Method and system for dynamically incorporating advertising content into multimedia environments

• US 20070061204A1
• Filed: 08/30/2006
• Published: 03/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Noatak Software LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Xylon LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Siu, Michael, Oje, Chris, Newcombe, Christopher, Ellis, Richard, Stradley, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 9,087,334 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.610
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/12 involving interaction between a plurality of game devices, e.g. transmisison or distribution systems protocols for networked virtual reality, networked games H04L29/06034
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/30 Interconnection arrangements between game servers and game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/35 Details of game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/61 using advertising information
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/535 for monitoring, e.g. of user parameters, terminal parameters, application parameters, network parameters
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5506 using advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5593 involving scheduling aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0243 Comparative campaigns
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0252 based on events or environment, e.g. weather or festivals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0264 based upon schedule
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0272 Period of advertisement exposure
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3227 Configuring a gaming machine, e.g. downloading personal settings, selecting working parameters

Abstract

Methods and systems for dynamically incorporating advertising content into multimedia environments, such as games, are provided. Example embodiments include a dynamic inserter, which selects content, based upon a set of criteria, to deliver to a receiving client system, such as a game client. The receiving client system typically dynamically determines locations within the game where advertisements are desirably inserted. Associated with these locations are ad tags that specify criteria for the ads including, for example ad type, ad genre, and scheduling information, which are sent by the client system to the dynamic inserter to select appropriate ads. The dynamic inserter selects ads based upon the criteria and sends them to the client system, which selects them for ad tags with conforming criteria. The client system then renders the selected ad in the appropriate location.

Claims

1-20. -20. (canceled)

21. A computer-based method for dynamically incorporating advertisements into an executing multimedia environment, comprising:

while code that presents the multimedia environment is executing,

detecting an advertising tag having an associated set of criteria;

dynamically receiving over a communications medium a plurality of advertisements;

determining from the received plurality of advertisements whether a conforming advertisement is available that matches the set of criteria associated with the detected advertising tag;

when it is determined that no conforming advertisement is available, sending a request over the communications medium for one or more other advertisements; and

when it is determined that a conforming advertisement is available, presenting content associated with the conforming advertisement in a location indicated by the detected advertising tag;

such that the presenting of the multimedia environment does not appear to be interrupted or paused to incorporate the conforming advertisement into the presentation of the multimedia environment.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the multimedia environment is a computer game environment and the code that presents the multimedia environment is a computer game.

23. The method of claim 21 wherein the multimedia environment is a multimedia application executing on at least one of a personal computer, a server, a game console, a PDA, a handheld wireless device, a mobile communications device, or a telecommunications device.

24. The method of claim 21 wherein the multimedia environment is a presentation and the method effects real time modification of the presentation.

25. The method of claim 21 wherein the set of criteria comprises at least one of an advertisement type, an advertisement genre, or scheduling information.

26. The method of claim 21 wherein the effect on performance of the game of the dynamically receiving over a communications medium a plurality of advertisements is imperceptible to a human player.

27. The method of claim 21 wherein one of advertisements or other data is continually received to achieve a constant performance impact.

28. The method of claim 21, further comprising using a connectionless communication protocol to dynamically receive the plurality of advertisements.

29. The method of claim 21 wherein the presenting content associated with the conforming advertisement in the location indicated by the detected advertising tag comprises presenting content associated with the conforming advertisement in a location on an object depicted by the multimedia environment.

30. The method of claim 21 wherein the location is an object depicted by the multimedia environment.

31. The method of claim 21 wherein at least one of the received advertisements includes as associated set of criteria comprising at least one of an advertisement type, an advertisement genre, or a presentation schedule.

32. The method of claim 21, further comprising decompressing the content associated with the conforming advertisement before presenting the conforming advertisement.

33. The method of claim 21 wherein the presenting content associated with the conforming advertisement comprises at least one of playing audio data, playing video data, or executing received program code associated with the conforming advertisement.

32-1. The method of claim 21, further comprising decrypting the content associated with the conforming advertisement before presenting the conforming advertisement.

34. A computer-readable medium whose contents cause incorporation of advertisements into an executing multimedia environment by performing a method comprising:

while code that presents the multimedia environment is executing,

detecting an advertising tag having an associated set of criteria;

dynamically receiving over a communications medium a plurality of advertisements;

determining from the received plurality of advertisements whether a conforming advertisement is available that matches the set of criteria associated with the detected advertising tag;

when it is determined that no conforming advertisement is available, sending a request over the communications medium for one or more other advertisements; and

when it is determined that a conforming advertisement is available, presenting content associated with the conforming advertisement in a location indicated by the detected advertising tag;

such that the presenting of the multimedia environment does not appear to be interrupted or paused to incorporate the conforming advertisement into the presentation of the multimedia environment.

35. The computer-readable medium of claim 34 wherein the computer-readable medium is a memory of a computing system and wherein the contents are instructions that, when executed, cause the computing device to perform the method.

36. The computer-readable medium of claim 34 wherein the multimedia environment is a computer game environment.

37. The computer-readable medium of claim 34 wherein the multimedia environment is a multimedia application executing on at least one of a computer system, a server, a PDA, a handheld wireless device, a mobile communications device, or a telecommunications device.

38. The computer-readable medium of claim 34 wherein the multimedia environment is a presentation and the method effects real time modification of the presentation.

39. A multimedia client system comprising:

an output device;

a communications medium;

a computer processor; and

a storage medium having stored thereon advertisement insertion code that is configured to, when executed on the computer processor,

present portions of an executing multimedia environment on the output device;

detect an advertising tag in the executing multimedia environment having an associated set of criteria;

dynamically receive a plurality of advertisements over the communications medium while a game player is playing the executing game;

determine from the received plurality of advertisements whether a conforming advertisement is available that matches the set of criteria associated with the detected advertising tag;

when it is determined that no conforming advertisement is available, send a request over the communications medium for one or more other advertisements; and

when it is determined that a conforming advertisement is available, present content associated with the conforming advertisement as part of the multimedia environment presented on the output device, such that presentation of the multimedia environment does not appear to be interrupted or paused to incorporate the conforming advertisement into the presentation of the multimedia environment

40. The client system of claim 39 wherein the communications medium is a network.

41. The client system of claim 39 wherein the communications medium is a wireless communication channel.

42. The client system of claim 39 wherein the advertisement insertion code is further configured to use a dribble pipe to dynamically receive the plurality of advertisements.

43. The client system of claim 39 wherein the multimedia environment is a computer game environment.

44. The client system of claim 39 wherein the multimedia client system is a game client system that uses a connection to receive advertisements that is separate from a connection to a game server.

45. The client system of claim 39, the system comprising at least one of a computer system, a server, a PDA, a handheld wireless device, a mobile communications device, or a telecommunications device.

46. The client system of claim 39 wherein the multimedia environment is a presentation.

47. The client system of claim 39 wherein the received plurality of advertisements are stored on the storage medium.

48. The client system of claim 39 wherein the received plurality of advertisements are received at scheduled times or asynchronously during the presentation of the multimedia environment.

49. A method in a computer-system for providing advertisements to a client system for incorporation into multimedia code running on the client system, comprising:

establishing a connection with the client system that is running the multimedia code;

receiving, from the client system while the multimedia code is running and being operated by a user, a request over the connection for at least one advertisement that meets an indicated set of criteria comprising at least one of a type, a genre, or schedule requirements;

determining from a data repository an advertisement that potentially meets the indicated set of criteria; and

retrieving and forwarding the determined advertisement to the client system while the multimedia code is in operation.

50. The method of claim 49 wherein the multimedia code is a computer game.

51. The method of claim 49 wherein the multimedia code is a presentation and the method effects real time modification of the presentation.

52. The method of claim 49 wherein the client system comprises at least one of a personal computer, a server, a game console, a PDA, a handheld wireless device, a mobile communications device, or a telecommunications device.

53. The method of claim 49, further comprising:

receiving from the client system an indication of information associated with an avatar used to represent the user; and

determining from the repository an advertisement that potentially meets the indicated set of criteria and targets the advertisement to the information associated with the avatar used to represent the user.

54. The method of claim 53 wherein the information associated with the avatar includes at least one of a gender specification or a level of aggressiveness.

55. The method of claim 49 wherein the received request indicates a plurality of advertisement tags.

56. The method of claim 49 wherein the received request indicates a list of advertisement tags based upon likelihood of usability.

57. The method of claim 49 wherein the forwarding the determined advertisement to the client system while the multimedia code is being operating is performed in a manner that has imperceptible performance effects to the user.

58. A computer-readable medium whose contents cause advertisements to be provided to a client system for incorporation into multimedia code running on the client system, by performing a method comprising:

establishing a connection with the client system that is running the multimedia code;

receiving, from the client system while the multimedia code is running and being operated by a user, a request over the connection for at least one advertisement that meets an indicated set of criteria comprising at least one of a type, a genre, or schedule requirements;

determining from a data repository an advertisement that potentially meets the indicated set of criteria; and

retrieving and forwarding the determined advertisement to the client system while the multimedia code is in operation.

59. The computer-readable medium of claim 58 wherein the computer-readable medium is a memory of a computing system and wherein the contents are instructions that, when executed, cause the computing device to perform the method.

60. The computer-readable medium of claim 58 wherein the multimedia code is a computer game.

61. The computer-readable medium of claim 58 wherein the client system comprises at least one of a computer system, a server, a PDA, a handheld wireless device, a mobile communications device, or a telecommunications device.

62. The computer-readable medium of claim 58 wherein the multimedia code is a presentation and the method effects real time modification of the presentation.

63. The computer-readable medium of claim 58, the method further comprising:

receiving from the client system an indication of information associated with an avatar used to represent the user; and

determining from the repository an advertisement that potentially meets the indicated set of criteria and targets the advertisement to the information associated with the avatar used to represent the user.

64. An advertising server for providing advertisements to a client system for incorporation into multimedia code running on the client system, comprising:

a network connection interface;

a data repository configured to store advertising content; and

a computer processor;

a storage medium having stored thereon an ad scheduler that is configured to, when executed on the computer processor,

establish a connection with the client system that is running the multimedia code over the network connection interface;

receive, from the client system while the multimedia code is running and being operated by a user, a request over the established connection for an advertisement that meets an indicated set of criteria comprising at least one of a type, a genre, or schedule requirements;

determine from the data repository an advertisement that potentially meets the indicated set of criteria;

retrieve the determined advertisement from the data repository; and

forward the retrieved advertisement to the client system while the multimedia code is in operation.

65. The advertising server of claim 64, the ad scheduler further configured to, when executed, forward the retrieved advertisement using a dribble pipe.

66. The advertising server of claim 64, the ad scheduler further configured to, when executed, send to the client system either an advertisement or other data on a continual basis to achieve a constant rate flow of sending data.

67. The advertising server of claim 64 wherein the ad scheduler is configured to use a connectionless network communication protocol to communicate with the client system.

68. The advertising server of claim 64 wherein the multimedia code is a computer game.

69. advertising server of claim 64 wherein the multimedia code is a presentation and the ad scheduler is configured to, when executed, effect real time modification of the presentation.

70. The advertising server of claim 64 wherein the client system comprises at least one of a personal computer, a server, a game console, a PDA, a handheld wireless device, a mobile communications device, or a telecommunications device.

71. The advertising server of claim 64, wherein the server is one member of a server farm.