SYSTEMS, METHODS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR INTEGRATING ADVERTISING WITHIN WEB CONTENT

• US 20100185512A1
• Filed: 01/15/2010
• Published: 07/22/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Simplexity LLC d/b/a Wirefly (Simplexity)
• Inventors: Cox, Steve, Spitz, David, Gordon, Tom, Thrash, Jay, Borger, Dana, Squire, Matthew
• Granted Patent: US 8,862,779 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.490
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/95 Retrieval from the web
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0257 User requested
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/60 Medium conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2083 Confirmation by serviced party
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4878 Advertisement messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4938 comprising a voice browser which renders and interprets, e.g. VoiceXML

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer program products that facilitate the integration and accounting of advertising within audio Web content requested by users via telephone devices are provided. Upon receiving a request from a user for Web content via a telephone device, a Web server retrieves an advertisement from an advertisement server, inserts the retrieved advertisement within the user requested Web content, and forwards the user requested Web content and advertisement to a text-to-speech transcoder for conversion to an audio format. The text-to-speech transcoder converts the Web content and advertisement from a text-based format to an audio format and serves the Web content and advertisement in the audio format to the user client device via a telephone link established with the user client device. If an advertisement is interactive, a text-to-speech transcoder may be configured to notify an advertisement server of user interaction with the advertisement. Information such as an identification of a requesting client device, user, as well as time and date information, may be recorded by an advertisement server for use in measuring effectiveness of a particular marketing and/or advertising campaign. Information associated with providing a user with additional information associated with an advertisement may also be stored.

Claims

1. A computer system configured to integrate advertising within user-requested Web content, comprising:

an advertisement server that hosts advertisements in a text-based format, the advertisement server comprising;

means for selecting a plurality of aggregated advertisements having a format and size compatible with the user-requested Web content when the user-requested Web content is converted to an audio format for insertion within the user-requested Web content in response to a request for Web content;

a text-to-speech transcoder, comprising;

means for converting Web content from a text-based format to an audio format content prior to streaming the audio format content to a user client device; and

means for serving Web content in an audio format to the user client device via a telephone link with the user client device; and

a Web server that hosts Web content in a text-based format, comprising;

means, responsive to a user request via the client device for Web content, for retrieving an advertisement from the advertisement server, in response to the subject matter of the Web content;

means for inserting the retrieved advertisements within the user requested Web content; and

means for forwarding the user requested Web content and advertisement to the text-to-speech transcoder for conversion to an audio format and subsequent delivery to the user client device.

2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the means for selecting the plurality of aggregated advertisements having a format and size compatible with user-requested Web content comprises means for retrieving the plurality of aggregated advertisements having a predetermined time length when delivered in an audio format.

3. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the text-based format comprises voice extensible markup language (VXML) format.

4. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the advertisement server further comprises means for storing information associated with serving an advertisement to a user.

5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the advertisement server further comprises means for determining if a user listened to an advertisement in its entirety.

6. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the advertisement server further comprises means for determining how many times a user listened to an advertisement.

7. A computer system configured to integrate interactive advertising within user-requested Web content, the computer system comprising:

an advertisement server that hosts advertisements in a text-based format, wherein the advertisements are interactive when converted to an audio format comprising;

means for selecting a plurality of aggregated advertisements having a format and size compatible with the user-requested Web content when the user-requested Web content is converted to an audio format for insertion within the user-requested Web content in response to a request for Web content;

means for storing information associated with user interaction with an advertisement;

a text-to-speech transcoder, comprising;

means for converting Web content from a text-based format to an audio format prior to streaming the audio format content to a user client device;

means for serving Web content in an audio format to the user client device via a telephone link with the user client device;

means for notifying the advertisement server of user interaction with an advertisement;

means for retrieving additional information associated with the advertisement in response to user interaction with the advertisement, wherein the user interaction comprises recognizing a key pressed on a keypad or one or more key words spoken by a user during delivery of an advertisement;

means for delivering the additional information to the user client device in an audio format; and

a Web server that hosts Web content in a text-based format, comprising;

means, responsive to a user request via the client device for Web content, for retrieving an advertisement from the advertisement server in response to the subject matter of the Web content;

means for inserting the retrieved advertisement within the user requested Web content; and

means for forwarding the user requested Web content and advertisement to the text-to-speech transcoder for conversion to an audio format and subsequent delivery to the user client device.

8. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the text-to-speech transcoder further comprises:

means for redirecting the user client device to additional audio content associated with the advertisement in response to recognition of one or more key words spoken or pressing of a key on a keypad by the user.

9. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the means for retrieving additional information associated with an advertisement in response to user interaction with the advertisement comprises means for retrieving additional information from the advertisement server.

10. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the means for selecting the plurality of aggregated advertisements having a format and size compatible with user-requested Web content comprises means for retrieving the plurality of aggregated advertisements having a predetermined time length when delivered in an audio format.

11. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the text-based format comprises voice extensible markup language (VXML) format.

12. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the advertisement server further comprises means for determining if a user listened to an advertisement in its entirety.

13. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the advertisement server further comprises means for determining how many times a user listened to an advertisement.