Conditional audio content delivery method and system

• US 9,391,827 B1
• Filed: 11/19/2010
• Issued: 07/12/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Singh, Ujjwal, Singhal, Nikhyl, Vivekanandan, Janahan
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Zarni
• Application Number:
  US12/950,942
• Time in Patent Office: 2,062 Days
• Field of Search: 709217-219, 709/203, 709223-229, 709/246, 709231-232, 709/250
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A method of transmitting audio content over a communication network includes generating a predetermined audio content in a format capable of being transmitted to members in the publisher'"'"'s network; receiving a request for the predetermined audio content from the members interested in receiving the audio content; embedding advertisements into the predetermined audio content selected according to details describing each of the members and transmitting to each of the members the predetermined audio content embedded with the advertisements selected specifically for each member. Additionally, a communication method selectively transmits messages between a publisher and members of a publisher'"'"'s network. The communication method includes receiving a request from a member of the publisher'"'"'s network to communicate with the publisher, ordering the request to communicate from the member according to a queuing scheme that serializes the request with other requests from other members of the publisher'"'"'s network, determining if a response to the request from the member should be made through a synchronous interactive communication channel rather than the queuing scheme and an asynchronous communication channel, ordering a response from the publisher responsive to the determination and according to a queuing scheme that serializes the response to the request along with other responses to other requests over the asynchronous communication channel from other members and establishing the synchronous interactive communication channel responsive to the determination that circumvents the queuing scheme and is capable of delivering a response to the request directly to the member making the request.

Claims

1. A communication method for selective transmission of messages between a publisher and one or more members of a publisher'"'"'s network, comprising:

receiving a request from a member of the publisher'"'"'s network to communicate with the publisher;

ordering the request to communicate from the member of the publisher'"'"'s network according to a queuing scheme that serializes the request with other requests from one or more other members of the publisher'"'"'s network;

determining if a response to the request from the member should be made through a synchronous interactive communication channel rather than the queuing scheme and an asynchronous communication channel;

ordering a response from the publisher responsive to the determination and according to a queuing scheme that serializes the response to the request along with other responses to one or more other requests over the asynchronous communication channel from other members of the publishers network in accordance with determining the publisher'"'"'s indication; and

establishing the synchronous interactive communication channel responsive to the determination that circumvents the queuing scheme and is capable of delivering a response to the request directly to the member of the publisher'"'"'s network making the request.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein determining if the response should be made through a direct communication channel further comprises:

considering a reputation of the member in the publisher'"'"'s network in comparison to the reputation of other members in the publisher'"'"'s network;

measuring activity of the member in the publisher'"'"'s network in relationship to posting information, sending emails, contributing time to activities associated with the publisher; and

evaluating a popularity and suitability of the subject matter to determine if it is more suitable to deliver the response to the request directly and not through the queuing scheme.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the request is made using a communication channel compatible with one or more communication modalities including:

voice telephonic access with voice recognition, telephonic access with touch-tone interaction, a short message service (SMS), a multimedia messaging service (MMS), an enhanced messaging service (EMS), an email and a web page submission.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the response to the request includes:

receiving a signal associated with a predetermined key on a telephone keypad that requests subsequent communication with the member take place directly rather than through messages queued in accordance with a queuing scheme.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the direct communication with the members occurs over a communication channel selected from a set of communication channels including:

a plain-old-telephone system (POTS), a wireless communication device and wireless multimedia communication device.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving the request from the member referencing an inward phone number;

processing a member phone number in addition to the inward phone number to access the published content to be provided in response to the request; and

providing the member access to the published content as requested.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the inward phone number is a reusable phone number keyed from a combination of a non-exclusive phone number and the member phone number associated with the published content being requested.

8. A communication apparatus that selectively transmits messages between a publisher and one or more members of a publisher'"'"'s network, comprising:

a processor configured to execute instructions;

a memory containing instructions, when executed, cause the processor to receive a request from a member of the publisher'"'"'s network to communicate with the publisher, order the request to communicate from the member of the publisher'"'"'s network according to a queuing scheme that serializes the request with other requests from one or more other members of the publisher'"'"'s network, determine if a response to the request from the member should be made through a synchronous interactive communication channel rather than the queuing scheme and an asynchronous communication channel, order a response from the publisher responsive to the determination and according to a queuing scheme that serializes the response to the request along with other responses to one or more other requests over the asynchronous communication channel from other members of the publishers network in accordance with determining the publisher'"'"'s indication, establish the synchronous interactive communication channel responsive to the determination that circumvents the queuing scheme and is capable of delivering a response to the request directly to the member of the publisher'"'"'s network making the request.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein determining if the response should be made through a direct communication channel further includes instructions when executed cause the processor to,

consider a reputation of the member in the publisher'"'"'s network in comparison to the reputation of other members in the publisher'"'"'s network, measure activity of the member in the publisher'"'"'s network in relationship to posting information, sending emails, contributing time to activities associated with the publisher, evaluate a popularity and suitability of the subject matter to determine if it is more suitable to deliver the response to the request directly and not through the queuing scheme.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the request is made using a communication channel compatible with one or more communication modalities including:

voice telephonic access with voice recognition, telephonic access with touch-tone interaction, a short message service (SMS), a multimedia messaging service (MMS), an enhanced messaging service (EMS), an email and a web page submission.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the instructions that determine the response to the request further includes instruction when executed cause the processor to,

receive a signal associated with a predetermined key on a telephone keypad that requests subsequent communication with the member take place directly rather than through messages queued in accordance with the queuing scheme.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the direct communication with the members occurs over a communication channel selected from a set of communication channels including:

a plain-old-telephone system (POTS), a wireless communication device and wireless multimedia communication device.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising instructions when executed cause the processor to,

receive the request from the member referencing an inward phone number, process a member phone number in addition to the inward phone number to access the published content to be provided in response to the request and provide the member access to the published content as requested.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the inward phone number is a reusable phone number keyed from a combination of a non-exclusive phone number and the member phone number associated with the published content being requested.

15. A non-transitory computer program product, tangibly stored on one or more computer-readable media, comprising instructions for causing a computer to selectively transmit messages between a publisher and one or more members of a publisher'"'"'s network, the instructions when executed, arranged to:

receive a request from a member of the publisher'"'"'s network to communicate with the publisher,

order the request to communicate from the member of the publisher'"'"'s network according to a queuing scheme that serializes the request with other requests from one or more other members of the publisher'"'"'s network;

determine if a response to the request from the member should be made through a synchronous interactive communication channel rather than the queuing scheme and an asynchronous communication channel;

order a response from the publisher responsive to the determination and according to a queuing scheme that serializes the response to the request along with other responses to one or more other requests over the asynchronous communication channel from other members of the publishers network in accordance with determining the publisher'"'"'s indication; and

establish the synchronous interactive communication channel responsive to the determination that circumvents the queuing scheme and is capable of delivering a response to the request directly to the member of the publisher'"'"'s network making the request.

16. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 15 wherein the instructions that determine if the response should be made through a direct communication channel further comprises instructions that:

consider a reputation of the member in the publisher'"'"'s network in comparison to the reputation of other members in the publisher'"'"'s network;

measure activity of the member in the publisher'"'"'s network in relationship to posting information, sending emails, contributing time to activities associated with the publisher; and

evaluate a popularity and suitability of the subject matter to determine if it is more suitable to deliver the response to the request directly and not through the queuing scheme.

17. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 16 wherein the request is made using a communication channel compatible with one or more communication modalities including:

voice telephonic access with voice recognition, telephonic access with touch-tone interaction, a short message service (SMS), a multimedia messaging service (MMS), an enhanced messaging service (EMS), an email and a web page submission.

18. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 15 wherein the instructions that determine the response to the request further includes instructions that:

receive a signal associated with a predetermined key on a telephone keypad that requests subsequent communication with the member take place directly rather than through messages queued in accordance with the queuing scheme.

19. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 15 wherein the direct communication with the members occurs over a communication channel selected from a set of communication channels including:

a plain-old-telephone system (POTS), a wireless communication device and wireless multimedia communication device.

20. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 15 further comprising instructions that:

receive the request from the member referencing an inward phone number;

process a member phone number in addition to the inward phone number to access the published content to be provided in response to the request; and

provide the member access to the published content as requested.

21. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 20 wherein the inward phone number is a reusable phone number keyed from a combination of a non-exclusive phone number and the member phone number associated with the published content being requested.