Method for implementing online advertising

• US 20040249713A1
• Filed: 06/07/2004
• Published: 12/09/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xylon LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Hayley Logistics LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Gross, John N.
• Granted Patent: US 8,140,388 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0254 based on statistics
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0275 Auctions

Abstract

A system and method for implementing electronic advertising which provides content to users based on observing behavior of certain trendsetters within a member population. The trendsetters are determined by studying historical adoption behavior of individuals within the member population, or by reference to known indicia.

Claims

1. A method of presenting advertising to an online community, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) measuring an adoption behavior for items exhibited by a first member of the online community during data collection sessions;

(b) ranking said adoption behavior against adoption behavior of other members of the online community;

(c) dynamically adjusting advertising presented to said first member during a later online session based on said adoption behavior.

2. The method of claim 1, further including a step:

identifying said first member as a trendsetter when said first member is an early adopter of items within the online community.

3. The method of claim 1, further including a step:

identifying said first member as a trendlagger when said first member is a late adopter of items within the online community.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein said first member is identified as a trendsetter further based on determining if said first member'"'"'s adoption behavior is imitated by a significant percentage of other members.

5. The method of claim 2, further including the steps of:

calculating an adoption prevalence for an item by trendsetters; and

presenting advertising related to the item to said trendsetters;

recomputing said adoption prevalence to determine effects of said advertising.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said first member is a subscriber to a second member who is identified as a trendsetter.

7. A method of presenting advertising to an online community, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) processing member historical records of content reviewed and/or items purchased for each member of the online community, and comparing such member historical records with other member historical records;

(b) identifying a first member as having a trendsetter status when the results of step (a) indicate that such first member exhibits behavior which is imitated by other members;

(c) interacting with said first member during an online session;

(d) adjusting advertising presented to said first member during said online session based on whether said first member has a trendsetter status.

8. The method of claim 7 further including a step:

responding to a search query provided by said first member to a search engine during step (c).

9. The method of claim 7, further including a step:

responding to a request for a recommendation provided by said first member to a recommender system during step (c).

10. The method of claim 7 wherein said advertising is communicated by an e-commerce site during said online session based on a competitive bidding process which determines which advertiser is permitted to communicate with said first member.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein said competitive bidding process is resolved on a session-by-session basis with said first member.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein said competitive bidding process is resolved on a transaction-by-transaction basis with said first member.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said transaction is a search request or a recommendation request.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein said competitive bidding process is resolved on a click-by-click basis with said first member.

15. The method of claim 7, further including the steps of:

calculating an adoption prevalence for an item by trendsetters; and

wherein advertising related to the item is only adjusted during step (c) to said first member when said adoption prevalence among trendsetters has exceeded a predetermined threshold.

16. The method of claim 7, further including the steps of:

recomputing said adoption prevalence to determine effects of said adjusting of said advertising.

17. The method of claim 7, further including the steps of:

calculating a difference in adoption rates between a first item for which advertising is presented to only trendsetters and a second item for which advertising is presented without considering a trendsetter status.

18. A method of presenting advertising to an online community, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) processing member historical records of content reviewed and/or items purchased for each member of the online community, and comparing such member historical records with other member historical records;

(b) identifying a first member as having a trendsetter status when the results of step (a) indicate that such first member exhibits behavior which is imitated by other members;

(c) providing a recommendation to said first member within a first screen during an online session using a recommender system;

(d) adjusting advertising presented to said member in said first screen based on whether said first member has a trendsetter status.

19. The method of claim 18, further including a step:

identifying said member as a trendsetter when said member is an early adopter of items within the online community.

20. The method of claim 18, further including the steps of:

calculating an adoption prevalence for an item by trendsetters; and

presenting advertising related to the item to said trendsetters;

recomputing said adoption prevalence to determine effects of said advertising.