Managing internet advertising and promotional content

• US 9,875,477 B2
• Filed: 10/08/2009
• Issued: 01/23/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Keep Holdings Liquidating Trust
• Original Assignee: Keep Holdings, Inc.
• Inventors: Glore, Jr., E. Byron
• Primary Examiner(s): Sittner, Matthew T
• Assistant Examiner(s): Reinhardt, Richard
• Application Number:
  US12/576,187
• Publication Number:
  US 20100088170A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,029 Days
• Field of Search: 705 1455, 705 1473
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0217 involving input on products or services in exchange for incentives or rewards
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0239 Online discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0245 Surveys
• 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: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

Methods, systems and articles having machine-readable instructions can be implemented to manage advertising content using a computing device, for example, by retrieving a page of content from a network, the retrieved page including at least some advertising content, presenting the retrieved page of content to the user of the computing device, receiving user input via a user interface identifying at least a portion of the presented advertising content to be saved, saving the identified portion of advertising content, receiving user input via the user interface identifying some or all of the saved advertising content to share with another user, and causing the identified saved advertising content to be shared with the other user.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for managing advertising content, the method comprising:

receiving, by an advertisement management server, from a computer associated with a user, a request to store an advertisement from an advertiser that is included in a web page of content displayed by the computer, the received request including content of the advertisement, the request made by a plug-in component of a browser of the computer associated with the user;

storing the advertisement as provided for display to a computer-readable storage medium of the advertisement management server;

rendering the advertisement in a member page for access by the user, the member page comprising a link to access the stored advertisement;

receiving a request for accessing the stored advertisement;

providing, to the computer, content of the stored advertisement for rendering in response to the received access request;

receiving a request to share the stored advertisement from the user with a second user different from the user, wherein an additional request by the second user for external information about the stored advertisement is associated with an internal unique identifier, the external information being external to the advertisement management server system, the internal unique identifier being a privacy shield that is substituted for personally identifiable information of the second user, the substitution of the personally identifiable information preventing user tracking by the advertiser; and

transmitting, to a computer associated with the second user, a rendering of the stored advertisement, the rendering comprising the link to access the stored advertisement.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein storing the advertisement comprises storing additional information along with the stored content of the advertisement, the additional information comprising one or both of a member identification and a corresponding time stamp.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein storing the advertisement comprises storing additional information along with the stored content of the advertisement, the additional information comprising a unique identifier to identify one or both of the advertisement and the advertisement publisher.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

transmitting, to the computer, an alert that additional information relating to the stored advertisement is available.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

automatically storing additional content received from a content provider of the advertisement relating to the stored advertisement.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the link to access the stored advertisement comprises the additional content received from the content provider.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, from the computer, a modified version of the stored advertisement, the stored advertisement modified by the user privately at the member page.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein modifying the stored advertisement comprises one or more of viewing, editing, sharing, deleting, or copying the stored advertisement.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, from the computer, a request for additional information about the stored advertisement;

communicating with a remote server to obtain the requested additional information; and

presenting, to the computer, the obtained additional information.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the communication with the remote server uses an internal identifier as a substitute for any user specific identifier, the internal identifier not capable of being used to identify the user.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing, to the computer, a user interface for the user to participate in a community feature area, the community feature area being a live chat area configured to enable live online chat conversations among a plurality of users of an advertisement management system.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of users share information relating to one or more of advertisement, product information, service information, user experiences and user opinions in the community feature area.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the community feature area provides access to one or more of forums, product announcements, message boards, news areas, discount coupons, special promotions, and user chat tools.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing, to the computer, a user interface for facilitating reward generating activities.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the reward generating activities comprise one or more of focus groups, surveys, and opinion polls.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the reward generating activities are sponsored by an advertiser or a manufacturer of a product involved in the advertisement.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the reward generating activities comprise awards comprising one or more of redeemable points, cash, discounts and promotional prizes.

18. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

generating a unique identifier for the advertisement, the unique identifier used for creating an association between the user and stored content of the advertisement.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein generating the unique identifier comprises determining whether the received advertisement is identical to an advertisement previously stored in the computer-readable storage medium.

20. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving notes associated with the advertisement; and

storing the received notes along with stored content of the advertisement.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the link within the rendering of the stored advertisement transmitted to the computer of the second user further comprises access to the notes associated with the advertisement.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer-readable storage medium of the server is configured to store content of a second advertisement, the content of the second advertisement received from a computer associated with a third user different from the user, the second advertisement different from the advertisement.

23. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having executable computer program instructions for managing advertising content, the computer program instructions comprising instructions for:

receiving, by an advertisement management server, from a computer associated with a user, a request to store an advertisement from an advertiser that is included in a web page of content displayed by the computer, the received request including content of the advertisement, the request made by a plug-in component of a browser of the computer associated with the user;

storing the advertisement as provided for display to a computer-readable storage medium of the advertisement management server;

rendering the advertisement in a member page for access by the user, the member page comprising a link to access the stored advertisement;

receiving a request for accessing the stored advertisement;

providing, to the computer, content of the stored advertisement for rendering in response to the received access request;

receiving a request to share the stored advertisement from the user with a second user different from the user, wherein an additional request by the second user for external information about the stored advertisement is associated with an internal unique identifier, the external information being external to the advertisement management server system, the internal unique identifier being a privacy shield that is substituted for personally identifiable information of the second user, the substitution of the personally identifiable information preventing user tracking by the advertiser; and

transmitting, to a computer associated with the second user, a rendering of the stored advertisement, the rendering comprising the link to access the stored advertisement.

24. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the instructions for storing the advertisement comprises storing additional information along with the stored content of the advertisement, the additional information comprising one or both of a member identification and a corresponding time stamp.

25. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the instructions for storing the advertisement comprises storing additional information along with the stored content of the advertisement, the additional information comprising a unique identifier to identify one or both of the advertisement and the advertisement publisher.

26. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23 further comprising instructions for:

transmitting, to the computer, an alert that additional information relating to the stored advertisement is available.

27. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23 further comprising instructions for:

automatically storing additional content received from a content provider of the advertisement relating to the stored advertisement.

28. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 27, wherein the link to access the stored advertisement comprises the additional content received from the content provider.

29. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23 further comprising instructions for:

receiving, from the computer, a modified version of the stored advertisement, the stored advertisement modified by the user privately at the member page.

30. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 29 wherein the instructions for modifying the stored advertisement comprises one or more of viewing, editing, sharing, deleting, or copying the stored advertisement.

31. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 29 further comprising instructions for:

receiving, from the computer, a request for additional information about the stored advertisement;

communicating with a remote server to obtain the requested additional information; and

presenting, to the computer, the obtained additional information.

32. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 31, wherein the communication with the remote server uses an internal identifier as a substitute for any user specific identifier, the internal identifier not capable of being used to identify the user.

33. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23 further comprising instructions for:

providing, to the computer, a user interface for the user to participate in a community feature area, the community feature area being a live chat area configured to enable live online chat conversations among a plurality of users of an advertisement management system.

34. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 33, wherein the plurality of users share information relating to one or more of advertisement, product information, service information, user experiences and user opinions in the community feature area.

35. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 33, wherein the community feature area provides access to one or more of forums, product announcements, message boards, news areas, discount coupons, special promotions, and user chat tools.

36. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23 further comprising instructions for:

providing, to the computer, a user interface for facilitating reward generating activities.

37. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 36, wherein the reward generating activities comprise one or more of focus groups, surveys, and opinion polls.

38. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 36, wherein the reward generating activities are sponsored by an advertiser or a manufacturer of a product involved in the advertisement.

39. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 36, wherein the reward generating activities comprise awards comprising one or more of redeemable points, cash, discounts and promotional prizes.

40. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23 further comprising instructions for:

generating a unique identifier for the advertisement, the unique identifier used for creating an association between the user and stored content of the advertisement.

41. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 40, wherein generating the unique identifier comprises determining whether the received advertisement is identical to an advertisement previously stored in the computer-readable storage medium.

42. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23 further comprising instructions for:

receiving notes associated with the advertisement; and

storing the received notes along with stored content of the advertisement.

43. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 42, wherein the link within the rendering of the stored advertisement transmitted to the computer of the second user further comprises access to the notes associated with the advertisement.

44. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the computer-readable storage medium of the server is configured to store content of a second advertisement, the content of the second advertisement received from a computer associated with a third user different from the user, the second advertisement different from the advertisement.

45. An ad management system comprising:

a memory configured to store content of an advertisement; and

a processor operably coupled to the memory and configured to execute instructions of one or more processes on data stored in the memory, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions that cause the processor to;

receive, by the advertisement management from a computer associated with a user, a request to store an advertisement from an advertiser that is included in a web page of content displayed by the computer, the request made by a plug-in component of a browser of the computer associated with the user,

store the advertisement as provided for display to the memory of the advertisement management,

render the advertisement in a member page for access by the user through a user interface, the member page comprising a link to access the stored advertisement,

receive a request for accessing the stored advertisement,

provide, to the computer, content of the stored advertisement for rendering in response to the received access request,

receive a request to share the stored advertisement from the user with a second user different from the user, wherein an additional request by the second user for external information about the stored advertisement is associated with an internal unique identifier, the external information being external to the advertisement management server system, the internal unique identifier being a privacy shield that is substituted for personally identifiable information of the second user, the substitution of the personally identifiable information preventing user tracking by the advertiser, and

transmit, to a computer associated with the second user, rendering of the stored advertisement, the rendering comprising the link to access the stored advertisement.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein storing the advertisement comprises storing additional information along with the stored content of the advertisement, the additional information comprising one or both of a member identification and a corresponding time stamp.

47. The system of claim 45, wherein storing the advertisement comprises storing additional information along with the stored content of the advertisement, the additional information comprising a unique identifier to identify one or both of the advertisement and the advertisement publisher.

48. The system of claim 45, wherein the instructions cause the processor to further:

transmit, to the computer, an alert that additional information relating to the stored advertisement is available.

49. The system of claim 45, wherein the instructions cause the processor to further:

automatically store additional content received from a content provider of the advertisement relating to the stored advertisement.

50. The system of claim 49, wherein the link to access the stored advertisement comprises the additional content received from the content provider.

51. The system of claim 45, wherein the instructions cause the processor to further:

receive, from the computer, a modified version of the stored advertisement, the stored advertisement modified by the user privately at the member page.

52. The system of claim 51, wherein modifying the stored advertisement comprises one or more of viewing, editing, sharing, deleting, or copying the stored advertisement.

53. The system of claim 45, wherein the instructions cause the processor to further:

receive, from the computer, a request for additional information about the stored advertisement;

communicate with a remote server to obtain the requested additional information; and

present, to the computer, the obtained additional information.

54. The system of claim 45, wherein the instructions cause the processor to further:

provide, to the computer, a user interface for the user to participate in a community feature area, the community feature area being a live chat area configured to enable live online chat conversations among a plurality of users of an advertisement management system.

55. The system of claim 54, wherein the plurality of users share information relating to one or more of advertisement, product information, service information, user experiences and user opinions in the community feature area.

56. The system of claim 54, wherein the community feature area provides access to one or more of forums, product announcements, message boards, news areas, discount coupons, special promotions, and user chat tools.

57. The system of claim 45, wherein the instructions cause the processor to further:

provide, to the computer, a user interface for facilitating reward generating activities.

58. The system of claim 57, wherein the reward generating activities comprise one or more of focus groups, surveys, and opinion polls.

59. The system of claim 57, wherein the reward generating activities are sponsored by an advertiser or a manufacturer of a product involved in the advertisement.

60. The system of claim 57, wherein the reward generating activities comprise awards comprising one or more of redeemable points, cash, discounts and promotional prizes.

61. The ad management system of claim 45, wherein the instructions cause the processor to further:

generate a unique identifier for the advertisement, the unique identifier used for creating an association between the user and stored content of the advertisement.

62. The ad management system of claim 61, wherein generating the unique identifier comprises determining whether the received advertisement is identical to an advertisement previously stored in the computer-readable storage medium.

63. The ad management system of claim 45, wherein the instructions cause the processor to further:

receive notes associated with the advertisement; and

store the received notes along with stored content of the advertisement.

64. The ad management system of claim 63, wherein the link within the rendering of the stored advertisement transmitted to the computer of the second user further comprises access to the notes associated with the advertisement.

65. The ad management system of claim 45, wherein the memory is further configured to store content of a second advertisement, the content of the second advertisement received from a computer associated with a third user different from the user, the second advertisement different from the advertisement.