TARGETED IN-GROUP ADVERTISING

• US 20090070204A1
• Filed: 09/12/2007
• Published: 03/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Excalibur IP, LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Inventors: Clancy, Maurice Lee JR., Schroeder, Bryan Joseph, Strause, Gordon Maurice
• Granted Patent: US 9,767,461 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.610
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0264 based upon schedule

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention fill the need of displaying relevant advertisements to members of targeted online groups (or online community groups), whose group members share common interests. The relevant advertisements are provided by advertisers who promote goods and/or services that the targeted online groups are likely to have an interest. The advertisers choose the targeted online groups based on the description of the common interests, focus or background of the online groups, or based on the categories that the online groups are associated. In one embodiment, moderators of the online groups may screen the advertisements before they are displayed on the online group media spaces. By matching interests, focus or background of online groups with products and/or serviced promoted by the advertisers and by moderators screening advertisements, the advertisements displayed would be more likely to be relevant to the members of the online groups.

Claims

1. A method of providing an advertisement for display in an advertisement space of an online group, comprising:

enabling selection of the online group from a plurality of online groups by an advertiser, wherein the goods or services promoted by the advertiser in the advertisement correlate to a focus of the online group;

receiving a request to display the advertisement in the advertisement space of the online group from the advertiser;

enabling review of the request to displayed the advertisement by a moderator of the online group to determine whether to allow the advertisement to be displayed in the advertisement space of the online group; and

displaying the advertisement in the advertisement space of the online group if the moderator determines to allow the advertisement to be displayed, and not displaying the advertisement if the moderator determines not to allow the advertisement to be displayed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected online group is identified by the advertiser by searching focus descriptions of the plurality of online groups.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected online group is identified by the advertiser by browsing through categories of the plurality of online groups.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertisement is selected from a plurality of advertisements by the advertiser.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

enabling uploading of the advertisement into a storage for advertisements for the plurality of online groups by the advertiser before the request to display the advertisement in the advertisement space of the online group is placed.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

enabling determination of a location and a size of the advertisement space in a media space of the online group by the moderator.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertiser makes a payment required to display the advertisement while placing the request to display the advertisement.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

enabling determination of subjects of advertisements to be allowed in the online group and subjects of advertisements to be barred from the online group by the moderator

9. The method of claim 7, wherein a portion of the payment is given to the online group.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the request to display the advertisement includes the advertisement to be displayed, the start date of displaying the advertisement, the end date of displaying the advertisement.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of online groups are managed by an online group system.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the payment required to display the advertisement is affected by the duration and the start day of displaying the advertisement.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the payment required to display the advertisement is refunded to the advertiser if the moderator determines not to allow the advertisement to be displayed.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

enabling viewing of the displayed advertisement by a user of the online group, wherein the user is not the moderator, and the user rates and provides comments of the displayed advertisement.

15. An advertisement system for displaying advertisements provided by advertisers to online groups of an online group system, comprising:

an advertiser unit, wherein the advertiser unit collects inputs, analyzes inputs, and interacts with other units in the advertisement system to prepare responses to requests from the advertisers, the advertisers selecting online groups whose group focus matches the products or services promoted by the advertisements provided the advertisers, the advertisers placing requests to display the advertisements on media spaces of the selected online groups; and

an moderator unit, wherein the moderator unit collects inputs, analyzes inputs, and interacts with other units in the advertisement system to prepare responses to requests from the moderators of the online groups, and wherein the moderators after reviewing the requests to display the advertisements placed by the advertisers decide whether to allow the advertisements to be displayed in the online groups that they moderate.

16. The advertisement system of claim 15, further comprising:

an advertisement storage, wherein the advertisement storage stores the advertisements provided by the advertisers.

18. The advertisement system of claim 16, wherein the advertisement storage stores an start date, an end date, an identify of and advertiser, and an identify of an online group where an advertisement is to be displayed for each advertisement stored in the advertisement storage.

17. The advertisement system of clam 16, further comprising:

an advertisements display unit, wherein the advertisement display unit interacts with the moderator unit and the advertisement storage to display the advertisements allowed to be displayed by the moderators in the online groups they moderate.

19. Computer readable media including program instructions for providing an advertisement for display in an advertisement space of an online group, comprising:

program instructions for enabling selection of the online group from a plurality of online groups by an advertiser, wherein the goods or services promoted by the advertiser in the advertisement match the focus of the online group;

program instructions for receiving a request to display the advertisement in the advertisement space of the online group from the advertiser;

program instructions for enabling review of the request to displayed the advertisement by a moderator of the online group to determine whether to allow the advertisement to be displayed in the advertisement space of the online group; and

program instructions for displaying the advertisement in the advertisement space of the online group if the moderator determines to allow the advertisement to be displayed, and not displaying the advertisement if the moderator determines not to allow the advertisement to be displayed.

20. The computer readable media of claim 19, further comprising:

program instructions for enabling uploading of the advertisement into a storage for advertisements for the plurality of online groups by the advertiser before the request to display the advertisement in the advertisement space of the online group is placed.

21. The computer readable media of claim 19, further comprising:

program instructions for enabling determination of a location and a size of the advertisement space in a media space of the online group by the moderator.

22. The computer readable media of claim 19, further comprising:

program instructions for enabling determination of subjects of advertisements to be allowed in the online group and subjects of advertisements to be barred from the online group by the moderator

23. The computer readable media of claim 19, further comprising:

program instructions for enabling viewing of the displayed advertisement by an user of the online group, wherein the user is not the moderator, and the user rates and provides comments of the displayed advertisement.