Displaying ads on a mobile device outside of a mobile app

• US 9,619,824 B2
• Filed: 01/11/2014
• Issued: 04/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adenda Media Inc.
• Original Assignee: Adenda Media Inc.
• Inventors: Doumet, Francis George
• Primary Examiner(s): Cao, Vincent
• Application Number:
  US14/153,014
• Publication Number:
  US 20150039440A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,186 Days
• Field of Search: 705 14
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute

Abstract

Ads delivered to mobile devices by virtue of a mobile app executing on the device are displayed on the device screen outside the confines or borders of the mobile app. This enables app developers to display ads through their apps to app users wherein the ads are displayed outside the confines of the actual app as displayed on the device. That is, the ad may be displayed as what may be characterized as a ‘regular non-app generated’ ad, such as on the device'"'"'s home or lock screen (display areas not normally associated with an app). In this manner, clutter is decreased within mobile apps that would otherwise be caused by the ads. Consequently, advertisers are more likely to pay higher rates thereby generating more revenue for app developers or related entities.

Claims

1. A method of causing an ad to be displayed on a screen at specific times by an application executing on a mobile device, the method comprising:

creating a first ad request, said creating performed by a mobile ad software development kit (SDK) incorporated in a mobile application and executed by a processor on the mobile device;

determining a location of the mobile device;

collecting mobile device user information;

collecting mobile device information;

creating a second ad request based in part on said location, said user information, and said device information,

utilizing an ad manager module in the mobile ad SDK to transmit a second ad request to an ad server;

receiving an ad from the ad server, said receiving performed by the ad manager module, wherein said ad is transmitted to the mobile device by operation of the SDK; and

utilizing an ad display module in the SDK to display the ad on the screen of the mobile device, wherein one of the times the ad is displayed by the application is one of when the application is not executing on the device or when the application is executing in the background on the device;

detecting an action performed by the user relating to the displayed ad when outside of the application; and

providing rewards to the user wherein said rewards are related to the application and are given to the user while the application is executing, such that said detected action by the user outside of the application, wherein the application is one of closed, terminated, or not executing, directly relates to how the user is rewarded in the application, and such that a rewards module in said SDK is directly effected by said detected action by the user outside of the application;

wherein said displaying is directly caused by the SDK in the mobile app, thereby reducing clutter in an app display when the app is executing in the foreground.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

refreshing the ad on the mobile device at the occurrence of specific operating system events.

3. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

assigning rewards to a user of the mobile app when a user agrees to accept ads on the mobile device.

4. A method as recited in claim 3 further comprising:

registering an address of a reward server with a rewards module in the SDK on the mobile device.

5. A method as recited in claim 4 further comprising:

utilizing the rewards server to maintain a record of user rewards.