SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EMBEDDING A VIEW OF A VIRTUAL SPACE IN A BANNER AD AND ENABLING USER INTERACTION WITH THE VIRTUAL SPACE WITHIN THE BANNER AD

• US 20130191228A1
• Filed: 03/07/2013
• Published: 07/25/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Crescendo IV LP (Crescendo Fund IV)
• Original Assignee: MP-1 Inc.
• Inventors: Riley, Sean, Donham, John
• Granted Patent: US 8,627,212 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.73
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement

Abstract

A system and method for providing a view of a virtual space to a user in a banner ad of a webpage. This enables an advertiser to provide content that is not merely static or scripted, but instead enabled provision of content through a web ad that represents activity within a virtual space (e.g., interactions of other users with the virtual space, content that changes based on current or recent events, etc.) in real time (or near real time). The provision of a virtual space in a web ad may be more effective than conventional web ad content.

Claims

1. A system configured to embed a view of at least a portion of a virtual space in a banner ad, the system comprising:

one or more physical processors configured to execute an ad server, the ad server being configured;

to receive a request for content for a banner ad in a webpage to be displayed on a client device of a user;

to determine a view location in a virtual space for the user; and

to transmit instructions to the client device that will cause the client device to request, for presentation in the banner ad of the webpage, a view of the virtual space that corresponds to the determined view location from a virtual space server, wherein the virtual space is a persistent, simulated space that has a topography, expresses real-time interaction by one or more users, and includes one or more objects positioned within the topography that are capable of experiencing locomotion within the topography.

2. The system claim 1, wherein the ad server is further configured to receive information associated with the webpage.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the ad server is configured such that the view location in the virtual space is determined based on the webpage information.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the ad server is further configured such that the webpage information is used to determine the one or more objects positioned within the topography.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the webpage information includes one or more of an identification of the virtual space to be viewed, a network access location that corresponds to an instance of the virtual space, or a predetermined location within the virtual space to be viewed.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the ad server is further configured to determine a specific virtual space and then to determine the view location within the specific virtual space.

7. A method of embedding a view of at least a portion of a virtual space in a banner ad, the method being implemented in one or more physical processors configured to execute an ad server, the method comprising:

receiving a request for content for a banner ad in a webpage to be displayed on a client device of a user;

determining a view location in a virtual space for the user; and

transmitting instructions to the client device that will cause the client device to request, for presentation in the banner ad of the webpage, a view of the virtual space that corresponds to the determined view location in the virtual space from a virtual space server, wherein the virtual space is a persistent, simulated space that has a topography, expresses real-time interaction by one or more users, and includes one or more objects positioned within the topography that are capable of experiencing locomotion within the topography.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the user information used to determine the view location includes information associated with the webpage.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the view location determined based on the webpage information.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining the one or more objects positioned within the topography, based on the webpage information.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the webpage information includes one or more of an identification of the virtual space to be viewed, a network access location that corresponds to an instance of the virtual space, or a predetermined location within the virtual space to be viewed.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the view location is determined by identifying a specific virtual space and then determining the view location within the specific virtual space.

13. A method of embedding a view of at least a portion of a virtual space in a banner ad, the method being implemented in a client device of a user, the client device comprising one or more physical processors configured to execute computer program modules, the method comprising:

transmitting a request for a webpage to one or more web servers, wherein the webpage includes one or more banner areas where advertising content can be embedded into the webpage;

receiving the webpage from the one or more web servers with instructions to present a virtual space embedded in a banner area of the webpage, wherein the virtual space is a persistent, simulated space that has a topography, expresses real-time interaction by one or more users, and includes one or more objects positioned within the topography that are capable of experiencing locomotion within the topography;

generating a virtual space request to a space server, wherein the space server executes an instance of a virtual space and implements the executed instance of the virtual space (i) to determine a view of the virtual space, and (ii) to determine view information that describes the determined view, wherein the view corresponds to a view location in the virtual space, and wherein the view location is determined for the user based on information associated with the webpage;

receiving the view information from the space server;

formatting the view of the virtual space for display in the banner area of the webpage by assembling the view information; and

generating a display of the webpage that includes the formatted view of the virtual space in the banner area.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein receiving the webpage from the one or more web servers with the instructions to present a virtual space embedded in a banner area of the webpage comprises:

receiving in the webpage a network location corresponding to an ad server included in the one or more web servers at which the instructions to present the virtual space are accessible;

transmitting a request for the instructions to the ad server at the network location; and

receiving the instructions from the ad server.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising transmitting identification information associated with the user and/or the user information to the one or more web servers.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the virtual space request comprises identification information identifying the webpage to facilitate determination of the view location by the space server.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the webpage information is used to determine the one or more objects within the topography.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the view location determined based on the webpage information corresponds to a location in the virtual space determined in a previous virtual space request.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the webpage information used to determine the view location includes one of more of an identification of the virtual space to be viewed, a network access location that corresponds to an instance of the virtual space, or a predetermined location within the virtual space to be viewed.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the view location is determined by identifying a specific virtual space and then determining the view location within the specific virtual space.

21. The method of claim 13, further comprising expanding the size of the view in the generated display based on an input from a user.