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Description  |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to electronic information distribution
networks. More particularly, this invention relates to providing
electronic advertisements to individual end users.
2. Background
Computer technology is continuously advancing, providing newer computer
systems with continuously improved performance. One result of this
improved performance is an increased use of computer systems by
individuals in a wide variety of business, academic and personal
applications. In some instances, these computer systems are linked
together by a network or modems so that the systems can communicate with
each other via electronic mail.
The current wide-ranging use of computer systems provides a relatively
large potential market to providers of electronic content or information.
These providers may include, for example, advertisers and other
information publishers such as newspaper and magazine publishers. A cost,
however is involved with providing electronic information to individual
consumers. For example, hardware and maintenance costs are involved in
establishing and maintaining information servers and networks.
One source which can be accessed to provide the monetary resources
necessary to establish and maintain such an electronic information
distribution network is the electronic advertisers. These advertisers
provide electronic information to end users of the system by way of
advertisements in an attempt to sell products and services to the end
users. The value of a group of end users, however, may be different for
each of the advertisers, based on the product or services each advertiser
is trying to sell. Thus, it would be beneficial to provide a system which
allows individual advertisers to pay part of the cost of such a network,
based on the value each advertiser places on the end users the advertiser
is given access to.
In addition, advertisers often desire to target particular audiences for
their advertisements. These targeted audiences are the audiences which an
advertiser believes is most likely to be influenced by the advertisement.
By targeting only those audiences which are most likely to be influenced
by the advertisement, the advertiser is able to expend his or her
advertising resources in an efficient manner. Thus, it would be beneficial
to provide a system which allows electronic advertisers to target specific
audiences which they believe would be most receptive to their
advertisements, and thus not require advertisers to provide an
advertisement to the entire population, the majority of which may have no
interest whatsoever in the product or service being advertised.
The present invention provides for these and other advantageous results.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A method and apparatus for providing electronic advertisements to end users
in a consumer best-fit pricing manner is described herein. The apparatus
includes an index database, a user profile database, and a consumer scale
matching process. The index database provides storage space for the titles
of electronic advertisements. The user profile database provides storage
for a set of characteristics which correspond to individual end users of
the apparatus. The consumer scale matching process is coupled to the
content database and the user profile database and compares the
characteristics of the individual end users with a consumer scale
associated with the electronic advertisement. The apparatus then charges a
fee to the advertiser, based on the comparison by the matching process.
In one embodiment, a consumer scale is generated for each of multiple
electronic advertisements. These advertisements are then transferred to
multiple yellow page servers, and the titles associated with the
advertisements are subsequently transferred to multiple metering servers.
At the metering servers, a determination is made as to where the
characteristics of the end users served by each of the metering servers
fall on the consumer scale. The higher the characteristics of the end
users served by a particular metering server fall, the higher the fee
charged to the advertiser.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limitation
in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references
indicate similar elements and in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic of a network of one embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic of a client system in one embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 3 is a schematic of a metering server in one embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 4 is a schematic of a clearinghouse server in one embodiment of the
present invention;
FIG. 5 is a schematic of a yellow page server in one embodiment of the
present invention;
FIGS. 6a and 6b are flow diagrams that show a unit of information consumed
by an end user according to one embodiment of the present invention; and
FIGS. 7a and 7b are flow diagrams that show an electronic advertisement
consumed by an end user according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the following detailed description numerous specific details are set
forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present
invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that
the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In
other instances well known methods, procedures, components, and circuits
have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present
invention.
FIG. 1 shows a network system 10 of one embodiment of the present
invention. The network 10 includes a plurality of client systems 12
coupled to a metering server 14 within a local area network (LAN) 16.
Alternatively, a single client system 12 may be coupled to a metering
server 14. Each client system 12 may be a personal computer that is
operated by an end user. Alternatively, each client system 12 may be any
other type of consumer consumption device, such as a television set, a
game machine, etc. The server 14 is typically a dedicated computer that
provides an interconnect contact node which allows the client systems 12
to communicate with the server 14 and other client systems 12. The server
14 may contain resident modem sharing software that allows the server 14
and client systems 12 to communicate with a device external to the local
network 16. The server 14 is also capable of maintaining resident
databases. Both the server 14 and the client systems 12 contain the
necessary interface hardware and software required to transfer information
between the components of the system 10.
The metering server 14 is coupled to a publisher unit 18 through a
plurality of clearinghouse servers 20. By way of example, the publisher 18
may be connected to the server 14 as part of an overall wide area network
(WAN) that allows the server 14 and publisher unit 18 to transfer
information. The system 10 may also have a yellow page server 22 coupled
to the publisher unit 18 and the metering servers 14. The publisher unit
and servers of the WAN system contain the interface hardware and software
necessary to transfer electronic information between the components of the
system. As shown in FIG. 1, the system 10 may have multiple client systems
12 coupled to a single metering server 14 and multiple servers 14 coupled
to a single clearinghouse server 20, a regional content database server 21
and a single yellow page server 22. There may be multiple clearinghouse
and yellow page servers located at regional centers throughout the
country/world. In addition, depending on the size of a community, there
may also be multiple yellow page servers for each local community.
Although the computer 18 is referred to as a publishing unit, it is to be
understood that the computer can also be a node for an advertiser 18 and
that the use of the terms publisher and advertiser may be synonymous.
Each client system 12 is provided with an interface, such as a graphic user
interface (GUI), that allows the end user to participate in the system 10.
The GUI contains fields that receive or correspond to inputs entered by
the end user. The fields may include the user's name and possibly a
password. The GUI may also have hidden fields relating to "consumer
variables." Consumer variables refer to demographic, psychographic and
other profile information. Demographic information refers to the vital
statistics of individuals, such as age, sex, income and marital status.
Psychographic information refers to the lifestyle and behavioral
characteristics of individuals, such as likes and dislikes, color
preferences and personality traits that show consumer behavioral
characteristics. Thus, the consumer variables refer to information such as
marital status, color preferences, favorite sizes and shapes, preferred
learning modes, employer, job title, mailing address, phone number,
personal and business areas of interest, the willingness to participate in
a survey, along with various lifestyle information. This information will
be referred to as user profile data. The end user initially enters the
requested data and the non-identifying information is transferred to the
metering server 14. That is, the information associated with the end user
is compiled and transferred to the metering server 14 without any
indication of the identity of the user (for example, the name and phone
number are not included in the computation). The GUI also allows the user
to receive inquiries, request information and consume information by
viewing, storing, printing, etc. The client system may also be provided
with tools to create content, advertisements, etc. in the same manner as a
publisher/advertiser.
All of the fields in the GUI relating to consumer variables are hidden from
the consumer. The display of the GUI is based upon these fields, but the
GUI does not display them to the user except when the user brings up a
"profile editor", as discussed in more detail below. Thus, the monitoring
of consumer actions and inactions based on these consumer variables and
the updating of user profile data is transparent to the consumer. In
addition, modifications made to the electronic information to customize it
to a particular consumer are also transparent to the consumer.
The publisher/advertiser 18 is provided with software tools to create
electronic information which includes content and advertisements that can
be transmitted over the system. The electronic information may allow an
end user to access a content database, or the information may be all or a
portion of a content database. By way of example, the content database may
be the text and video of an electronic newspaper. The content database may
reside within the publisher unit or be located at a remote location such
as the metering server or a regional server that services a plurality of
metering servers. The software tools may include a hypertext oriented mark
up language that routes distributed end users to the content databases.
In one embodiment, the software tools provided to the publisher/advertiser
18 include software tools for embedding variables within electronic
information. The embedded consumer variables enable a client activity
monitor and a consumption device to monitor consumer interaction with the
electronic information based on the consumer's interaction with the unit
of information currently being consumed. This interaction includes both
inputs by the consumer and actions which the consumer could have taken but
chose not to. In one implementation, the publisher/advertiser 18 is
provided with a GUI which allows the publisher/advertiser 18 to select
certain consumer variables from a set of consumer variables and associate
the selected variables with specific objects or fields within the
electronic information. For example, the electronic information may
include several option fields from which end users may select. The
publisher/advertiser 18 may associate a color preference variable with
these option fields, thereby indicating to the client systems 12 to track
the color of the option field selected by the end user.
The publisher/advertiser 18 is also provided with software tools to create
electronic information in a wide variety of consumption formats that can
be transmitted over the system. These consumption formats include formats
such as audio, video, graphics, animation, text, etc. For example, an
advertiser 18 may create an advertisement for a camera which describes the
camera in both audio and video format. Both of these consumption formats
are transferred to the metering servers 14, and subsequently to the client
systems 12. The end user is then able to consume the advertisement in
whichever format he or she prefers, or alternatively in both formats.
In one embodiment, each piece of electronic information received by client
system 12 includes a header block which includes the consumer variables
and their related objects or fields for that piece of electronic
information. For example, the header block of a given piece of electronic
information may include an indicator that a color preference variable is
associated with certain option fields. In addition, default colors for
particular fields or objects, or a default consumption format, such as
audio or video, for the electronic information may also be included in the
header block.
The advertiser 18 is also provided with software tools to generate a
"consumer scale" for each individual advertisement. The consumer scale
represents the value of the advertisement to the advertiser in terms of
the consumer characteristics of the end users which will consume the
advertisement. In one embodiment, the consumer scale provides a range of
particular numbers of consumer variables which must be satisfied by
particular numbers of end users served by a metering server 14 in order
for the advertiser 18 to pay a particular price. The advertiser 18 then
transfers this consumer scale along with the advertisement to the yellow
page servers 22, where it is subsequently made available to the end users
of the metering servers 14.
The yellow page servers 22 serve as the repositories for the electronic
advertisements. Each metering server 14 contains a list of titles of
available electronic advertisements, as well as providing transitory
storage of advertisements that have been requested by consumers who are
being served by the metering server 14. In one embodiment, an
advertisement may also be temporarily stored in a metering server 14 if
the consumers served by the metering server 14 highly match the consumer
scale stored within the advertisement.
Thus, the consumer scale provides a mechanism by which a metering server 14
can determine how valuable the end users coupled to that server 14 are to
the advertiser 18. The advertiser 18 indicates how much it is willing to
pay for access to those end users, based on the consumer characteristics
of those end users.
The consumer scale for a particular advertisement is dependent on the
consumer variables the advertiser 18 selects to associate with the
advertisement. In one embodiment, the advertiser 18 is provided with a GUI
which presents a set of consumer variables from which the advertiser 18
can select. The advertiser 18 is also able to select certain consumer
characteristics which must be met in order for the advertiser 18 to agree
to pay a specified fee for delivery of the advertisement to the consumers.
In one embodiment, the advertiser 18 selects how well the user profile
characteristics of end users served by a metering server 14 must match the
consumer scale in order for the advertiser 18 to pay the highest fee. Note
that this highest fee may be a maximum established for the entire system
10, or may be a different maximum for each metering server 14 as
established by each metering server 14. For example, the advertiser 18 may
select five different consumer variables to associate with a particular
advertisement. Then, as part of the consumer threshold scale, the
advertiser 18 may select that it will pay the highest fee when at least
60% of the variables are satisfied by at least 75% of the end users
coupled to the metering server 14. Thus, in this example, three of the
five consumer variables must be associated with 75% of the end users
coupled to the metering server 14 in order for the advertiser 18 to pay
the highest fee. Alternatively, a minimum number, such as ten end users,
may be utilized rather than a percentage for determining how many end
users of the metering server 14 must satisfy the 60% of consumer variables
requirement in order for the advertiser 18 to pay the highest fee. The
advertiser 18 also sets the lowest price it is willing to pay (such as
zero dollars) to allow end users with a very poor match (such as 0% of the
variables are satisfied) to the consumer scale.
Additional prices between the highest and lowest available prices are also
included in the scale. These additional prices may be specified
discretely, such as in $0.50 intervals, or may cover the entire range
(note that this range can be calculated to a fraction of a cent, and then
rounded to the nearest cent or added together with the other charges for
this advertiser). Given this scale of prices, the advertiser 18 selects
how many end users of a metering server 14 must satisfy how many of the
consumer variables for the advertisement in order for the advertiser 18 to
pay each of the specified amounts along the scale of prices.
Alternatively, the software tools provided to the advertiser 18 may allow
the advertiser 18 to select an interpolation method, such as linear
interpolation. The interpolation method calculates what the advertiser 18
is willing to pay for each amount in the scale of prices based on the
match required in order for the advertiser 18 to pay the highest fee. For
example, the linear interpolation method would determine that, if 60% of
the variables must be satisfied by 75% of the end users in order for the
advertiser 18 to pay the highest fee, then the advertiser 18 will pay
one-half the highest fee if 30% of the variables are satisfied by 37.5% of
the end users, and that the advertiser 18 will pay three-quarters of the
highest fee if 30% of the variables are satisfied by 75% of the end users.
In one embodiment, the software tools also allow the advertiser 18 to place
different "weights" on different consumer variables. For example, the
advertiser 18 may select five different consumer variables to associate
with a particular advertisement. The advertiser 18 may assign a 35% weight
to each of the first two variables and a 10% weight to each of the three
remaining variables. Then, the advertiser 18 may select a consumer
threshold scale that at least 60% of the variables must be met by at least
75% of the end users coupled to the metering server 14 in order for the
advertiser 18 to pay the highest fee. Thus, rather than requiring that any
three out of five variables be satisfied, only two variables would suffice
provided their combined weight exceeds 60%. That is, in the example with
two variables having a weight of 35% each and three variables having a
weight of 10% each, if a metering server 14 were coupled to end users
satisfying only the latter three variables (totaling 30%), then the
advertiser 18 would not pay the highest fee. However, if a metering server
14 were coupled to end users satisfying only the first two variables, then
the advertiser 18 would pay the highest fee.
As shown in FIG. 2, each client system 12 includes a session manager 29, a
client interface 23, a client activity monitor 24, a content adapter 25, a
statistic compilation process 26, and a personal profile database 27. The
client interface 23 provides individual users with access to the system
10. Interface 23 may be any of a wide variety of user interaction devices.
For example, the client interface 23 may be the display device and input
device of a personal computer based on an Intel.RTM. microprocessor
architecture. Alternatively, the client interface 23 may be a display and
input device coupled to, or part of, any of a wide variety of consumer
consumption devices, such as a television set or a game machine. In one
embodiment, the client interface 23 is a physical device which is separate
from the remainder of client system 12. For example, client interface 23
may be a personal computer system, while the remaining components of
client system 12 are contained in a separate box or similar physical
device coupled to the personal computer system. Interface 23 supports any
one or more of a wide variety of conventional input methods, including
alphanumeric keyboard inputs, voice inputs, cursor control inputs (such as
a mouse or trackball), touchscreen inputs, etc.
Session manager 29 | | |
