Provisioning of Content Items in Mobile Communications Networks

• US 20110314089A1
• Filed: 11/07/2008
• Published: 12/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Quinn, Karl
• Granted Patent: US 9,032,018 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/222 using geographical location information, e.g. messages transmitted or received in proximity of a certain spot or area
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2218 Call detail recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42348 Location-based services which utilize the location information of a target
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4931 Directory assistance systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

The invention relates to a targeting technique for controlling the provisioning of content items, for example advertisements, to users in a mobile communications network (100). A method embodiment of the technique is performed in a provisioning server (114) in the mobile communications network and comprises the steps of receiving an indication of a content item which has been selected by a first user via a first mobile terminal (126); retrieving, from a user-related database, contact information associated with the first user, wherein the contact information indicates at least one second user (128); determining a location of a second mobile terminal of the second user; and selectively initiating, if an intended presentation area for the selected content item covers the location of the second mobile terminal, a presentation of the selected content item to the second mobile terminal (128).

Claims

1. A method for controlling a provisioning of content items to users in a mobile communications network, the method being performed by a provisioning server in the mobile communications network and comprising:

receiving an indication of a selected content item which has been selected by a first user via a first mobile terminal;

retrieving, from a user-related database, contact information associated with the first user, wherein the contact information indicates at least one second user;

determining a location of a second mobile terminal of the second user; and

selectively initiating, if an intended presentation area for the selected content item covers the location of the second mobile terminal, a presentation of the selected content item to the second mobile terminal.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first user is a mobile subscriber of the mobile communications network and the user-related database comprises a subscriber-related database associated with the mobile communications network.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the subscriber-related database comprises a call data record database of the mobile communications network.

4. The method according to any claim 1, wherein the user-related database comprises a community database containing user profiles of users of a social network separate from the mobile communications network.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the intended presentation area for the selected content item is selected from one of multiple overlapping areas with different geographical extensions.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the overlapping areas comprise at least a micro area and a macro area, and the micro area has a smaller geographical extension than the macro area.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein content items intended for presentation in the micro area are cached in a local content repository in a network portion of the mobile communications network associated with the micro area and content items intended for presentation in the macro area are cached in a central repository of the mobile communications network.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein initiating the presentation of the selected content item comprises initiating retrieval of the selected content item from the local repository or central repository dependent on the intended presentation area of the selected content item.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining a social network click-through rate (SNA CTR) of the selected content item based on the at least one second user indicated by the contact information of the first user, wherein determining the social network click-through rate is performed by the provisioning server; and

determining a ranking of the content item in relation to other content items based on the social network click-through rate (SNA CTR) of the selected content item, wherein determining the ranking is performed by the provisioning server.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the social network click-through rate (SNA CTR) of the selected content item is determined based on the number of second users (SNAO) which have been presented with the selected content item and the number of second users (SNAC) which have been clicked on the selected content item.

11. The method according to claim 9, further comprising:

retrieving information related to the selected content items for determining the social network click-through rate from the local repository or central repository dependent on the intended presentation area of the selected content item, wherein retrieving the information is performed by the provisioning server.

16. A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions, which when run on a provisioning server causes the provisioning server to perform the method according to claim 1.

25. The method according to claim 1, wherein the presentation of the selected content item to the second mobile terminal is an anonymous presentation of the selected content item such that the second user is not notified that the selected content item has previously been selected by the first user.

12. A method performed by a content repository adapted for a provisioning of content items to users in a predefined area of a mobile communications network, the method performed by the content repository comprising:

caching a content item with an intended presentation area overlapping with the predefined area;

storing an indication of the number of users (SNAO) to which the content item is presented in the predefined area;

storing an indication of the number of users (SNAC) which have selected the presented content item in the predefined area; and

providing the stored number indications for a determination of a cached content item click-through rate (SNA CTR) related to the predefined area.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising:

determining a social network click-through rate (SNA CTR) of the selected content item based on the at least one second user indicated by the contact information of the first user, wherein determining the social network click-through rate is performed by the content repository; and

determining a ranking of the content item in relation to other content items based on the social network click-through rate (SNA CTR) of the selected content item, wherein determining the ranking is performed by the content repository.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the social network click-through rate (SNA CTR) of the selected content item is determined based on the number of second users (SNAO) which have been presented with the selected content item and the number of second users (SNAC) which have been clicked on the selected content item.

15. The method according to claim 13, further comprising:

retrieving information related to the selected content items for determining the social network click-through rate from the local repository or central repository dependent on the intended presentation area of the selected content item, wherein retrieving the information is performed by the content repository.

17. A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions, which when run on a content repository causes the content repository to perform the method according to claim 12.

18. A provisioning server adapted for controlling a provisioning of content items to users in a mobile communications network comprising:

a reception component adapted to receive an indication of a selected content item which has been selected by a first user via a first mobile terminal;

a retrieval component adapted to retrieve, from a user-related database, contact information associated with the first user, wherein the contact information indicates at least one second user;

a location determination component adapted to determine a location of a second mobile terminal of the second user; and

a selection component adapted to selectively initiate, if an intended presentation area for the selected content item covers the location of the second mobile terminal, a presentation of the selected content item to the second mobile terminal.

19. The provisioning server according to claim 18, wherein the retrieval component is adapted to retrieve the contact information from a subscriber-related database associated with the mobile communications network.

20. The provisioning server according to claim 19, wherein the retrieval component is adapted to retrieve the contact information from a call data record database of the mobile communications network.

21. The provisioning server according to claim 18, wherein the selection component is adapted to initiate retrieval of the selected content item from a local repository or a central repository dependent on the intended presentation area of the selected content item.

22. The provisioning server according to claim 18, wherein the selection component is adapted to determine a social network click-through rate (SNA CTR) of the selected content item based on the at least one second user indicated by the contact information of the first user;

and to determine a ranking of the content item in relation to other content items based on the social network click-through rate (SNA CTR) of the selected content item.

23. The provisioning server according to claim 22, wherein the selection component is adapted to retrieve information related to the selected content items for determining the social network click-through rate from a local repository or a central repository dependent on the intended presentation area of the selected content item.

24. A content repository adapted for a provisioning of content items to users in a predefined area of a mobile communications network, the content repository comprising:

a component adapted to cache a content item with an intended presentation area overlapping with the predefined area;

a component adapted to store an indication of the number of users (SNAO) to which the content item is presented in the predefined area;

a component adapted to store an indication of the number of users (SNAC) clicking on the presented content item in the predefined area; and

a component adapted to provide the stored number indications for a determination of a cached content item click-through rate (SNA CTR) related to the predefined area.