System and method for providing print advertisements

• US 20080313035A1
• Filed: 06/13/2007
• Published: 12/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Palo Alto Research Center, Inc. (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Palo Alto Research Center, Inc. (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Bruce, Richard H., Peeters, Eric, Parekh, Nitin, Arias, Ana, Chow, Celia, Bringans, Ross, Weinerth, David, Lee, Lawrence, Mosko, Marc, Mulhern, Susan (Susie), Jacobson, Linda, Fahey, Lisa, Begole, James (Bo) M.A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,949,560 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 30/0239 Online discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0275 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement

Abstract

A system and method for providing print advertisements is presented. A target audience is assembled from characteristics about readers. Advertising content is targeted to the target audience. The characteristics of the target audience are analyzed against the advertising content to identify potential advertisers. At least one of the potential advertisers is selected. At least one print advertisement for the selected advertiser is included on the document.

Claims

1. A system for providing print advertisements, comprising:

a database to store characteristics about readers that are used to assemble a target audience; and

an advertising server to target advertising content to the target audience, comprising;

an analyzer to analyze the characteristics of the target audience against the advertising content to identify potential advertisers;

a selector to select at least one of the potential advertisers; and

a merger to include at least one print advertisement for the selected advertiser on a document.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the print advertisements are placed between a printing request for and printing of the document.

3. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a payment module to apply a payment model to recoup compensation for inclusion of the print advertisements from the selected advertiser.

4. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

an incentivizer to incentivize readers to make characteristics about themselves available.

5. A system according to claim 1, wherein layout and printing services are provided as incentives to the target audience to reveal the characteristics of the readers who comprise that target audience.

6. A system according to claim 5, wherein the readers comprises the target audience as a social group whose members each share at least one of the characteristics in common.

7. A system according to claim 1, wherein remuneration is provided to a publisher of the document as recompense for inclusion of the print advertisements on the document.

8. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

an auction server to run an auction between a plurality of the potential advertisers as the competition, wherein at least one of the potential advertisers who present a winning bid in the auction is selected.

9. A system according to claim 1, wherein the document is selected from a group comprising books, periodicals, magazines, catalogs, newsletters, documents, and writings, further comprising:

an evaluator to determine the print advertisements for placement in the document through the characteristics.

10. A system according to claim 1, wherein the characteristics are obtained from each reader by either actively querying the reader or passively collecting the characteristics from the reader.

11. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a filter to filter the advertising content against the characteristics of the target audience for appropriateness.

12. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a direct compensation payment model applied by paying compensation to an electronic marketplace based on publication of the document.

13. A system according to claim 12, wherein a commission is paid to a publisher of the document in exchange for the inclusion of the print advertisements.

14. A system according to claim 12, wherein the compensation is determined as a function of a number of the documents that are either distributed or printed.

15. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

an indirect compensation payment model applied by paying compensation to an electronic marketplace at a time of redemption of the print advertisements by one or more of the readers in the target audience.

16. A system according to claim 15, wherein the redemption is selected from a group comprising a printed coupon, discount code, pre-made identifier, and Uniform Resource Locator.

17. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

an online advertising server to provide Web-based targeting of the advertising content to the target audience in addition to the print advertisements.

18. A method for providing print advertisements, comprising:

assembling a target audience from characteristics about readers; and

targeting advertising content to the target audience, comprising;

analyzing the characteristics of the target audience against the advertising content to identify potential advertisers;

selecting at least one of the potential advertisers; and

including at least one print advertisement for the selected advertiser on a document.

19. A method according to claim 18, further comprising:

placing the print advertisements between a printing request for and printing of the document.

20. A method according to claim 18, further comprising:

applying a payment model to recoup compensation for inclusion of the print advertisements from the selected advertiser.

21. A method according to claim 18, further comprising:

incentivizing readers to make characteristics about themselves available.

22. A method according to claim 18, further comprising:

providing layout and printing services as incentives to the target audience to reveal the characteristics of the readers who comprise that target audience.

23. A method according to claim 22, wherein the readers comprises the target audience as a social group whose members each share at least one of the characteristics in common.

24. A method according to claim 18, further comprising:

providing remuneration to a publisher of the document as recompense for inclusion of the print advertisements on the document.

25. A method according to claim 18, further comprising:

running an auction between a plurality of the potential advertisers as the competition; and

selecting at least one of the potential advertisers who present a winning bid in the auction.

26. A method according to claim 18, wherein the document is selected from a group comprising books, periodicals, magazines, catalogs, newsletters, documents, and writings, further comprising:

determining the print advertisements for placement in the document through the characteristics.

27. A method according to claim 18, further comprising:

obtaining the characteristics from each reader by either actively querying the reader or passively collecting the characteristics from the reader.

28. A method according to claim 18, further comprising:

filtering the advertising content against the characteristics of the target audience for appropriateness.

29. A method according to claim 18, further comprising:

applying a direct compensation payment model by paying compensation to an electronic marketplace based on publication of the document.

30. A method according to claim 29, further comprising:

paying a commission to a publisher of the document in exchange for the inclusion of the print advertisements.

31. A method according to claim 29, further comprising:

determining the compensation as a function of a number of the documents that are either distributed or printed.

32. A method according to claim 18, further comprising:

applying an indirect compensation payment model by paying compensation to an electronic marketplace at a time of redemption of the print advertisements by one or more of the readers in the target audience.

33. A method according to claim 32, wherein the redemption is selected from a group comprising a printed coupon, discount code, pre-made identifier, and Uniform Resource Locator.

34. A method according to claim 18, further comprising:

providing Web-based targeting of the advertising content to the target audience in addition to the print advertisements.

35. A computer-readable storage medium holding code for performing the method according to claim 18.

36. An apparatus for providing print advertisements, comprising:

means for assembling a target audience from characteristics about readers; and

means for targeting advertising content to the target audience, comprising;

means for analyzing the characteristics of the target audience against the advertising content to identify potential advertisers;

means for selecting at least one of the potential advertisers; and

means for including at least one print advertisement for the selected advertiser on a document.