Method and apparatus enabling valuation of user access of advertising carried by interactive information and entertainment services

• US 5,974,398 A
• Filed: 04/11/1997
• Issued: 10/26/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: X Corp. (f/k/a Twitter, Inc.) (X Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Hanson, Bruce Lowell, Huber, Kenneth Mervin
• Primary Examiner(s): MacDonald, Allen R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Irshadullah, M.
• Application Number:
  US08/838,863
• Time in Patent Office: 928 Days
• Field of Search: 705/10, 705/14, 706/10, 380/24, 379/88, 379/88.2
• US Class Current: 705/14.64
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0275 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement

Abstract

Interactive information and entertainment service customers see advertisers'"'"' bids for their attention which are displayed on their display screens and choose which advertisements to view. For each advertisement viewed, the advertisers'"'"' bid amount would pay for a portion of the user'"'"'s service or usage charge. A display on the user'"'"'s terminal screen includes the advertisers most willing to pay for the user'"'"'s attention and the dollar amount bid. If the user chooses to see a particular advertiser'"'"'s message, then the user is reimbursed, or a credit is applied to the user'"'"'s service account for the amount of the bid promised by the advertiser whose message was viewed. Customer interest profiles and service usage data collected by the service provider are used to identify particular user characteristics to advertisers. Advertisers define user characteristics of particular desirability and place a dollar value on having messages viewed by individual users based on the desirability of the user.

Claims

1. A method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network, comprising:

receiving in a network, an advertiser'"'"'s maximum and minimum bids for absentee bidding;

receiving in a network, a user request for a service;

accessing in the network, a user profile of user characteristics about the user;

accessing in the network, at least two advertiser specifications of user characteristics, each specification associated with a respective advertiser;

comparing in the network, the characteristics of the user from the user profile, with the user characteristics from each advertiser specification;

selecting in the network, first and second selected advertiser specifications from the at least two specifications, corresponding to selected first and second respective advertisers;

if one of said advertisers has a maximum bid less than a highest minimum bid of said advertisers, then dropping said one advertiser from bidding;

if one of said advertisers has a maximum bid greater than a second highest maximum bid of said advertisers, then retain said one advertiser in bidding;

computing in the network, a computed bid value that is derived from said second highest maximum bid;

transmitting in the network to the user, said computed bid value for the retained advertiser, for display to the user;

receiving in the network from the user, a user selection of a bid value corresponding to a selected advertiser;

transmitting in the network to the user, an advertising message about the selected advertiser for an advertising display to the user; and

providing to the user a reward corresponding to the selected bid value, in response to the user having selected the advertiser.

2. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 1, wherein said network is a telephone network.

3. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 1, wherein said network is an internet network.

4. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 1, wherein said network is a cable television network.

5. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 1, wherein said network is an earth-orbiting satellite communications network.

6. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 1, wherein said network is a radio frequency network.

7. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 1, which further comprises:

providing the selected advertiser with an identity of the user.

8. A method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network, comprising:

receiving in a network, an advertiser'"'"'s maximum and minimum bids for absentee bidding;

receiving in a network, a user request for a service;

accessing in the network, a user profile of user characteristics about the user;

accessing in the network, at least two advertiser specifications of user characteristics, each specification associated with a respective advertiser;

comparing in the network, the characteristics of the user from the user profile, with the user characteristics from each advertiser specification;

selecting in the network, first and second selected advertiser specifications from the at least two specifications, corresponding to selected first and second respective advertisers;

computing in the network, a computed bid value that is derived from said maximum and minimum bids for said selected first and second respective advertisers;

transmitting in the network to the user said computed bid value for display to the user;

receiving in the network from the user, a user selection of a bid value corresponding to a selected advertiser;

transmitting in the network to the user, an advertising message about the selected advertiser for an advertising display to the user; and

providing to the user a reward corresponding to the selected bid value, in response to the user having selected the advertiser.

9. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 8, wherein said network is a telephone network.

10. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 8, wherein said network is an internet network.

11. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 8, wherein said network is a cable television network.

12. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 8, wherein said network is an earth-orbiting satellite communications network.

13. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 8, wherein said network is a radio frequency network.

14. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 8, which further comprises:

providing the selected advertiser with an identity of the user.

15. A system for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network, comprising:

means for receiving in a network, an advertiser'"'"'s maximum and minimum bids for absentee bidding;

means for receiving in a network, a user request for a service;

means for accessing in the network, a user profile of user characteristics about the user;

means for accessing in the network, at least two advertiser specifications of user characteristics, each specification associated with a respective advertiser;

means for comparing in the network, the characteristics of the user from the user profile, with the user characteristics from each advertiser specification;

means for selecting in the network, first and second selected advertiser specifications from the at least two specifications, corresponding to selected first and second respective advertisers;

means for computing in the network, a computed bid value that is derived from said maximum and minimum bids for said selected first and second respective advertisers;

means for transmitting in the network to the user, said computed bid value for display to the user;

means for receiving in the network from the user, a user selection of a bid value corresponding to a selected advertiser;

means for transmitting in the network to the user, an advertising message about the selected advertiser for an advertising display to the user; and

means for providing to the user a reward corresponding to the selected bid value, in response to the user having selected the advertiser.

16. The system for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 15, wherein said network is a telephone network.

17. The system for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 15, wherein said network is an internet network.

18. The system for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 15, wherein said network is a cable television network.

19. The system for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 15, wherein said network is an earth-orbiting satellite communications network.

20. The system for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 15, wherein said network is a radio frequency network.

21. The system for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 15, which further comprises:

providing the selected advertiser with an identity of the user.

22. A method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network, comprising:

receiving in a network, maximum and minimum bids for absentee bidding from each of a plurality of absentee advertisers;

if an absentee advertiser of said plurality has a maximum bid less than a minimum bid of other advertisers of said plurality, then dropping the advertiser from bidding;

if an absentee advertiser of said plurality has a maximum bid greater than a second highest maximum bid of other advertisers of said plurality, then retaining said first advertiser in bidding;

computing in the network, a computed bid value that is derived from said second highest maximum bid;

transmitting in the network to a user, said computed bid value for at least some of the absentee advertisers of said plurality, for display to a user;

receiving in the network from the user, a user selection of a bid value corresponding to a selected absentee advertiser; and

transmitting in the network to the user, an advertising message about the selected absentee advertiser.

23. A method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network, comprising:

receiving in a network, maximum and minimum bids for absentee bidding from first and second absentee advertisers;

computing in the network, first and second computed bid values, each said value being derived from respective said maximum and minimum bids for each of said first and second absentee advertisers;

transmitting in the network to a user, said first and second computed bid values;

receiving in the network from the user, a user selection of a bid value corresponding to said first advertiser; and

transmitting in the network to the user, an advertising message about the first absentee advertiser.