a particular user associated with an event.

21. A method of serving electronic advertising content for presentation in association with a user interface, the method comprising:

storing user data associated with a plurality of users in a user database based on interaction of a user with a user interface;

accessing, by one or more processing devices, electronic advertising content stored in at least one advertising database including a plurality of electronic advertisements, each of the plurality of electronic advertisements configurable to target a user, the plurality of configurable electronic advertisements including at least four associated configurable filters each configured with a condition by at least one of an online service provider, system partner, or advertiser to target the advertisement to a particular user, the four configurable filters including a first filter configured to target demographic or other information identifying who the particular user is, a second filter configured to target data indicative of what the particular user is doing, a third filter configured to target where what is being done by the particular user is; and

a fourth filter configured to target when what is being done by the particular user is supposed to occur;

comparing, by at least one of the one or more processing devices, the user data associated with the plurality of users to each of the four configurable filters of the plurality of electronic advertisements;

determining, by at least one of the one or more processing devices, that the user data associated with at least one of the plurality of users matches a condition of each of the four configurable filters of at least one of the plurality of electronic advertisements; and

serving the at least one electronic advertisement for presentation by the user interface associated with the at least one of the plurality of users based on the determination.

22. The method of claim 21 further comprising setting a condition of each of the four filters to configure the at least one of the plurality of electronic advertisements to target a particular user by receiving input from one of the online service provider, the system partner, or the advertiser indicating selection from one of a plurality of predetermined different conditions provided for each of the filters.

23. The method of claim 21 wherein determining that the user data associated with at least one of the plurality of users matches each of the four configurable filters includes determining that the user data associated with at least one of the plurality of users matches a configurable filter of the electronic advertisement when a condition of the configurable filter is left unspecified.

24. The method of claim 21 further comprising providing an interface operative to provide configuration of one or more of the four configurable filters from a range of general to specific conditions selectable by the online service provider, the system partner, or the advertise to tailor targeting of an electronic advertisement to a particular user.

25. A system to serve electronic advertising content for presentation in association with a user interface, the system comprising:

a database configured to store user data associated with a plurality of users in a user database based on interaction of a user with a user interface; and

one or more processing devices configured to;

access electronic advertising content stored in at least one advertising database including a plurality of electronic advertisements, each of the plurality of electronic advertisements configurable to target a user, the plurality of configurable electronic advertisements having at least four associated configurable filters each configured with a condition by at least one of an online service provider, system partner, or advertiser to target the advertisement to a particular user, the four configurable filters including a first filter configured to target demographic or other data identifying who the particular user is, a second filter configured to target data indicative of what the particular user is doing, a third filter configured to target where what is being done by the particular user is; and

a filter configured to target when what is being done by the particular user is supposed to occur;

compare the user data associated with the plurality of users to each of the four configurable filters of the plurality of electronic advertisements;

determine that the user data associated with at least one of the plurality of users matches a condition of each of the four configurable filters of at least one of the plurality of electronic advertisements; and

serve the at least one electronic advertisement for presentation by the user interface associated with the at least one of the plurality of users based on the determination.

26. The system of claim 25 wherein at least one of the one or more processing devices is further configured to set condition of each of the four filters to configure at least one electronic advertisement to target a user in response to an input received from the online service provider, the system partner, or the advertiser indicating a selection from one of a plurality of predetermined different conditions provided for each of the filters.

27. The system of claim 25 wherein at least one of the one or more processing devices configured to determine that the user data associated with at least one of the plurality of users matches each of the four configurable filters is further configured to determine that the user data associated with at least one of the plurality of users matches a configurable filter of the electronic advertisement when a condition of the configurable filter is left unspecified.

28. The system of claim 25 wherein at least one of the one or more processing devices is further configured to provide an interface operative to provide configuration of one or more of the four configurable filters from a range of general to specific conditions selectable by the online service provider, the system partner, or the advertise to tailor targeting of an electronic advertisement to a particular user.