Display of user selected advertising content in a digital environment

• US 9,129,301 B2
• Filed: 06/13/2006
• Issued: 09/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: van Datta, Glen, Poulin, Marty
• Primary Examiner(s): Corbo, Nicholas
• Assistant Examiner(s): Huerta, Alexander Q
• Application Number:
  US11/452,848
• Publication Number:
  US 20070079326A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,374 Days
• Field of Search: 725/23, 725/34, 725/35, 725 37- 61, 705 1449- 1453
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/46 Computing the game score
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/50 Controlling the output signals based on the game progress
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/5258 by dynamically adapting the position of the virtual camera to keep a game object or game character in its viewing frustum, e.g. for tracking a character or a ball
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/61 using advertising information
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/803 Driving vehicles or craft, e.g. cars, airplanes, ships, robots or tanks
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/535 for monitoring, e.g. of user parameters, terminal parameters, application parameters, network parameters
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5506 using advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/61 Score computation
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8017 Driving on land or water; Flying
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0244 Optimization
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0246 Traffic
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0257 User requested
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0276 Advertisement creation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25841 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; arrangements for identifying locations of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/51; location of the user terminal in data switching networks H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44012 involving rendering scenes according to scene graphs, e.g. MPEG-4 scene graphs
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 : involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47205 : for manipulating displayed content, e.g. interacting with MPEG-4 objects, editing locally
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4781 : Games
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47815 : Electronic shopping payment schemes, payment architectures or payment protocols for electronic shopping systems G06Q20/12
• 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 21/6125 : involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 : involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8453 : by locking or enabling a set of features, e.g. optional functionalities in an executable program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8583 : by creating hot-spots
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/173 : with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal

Abstract

A system and method for placing an advertisement in a digital environment based upon a user'"'"'s choice, subject to certain predetermined parameters, is disclosed. Through the method, a user is assigned a rating based upon, for example, his performance in a game. A list of advertisements which correspond to that rating is displayed to the user, who may then select a desired advertisement from the list. The selected advertisement is then displayed in the digital environment. Reports may be generated based upon the advertisements selected and the number of selections and/or impressions (e.g., uses or viewings) by the user, which may be sent to advertisers.

Claims

1. A method for displaying an advertisement in a digital environment based on a selection by a user, the method comprising:

maintaining information regarding a plurality of advertisements in memory, wherein each advertisement is associated with a shopping portal and a minimum user rating level specified by an associated advertiser as being allowed to access the advertisement;

maintaining information regarding a plurality of user ratings in memory, wherein each user rating is ordered from highest to lowest;

maintaining a list of advertisements available to the user in memory, the user having a first user rating, wherein the maintained list of advertisements available to the user includes;

advertisements associated with the first user rating, and

advertisements associated with the user ratings lower than the first user rating,

wherein the lower ratings are associated with lower advertising costs;

executing instructions stored in a computer-readable storage medium, wherein execution of the instructions by a processor;

determines that the user has earned a second user rating that is higher than the first user rating, wherein the second user rating is based on at least performance of a task by the user in the digital environment; and

updates the maintained list of advertisements available to the user in memory, wherein the updated list of advertisements available to the user includes;

advertisements associated with the second user rating, and

advertisements associated with user ratings lower than the second user rating, wherein the lower ratings are associated with lower advertising costs, and wherein the advertisements associated with the user ratings lower than the second user rating include the advertisements associated with the first user rating;

displaying at a client device the updated list of advertisements available to the user, wherein;

the advertisements are displayed as respective advertisement identifiers in the updated list, wherein each advertisement identifier includes a link to the shopping portal for the respective advertisement,

each advertisement and the corresponding advertisement identifier are associated with a respective user rating of the plurality of user ratings,

the advertisement identifiers are arranged in the display based on the associated user ratings,

the advertisement identifiers are displayed in a group list associated with the respective user rating, and

placement as a first advertisement identifier in a group list is associated with a higher advertising cost within the respective group list;

receiving selection input from the user, the selection input corresponding to a selection of one of the advertisements on the updated list; and

displaying the selected advertisement in the digital environment at the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a second input from the user indicating a location in the digital environment where the selected advertisement is to be displayed, and wherein displaying the advertisement further comprises displaying the advertisement in the indicated location.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the performance of the task by the user includes achieving one or more objectives of the task in a gaming environment.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising adding the selected advertisement to a list of advertisements that have been displayed in the digital environment.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the list of displayed advertisements includes an indication of a number of times each advertisement is selected by the user for display in the digital environment, the list being reported to an advertiser.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the list of displayed advertisements includes an indication of a number of times each advertisement is displayed in the digital environment, the list being reported to an advertiser.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a default advertisement when the user has no user rating or has made no selection of advertisements.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein generating a list of displayed advertisements includes indicating which of the displayed advertisements were selected by default.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the selected advertisement includes designating the selected advertisement for interaction in the digital environment.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital environment is a video game.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing additional information about a product or service associated with a selected advertisement in another communications medium.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying an advertisement preview window, wherein the advertisement preview window provides a preview of an advertisement of the updated list of advertisements available to the user, the preview showing the advertisement in the context of the digital environment.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

displaying an environment window, wherein the environment window provides a plurality of advertising assets onto which an advertisement may be placed in the digital environment; and

wherein the received selection input is a drag-and-drop, the drag-and-drop corresponding to a selection of the advertisement from the advertisement preview window and a placement of the selected advertisement onto one of the plurality of advertising assets from the environment window.

14. A system for displaying an advertisement in a digital environment based on a selection by a user, the system comprising:

an advertisement source including advertising content maintained in a computer-readable storage medium;

a memory configured to maintain;

information regarding a plurality of user ratings in memory, wherein each user rating is ordered from highest to lowest,

information regarding a plurality of advertisements in memory, wherein each advertisement is associated with a shopping portal and a minimum user rating level specified by an associated advertiser as being allowed to access the advertisement, and

a list of advertisements available to the user from the maintained advertising content, the user having a first user rating, wherein the maintained list of advertisements available to the user includes;

advertisements associated with the first user rating, and

advertisements associated with user ratings lower than the first user rating, wherein the lower ratings are associated with lower advertising costs; and

a computing device configured to;

determine that the user has earned a second user rating that is higher than the first user rather, wherein the second user rating is based on at least performance of a task by the user in the digital environment;

update the maintained list of advertisements available to the user in memory, wherein the updated list of advertisements available to the user includes;

advertisements associated with the second user rating, and

advertisements associated with user ratings lower than the second user rating, wherein the lower ratings are associated with lower advertising costs, and wherein the advertisements associated with the user ratings lower than the second user rating include the advertisements associated with the first user rating;

display at a client device the updated list of advertisements from the advertisement source available to the user, wherein;

the advertisements are displayed as respective advertisement identifiers in the updated list, wherein each advertisement identifier includes a link to the shopping portal for the respective advertisement,

each advertisement and the corresponding advertisement identifier are associated with a respective user rating of the plurality of user ratings,

the advertisement identifiers are arranged in the display based on the associated user ratings,

the advertisement identifiers are displayed in a group list associated with the respective user rating, and

placement as a first advertisement identifier in a group list is associated with a higher advertising cost within the respective group list;

receive a selection signal from the user indicating which advertisement from the updated list of advertisements to display; and

render the advertisement in the digital environment.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the list of advertisements displayed to the user is further linked to an additional information source, the additional information source associated with the advertisement.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the digital environment is a video game.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the computing device is further configured to:

receive a second input from the user indicating a location in the digital environment where the selected advertisement is to be displayed; and

render the selected advertisement in the indicated location.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the computing device is further configured to add the selected advertisement to a list of advertisements that have been displayed in the digital environment.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the list of displayed advertisements is reported to an advertiser.

20. The system of claim 14, wherein the computing device is further configured to display a default advertisement when the user has no user rating or no selection signal is received corresponding to selection of advertising content.

21. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions executable by machine, the instructions corresponding to a method for displaying an advertisement in a digital environment based on a selection by a user, the method comprising:

maintaining information regarding a plurality of advertisements in memory, wherein each advertisement is associated with a shopping portal and a minimum user rating level specified by an associated advertiser as being allowed to access the advertisement;

maintaining information regarding a plurality of user ratings in memory, wherein each user rating is ordered from highest to lowest;

maintaining a list of advertisements available to the user, the user having a first user rating, wherein the maintained list of advertisements available to the user includes;

advertisements associated with the first user rating, and

advertisements associated with user ratings lower than the first user rating,

wherein the lower ratings are associated with lower advertising costs;

determining that the user has earned a second user rating that is higher than the first user rating, wherein the second user rating is based on at least performance of a task by the user in the digital environment;

updating the maintained list of advertisements available to the user in memory, wherein the updated list of advertisements available to the user includes;

advertisements associated with the second user rating, and

advertisements associated with user ratings lower than the second user rating, wherein the lower ratings are associated with lower advertising costs, and wherein the advertisements associated with the user rating lower than the second user rating include the advertisements associated with the first user rating;

displaying at a client device the updated list of advertisements available to the user, wherein;

the advertisements are displayed as respective advertisement identifiers in the updated list, wherein each advertisement identifier includes a link to the shopping portal for the respective advertisement,

each advertisement and the corresponding advertisement identifier are associated with a respective user rating of the plurality of user ratings,

the advertisement identifiers are arranged in the display based on the associated user ratings,

the advertisement identifiers are displayed in a group list associated with the respective user rating, and

placement as a first advertisement identifier in a group list is associated with a higher advertising cost within the respective group list;

receiving selection input from the user, the selection input corresponding to a selection of one of the advertisements on the updated list; and

displaying the selected advertisement in the digital environment at the client device.