Advertisement filtering and storage for targeted advertisement systems

• US 7,810,114 B2
• Filed: 05/20/2005
• Issued: 10/05/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Prime Research Alliance E, LLC
• Original Assignee: Prime Research Alliance E., Inc.
• Inventors: Eldering, Charles A., Flickinger, Gregory C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hirl, Joseph P
• Assistant Examiner(s): RABOVIANSKI, JIVKA A
• Application Number:
  US11/134,146
• Publication Number:
  US 20050210502A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,964 Days
• Field of Search: 725/32, 725 34- 36
• US Class Current: 725/32
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0254 based on statistics
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0258 Registration
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0264 based upon schedule
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0272 Period of advertisement exposure
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/27 Arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/37 for identifying segments of broadcast information, e.g. scenes or extracting programme ID
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/375 Commercial
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/45 for identifying users
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/65 for using the result on users' side
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/73 using meta-information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25883 being end-user demographical data, e.g. age, family status or address arrangements for identifying locations of users in broadcast systems H04H60/52
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26208 the scheduling operation being performed under constraints
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26233 involving content or additional data duration or size, e.g. length of a movie, size of an executable file
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26241 involving the time of distribution, e.g. the best time of the day for inserting an advertisement or airing a children program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42684 Client identification by a unique number or address, e.g. serial number, MAC address, socket ID network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming H04L61/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4335 : Housekeeping operations, e.g. prioritizing content for deletion because of storage space restrictions storage management, e.g. defragmentation G06F3/0604; unloading stored programs G06F9/445; storage management in file systems G06F16/10; buffering arrangements in a network node or in an end terminal in packet networks H04L49/90
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 : involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/454 : Content or additional data filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 : End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/478 : Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 : involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 : Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8586 : by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/088 : the inserted signal being digital
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 : by receiver means only
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 : Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17354 : in an intermediate station common to a plurality of user terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17363 : at or near the user terminal

Abstract

An advertisement storage and filtering system for selectively identifying targeted advertisements to be stored in the memory of the STB. This storing of the selected advertisements can be accomplished in a number of ways. In one embodiment, the advertisements, in real-time and as they are received at the STB, are processed by the STB and only those advertisements with the appropriate characteristics are stored on the hard drive (HD). This may require some buffering of the advertisements in the STB memory as the STB processes and determines whether or not to store the advertisement. The information required to determine whether or not to store the advertisement could also be sent in advance, e.g., as a data service in an advertisement channel. Alternatively, the STB may store incoming advertisements in a memory temporarily and subsequently determine whether or not to retain the stored advertisements.

Claims

1. A method of selectively storing targeted advertisements at subscriber equipment in a television network environment, the method comprising:

(a) receiving, by the subscriber equipment, a grouping assignment associating the subscriber equipment to at least one of a plurality of targeted groups, each of the targeted groups representing one or more common demographic or psychographic factors, the grouping assignment being made based on demographic or psychographic factors corresponding to viewers associated with the subscriber equipment;

(b) receiving, by the subscriber equipment, an advertisement transmission signal, wherein the advertisement transmission signal includes at least one advertisement applicable to the at least one targeted group, and metadata for the at least one advertisement, the metadata containing a grouping indicator that associates the at least one advertisement with the at least one targeted group;

(c) comparing, by the subscriber equipment, the grouping indicator of the at least one advertisement with the grouping assignment of the subscriber equipment;

(d) retaining the at least one advertisement, by the subscriber equipment, if the grouping indicator of the at least one advertisement matches the grouping assignment of the subscriber equipment;

(e) detecting, by the subscriber equipment, an interval in a programming stream, received by the subscriber equipment, within which advertisements may be inserted;

(f) determining, by the subscriber equipment, the current state of a display device counted to the subscriber equipment if the interval has been detected;

(g) selecting, by the subscriber equipment, at least one of the retained advertisements based at least in part on (i) the grouping indicator of one or more of the retained advertisements;

(ii) identifying subscriber traits associated with a current viewer of the display device based on current session interaction data and previous session interaction data; and

(iii) a determination of whether the one or more of the retained advertisements fit within the detected interval;

(h) inserting, by the subscriber equipment, the selected at least one of the retained advertisements into the programming stream within the detected interval it is determined that the display device is currently in an operating state; and

(i) determining, by the subscriber equipment, based on the current state of the display device, whether at least a temporal portion of the at least one of the retained advertisements has been displayed by the display device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) includes receiving splice timing information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the metadata and the splice timing information are encoded as a data service on the advertisement transmission signal.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

(j) decoding the data service and identifying the timing of the at least one advertisement from the splice timing information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein step (d) includes retaining the at least one advertisement during one or more splice windows identified by the splice timing information.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

(j) deleting the at least one advertisement if the advertisement is found to be inappropriate.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata is received in a vertical blanking interval.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one advertisement is associated with a plurality of targeted groups.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the grouping assignment relates the subscriber equipment to a plurality of targeted groups.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein each viewer of the subscriber equipment has different characterization information associated therewith and the grouping assignment relating the subscriber equipment to at least one of the targeted groups relates the subscriber equipment to at least one of the targeted groups for each viewer.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the characterization information is based on one or more demographic factors associated with each of the viewers of the subscriber equipment.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the characterization information is based on one or more psychographic factors associated with each of the viewers of the subscriber equipment.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein step (c) is performed in real-time or near real-time.

14. An advertisement management system in a television network environment, the system comprising:

a targeted advertising generator configured to transmit at least one advertisement over a targeted advertising transmission signal path, wherein the at least one advertisement includes metadata containing a grouping indicator that associates the at least one advertisement with at least one of a plurality of targeted groups;

subscriber equipment configured to receive and present the at least one advertisement, the subscriber equipment storing a grouping assignment that associates the subscriber equipment to at least one of the plurality of targeted groups, each of the targeted groups representing one or more common demographic or psychographic factors, the grouping assignment being made based on demographic or psychographic factors corresponding to viewers associated with the subscriber equipment, the subscriber equipment having;

(a) a processor configured to compare the grouping indicator of the at least one advertisement with the grouping assignment of the subscriber equipment;

(b) a storage device configured to store the at least one advertisement if the grouping indicator of the at least one advertisement matches the grouping assignment of the subscriber equipment;

(c) an insertion processor configured to detect an interval in a programming stream received by the subscriber equipment, within which advertisements may be inserted and to insert at least one of the stored advertisements into the programming stream within the detected interval based on a determination that a display device coupled to the subscriber equipment is currently in an operating state, wherein the at least one retained advertisement is selected based at least in part on (i) the grouping indicator of one or more of the retained advertisements;

(ii) identifying subscriber traits associated with a current viewer of the display device based on current session interaction data and previous session interaction data; and

(iii) a determination of whether the one or more of the retained advertisements fit within the detected interval; and

(d) a monitoring component configured to determine the current state of the display device when the interval is detected and for determining based on the current state of the display device, whether at least a temporal portion of the at least one of the stored advertisements has been displayed by the display device.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the subscriber equipment is a set-top box configured to receive signals from and transmit signals to a television and wherein the display device is the television.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the set-top box comprises a demodulator or decoder for demodulating or decoding the at least one advertisement and the metadata information to differentiate between the at least one advertisement and the metadata information.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the set-top box further comprises a set-top processor configured to decode the metadata information to determine one or more corresponding instructions.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the set-top processor associates the one or more corresponding instructions to the received at least one advertisement to select one or more appropriate advertisements.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein the at least one advertisement is associated with more than one targeted group.

20. The system of claim 14, wherein the grouping assignment relates the subscriber equipment to more than one targeted group.

21. The system of claim 14, wherein each viewer of the subscriber equipment has different characterization information associated therewith, and the grouping assignment relating the subscriber equipment to one or more targeted groups relates the subscriber equipment to one or more targeted groups for each viewer.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the characterization information is based on one or more demographic factors associated with each of the viewers of the subscriber equipment.

23. The method of claim 21 wherein the characterization information is based on one or more psychographic factors associated with each of the viewers of the subscriber equipment.

24. A method of selectively storing and presenting targeted advertisements at subscriber equipment in a television network environment, the method comprising:

(a) receiving, by the subscriber equipment, a grouping assignment associating the subscriber equipment to at least one of a plurality of targeted groups, each of the targeted groups representing one or more common demographic or psychographic factors, the grouping assignment being made based on demographic or psychographic factors corresponding to viewers associated with the subscriber equipment;

(b) receiving, by the subscriber equipment, an advertisement transmission signal, wherein the advertisement transmission signal includes at least one advertisement applicable to the at least one targeted group, and metadata for the at least one advertisement, the metadata containing a grouping indicator that associates the at least one advertisement with the at least one targeted group;

(c) comparing, by the subscriber equipment, the grouping indicator of the at least one advertisement with the grouping assignment of the subscriber equipment; and

(d) retaining the at least one advertisement, by the subscriber equipment, if the grouping indicator of the at least one advertisement matches the grouping assignment of the subscriber equipment;

(e) detecting, by the subscriber equipment, an interval in a programming stream, received by the subscriber equipment, within which advertisements may be inserted;

(f) selecting, by the subscriber equipment, at least one of the retained advertisements based at least in part on (i) the grouping indicator of one or more of the retained advertisements;

(ii) identifying subscriber traits associated with a current viewer of the display device based on current session interaction data and previous session interaction data; and

(iii) a determination of whether the one or more of the retained advertisements fit within the detected interval; and

(g) inserting, by the subscriber equipment, the selected at least one of the retained advertisements into the programming stream within the detected interval.