Virtual billboard display on a mobile device

• US 9,064,019 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2007
• Issued: 06/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Maghoul, Farzin
• Primary Examiner(s): Iqbal, Khawar
• Application Number:
  US11/951,823
• Publication Number:
  US 20090149199A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,756 Days
• Field of Search: 455/414.1, 4554561-4563, 4554561-4566, 707/10, 707/100, 707/200, 707/2, 707/3, 707/202
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0212 Chance discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A method, system, and apparatus are directed to providing advertising information to a mobile device over a network. A request is received from the mobile device. The request may comprise a query, geo-location information, and/or a user preference. If the request comprises the query, a search result is generated based on a search for the received query and/or the received geo-location information. At least one virtual billboard is determined, wherein the at least one virtual billboard is in proximity with a first geo-location identified by the received geo-location information and/or a second geo-location associated with the search result. The virtual billboard may also be based on a type of the virtual billboard, a time, a user preference (criterion), and/or a keyword included in the query. The virtual billboard is provided to the mobile device. An advertising usage is recorded for the provided virtual billboard.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a computing device, a request from a mobile device over a network;

determining, via the computing device, whether the request includes one or more of a search query and geo-location information;

when it is determined that the request includes the search query and excludes the geo-location information;

generating a search result based on the search query;

parsing the search results to determine a first geo-location; and

determining the at least one virtual billboard in proximity with the first geo-location derived from the search result; and

communicating the at least one virtual billboard to the mobile device; and

when it is determined that the request includes the geo-location information identifying a second geo-location and excludes the search query;

determining at least one further virtual billboard in proximity with the second geo-location identified by the geo-location information; and

communicating the at least one further virtual billboard to the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the geo-location information comprises global positioning system data.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when it is determined that the request includes the geo-location information identifying the second geo-location and includes the search query;

generating a further search result based on the query and the received geo-location information identifying the second geo-location;

parsing the further search results to determine a third geo-location;

determining one or more virtual billboards in proximity with one or more of the second geo-location or the third geo-location; and

providing the one or more virtual billboards to the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

recording an advertising usage for the provided at least one virtual billboard.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving traffic information for the first geo-location;

generating a price for the at least one virtual billboard based on the received traffic information;

providing the at least one virtual billboard for purchase based on the price;

and

receiving a purchase of a right to associate an advertisement with the at least one virtual billboard, before providing the at least one virtual billboard to the mobile device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising

ordering the at least one virtual billboard based on a proximity between each location of each of the at least one virtual billboard and the geo-location information.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting the at least one virtual billboard based on a preference of a user associated with the mobile device.

8. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor;

a non-transitory storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the program logic comprising;

receiving logic executed by the processor for receiving a request from a mobile device over a network;

determining logic executed by the processor for determining whether the request includes one or more of a search query and geo-location information;

when it is determined that the request includes the search query and excludes the geo-location information;

generating logic executed by the processor for generating a search result based on the search query;

parsing logic executed by the processor for parsing the search results to determine a first geo-location;

further determining logic executed by the processor for determining the at least one virtual billboard in proximity with the first geo-location derived from the search result; and

communication logic executed by the processor for communicating the at least one virtual billboard to the mobile device; and

when it is determined that the request includes the geo-location information identifying a second geo-location and excludes the search query;

determining logic executed by the processor for determining at least one further virtual billboard in proximity with the second geo-location identified by the geo-location information; and

communication logic executed by the processor for communicating the at least one further virtual billboard to the mobile device.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the geo-location information comprises a geolocation point based on a global positioning system data, or a geo-location area based on the global positioning system data.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the program logic further comprises:

providing an auction for the at least one virtual billboard before providing the at least one virtual billboard.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the program logic further comprises:

further determining logic executed by the processor for determining a price for the advertising usage, wherein the price is based on a plurality of global positioning system data associated with a plurality of mobile devices in proximity with another geo-location associated with the at least one virtual billboard, or based on an amount of historical query results associated with the other geo-location; and

receiving a payment for the advertising usage based on the price.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the program logic further comprises:

selecting logic executed by the processor for selecting, before providing, the at least one virtual billboard from a plurality of virtual billboards based on a user preference criterion, wherein the plurality of virtual billboards is determined by the received request.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the program logic further comprising:

when it is determined that the request includes the geo-location information identifying a second geo-location and excludes the search query;

further determining logic executed by the processor for determining the at least one further virtual billboard in proximity with the second geo-location identified by the geo-location information; and

further providing logic executed by the processor for providing the at least one further virtual billboard to the mobile device.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the program logic further comprising:

when it is determined that the request includes the geo-location information identifying a second geo-location and includes the search query;

another generating logic executed by the processor for generating a further search result based on the query and the received geo-location information identifying the second geo-location;

another parsing logic executed by the processor for parsing the further search result to determine a third geo-location;

another determining logic executed by the processor for determining one or more virtual billboards in proximity with one or more of the second geo-location or the third geo-location; and

another providing logic executed by the processor for providing the one or more virtual billboards to the mobile device.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium tangibly storing computer program instructions capable of being executed by a computer processor, the computer program instructions defining code for:

receiving a request from a mobile device over a network;

determinign whether the request includes one or more of a search query and geo-location information;

when it is determined that the request includes the search query and excludes the geo-location information;

generating a search result based on the search query;

parsing the search results to determine a first geo-location; and

determining the at least one virtual billboard in proximity with the first geo-location derived from the search result; and

communicating the at least one virtual billboard to the mobile device;

when it is determined that the request includes the geo-location information identifying a second geo-location and excludes the search query;

determining the at least one further virtual billboard in proximity with the second geo-location identified by the geo-location information; and

communicating the at least one further virtual billboard to the mobile device; and

when it is determined that the request includes the geo-location information identifying a second geo-location and includes the search query;

generating a further search result based on the query and the received geo-location information identifying the second geo-location;

parsing the further search results to determine a third geo-location;

determining one or more virtual billboards in proximity with one or more of the second geo-location or the third geo-location; and

communicating the one or more virtual billboards to the mobile device.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the computer program instructions further defining code for:

filtering the at least one virtual billboard, the at least one further virtual billboard or the one or more virtual billboards based on at least one of a user preference, a type of the at least one virtual billboard, a time, or a keyword included in the query.

17. A system comprising:

a processor;

a non-transitory storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the program logic comprising;

receiving logic executed by the processor for receiving a request from a mobile device over a network;

determining logic executed by the processor for determining whether the request includes one or more of a search query and geo-location information;

when it is determined that the request includes the search query and excludes the geo-location information;

generating logic executed by the processor for generating a search result based on the search query;

parsing logic executed by the processor for parsing the search results to determine a first geo-location; and

determining logic executed by the processor for determining the at least one virtual billboard in proximity with the first geo-location derived from the search result; and

communicating logic executed by the processor for communicating the at least one virtual billboard to the mobile device;

when it is determined that the request includes the geo-location information identifying a second geo-location and excludes the search query;

determining logic executed by the processor for determining the at least one further virtual billboard in proximity with the second geo-location identified by the geo-location information; and

communicating logic executed by the processor for communicating the at least one further virtual billboard to the mobile device; and

when it is determined that the request includes the geo-location information identifying a second geo-location and includes the search query;

generating logic executed by the processor for generating a further search result based on the query and the received geo-location information identifying the second geo-location;

parsing logic executed by the processor for parsing the further search results to determine a third geo-location;

determining logic executed by the processor for determining one or more virtual billboards in proximity with one or more of the second geo-location or the third geo-location; and

communicating logic executed by the processor for communicating the one or more virtual billboards to the mobile device.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising:

filtering logic executed by the processor for filtering the at least one virtual billboard, the at least one further virtual billboard or the one or more virtual billboards based on at least one of a user preference, a type of the at least one virtual billboard, a time, or a keyword included in the query.