System and method for selecting advertising in a social bookmarking system

• US 20070067331A1
• Filed: 11/14/2005
• Published: 03/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pinterest, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Schachter, Joshua, Wenger, Albert
• Granted Patent: US 8,768,772 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0263 based upon Internet or website rating
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

One aspect relates to a social bookmarking system that has the capability of displaying advertisements based on user input provided to the system. Advertisements displayed to the user may be determined based on one or more classifications provided by the social bookmarking system and selected by the user. Further, classification information that is created, used, or otherwise associated with the particular user may be used to determine ads displayed to that user. Another aspect relates to a system for collecting user classifications of content and using such classifications to match ads to appropriate content. In such a manner, more appropriate associations between ads and content may be made. Such classifications may be collected, for example, using a social bookmarking system. Further, advertisers may subscribe to classifications created in the social bookmarking system, allowing their advertisements to be displayed to users that perform actions with the subscribed classification. Also, advertisers may be permitted to submit their own classification information to the social bookmarking system.

Claims

1. A method for selecting advertising comprising acts of:

collecting classification data from a plurality of users, wherein at least one portion of the classification data indicates a classification of content;

determining, based on the at least one portion of the classification data, an advertisement; and

presenting the advertisement to a user in response to the user performing an action with respect to the classification data.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising an act of determining an advertisement to be displayed to the user based on the user action.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the user action includes a selection, by the user, of the at least one portion of the classification data.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the user action includes entering, by the user, the classification data into a social bookmarking system.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the user selects the at least one portion of the classification data in an interface of a social bookmarking system.

6. The method according to claim 4, further comprising acts of storing an association of the entered classification with the user, and determining the presented advertisement based on the stored classification information.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising an act of storing a list of classifications with the user, and determining the presented advertisement at least in part based on the stored list of classifications.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising an act of associating the advertisement with the content.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the act of collecting classification data further comprises an act of collecting one or more tags.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the act of collecting the classification data further comprising an act of determining a classification performed through a user action.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the act of determining includes determining whether the user associated the content with a particular classification.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein one or more tags include one or more keywords that describe the content.

13. The method according to claim 9, wherein the act of collecting the one or more tags further comprises an act of collecting the one or more tags by a collaborative computer system operated by the plurality of users.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the content includes a website page and wherein the act of associating includes an act of associating the advertisement with the website page.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the advertisement includes data, and the act of associating further comprises an act of associating the data with the content.

16. The method according to claim 12, wherein one or more keywords are derived from at least one of the plurality of users.

17. The method according to claim 8, further comprising an act of providing the classification data to an entity to be used to determine the association of the advertisement with the content.

18. The method according to claim 1, wherein the act of collecting classification data is performed by a plurality of computer systems.

19. The method according to claim 1, wherein the classification data is shared among a plurality of computer systems.

20. The method according to claim 1, wherein the content is referenced by reference data, and wherein the act of associating includes an act of associating the advertisement with the reference data.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the reference data includes a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

22. The method according to claim 1, wherein the classification data is shared among a plurality of application programs.

23. The method according to claim 1, wherein the classification data is shared among the plurality of users.

24. A system for selecting advertising, the system comprising:

a classification system adapted to provide classification data collected from a plurality of users, wherein the classification data includes a portion that classifies the content, and is adapted to associate the portion of the classification data with an advertisement; and

an interface adapted to display an advertisement to a user in response to at least one user performing an action with respect to the classification data.

25. The system according to claim 24, further comprising an ad-matching component adapted to match the advertisement with content referenced by the classification data.

26. The system according to claim 24, wherein the classification system is adapted to determine an advertisement to be displayed to the at least one user based on the action.

27. The system according to claim 26, wherein the user action includes a selection, by the at least one user, of the at least one portion of the classification data.

28. The system according to claim 26, wherein the classification system includes a social bookmarking system, and wherein the user action includes entering, by the at least one user, the classification data into a social bookmarking system.

29. The system according to claim 27, wherein the at least one user selects the at least one portion of the classification data in an interface of a social bookmarking system.

30. The system according to claim 28, wherein the classification system is adapted to store an association of the entered classification with the user, and is adapted to determine the displayed advertisement based on the stored classification information.

31. The system according to claim 30, wherein the classification system is adapted to store a list of classifications with the user, and is adapted to determine the displayed advertisement at least in part based on the stored list of classifications.

32. The system according to claim 24, wherein the classification system is adapted to collect one or more tags.

33. The system according to claim 32, wherein the one or more tags include one or more keywords that describe the content.

34. The system according to claim 32, wherein the classification system further comprises a collaborative computer system operated by the plurality of users.

35. The system according to claim 34, wherein the one or more keywords are derived from at least one of the plurality of users.

36. The system according to claim 24, wherein the plurality of users collectively provide the classification data.

37. The system according to claim 25, wherein the content is referenced by reference data, and wherein the ad-matching component is adapted to associate the advertisement with the reference data.

38. The system according to claim 37, wherein the reference data includes a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

39. The system according to claim 24, further comprising a plurality of application components that share the classification data.

40. The system according to claim 24, wherein the classification system is adapted to share the classification data among the plurality of users.

41. The system according to claim 24, wherein the classification system is adapted to determine a classification performed through a user action.

42. The system according to claim 41, wherein the classification system is adapted to determine whether the user associated the content with a particular classification.

43. A method for selecting advertising comprising acts of:

collecting classification data from a plurality of users, wherein at least one portion of the classification data indicates a classification of content, the content being related to an organization; and

subscribing, by the organization, to the at least one portion of the classification data.

44. The method according to claim 43, wherein the content includes a web page, and wherein the classification data includes at least one tag associated by at least one of the plurality of users to the web page, and wherein the method further comprises an act of subscribing, by the organization, to the at least one tag associated by the at least one of the plurality of users.

45. The method according to claim 43, wherein the act of collecting classification data further comprises an act of collecting one or more tags.

46. The method according to claim 43, wherein the act of collecting the classification data further comprises an act of determining a classification performed through a user action.

47. The method according to claim 46, wherein the act of determining includes an act of determining whether the user associated the content with a particular classification.

48. The method according to claim 45, wherein one or more tags include one or more keywords that describe the content.

49. The method according to claim 45, wherein the act of collecting the one or more tags further comprises an act of collecting the one or more tags by a collaborative computer system operated by the plurality of users.

50. The method according to claim 43, further comprising an act of providing, by the organization, classification data relating to the content.

51. The method according to claim 50, further comprising an act of providing, by the organization, tag information relating to the content.

52. The method according to claim 51, further comprising an act of maintaining, by the organization, a list of tags associated with content provided by the organization.