Methods, apparatus, and systems for presenting television programming and related information

• US 8,819,726 B2
• Filed: 10/14/2011
• Issued: 08/26/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cyandia, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Cyandia, Inc.
• Inventors: Wetzer, Michael, Theriault, Thomas, Dingman, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): TAYLOR, JOSHUA D
• Application Number:
  US13/273,894
• Publication Number:
  US 20120144416A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,047 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 725/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25816 involving client authentication restricting access to computer systems by authenticating users using a predetermined code G06F21/33; cryptographic authentication protocols H04L9/32; networks authentication protocols H04L63/08; authentication in wireless network security H04W12/06
• 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 21/41265 having a remote control device for bidirectional communication between the remote control device and client device unidirectional remote control device H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for providing advertising information on a second user viewing device relating to a media program viewed on a first user viewing device. Upon determining that the media program is being presented via the first user viewing device, an ad programming signal is transmitted to the second user viewing device so as to present on the second user viewing device at least one first advertisement relating to content of the media program.

Claims

1. An apparatus for providing advertising information relating to a media program, the apparatus comprising:

at least one communication interface;

a memory configured to store processor-executable instructions; and

at least one processing unit communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one communication interface, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions, the at least one processing unit is configured to;

A) determine that the media program is currently being presented using a first user viewing device that is communicatively coupled to the at least one communication interface; and

B) transmit an ad programming signal to a second user viewing device communicatively coupled to the at least one communication interface, so as to configure the second user viewing device to present at least one first advertisement while the media program is being presented on the first user viewing device;

wherein the ad programming signal transmitted from the at least one processing unit to the second user viewing device represents an interactive advertisement, and wherein, responsive to receiving the signal, the second user viewing device is configured to present the at least one first advertisement as an interactive advertisement;

wherein the at least one processing circuit is further configured to receive data from the second user viewing device relating to the interaction of a user of the second user viewing device with the interactive advertisement; and

wherein the interaction of the user with the interactive advertisement is a single tap or click, and wherein the at least one processing unit is configured to;

receive an input signal indicating the single tap or click by the user;

determine, based on options provided by the user and stored in a user profile, whether an advertiser associated with the interactive advertisement is eligible to receive one or more information elements from the user profile; and

provide the one or more information elements from the user profile to the advertiser in response to the single tap or click of the user without requiring further input from the user after the single tap or click to provide the one or more information elements when it is determined that the advertiser is eligible to receive the one or more information elements.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the ad programming signal is based on a context of the media program currently being presented.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the context comprises one or more characteristics of the media program.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein a product or service to which the at least one first advertisement is directed is based on a subject matter of the media program.

5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the context comprises one or more characteristics of a second advertisement included within the media program presented on the first user viewing device.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein a first product or service to which the at least one first advertisement presented on the second user viewing device is directed is based on a second product or service to which the second advertisement included within the media program presented on the first user viewing device is directed.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first product or service is the same as the second product or service.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first product or service and the second product or service are associated with a same brand.

9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first product or service and the second product or service are produced by a same entity.

10. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein:

the second advertisement included within the media program is a national advertisement; and

the at least one first advertisement presented on the second user viewing device is a local advertisement related to content of the national advertisement.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the ad programming signal is based on a current time context.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the ad programming signal is based on a geographic location of at least one of the first user viewing device or the second user viewing device.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the ad programming signal is based on a user profile for a user of at least one of the first user viewing device or the second user viewing device.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the user profile comprises demographic data associated with the user.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the user profile comprises historical data relating to an interaction of the user with previously presented advertisements.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least one processing unit is configured to determine one or more user information elements of the user profile to which an advertiser is permitted access and to generate the ad programming signal to be transmitted to the second user viewing device based on the determined one or more user information elements.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least one processing unit is configured to receive user selectable privacy options from at least one of the first user viewing device and the second user viewing device, and wherein the at least one processing unit is configured to determine the one or more user information elements of the user profile to which the advertiser is permitted access based at least in part on the user selectable privacy options.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the user selectable privacy options comprise at least one of:

one or more types of user information elements to which one or more advertisers may be permitted access, wherein the one or more types of user information elements comprise at least one of a name of the user, an age of the user, a gender of the user, a geographic location of the user, a mailing address of the user, an email address of the user, a telephone number of the user, financial data associated with the user, and data regarding family members or contacts of the user; and

one or more classes of advertisers that may be permitted access to user information elements in the user profile.

19. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising the first user viewing device, wherein the first user viewing device comprises a television set or a set top box.

20. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising the second user viewing device, wherein the second user viewing device comprises a mobile computing device.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the second user viewing device comprises a tablet device, a smartphone, or a laptop computer.

22. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processing unit is further configured to:

receive a control command from the second user viewing device, wherein the control command comprises one of a play command, pause command, fast forward command, rewind command, increase volume command, decrease volume command, mute command, channel change command, and first user viewing device on/off command, and

transmit a control signal to the first user viewing device based on the control command, wherein, responsive to receiving the control signal, the first user viewing device is configured to alter the presentation of the media program based on the control signal.

23. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the ad programming signal further represents information relating to the media program, and wherein, responsive to receiving the ad programming signal, the second user viewing device is configured to present both the at least one first advertisement and the information relating to the media program.

24. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processing unit is configured to:

receive a signal from the second user viewing device representing a user selection of an option to display the media program on the second user viewing device, and

responsive to receiving the signal from the second user viewing device, transmit display data to the second user viewing device based on the media program, wherein, responsive to receiving the display data, the second user viewing device is configured to present the media program in substantial synchronization with the presentation of the media program on the first user viewing device.

25. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processing unit is configured to:

receive a signal from the second user viewing device representing a user selection of an option to swap display images between the first user viewing device and the second user viewing device, and

responsive to receiving the signal from the second user viewing device, transmit first display data to the first user viewing device and second display data to the second user viewing device,

wherein, responsive to receiving the first display data, the first user viewing device is configured to display a first display image that is based on a display image that was displayed on the second user viewing device immediately prior to receipt of the signal by the at least one processing unit, and

wherein, responsive to receiving the second display data, the second user viewing device is configured to display a second display image that is based on a display image that was displayed on the first user viewing device immediately prior to receipt of the signal by the at least one processing unit.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the at least one processing unit is further configured to perform at least one of the following:

generate the first display data based on a first device type of the first user viewing device, so as to reconfigure the display image previously displayed on the second user viewing device based on the first device type, and

generate the second display data based on a second device type of the second user viewing device, so as to reconfigure the display image previously displayed on the first user viewing device based on the second device type.

27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the first display data represents a video chat interface.

28. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the interactive advertisement includes a link to a website that is selectable by the user of the second user viewing device to present the website on the second user viewing device, and wherein the data received by the at least one processing unit from the second user viewing device comprises an indication that the user selected the link.

29. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the interactive advertisement comprises a game that is playable by the user of the second user viewing device.

30. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one first advertisement presented on the second user viewing device comprises at least one of a discount on merchandise or services and rewards points associated with a customer profile of a user of the second user viewing device.

33. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more information elements from the user profile provided in response to the single tap or click of the user are configured to cause the advertiser to complete a deal with the user without requiring further input from the user after the single tap or click to complete the deal.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the one or more information elements from the user profile provided in response to the single tap or click of the user are configured to cause the advertiser to complete a purchase of a product by the user without requiring further input from the user after the single tap or click to complete the purchase of the product.

35. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more information elements from the user profile provided in response to the single tap or click of the user are configured to cause the advertiser to provide the user with a reward without requiring further input from the user after the single tap or click for the user to receive the reward.

36. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processing unit is further configured to:

determine, based on the options stored in the user profile, one or more restricted information elements that the user has disallowed disclosing to at least one category of advertisers;

determine whether the at least one category of advertisers includes the advertiser associated with the interactive advertisement; and

exclude the restricted information elements from the one or more information elements provided to the advertiser when the at least one category of advertisers includes the advertiser.

37. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processing unit is further configured to:

determine, based on the options stored in the user profile, a category of advertisers for which the user must grant permission before at least one of the one or more information elements can be provided to an advertiser included in the category of advertisers;

determine whether the category of advertisers includes the advertiser associated with the interactive advertisement;

when the category of advertisers does not include the advertiser, provide the one or more information elements to the advertiser without requiring further input from the user; and

when the category of advertisers includes the advertiser;

prompting the user to provide an indication of whether the at least one information element should be provided to the advertiser; and

providing the at least one information element to the advertiser in response to receiving an indication from the user that the at least one information element should be provided to the advertiser.

31. In a system comprising a server computing device, a first user viewing device communicatively coupled to the server computing device, and a second user viewing device communicatively coupled to the server computing device, a method of providing advertising information relating to a media program, the method comprising:

A) determining, at the server computing device, that the media program is currently being presented using the first user viewing device; and

B) transmitting, from the server computing device, an ad programming signal to the second user viewing device, wherein, responsive to receiving the ad programming signal, the second user viewing device is configured to present at least one first advertisement while the media program is being presented on the first user viewing device;

wherein the ad programming signal transmitted from the server device to the second user viewing device represents an interactive advertisement, and wherein, responsive to receiving the signal, the second user viewing device is configured to present the at least one first advertisement as an interactive advertisement;

wherein the method further comprises receiving data from the second user viewing device relating to the interaction of a user of the second user viewing device with the interactive advertisement;

wherein the interaction of the user with the interactive advertisement is a single tap or click; and

wherein the method further comprises;

receiving an input signal indicating the single tap or click by the user;

determining, based on options provided by the user and stored in a user profile, whether an advertiser associated with the interactive advertisement is eligible to receive one or more information elements from the user profile; and

providing the one or more information elements from a user profile stored in a memory operably coupled to the server computing device to the advertiser in response to the single tap or click of the user without requiring further input from the user after the single tap or click to provide the one or more information elements when it is determined that the advertiser is eligible to receive the one or more information elements.

32. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with processor-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processing unit, perform a method of providing advertising information relating to a media program, the method comprising:

A) determining that the media program is currently being presented using a first user viewing device; and

B) transmitting an ad programming signal to a second user viewing device, wherein, responsive to receiving the ad programming signal, the second user viewing device is configured to present at least one first advertisement while the media program is being presented on the first user viewing device;

wherein the ad programming signal transmitted to the second user viewing device represents an interactive advertisement, and wherein, responsive to receiving the signal, the second user viewing device is configured to present the at least one first advertisement as an interactive advertisement;

wherein the method further comprises receiving data from the second user viewing device relating to the interaction of a user of the second user viewing device with the interactive advertisement;

wherein the interaction of the user with the interactive advertisement is a single tap or click; and

wherein the method further comprises;

receiving an input signal indicating the single tap or click by the user;

determining, based on options provided by the user and stored in a user profile, whether an advertiser associated with the interactive advertisement is eligible to receive one or more information elements from the user profile; and

providing the one or more information elements from a user profile to the advertiser in response to the single tap or click of the user without requiring further input from the user after the single tap or click to provide the one or more information elements when it is determined that the advertiser is eligible to receive the one or more information elements.