System and method for delivering customized advertisements within interactive communication systems

• US 6,385,592 B1
• Filed: 06/30/1999
• Issued: 05/07/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Mineral Lassen LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: BIG Media, Inc.
• Inventors: Angles, Paul D., Blattner, Douglas O.
• Primary Examiner(s): Stamber, Eric W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Myhre, James W.
• Application Number:
  US09/345,822
• Time in Patent Office: 1,042 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14
• US Class Current: 705/14.56
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0258 Registration
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0271 Personalized advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0276 Advertisement creation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0621 Item configuration or customization

Abstract

The present invention is a system and method for delivering customized electronic advertisements in an interactive communication system. The customized advertisements are selected based on consumer profiles and are then integrated with offerings maintained by different content providers. The preferred interactive communication system interconnects multiple consumer computers, multiple content provider computers and multiple Internet provider computers with an advertisement provider computer. Whenever a consumer directs one of the consumer computers to access an offering existing in one of the content provider computers, an advertising request is sent to the advertisement provider computer. Upon receiving the advertising request, the advertising provider computer generates a custom advertisement based on the consumer'"'"'s profile. The custom advertisement is then combined with the offering from the content provider computer and displayed to the consumer. The advertisement provider computer also credits a consumer account, a content provider account and an internet provider account each time a consumer views a custom advertisement. Furthermore, the advertisement provider computer tracks consumer responses to the customized advertisements.

Claims

1. An advertisement provider computer for customizing advertisements to be transferred via the internet, comprising:

a registration module executable at an advertisement provider computer, the registration module configured to allow a consumer to register consumer demographic information;

an advertising module executable at an advertisement provider computer, the advertising module configured to select an advertisement corresponding to the consumer demographic information and content provider demographic information and transfer the advertisement to the consumer in response to the consumer accessing data offered by a content provider; and

an accounting database configured to bill an advertiser and provide a credit to a content provider in response to the transfer of the advertisement to the consumer.

2. The advertisement provider computer according to claim 1, wherein the registration module is further configured to create an advertisement request and to transfer the advertisement request to the content provider.

3. The advertisement provider computer according to claim 2, where the advertisement request comprises an advertisement provider computer identifier and a content provider script.

4. The advertisement provider computer according to claim 2, wherein the registration module is further configured to assign a consumer identification code to the consumer, and configured to transfer a consumer identification code to the consumer.

5. The advertisement provider computer according to claim 4, wherein the advertising module is further configured to accept the advertisement request and the consumer identification code from the consumer.

6. The advertisement provider computer according to claim 1, further comprising:

a registration database configured to store registration information; and

an advertisement database configured to store advertisement information.

7. The advertisement provider computer according to claim 1, wherein the advertisement provider computer is further configured to access the accounting database to credit the consumer when the advertisement is transferred.

8. The advertisement provider computer according to claim 1, wherein the advertising module is further configured to track consumer activities.

9. The advertisement provider computer according to claim 8, wherein the consumer activities relate to the advertisement, and wherein the accounting database is further configured to update billing information based on the consumer activities.

10. The advertisement provider computer according to claim 1, wherein the advertisement provider computer is associated with a website which is comprised of a plurality of computers.

11. A method of providing a customized advertisement, comprising:

registering a consumer and consumer demographic data at an advertisement provider computer;

receiving a request for an advertisement at the advertisement provider computer in response to the consumer accessing data provided by a content provider;

selecting with the advertisement provider computer, at least one advertisement based in part on the consumer demographic data and content provider demographic data; and

transferring the selected advertisement from the advertisement provider computer to the consumer through a communications medium; and

billing the advertisement provider computer and crediting the content provider in response to the selected advertisement being transferred to the consumer.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the request identifies at least the content provider, and the consumer.

13. The method according to claim 11, further comprising crediting the consumer with the advertisement provider computer in response to the transfer of the advertisement to the consumer.

14. The method according to claim 11, further comprising tracking activities of the consumer.

15. An advertisement provider computer for customizing advertisements to be transferred via the internet, comprising an advertising module executable at an advertisement provider computer, the advertising module configured to select an advertisement in response to the consumer accessing data offered by a content provider, the advertising module configured to select the advertisement based in part on consumer demographic information and content provider demographic information.

16. The advertisement provider computer according to claim 15, further comprising a registration module executable at the advertisement provider computer, the registration module configured to allow a consumer to register the consumer demographic information.

17. The advertisement provider computer according to claim 15, wherein the registration module is further configured to create an advertisement request and to transfer the advertisement request to the content provider.

18. The advertisement provider computer according to claim 17, where the advertisement request comprises an advertisement provider computer identifier and a content provider script.

19. The advertisement provider computer according to claim 18, wherein the registration module is further configured to assign a consumer identification code to the consumer, and configured to transfer a consumer identification code to the consumer.

20. The advertisement provider computer according to claim 19, wherein the advertising module is further configured to accept the advertisement request and the consumer identification code from the consumer.

21. The advertisement provider computer according to claim 15, further comprising:

a registration database configured to store registration information; and

an advertisement database configured to store advertisement information.

22. The advertisement provider computer according to claim 15, further comprising an accounting database configured to bill an advertiser and provide a credit to a content provider in response to the transfer of the advertisement to the consumer.

23. The advertisement provider computer according to claim 22, wherein the advertisement provider computer is further configured to access the accounting database to credit the consumer when the advertisement is transferred.

24. The advertisement provider computer according to claim 15, wherein the advertising module is further configured to track consumer activities.

25. The advertisement provider computer according to claim 24, wherein the consumer activities relate to the advertisement, and wherein the accounting database is further configured to update billing information based on the consumer activities.

26. The advertisement provider computer according to claim 15, wherein the advertisement provider computer is associated with a website which is comprised of a plurality of computers.

27. A method of providing a customized advertisement, comprising selecting with an advertisement provider computer, at least one advertisement based in part on consumer demographic data and content provider demographic data.

28. The method according to claim 27, further comprising receiving a request for an advertisement at the advertisement provider computer in response to the consumer accessing data provided by a content provider.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein the request identifies at least the content provider, and the consumer.

30. The method according to claim 27, further comprising crediting the consumer with the advertisement provider computer in response to the transfer of the advertisement to the consumer.

31. The method according to claim 27, further comprising tracking activities of the consumer.

32. The method according to claim 27, further comprising transferring the selected advertisement from the advertisement provider computer to the consumer through a communications medium.

33. The method according to claim 27, further comprising billing the advertisement provider computer and crediting the content provider in response to the selected advertisement being transferred to the consumer.