Apparatus, method and system for brokering and provision of intelligent advertisement

• US 9,959,383 B1
• Filed: 09/10/2004
• Issued: 05/01/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Time Warner Inc. (Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Time Warner Inc. (Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bryan, David Alan, Rhough, Gene
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu, Rutao
• Application Number:
  US10/937,963
• Time in Patent Office: 4,981 Days
• Field of Search: 705 14, 706 12
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements

Abstract

The disclosure details the implementation of an apparatus, method, and system for brokering SmartAds. The disclosure teaches a efficient ad brokering as between advertisers, broadcast service providers, and media consumers by employing a SmartAds Client (SAC) and a SmartAds Server (SAS). The SAC may provide viewers with programming and integrate ads in an intelligent manner based on criteria supplied to it. The SAC is used to display SmartAds to television viewers. The ad brokering SAS is complementary to the SAC media consumer and provides services, ads, and ad related information to the SAC. By employing intelligence from a SAC and SAS, ads may be dynamically provided, changed, and/or augmented with programming. The SAS collects and matches media consumer profiles and advertiser bids against one another and an ad database to provide better targeted ads to media consumers. The manner and way in which this is achieved, results in the expiration of stale ads. Such stale ads are replaced with more intelligent, dynamically placed ads that are better targeted, tracked, and managed.

Claims

1. In a system for delivering ads to media consumers viewing content through a processor based ad server, a method of serving ads comprising the steps of:

obtaining media consumer profiles by said ad server;

effecting delivery of an ad to a media customer by said ad server, by playing at least a portion of said ad at one of a normal speed and a second speed other than normal speed as determined by how a particular customer elects to watch said ad;

receiving by said ad server ad information descriptive of how delivered ads are watched by a media consumer; and

generating a first compensation information by said ad server indicative of how a source of said ad is compensated based on said at least one portion of said ad being delivered to the media customer at said first speed; and

generating a second compensation information by said ad server indicative of how the source of said ad is compensated based on said at least one portion of said ad being delivered at said second speed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the compensation provides media consumers with free content service provision when media consumers view a specified number of ads within a specified interval of time.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein content is delivered by way of a satellite broadcast.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein content is delivered by way of a cable broadcast.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein content is delivered by way of a radio-wave broadcast.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said ads are interspaced with other content and the ads are presented sequentially.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said compensation information is defined as

(a) a payment of an amount defined by how a media customer watches said ad, selected from:

a first amount for said media customer watching said ad in its entirety at a normal speed; and

(b) second amount for said media customer not watching at least part of said ad.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein said second amount is selected from (i) a third amount for said media viewer fast forwarding a part of said ad and viewing another part of said ad at normal speed;

(ii) a fourth amount for said media customer fast forwarding through said entire ad;

(iii) a fifth amount for said media customer skipping said ad;

(iv) a sixth amount based on a total time that an ad is being presented to said media customer.

7. A processor based method of compensating a media provider providing media including ads and content to a media consumer, the method comprising:

delivering said ads and content to a media consumer, including playing said media at one of a normal speed and a second speed other than normal speed;

monitoring the delivery of said media to said media consumer to determine if at least one of said ads is watched at one of said normal and said second speed; and

calculating by said processor a compensation for said media provider, wherein said compensation is different when said media is played at normal speed then when said media is played at said second speed.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein during said step of calculating a first amount is selected if said ad is viewed by said media customer at a normal speed and a second amount is selected if at least a part of said ad is fast forwarded by said media customer.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein during said step of calculating a first amount is selected if said ad is skipped at least in part by said media customer.

12. The method of claim 7 wherein said compensation is defined as a payment of an amount defined by how a media customer watches said ad, selected from:

(a) a first amount for said media customer watching said ad in its entirety at a normal speed; and

(b) second amount for said media customer not watching at least part of said ad.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said second amount is selected from (i) a third amount for said media viewer fast forwarding a part of said ad and viewing another part of said ad at normal speed;

(ii) a fourth amount for said media customer fast forwarding through said entire ad;

(iii) a fifth amount for said media customer skipping said ad;

(iv) a sixth amount based on a total time that an ad is being presented to said media customer.