Advertising that is relevant to a person

• US 8,126,774 B2
• Filed: 01/23/2006
• Issued: 02/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Hendrickson, Gregory L., Reichert, James T., Cluts, Jonathan C., Heath, Pamela J., Pleyer, Sven, Baumert, David W., Rinearson, Wistar D., Goldthwaite, Flora P., Gallagher, John P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Weiss, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Macasiano, Marilyn G
• Application Number:
  US11/337,738
• Publication Number:
  US 20070174117A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,227 Days
• Field of Search: 705/2, 705/1, 705/14, 705/64, 705/10, 705/14.54, 705/14.49, 715/757, 725/32, 725/34, 345/473, 345/156, 348/552, 382/100, 463/42, 709/231
• US Class Current: 705/14.49
• 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 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute

Abstract

A person is viewing a display. By evaluating tracked information about the person, the display and/or the content being viewed, a tracking system determines that an opportunity exists to present an advertisement that is relevant to the person in the context of the person currently viewing the display. The tracking system provides advertiser data for the advertisement and instructions for generating the advertisement to a synthesis system local to the viewer and the viewer'"'"'s display system, which dynamically synthesizes the advertisement and provides it to the display.

Claims

1. A method for advertising to be performed on a computing device, the computing device comprising a processing unit and a memory, the method comprising:

using the processing unit to identify a person who is currently viewing a display of a device;

using the processing unit to determine that an opportunity exists to present an advertisement that is relevant to said person in the context of said person currently viewing said display, wherein the context of said person currently viewing said display comprises ambient sensor data regarding the device, the ambient sensor data comprising at least one of light level data, sound level data or motion data from the person'"'"'s environment;

notifying an advertiser of said opportunity without identifying said person to said advertiser;

using the processing unit to receive advertiser data for said advertisement from said advertiser;

using the processing unit to generate additional data for said advertisement to personalize said advertisement based on information that is not accessible by said advertiser;

using the processing unit to determine instructions for generating said advertisement in a manner that is configured for imminent presentation in said display; and

dynamically building and compositing said advertisement from said advertiser data, said additional data and said instructions.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said additional data includes personal information of said person.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that said opportunity exists comprises:

collecting and monitoring tracked information; and

evaluating said tracked information in said context.

4. A method for advertising to be performed on a computing device, the computing device comprising a processing unit and a memory, the method comprising:

using the processing unit to identify a person who is currently viewing a display;

using the processing unit to determine that an opportunity exists to present an advertisement that is relevant to said person in the context of said person currently viewing said display by determining whether a relevancy threshold has been met, wherein the context of said person currently viewing said display comprises ambient sensor data regarding the computing device, the ambient sensor data comprising at least one of light level data, sound level data or motion data from the person'"'"'s environment;

notifying an advertiser of said opportunity without identifying said person to said advertiser;

using the processing unit to receive from the advertiser data from which at least one three-dimensional object can be rendered;

using the processing unit to determine instructions for generating an advertisement that is configured for imminent presentation in said display and that includes said at least one three-dimensional object;

using the processing unit to provide said data and said instructions to a three-dimensional rendering engine that is coupled to said display;

using the processing unit to generate additional data for said advertisement based on information that is not accessible by said advertiser;

using the processing unit to provide said additional data to said three-dimensional rendering engine; and

dynamically building and compositing said advertisement from said advertiser data, said additional data and said instructions.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving from said advertiser pre-produced elements for inclusion in said advertisement; and

providing said elements to said three-dimensional rendering engine.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein determining that said opportunity exists comprises:

collecting and monitoring tracked information; and

evaluating said tracked information in said context.

7. A computer storage medium encoded with computer-executable instructions for an advertising system comprising:

a tracking system to collect and monitor tracked information and to receive an identification of a person currently viewing a display, to determine therefrom whether an opportunity exists to present an advertisement to said person that is relevant in the context of said person viewing said display, and if so, to notifying an advertiser of said opportunity without identifying said person to said advertiser, and, to dynamically compile data for said advertisement and instructions for generating said advertisement so that said advertisement is configured for imminent presentation in said display including additional data for said advertisement based on information that is not accessible by said advertiser; and

an advertisement synthesis system coupled to said display, said advertisement synthesis system to synthesize dynamically said advertisement from said data and said instructions, said context comprising content information regarding media content currently being viewed by the person on the display.

8. The computer storage medium of claim 7, wherein said advertisement synthesis system comprises a three-dimensional rendering engine.

9. The computer storage medium of claim 7, wherein said advertisement synthesis system and said display are comprised in a device.

10. The computer storage medium of claim 9, wherein said device further comprises said tracking system.

11. The computer storage medium of claim 7, wherein a device comprises said tracking system and said advertisement synthesis system.

12. The computer storage medium of claim 9, wherein the context of said person currently viewing said display comprises ambient sensor data regarding the device, the ambient sensor data comprising at least one of light level data, sound level data or motion data from the person'"'"'s environment.