METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING DIRECTED ADVERTISING BASED ON USER PREFERENCES

• US 20090228920A1
• Filed: 03/10/2009
• Published: 09/10/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hulu LLC (The Walt Disney Company)
• Original Assignee: Hulu LLC (The Walt Disney Company)
• Inventors: Colaco, Jean-Paul, Miller, Adam W., Feng, Eric, Tom, Richard W., Hua, Zheng
• Granted Patent: US 8,578,408 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0637 Strategic management or analysis, e.g. setting a goal or target of an organisation; Planning actions based on goals; Analysis or evaluation of effectiveness of goals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0257 User requested
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23424 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for inserting or substituting an advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2547 Third Party Billing, e.g. billing of advertiser
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25866 Management of end-user data customer care in data networks H04L41/5077
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44016 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A method, apparatus, article of manufacture, and a memory structure for providing advertisements into a streamed media program is disclosed. One embodiment comprises a user computer for accepting user input, the user input directly defining user preferences regarding the presentation of the advertisements in the streamed media program and for inserting advertisements in the streamed media program according to the defined user preferences; and a media program provider communicatively coupled to the user computer, for transmitting the streamed media program to the user computer for presentation to the user on a display communicatively coupled to the user computer.

Claims

1. A method of providing advertisements into a streamed media program, comprising the steps of:

accepting user input from a user computer communicatively coupled to a media streaming server, the user input directly defining user preferences regarding the presentation of the advertisements in the streamed media program;

inserting advertisements in the streamed media program according to the defined user preferences; and

transmitting the streamed media program to the user computer for presentation to the user on a display communicatively coupled to the user computer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user preferences describe which advertisements the user would like included in the streamed media program.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the user preferences describe how the advertisements are presented in the streamed media program.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the user preferences describe the timing of the presentation of the advertisements.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein subsets of the advertisements are provided in advertising blocks and the user preferences describe the number of advertisements in each block and the temporal distribution of the blocks within the streamed media program.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein a sponsor is charged for at least one of the advertisements and the cost of the at least one of the advertisements is based on how the user-preference description of how the at least one advertisement is to be presented in the streamed media program.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of accepting user input from the user computer, the user input directly defining user preferences regarding the presentation of the advertisements in the streamed media program comprises the steps of:

accepting a command from the user computer to play the streamed media pro gram;

presenting user preference options to the user on the display for the presentation of the advertisements in the streamed media program wherein the user preference options are selected from a group comprising a selection of advertisements, a selection of product or service sources, and a selection of products or services; and

accepting user-selected user preference options from the user computer before playing of the streamed media program commences.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of presenting user preference options to the user for the presentation of advertisements in the streamed media program comprises the steps of:

determining the user preference options based upon metadata associated with the streamed media program.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of accepting user input directly defining user preferences regarding the presentation of the advertisements in the streamed media program comprises the steps of:

presenting user preference options to the user for presentation of advertisements in any of a plurality of streamed media programs, wherein the plurality of streamed media programs includes the streamed media program, wherein the user preference options are selected from a group comprising a selection of advertisements, a selection of product or service sources, and a selection of products or services;

accepting user selected preference options from the host computer; and

after the user selected preference options are accepted, accepting a command from the user computer to play the streamed media program.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein an advertisement fee charged to a sponsor of the at least one of the advertisements is dependent upon the accepted user preferences regarding the presentation of the advertisements in the streamed media program.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the step of accepting user input from a user computer further comprises the steps of;

accepting, from the user computer, an indicia of user compensation for the play of the streamed media program;

presenting compensated user preference options to the user on the display for the presentation of the advertisements in the streamed media program, the compensated user preference options permitting reduction in the number or length of advertisements presented in the streamed media program in accordance with the indication of user compensation;

accepting at least one user-selected compensated user preferences from among the compensated user preference options; and

the step of inserting advertisements in the streamed media program according to the defined user preferences comprises the steps of inserting advertisements in the streamed media program according to the at least one user-selected compensated user preferences.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the user compensation comprises a purchase independent from a purchase of the streamed media program.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the purchase is related to content of the streamed media program as determined by streamed media program metadata.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the advertisements are obtained from a pool of advertisers and the purchase is associated with at least one of the advertisers in the pool of advertisers.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the compensated user preference options includes playing the streamed media program with no advertisements.

16. A system for providing advertisements into a streamed media program, comprising:

a user computer for accepting user input, the user input directly defining user preferences regarding the presentation of the advertisements in the streamed media program and for inserting advertisements in the streamed media program according to the defined user preferences; and

a media program provider communicatively coupled to the user computer, for transmitting the streamed media program to the user computer for presentation to the user on a display communicatively coupled to the user computer.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the user preferences describe which advertisements the user would like included in the streamed media program.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the user preferences describe how the advertisements are presented in the streamed media program.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the user preferences describe the timing of the presentation of the advertisements.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein subsets of the advertisements are provided in advertising blocks and the user preferences describe the number of advertisements in each block and the temporal distribution of the blocks within the streamed media program.

21. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein a sponsor is charged for at least one of the advertisements and the cost of the at least one of the advertisements is based on how the user-preference description of how the at least one advertisement is to be presented in the streamed media program.

22. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the user computer comprises a memory storing instructions for accepting user input the instructions comprising instructions for:

accepting a command from the user computer to play the streamed media program;

presenting user preference options to the user on the display for the presentation of the advertisements in the streamed media program wherein the user preference options are selected from a group comprising a selection of advertisements, a selection of product or service sources, and a selection of products or services; and

accepting user-selected user preference options from the user computer before playing of the streamed media program commences.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the memory further stores instructions for presenting user preference options to the user for the presentation of advertisements in the streamed media program, the instructions comprising instructions for:

determining the user preference options based upon metadata associated with the streamed media program.

24. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the user computer comprises a memory storing instructions for accepting user input, the instructions comprising instructions for:

presenting user preference options to the user for presentation of advertisements in any of a plurality of streamed media programs, wherein the plurality of streamed media programs includes the streamed media program, wherein the user preference options are selected from a group comprising a selection of advertisements, a selection of product or service sources, and a selection of products or services;

accepting user selected preference options from the host computer; and

after the user selected preference options are accepted, accepting a command from the user computer to play the streamed media program.

25. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein an advertisement fee charged to a sponsor of the at least one of the advertisements is dependent upon the accepted user preferences regarding the presentation of the advertisements in the streamed media program.

26. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein:

the user computer comprises a memory storing instructions for accepting user input the instructions comprising instructions for;

accepting, from the user computer, an indicia of user compensation for the play of the streamed media program;

presenting compensated user preference options to the user on the display for the presentation of the advertisements in the streamed media program, the compensated user preference options permitting reduction in the number or length of advertisements presented in the streamed media program in accordance with the indication of user compensation;

accepting at least one user-selected compensated user preferences from among the compensated user preference options; and

the memory further comprises instructions for inserting advertisements in the streamed media program according to the defined user preferences, the instructions comprising instructions for inserting advertisements in the streamed media program according to the at least one user-selected compensated user preferences.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the user compensation comprises a purchase independent from a purchase of the streamed media program.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the purchase is related to content of the streamed media program as determined by streamed media program metadata.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the advertisements are obtained from a pool of advertisers and the purchase is associated with at least one of the advertisers in the pool of advertisers.

30. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the compensated user preference options includes playing the streamed media program with no advertisements.