Advertising using an eBook with a bistable display

• US 7,057,591 B1
• Filed: 07/11/2001
• Issued: 06/06/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Hautanen, Jukka, Aarnio, Ari, Djupsjobacka, Kimmo
• Primary Examiner(s): Liang, Regina
• Application Number:
  US09/903,193
• Time in Patent Office: 1,791 Days
• Field of Search: 345/901, 345/211, 345/867, 345/87, 345/97, 345/204, 345/107, 705/14, 705/26, 705/27, 455/3.06, 455/41.2, 715/808
• US Class Current: 345/87
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0244 Optimization
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0272 Period of advertisement exposure
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement

Abstract

A user terminal, such as an eBook, with a bistable display wherein the terminal detects when a predetermined period of user inactivity with respect to loaded content has elapsed and, in response thereto, replaces the last displayed page of content with an advertisement. In one embodiment, advertisements are received from an advertisement server and stored locally in the user terminal at the time that the content is downloaded from a content server. In an alternate embodiment, the user terminal receives an advertisement from the advertisement server only after user inactivity with respect to previously downloaded content has been detected.

Claims

1. A method of advertising to a user of a terminal, comprising:

displaying content on a bistable display;

transmitting, from the terminal, an indication of user inactivity;

receiving an advertisement via one of an Internet or a digital video broadcast network;

displaying the advertisement on the display; and

removing power to the display, wherein the advertisement remains on the display after power has been removed.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the display is a bistable reflective display.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving the content; and

detecting a predetermined period of user inactivity with respect to the content.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the content and advertisement are received via the Internet.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the content and advertisement are received via a digital video broadcasting—

terrestrial (DVB-T) receiver.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the content is a page of an electronic book and further comprising:

detecting a page turn at a particular time,

wherein the period of user inactivity begins with the time of the page turn and ends a predetermined time later.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the advertisement remains on the display for an extended period of time after power has been removed.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

displaying a different advertisement on the display after a predetermined period of time.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the advertisement replaces the content on the display.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

removing power to the display after displaying the content, wherein the content remains on the display after power has been removed.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adding power to the display to clear the content and display the advertisement.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

transferring content to a second terminal.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

notifying an advertisement server of the content transfer.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the advertisement server is notified via a content server.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein notifying the advertisement server of the content transfer includes transmitting an identification of the transferred content and the second terminal.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the identification of the second terminal is an Internet protocol (IP) address.

17. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving information about other terminals that are in close proximity of the terminal; and

transmitting the information to an advertisement server.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the information about other terminals that are in close proximity of the terminal is received via a low power radio frequency connection.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the connection is a Bluetooth connection.

20. A method of advertising to a user of a mobile terminal comprising:

receiving an advertisement at the time of downloading content;

displaying content on a bistable display, wherein the content is a page of an electronic book;

detecting a page turn;

detecting user inactivity with respect to the content,

wherein the period of user inactivity begins with the time of the page turn and ends a predetermined time later;

displaying the advertisement on the display; and

removing power to the display, wherein the advertisement remains on the display after the power has been removed.

21. The method of claim 20 further comprising:

receiving a plurality of advertisements at the time of downloading content;

wherein the advertisement displayed is randomly selected from the plurality of advertisements.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein the display is a bistable reflective display.

23. The method of claim 20 wherein the content and advertisement are received via the Internet.

24. The method of claim 20 wherein the content and advertisement are received via a digital video broadcasting—

terrestrial (DVB-T) receiver.

25. The method of claim 20 wherein the advertisement remains on the display for an extended period of time after power to the display has been removed.

26. The method of claim 20 further comprising:

displaying a different advertisement on the display after a predetermined period of time.

27. The method of claim 20 wherein the advertisement replaces the content on the display.

28. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

removing power to the display after displaying the content, wherein the content remains on the display after power has been removed.

29. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

adding power to the display to clear the content and display the advertisement.

30. The method of claim 20 further comprising:

transferring content to a second terminal.

31. The method of claim 30 further comprising:

notifying an advertisement server of the content transfer.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein the advertisement server is notified via a content server.

33. The method of claim 31 wherein notifying an advertisement server of the content transfer includes transmitting an identification of the transferred content and the second terminal.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein the identification of the second terminal is an Internet protocol (IP) address.

35. The method of claim 20 further comprising:

receiving information about other terminals that are in close proximity of the terminal; and

transmitting this information to an advertisement server.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the information about other terminals that are in close proximity of the terminal is received via a low power radio frequency connection.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein the connection is a Bluetooth connection.

38. The method of claim 20 wherein the advertisement is a hyperlink on text.

39. A method of advertising to a user of a terminal having a bistable display, comprising:

storing content;

storing advertisements linked to the stored content;

receiving a request for content from the user terminal;

transmitting the requested content to the user terminal;

receiving an indication of user inactivity at the user terminal with respect to the requested content;

selecting an advertisement linked to the requested content;

transmitting the selected advertisement to the user terminal for display;

receiving notice that the terminal has transferred the requested content to a second terminal having a bistable display; and

in response to the notice, transmitting the advertisement linked to the requested content to the second terminal.

40. The method of claim 39 wherein the advertisement is transmitted via the Internet.

41. The method of claim 39 wherein the advertisement is transmitted via a digital video broadcasting—

terrestrial (DVB-T) transmitter.

42. The method of claim 39 wherein the advertisement is randomly selected from a plurality of advertisements.

43. The method of claim 39 wherein the advertisement is a hyperlink.

44. The method of claim 39 wherein the notice includes an identification of the transferred content and the second terminal.

45. The method of claim 39 wherein the advertisements are linked to the transferred content.

46. The method of claim 39 further comprising:

receiving information about other terminals that are in close proximity of the terminal; and

transmitting advertisements to the other terminals.

47. A user terminal for advertising, comprising:

a memory device storing a program; and

a processor in communication with the memory device, the processor operative with the program to;

display content on a bistable display;

transmit, from the terminal, an indication of user inactivity;

receive an advertisement via one of an Internet or a digital video broadcast network;

display the advertisement on the display; and

remove power to the display, wherein the advertisement remains on the display after power has been removed.

48. An apparatus for advertising to a user of a mobile terminal, comprising:

a memory device storing a program; and

a processor in communication with the memory device, the processor operative with the program to;

receive an advertisement at the time of downloading content;

display content on a bistable display, wherein the content is a page of an electronic book;

detect a page turn;

detect user inactivity with respect to the content,

wherein the period of user inactivity begins with the time of the page turn and ends a predetermined time later;

display the advertisement on the display; and

remove power to the display, wherein the advertisement remains on the display after the power has been removed.

49. A system for advertising to a user of a user terminal having a bistable display, comprising:

a memory device storing a program; and

a processor in communication with the memory device, the processor operative with the program to;

store content;

store advertisements linked to the stored content;

receive a request for content from the user terminal;

transmit the requested content to the user terminal;

receive an indication of user inactivity at the user terminal with respect to the requested content;

select an advertisement linked to the requested content;

transmit the selected advertisement to the user terminal for display;

receive notice that the terminal has transferred the requested content to a second terminal having a bistable display; and

in response to the notice, transmitting an advertisement linked to the requested content to the second terminal.

50. A method of advertising to a user of a terminal, comprising:

displaying content on a bistable display;

transmitting, from the terminal, an indication of user inactivity;

receiving an advertisement via one of an Internet or a digital video broadcast network;

displaying the advertisement on the display; and

removing power to the display after displaying the advertisement, wherein the advertisement remains on the display after power has been removed and wherein power remains removed until user activity is detected.

51. A method of advertising to a user of a terminal having a bistable display, comprising:

storing content;

storing advertisements linked to the stored content;

receiving a request for content from the user terminal;

transmitting the requested content to the user terminal;

receiving an indication of user inactivity from the user terminal with respect to the requested content;

selecting an advertisement linked to the requested content; and

transmitting the selected advertisement to the user terminal for display.

52. The method of claim 51, further comprising:

receiving an indication of user inactivity at the user terminal with respect to the requested content; and

in response to receiving the indication of user inactivity, performing the steps of selecting an advertisement linked to the requested content and transmitting the selected advertisement to the user terminal.

53. The method of claim 51 wherein the selected advertisement is transmitted separately from the requested content.

54. The method of claim 51, wherein the advertisement is a hyperlink embedded in the requested content.

55. The method of claim 51 further comprising:

after a predetermined period of user inactivity at the user terminal has expired, receiving a request for a new advertisement to replace the advertisement currently displayed on the user terminal; and

transmitting the new advertisement to the user terminal for display in lieu of the advertisement currently displayed.

56. The method of claim 51 further comprising:

updating a record associated with the user terminal to reflect that the content has been transmitted to the user terminal.

57. The method of claim 51 wherein the content is stored in a content server and the advertisements linked to the stored content are stored in an advertisement server and further comprising:

the content server notifying the advertisement server that the content has been transmitted to the user terminal; and

the advertisement server,

selecting the advertisement linked to the requested content; and

transmitting the selected advertisement to the user terminal.

58. A system for advertising to a user of a user terminal having a bistable display, comprising:

a memory device storing a first program; and

a content processor in communication with the memory device, the content processor operative with the first program to;

store content;

store advertisements linked to the stored content;

receive a request for content from the user terminal;

transmit the requested content to the user terminal; and

a memory device storing a second program; and

an advertisement processor in communication with the memory device, the advertisement processor operative with the second program to;

receive an indication of user inactivity from the user terminal with respect to the requested content;

select an advertisement linked to the requested content; and

transmit the selected advertisement to the user terminal for display on the user terminal.

59. The system of claim 58,

wherein the content processor is further operative with the first program to:

notify the advertisement processor that the content has been transmitted to the user terminal, and

wherein the advertisement processor is further operative with the second program to;

in response to being notified that the content has been transmitted to the user terminal, perform the steps of selecting an advertisement linked to the requested content and transmitting the selected advertisement.

60. The system of claim 58,

wherein the content processor is further operative with the first program to:

receive an indication of user inactivity at the user terminal with respect to the requested content; and

notify the advertisement processor of the indication of user inactivity; and

wherein the advertisement processor is further operative with the second program to;

in response to receiving the indication of user inactivity, perform the steps of selecting an advertisement linked to the requested content and transmitting the selected advertisement.

61. The system of claim 58 wherein the selected advertisement is transmitted separately from the requested content.

62. The system of claim 58, wherein the advertisement is a hyperlink embedded in the requested content.

63. The system of claim 58 wherein the advertisement processor is further operative with the second program to:

after a predetermined period of user inactivity at the user terminal has expired, receive a request for a new advertisement to replace the advertisement currently displayed on the user terminal;

select a new advertisement linked to the requested content; and

transmit the new advertisement for display on the user terminal in lieu of the advertisement currently displayed.

64. The system of claim 58 wherein the content processor is further operative with the first program to:

update a record associated with the user terminal to reflect that the content has been transmitted to the user terminal.

65. The system of claim 58 wherein the content processor and the advertisement processor are the same processor.