System and method of providing advertisements to cellular devices

• US 8,015,064 B2
• Filed: 04/20/2005
• Issued: 09/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ServiceNow Incorporated
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Crolley, C. Wayne
• Primary Examiner(s): Weiss; John G
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHORNESKY, ADAM B
• Application Number:
  US11/110,970
• Publication Number:
  US 20060240808A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,330 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14, 705/10, 705/14.4, 705/14.57, 705/14.58, 705/14.69, 705/14.62, 455/414.1, 455/456.1, 455/404.1, 455/404.2
• US Class Current: 705/14.69
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0259 based on store location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0265 Vehicular advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising

Abstract

A method of advertising is disclosed and includes monitoring transmission data of one or more cellular towers located along a freeway and recording an identification and a time and date stamp for one or more cellular devices that establish communication via the one or more cellular towers as the at least one cellular device travels within a user vehicle along the freeway. Further, the method includes determining one or more types of media files that are supported by the cellular device and monitoring the movement of the one or more cellular devices along the freeway. The method also includes transmitting one or more advertisements to the at least one cellular device when the cellular device is within a predetermined range of a freeway exit. The one or more advertisement is transmitted in a format of the one or more types of media files supported by the cellular device.

Claims

1. A method of advertising, the method comprising:

monitoring transmission data of a cellular tower located along a roadway of a route;

receiving a user selection of one or more points of interest along the roadway in addition to an end destination;

recording an identification and a time and date stamp associated with a cellular device each time the cellular device moves into a cellular coverage region of the cellular tower as the cellular device travels along the roadway;

determining one or more types of media files that are supported by the cellular device;

monitoring the movement of the cellular device along the roadway by determining an approximate location of the cellular device based on a cellular coverage region associated with a most recent recorded date and time stamp of the cellular device;

transmitting one or more advertisements related to a particular point of interest of the user selection of one or more points of interest when the cellular device is within a predetermined range of a roadway exit for the particular point of interest, the one or more advertisements transmitted in a format of the one or more types of media files that have been determined to be supported by the cellular device; and

generating one or more billing reports associating an advertising cost with the one or more advertisements, wherein the advertising cost associated with the one or more advertisements is determined based on a distance between the cellular device and the roadway exit.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising polling the cellular device in order to determine the one or more types of media files supported by the cellular device.

3. The method of claim 1, querying a database in order to determine the one or more types of media files supported by the cellular device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the database is queried with a user identification associated with the cellular device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the database is queried with a make and model identification associated with the cellular device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring the one or more transmitted advertisements.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising generating a billing report and generating a usage report based on the one or more transmitted advertisements.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising sending an advertising customer associated with the one or more advertisements an advertising customer billing report and an advertising customer usage report charging an advertising customer based on the one or more transmitted advertisements.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting information other than the one or more advertisements related to the particular point of interest to the cellular device when the cellular device is within a predetermined range of the particular point of interest.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more advertisements transmitted includes a still image file.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more advertisements transmitted includes a video file.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising refraining from transmitting the one or more advertisements during a time period that the particular point of interest is closed.

13. A method of transmitting information to a cellular device, the method comprising:

receiving and storing user route planning information that includes a route;

receiving and storing a user selection of one or more points of interest along the route in addition to an end destination;

receiving and storing a user cellular telephone number associated with the cellular device;

receiving and storing one or more types of media files that are supported by the cellular device;

monitoring a cellular device communication with one or more cellular towers along the route;

recording a time and date stamp each time the cellular device moves into a cellular coverage region of a particular cellular tower of the one or more the cellular towers;

determining an approximate location of the cellular device based on the cellular coverage region associated with a most recent time and date stamp associated with the cellular device;

transmitting information to the cellular device about a particular point of interest from the user selection of one or more points of interest when the cellular device is in a predetermined range of the particular point of interest; and

generating at least one billing report related to a cost of the information of at least one party associated with the particular point of interest, wherein the cost of the information is determined based on a distance between the cellular device and the particular point of interest and wherein the cost of the information is billed to a party associated with the particular point of interest.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising transmitting an advertisement to the cellular device, wherein the advertisement is in a format of one of the one or more types of media files that are supported by the cellular device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the format is a video format.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the format is an audio data file format.

17. A system comprising:

a database storing one or more media files associated with one or more advertisements, the database storing information specifying one or more types of media files supported by a cellular device;

a server coupled to the database and having access to a cellular tower, the server comprising;

a processor;

a computer readable medium accessible to the processor; and

a computer program embedded within the computer readable medium and executable by the processor, the computer program comprising;

instructions to monitor transmission data of the cellular tower;

instructions to record an identification and a time and date stamp associated with the cellular device each time the cellular device moves into a cellular coverage region of the cellular tower as the cellular device travels;

instructions to determine one or more types of media files that are supported by the cellular device;

instructions to monitor movement of the cellular device by determining an approximate location of the cellular device based on a cellular coverage region associated with a most recent recorded date and time stamp of the cellular device;

instructions to transmit an advertisement related to a user selected point of interest to the cellular device when the cellular device is within a predetermined range of the user selected point of interest, the advertisement transmitted in a format of the one or more types of media files that have been determined to be supported by the cellular device; and

instructions to generate a billing report associating an advertising cost with the advertisement, wherein the advertising cost associated with the advertisement is determined based on a distance between the cellular device and the point of interest.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the database stores the advertisement in multiple formats associated with multiple media files.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the computer program further comprises instructions to poll the cellular device in order to determine the one or more types of media files supported by the cellular device.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the computer program further comprises instructions to query a database in order to determine the one or more types of media files supported by the cellular device.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the cellular device supports a video format and the advertisement is transmitted as a video file in the video format.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the video format is a moving picture experts group (MPEG) data file.