Method of enhancing electronic communications with contextually relevant content

• US 7,752,074 B2
• Filed: 03/13/2008
• Issued: 07/06/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/05/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tamiras Per Pte Ltd LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Sponster LLC
• Inventors: Bosarge, Jason, Little, Roger
• Primary Examiner(s): Boveja; Namrata
• Application Number:
  US12/047,846
• Publication Number:
  US 20080162439A1
• Time in Patent Office: 845 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14
• US Class Current: 705/14.54
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0235 constrained by time limit or expiration date
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0254 based on statistics
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0271 Personalized advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0275 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement

Abstract

A computer method and device for intercepting contracting client'"'"'s sent electronic messages, scanning the message body content for key words, sending the key words to a remote central computer server which analyses the key words and enhances the message by attaching a relevant, contextual advertising tag line or image/banner/words/HTML/Flash, etc. to the electronic message, and transmitting the enhanced message to a receiver.

Claims

1. In a computing system configured to receive and analyze electronic communications and route the electronic communications to recipient addresses, a method for enhancing electronic communications with contextually relevant advertising content, comprising:

the computing system identifying a list of keywords determined to be relevant to advertising content, at least some of the keywords being relevant to advertising content that differs from other advertising content associated with other keywords;

the computing system receiving a plurality of electronic communications from a plurality of different senders, at least some of which electronic communications specify different recipient addresses and contain message bodies that differ from those of other electronic communications received by the computing system;

the computing system analyzing a message body of an electronic communication from a sender to a recipient address and determining whether the message body contains any keywords determined to be relevant to advertising content;

upon analyzing the message body of the electronic communication and finding a first keyword determined to be relevant to first advertising content and a second keyword different from the first keyword and determined to be relevant to second advertising content that differs from the first advertising content, the computing system identifying the first advertising content and the second advertising content; and

the computing system routing the electronic communication recipient address and causing the first advertising content and second advertising content to be displayed to a side of the message body of the electronic communication when the electronic communication is accessed by a recipient,

the computing system causing the first advertising content to be displayed in a manner so as to comprise first underlined text that is a first hyperlink which points to a first website associated with a first advertiser and first text that is not underlined and which provides first information regarding the first advertising content,

the computing system causing the second advertising content to be displayed in a manner so as to comprise second underlined text that is a second hyperlink which points to a second website associated with a second advertiser that is different than the first advertiser and second text that is not underlined and which provides second information regarding the second advertising content.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, the electronic communications including text that is initially un-enhanced when received by the computing system, the computing system causing initially un-enhanced text to be changed into a hyperlink that points to a website associated with advertising content.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, each electronic communication received by the computing system comprising initially un-enhanced message body text, the computing system causing the first advertising content to be displayed when accessed by a recipient so as to comprise at least one tag line positioned to a side of the message body text and at least one word within the message body text that is changed into a hyperlink.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, the method further comprising:

the computing system determining which advertiser out a plurality of advertisers has paid the most for advertising; and

the computing system causing at least one word in the message body to be changed into a hyperlink which points to a website associated with the advertiser determined to have paid the most for advertising.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, the computing system causing the first advertising content and the second advertising content to be displayed vertically stacked outside of and to the side of the message body when the electronic communication is accessed by the recipient.

6. A method as recited in claim 5, the computing system causing the first advertising content and the second advertising content to be displayed vertically stacked in a predetermined order based on which of the first or second advertiser paid more money for advertising.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, the computing system identifying at least the first advertising content independently of stored data relating to general interests of the sender.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, the computing system identifying at least the first advertising content based solely on finding the first keyword in the subject line or message body of the electronic communication and without considering stored data relating to general interests of the sender and recipient of the electronic communication.

9. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the electronic communications comprise one or more of e-mail, instant messages, or Short Messaging Service messaging.

10. A method as recited in claim 1, the computing system further causing advertising content that is not contextually relevant to the electronic communication to be displayed to the side of the message body of the electronic communication and so as to include a line of text that is not underlined and another line of text that is underlined and is a hyperlink that points to a website associated with an advertiser of the advertising content that is not contextually relevant.

11. A method as recited in claim 1, upon analyzing another electronic communication and determining that the message body of the other electronic communication does not contain any words that match any keywords determined to be relevant to advertising content, the computing system routing the electronic communication to the recipient and causing advertising content that is not contextually related to the message body of the electronic communication to be displayed to the side of the message body of the electronic communication and so as to include a line of text that is not underlined and another line of text that is underlined and is a hyperlink that points to a website associated with an advertiser of the advertising content that is not contextually related.

21. A method as recited in claim 1, the computing system causing the first advertising content and the second advertising content to be displayed vertically stacked in a predetermined order based on which of the first advertiser or second advertiser paid more money for advertising.

22. A method as recited in claim 1, the first advertising content comprising multiple advertisements from multiple advertisers, the computing system causing the multiple advertisements to be displayed vertically stacked in a predetermined order based on which of the multiple advertisers paid more money for advertising.

23. A method as recited in claim 1, upon analyzing another electronic communication and determining that the message body of the other electronic communication contains only one keyword determined to be relevant to identified advertising content, the computing system routing the electronic communication to a specified recipient and causing the identified advertising content to be displayed outside of and to a side of a message body of the other electronic communication when the other electronic communication is accessed by the specified recipient, the identified advertising content comprising one or more advertisements, each displayed as a line of text that is not underlined and another line of text that is underlined and is a hyperlink that points to a website associated with an advertiser associated with the identified advertising content.

24. A method as recited in claim 23, the identified advertising content corresponding to a plurality of advertisements of a plurality of advertisers, the computing system causing the plurality of advertisements to be displayed vertically stacked in a predetermined order based on how much the plurality of advertisers paid for advertising.

25. A method as recited in claim 1, the computing system further receiving one or more keywords selected by each advertiser as being associated with its particular advertising content.

26. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising a device displaying the electronic communication and receiving advertising data directly from a database storing the advertising data.

12. In a computing system configured to receive and analyze electronic communications and route the electronic communications to recipients, a method for enhancing an electronic communication with contextually relevant third party content, comprising:

the computing system identifying a list of keywords determined to be relevant to third party content;

the computing system receiving an electronic communication that includes text that is initially un-enhanced;

the computing system analyzing the electronic communication and determining whether it contains one or more words that match and/or contextually relate to any of the keywords determined to be relevant to third party content;

upon analyzing the electronic communication and finding one or more words that match and/or contextually relate to any of the keywords determined to be relevant to third party content, the computing system identifying initially un-enhanced text in the electronic communication to be changed into a hyperlink that points to a website associated with contextually relevant third party content; and

the computing system routing the electronic communication to one or more recipient addresses and enhancing the electronic communication by changing the identified text in the electronic communication into a hyperlink that points to a website associated with the contextually relevant third party content.

13. A method as recited in claim 12, wherein, as a result of the computing system changing the initially un-enhanced text into the hyperlink, a recipient of the electronic communication can access contextually relevant third party content without moving a cursor outside a message body of the electronic communication.

14. A method as recited in claim 12, the computing system further enhancing the electronic communication with contextually relevant third party content displayed to the side of message body text of the electronic communication.

15. A method as recited in claim 14, the contextually relevant third party content displayed to the side of the message body text of the electronic communication comprising a plurality of advertisement tag lines from different third party content providers, the computing system causing the plurality of advertisement tag lines to be displayed vertically to the side of the message body text.

16. A method as recited in claim 15, the computing system routing the contextually relevant third party content so that the plurality of advertisement tag lines are displayed in a predetermined order based on which of the different third party content providers paid more money.

17. A method as recited in claim 12, the computing system analyzing the electronic communication and identifying contextually relevant third party content independently of stored data relating to general interests of a sender of the electronic communication.

18. A method as recited in claim 12, wherein the electronic communication comprises one or more of e-mail communications, Short Messaging Service messaging, or instant messages.

19. In a computing system configured to receive and analyze email communications and route the email communications to recipient addresses, a method for enhancing email communications with contextually relevant advertising content, comprising:

the computing system identifying a list of keywords determined to be relevant to advertising content, at least some of the keywords being relevant to advertising content that differs from other advertising content associated with other keywords;

the computing system receiving a plurality of email communications from a plurality of different senders, at least some of which email communications specify different recipient addresses and contain subject lines and message bodies that differ from those of other email communications received by the computing system;

the computing system analyzing a subject line and message body of an email communication from a sender to a recipient address and determining whether the subject line and/or message body contain any keywords determined to be relevant to advertising content;

upon analyzing the subject line and message body of the email communication and finding a first keyword determined to be relevant to first advertising content and a second keyword different from the first keyword and determined to be relevant to second advertising content that differs from the first advertising content, the computing system identifying the first advertising content and the second advertising content; and

the computing system routing the email communication to the recipient address and causing the first advertising content and second advertising content to be displayed in a vertical column outside of and to a side of the message body of the email communication when the email communication is accessed by a recipient,

the computing system causing the first advertising content to be displayed in a manner so as to comprise first underlined text that is a first hyperlink which points to a first website associated with a first advertiser and first text that is not underlined and which provides first information regarding the first advertising content,

the computing system causing the second advertising content to be displayed in a manner so as to comprise second underlined text that is a second hyperlink which points to a second website associated with a second advertiser that is different than the first advertiser and second text that is not underlined and that provides second information regarding the second advertising content.

20. A method as recited in claim 19, the email communication including text that is initially un-enhanced when received by the server system, the computing system causing the initially un-enhanced text to be changed into a hyperlink that points to a website associated with advertising content.

27. A method as recited in claim 19, the computing system causing the first advertising content and the second advertising content to be displayed vertically stacked in a predetermined order based on which of the first advertiser or second advertiser paid more money for advertising.

28. A method as recited in claim 19, the first advertising content comprising multiple advertisements from multiple advertisers, the computing system causing the multiple advertisements to be displayed vertically stacked in a predetermined order based on which of the multiple advertisers paid more money for advertising.

29. A method as recited in claim 19, the computing system further causing advertising content that is not contextually relevant to the email communication to be displayed outside of and to the side of the message body of the email communication and so as to include a line of text that is not underlined and another line of text that is underlined and is a hyperlink that points to a website associated with an advertiser of the advertising content that is not contextually relevant.

30. A method as recited in claim 19, upon analyzing another email communication and determining that the subject line and message body of the other email communication do not contain any keywords determined to be relevant to advertising content, the computing system routing the email communication to the recipient and causing advertising content that is not contextually related to the subject line and message body of the email communication to be displayed to the side of the message body of the email communication and so as to include a line of text that is not underlined and another line of text that is underlined and is a hyperlink that points to a website associated with an advertiser of the advertising content that is not contextually related.

31. A method as recited in claim 19, upon analyzing another email communication and determining that the subject line and message body of the other email communication contains only one keyword determined to be relevant to identified advertising content, the computing system routing the email communication to a specified recipient and causing the identified advertising content to be displayed outside of and to a side of a message body of the other email communication when the other email communication is accessed by the specified recipient, the identified advertising content comprising one or more advertisements, each displayed as a line of text that is not underlined and another line of text that is underlined and is a hyperlink that points to a website associated with an advertiser associated with the identified advertising content.

32. A method as recited in claim 31, the identified advertising content corresponding to a plurality of advertisements of a plurality of advertisers, the computing system causing the plurality of advertisements to be displayed vertically stacked in a predetermined order based on how much the plurality of advertisers paid for advertising.

33. A method as recited in claim 19, the computing system further analyzing the email communication for contextual essence and other parts of the email communication, including header data, date, subject, sender, recipient, MIME parts, HTML, BINHEX, and attachments.

34. A method as recited in claim 19, further comprising charging and collecting from advertisers and paying compensation to a service provider of the email communications.

35. A method as recited in claim 34, the advertisers being charged based on advertisement click-through events.

36. A method as recited in claim 19, the computing system further receiving one or more keywords selected by each advertiser as being associated with its particular advertising content.

37. A method as recited in claim 19, further comprising a device displaying the electronic communication and receiving advertising data directly from a database storing the advertising data.

38. In a computing system configured to receive and analyze electronic communications and route the electronic communications to recipient addresses, a method for enhancing electronic communications with contextually relevant advertising content, comprising:

the computing system identifying a list of keywords determined to be relevant to advertising content, at least some of the keywords being relevant to advertising content that differs from other advertising content associated with other keywords;

the computing system receiving a plurality of electronic communications from a plurality of different senders, at least some of which electronic communications specify different recipient addresses and contain message bodies that differ from those of other electronic communications received by the computing system;

the computing system analyzing a message body of an electronic communication from a sender to a recipient address and determining whether the message body contains any keywords determined to be relevant to advertising content;

upon analyzing the message body of the electronic communication and finding a first keyword determined to be relevant to first advertising content and a second keyword different from the first keyword and determined to be relevant to second advertising content that differs from the first advertising content, the computing system identifying the first advertising content and the second advertising content;

the computing system routing the electronic communication to the recipient address and causing the first advertising content and the second advertising content to be displayed together with the electronic communication when the electronic communication is accessed by a recipient, the first advertising content and the second advertising content together comprising a plurality of advertisements, the computing system causing the plurality of advertisements to be displayed with the electronic communication in a predetermined order based on pay-per-click bids for use of the first and second keywords,

the computing system causing the first advertising content to be displayed in a manner so as to comprise first underlined text which is a first hyperlink that points to a first website associated with a first advertiser of the first advertising content,

the computing system causing the second advertising content to be displayed in a manner so as to comprise second underlined text which is a second hyperlink that points to a second website associated with a second advertiser of the second advertising content; and

charging and collecting from advertisers based on advertisement click-through events and paying compensation to a service provider of the email communications.

39. A method as recited in claim 38, the computer system causing the first advertising content to be displayed in a manner so as to include first text, which is not underlined, which is positioned below the first underlined text, and which provides information regarding the first advertising content, the computer system causing the second advertising content to be displayed in a manner so as to include second text which is not underlined, which is positioned below the second underlined text, and which provides information regarding the second advertising content.