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What is claimed is:
1. A method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network, comprising:
receiving in a network, an advertiser's maximum and minimum bids for absentee bidding;
receiving in a network, a user request for a service;
accessing in the network, a user profile of user characteristics about the user;
accessing in the network, at least two advertiser specifications of user characteristics, each specification associated with a respective advertiser;
comparing in the network, the characteristics of the user from the user profile, with the user characteristics from each advertiser specification;
selecting in the network, first and second selected advertiser specifications from the at least two specifications, corresponding to selected first and second respective advertisers;
if one of said advertisers has a maximum bid less than a highest minimum bid of said advertisers, then dropping said one advertiser from bidding;
if one of said advertisers has a maximum bid greater than a second highest maximum bid of said advertisers, then retain said one advertiser in bidding;
computing in the network, a computed bid value that is derived from said second highest maximum bid;
transmitting in the network to the user, said computed bid value for the retained advertiser, for display to the user;
receiving in the network from the user, a user selection of a bid value corresponding to a selected advertiser;
transmitting in the network to the user, an advertising message about the selected advertiser for an advertising display to the user; and
providing to the user a reward corresponding to the selected bid value, in response to the user having selected the advertiser.
2. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 1, wherein said network is a telephone network.
3. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 1, wherein said network is an internet network.
4. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 1, wherein said network is a cable television network.
5. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 1, wherein said network is an earth-orbiting satellite communications network.
6. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 1, wherein said network is a radio frequency network.
7. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 1, which further comprises:
providing the selected advertiser with an identity of the user.
8. A method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network, comprising:
receiving in a network, an advertiser's maximum and minimum bids for absentee bidding;
receiving in a network, a user request for a service;
accessing in the network, a user profile of user characteristics about the user;
accessing in the network, at least two advertiser specifications of user characteristics, each specification associated with a respective advertiser;
comparing in the network, the characteristics of the user from the user profile, with the user characteristics from each advertiser specification;
selecting in the network, first and second selected advertiser specifications from the at least two specifications, corresponding to selected first and second respective advertisers;
computing in the network, a computed bid value that is derived from said maximum and minimum bids for said selected first and second respective advertisers;
transmitting in the network to the user said computed bid value for display to the user;
receiving in the network from the user, a user selection of a bid value corresponding to a selected advertiser;
transmitting in the network to the user, an advertising message about the selected advertiser for an advertising display to the user; and
providing to the user a reward corresponding to the selected bid value, in response to the user having selected the advertiser.
9. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 8, wherein said network is a telephone network.
10. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 8, wherein said network is an internet network.
11. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 8, wherein said network is a cable television network.
12. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 8, wherein said network is an earth-orbiting satellite communications network.
13. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 8, wherein said network is a radio frequency network.
14. The method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 8, which further comprises:
providing the selected advertiser with an identity of the user.
15. A system for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network, comprising:
means for receiving in a network, an advertiser's maximum and minimum bids for absentee bidding;
means for receiving in a network, a user request for a service;
means for accessing in the network, a user profile of user characteristics about the user;
means for accessing in the network, at least two advertiser specifications of user characteristics, each specification associated with a respective advertiser;
means for comparing in the network, the characteristics of the user from the user profile, with the user characteristics from each advertiser specification;
means for selecting in the network, first and second selected advertiser specifications from the at least two specifications, corresponding to selected first and second respective advertisers;
means for computing in the network, a computed bid value that is derived from said maximum and minimum bids for said selected first and second respective advertisers;
means for transmitting in the network to the user, said computed bid value for display to the user;
means for receiving in the network from the user, a user selection of a bid value corresponding to a selected advertiser;
means for transmitting in the network to the user, an advertising message about the selected advertiser for an advertising display to the user; and
means for providing to the user a reward corresponding to the selected bid value, in response to the user having selected the advertiser.
16. The system for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 15, wherein said network is a telephone network.
17. The system for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 15, wherein said network is an internet network.
18. The system for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 15, wherein said network is a cable television network.
19. The system for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 15, wherein said network is an earth-orbiting satellite communications network.
20. The system for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 15, wherein said network is a radio frequency network.
21. The system for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network of claim 15, which further comprises:
providing the selected advertiser with an identity of the user.
22. A method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network, comprising:
receiving in a network, maximum and minimum bids for absentee bidding from each of a plurality of absentee advertisers;
if an absentee advertiser of said plurality has a maximum bid less than a minimum bid of other advertisers of said plurality, then dropping the advertiser from bidding;
if an absentee advertiser of said plurality has a maximum bid greater than a second highest maximum bid of other advertisers of said plurality, then retaining said first advertiser in bidding;
computing in the network, a computed bid value that is derived from said second highest maximum bid;
transmitting in the network to a user, said computed bid value for at least some of the absentee advertisers of said plurality, for display to a user;
receiving in the network from the user, a user selection of a bid value corresponding to a selected absentee advertiser; and
transmitting in the network to the user, an advertising message about the selected absentee advertiser.
23. A method for managing access to advertising carried by a communications network, comprising:
receiving in a network, maximum and minimum bids for absentee bidding from first and second absentee advertisers;
computing in the network, first and second computed bid values, each said value being derived from respective said maximum and minimum bids for each of said first and second absentee advertisers;
transmitting in the network to a user, said first and second computed bid values;
receiving in the network from the user, a user selection of a bid value corresponding to said first advertiser; and
transmitting in the network to the user, an advertising message about the first absentee advertiser. |
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TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to telecommunications, and more particularly to a method and apparatus enabling user control of advertising carried by interactive information and entertainment services.
BACKGROUND
Most entertainment and information media such as television, radio, newspapers, and magazines are heavily subsidized by advertising. A recently emerging medium is on-line services in which a customer connects to an information service via a
computer and telephone line. Many on-line services are subscription-based and require a fee to use. Accordingly, on-line services could be significantly more attractive to customers if the subscription costs could be reduced by advertiser subsidies.
Unfortunately, on-line service providers have not yet found a way to deliver advertising in ways that are both effective for advertisers and acceptable to the customer. This is largely because a balance has not been found between consumers' desire to
have complete control over their on-line experience (and its cost) and the advertiser's need to deliver its message to the customer. Unlike many traditional information media, an on-line service may charge its customers according the amount of time the
customer is connected to the on-line service. Thus, viewing advertising may cost the customer money.
SUMMARY
The present invention solves the problems associated with advertising in interactive information or entertainment services or on-line services, by combining database marketing with the concept of an auction for the customer's attention where the
on-line user has final say over which advertisements are viewed. Interested users see advertiser's bids for their attention which are displayed on their computer screens, and then choose which advertisements to view. For each advertisement viewed, the
advertisers' bid amount would pay for a portion of the user's service or usage charge.
The database marketing portion of the invention uses customer interest profiles and on-line service usage data to identify particular user characteristics to advertisers. The advertisers define user characteristics of particular desirability and
place a dollar value on having messages viewed by individual users based on the desirability of the user.
The auction portion of the invention includes a display on the user's display device of the advertisers most willing to pay for the user's attention and the dollar amount bid. If the user chooses to see a particular advertiser's message, then
the user is reimbursed, or a credit is applied to the user's on-line account for the amount of the bid promised by the advertiser whose message was viewed. Other types of reward can also be provided to the user, such as, merchandise or services.
Several embodiments of the invention are described, including application to networks such as a telephone network, an internet network, a cable television network, a direct TV network, an earth-orbiting satellite communications network, or a
radio frequency communications network. Examples of the advertisers' bidding include bidding by sealed bid, competitive bidding, or absentee bidding.
The discussion in this Summary and the following Brief Description of the Drawings, Detailed Description, and drawings only deal with examples of this invention and are not to be considered in any way a limitation on the scope of the exclusionary
rights conferred by a patent which may issue from this application. The scope of such exclusionary rights is set forth in the claims at the end of this application.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary on-line service architecture employing the principles of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an example of an advertiser offer or bid specification, in accordance with the invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a usage example of an on-line service advertising auction, in accordance with the invention.
FIG. 4 is an illustration of a exemplary computer screen display facilitating an advertising auction, in accordance with the invention.
FIG. 5 is an illustration of an exemplary computer screen display showing an advertisement presented in response to a user "bid" selection.
FIG. 6 is illustrates an alternate embodiment of the invention as applied in an Internet network.
FIG. 7 is still another alternate embodiment of the invention employed in an Internet network.
FIG. 8 is an alternate embodiment of the invention applied in a satellite communication network.
FIG. 9 is an alternate embodiment of the invention as applied in a cable television network.
FIG. 10 is an alternate embodiment of the invention as applied in a wireless communications network.
FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a sequence of operational steps carrying out the invention, with the advertisers providing sealed bids to the user.
FIG. 12 is illustrates an alternate embodiment of the invention for advertisers' online competitive bidding, as applied in an Internet network of FIG. 6.
FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of the advertisers' online competitive bidding embodiment of FIG. 12.
FIG. 14 is illustrates an alternate embodiment of the invention for advertisers' absentee bidding, as applied in an Internet network of FIG. 6.
FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of the advertisers' absentee bidding embodiment of FIG. 14.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary interactive service architecture, in this case an on-line service, employing various principles of the present invention. In particular, FIG. 1 shows an on-line service platform 100 connected
to an advertiser workstation 120 via a data network 130. Data network 130, in this illustrative example of the invention, comprises a conventional data transport network such as that available from communication service providers. However, data network
130 may include other networks including computer networks such as the Internet, or private data networks such as local-area and wide-area networks. Data network 130 is coupled to an access node 140 to facilitate access via a voice network 150 by a
on-line service customer's personal computer ("PC") 160. Voice network 150 in this example of the invention is a conventional public switched telephone network ("PSTN") that is known.
While PC 160 is shown in FIG. 1, other types of communication interface devices are intended to fall within the scope of the invention. For example, other known terminal devices may be used including computer terminals, telephones, wireless
devices, television sets, screen phones, and other devices or combinations of devices which facilitate two-way communication between a customer and an information service provider.
PC 160 is loaded with typical on-line service client software to allow the customer to interact with the on-line service provided from on-line service platform 100. It is emphasized that the present invention is intended to work with may kinds
of on-line service, including those which provide news and information in an interactive manner, for example AT&T Worldnet.RTM.. However, for purposes of clarity in exposition, a hypothetical on-line service will be used to illustrate the principles of
the invention. The on-line service in this example includes a number of sport-oriented bulletin boards where users can post and read messages, news sources, information resources where users can download software and other files, and the like.
Data network 130, as shown in FIG. 1 is coupled to receive communications from voice network 150 via access node 140. Access node 140 facilitates the exchange of information between the networks using a conventional modem pool (not shown) which
is coupled to an access point in data network 130. The particular architecture of FIG. 1 conveniently allows the on-line service user to access the on-line service platform 100 using conventional dial-up procedures over the widely deployed PSTN.
However, in some applications of the invention, it may be desirable for some users to have direct access to data network 130. For example, high volume or commercial users may use dedicated private lines (not shown) to access data network 130 thus
bypassing voice network 150 and access node 140 altogether.
Data network 130 is coupled to advertiser workstation 120, which in this example is a personal computer that is adapted to communicate with data network 130 over a data network line. Advertiser workstation 120 allows an advertiser to interact
with on-line service platform 100 to provide advertising to the on-line service users in accordance with the invention. Specifically, as will be described in more detail below, advertiser workstation 120 communicates with on-line service platform 100 to
provide advertising content. Advertiser workstation 120 also communicates to on-line service platform 100 a set of defined user attributes and characteristics, and weights applied to such attributes. These attributes, characteristics, and weights are
communicated with on-line service platform 100 so that bids for a user's attention may be developed by the advertiser and communicated in accordance with the principles of the invention. While an advertiser workstation is used to highlight the
principles of the invention, such workstation is merely illustrative. The advertiser may also interact directly with the on-line service platform, for example by interacting with a human representative of the on-line service, or automatically using
conventional automated response platforms such as those sold under the trade name Conversant.RTM. by Lucent Technologies Inc. While only a single advertiser workstation is shown in FIG. 1 for convenience, it is envisioned that a particular advertiser
may wish to use more than one workstation, and further that a plurality of advertisers are coupled to interact with the on-line service platform 100 in order to place a variety of advertising before users of the on-line service.
Commercial consumer demographics database 1 10 may be optionally coupled to data network 130 via a data network line. Such optional database may be advantageously utilized in instances where on-line service platform 100 is not provisioned with
user-profile information directly (for example, by customer profile database 102 as in this illustrative example of the invention). Such demographics databases are widely available and known and contain information about consumers that may be of
interest to particular advertisers.
Customer profile database 102 is used, in this illustrative example of the invention, by advertisers to calculate bids for on-line service user's attention. However, it is emphasized that use of a customer profile database is optional.
Particular advertisers may, in some applications of the invention, elect to calculate bids without using demographic information, or may choose to develop the necessary demographic information using internal resources or by other means. The customer
profile can also include personal interests such as sports or collections of the user.
Continuing with the description of FIG. 1, on-line service platform 100 contains an on-line service session controller 101 which interacts with a number of databases, including customer profile database 102, advertiser offers database 106,
advertiser content database 108, service billing database 114, and applications database 116, as shown. Current usage history database 118, described below, is optionally coupled to on-line session controller 101, as shown in FIG. 1. A buffer is used
to store the current user's and current advertiser's identities who are online.
Advertiser offers database 106 is coupled to on-line service session controller 101 via advertising offer manager 104. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the functions of on-line service session controller 101 and advertising offer
manager 104, may in some applications of the invention, be combined in a single device. Alternatively, it may be desirable to implement the functions of on-line service session controller 101 and advertiser offer manager as program modules that are
executed on a general purpose computer.
Advertising offer manager 104 combines the advertiser-defined user attributes received from the advertiser workstation 120, the current application context from the session controller 101, and user profiles from customer profile database 102 to
calculate and present the advertiser's bid to a user working at PC 160. Prior user context from usage history database 118 may be also be optionally utilized in combination with data from these databases to calculate and present bids.
Customer profile database 102 includes such information as demographic information about the user (age, gender, marital status, residence, etc.) as well as user specified interests such as tennis or golf. Customer profile database 102 may also
be employed to track and manage other service issues such as security, passwords, user preferences, and the like.
Usage session history database 118 includes historical information related to an individual user's prior online session usage. The on-line service provider typically uses such information to track a particular session to maintain session
integrity and improve session efficiency, among other uses. Such past usage may include, for example, the frequency with which a user visits a particular bulletin board. Alternatively, such past usage history may be tracked and stored in customer
profile database 102.
Advertiser offers database 106 stores offers or bids that are presented to users. These offers or bids are auction-type bids that present to the user a bidding value to induce the user to have the advertising message displayed. The inducement
is the offer or bid of something of value to the user. The thing of value can either be a credit to the user's service or usage charges, or a credit to the user's bank account, or other forms of value to the user. The advertising messages, or
advertising presentation applications themselves, are stored in the advertiser content database 108. Information regarding the number of times a particular advertisement is viewed, by whom and at what times, and whether viewed previously by a particular
user, may be optionally stored in advertiser offers database 106. Each of the aforementioned databases utilize conventional storage devices, such as computer memory and disks which are well known. In addition, conventional methodologies for storing and
retrieving information from the databases may be used to facilitate practice of the present invention.
On-line service billing database 114 stores the typical information that is related to an on-line users account. For example, utilization of the on-line service is tracked so that a bill for such services can be calculated and generated. In
accordance with the principles of the invention, on-line service billing database 114 is also used to store credit and reimbursement information that results when a user accepts an advertiser's bid and views the message or advertisement. When an
advertiser's bid is accepted by a user, the bid amount is credited against the user's current on-line service charge and an appropriate notation is recorded in on-line service billing database 114. Other forms of reward can be given to the user, such
as, merchandise can be offered at a reduced price or for free. In this case, the bidding value for the reduced price or free merchandise would be the regular price of the merchandise.
The on-line service session controller 101 displays bids for the user's attention from advertisers. In this particular exemplary embodiment of the invention, on-line session controller 101 controls the presentation of the top four bids (in terms
of dollars bid) from advertisers. On-line service session controller 101, accordingly, continuously tracks the input from the advertising offer manager 104 in order to provide the on-line service user with sufficient information to make decisions as to
which, if any, advertisements the user will view. The user receives offers or bids as shown in FIG. 4. When the user chooses an offer or bid, this results in a presentation of advertising content from the advertising content database 108. The
advertising content can be an interactive application that is presented to the user, for example, an order form that the user fills out and sends by e-mail back to the advertiser. Other forms of advertising content can include online shopping, the
consent to receive a sales call by telephone, or other actions which the user is induced to perform for the advertiser. In exchange for the advertiser providing something of value to the user. The advertiser can be a conventional commercial enterprise
offering it's products or services in the form of advertising messages. Alternately, the advertiser can be, for example, a political party advertising it's candidate for election. Alternately, the advertiser can be a market research firm soliciting
demographic information or personal information from the user. The advertiser can adjust the value of the offer or bid which is used to entice the user to select the advertisement. The value of the offer or bid which is auctioned to the user can be
established based upon the user's personal characteristics such as personal income or age. The advertiser can specify the income or age by constant values as is shown in FIG. 2, or alternately the advertiser can establish algebraic formulas which relate
the offer or bidding value to the numerical age or numerical income of the user.
FIG. 2 is an example of an advertiser offer specification which illustrates the kind of information an advertiser might supply to facilitate the practice of the present invention. It is envisioned that an advertiser could electronically receive
this form at advertiser workstation 120. The form is then returned to on-line session controller 101 and advertising offer manager 104, using, for example, electronic mail. Alternatively, the information contained in the offer specification shown in
FIG. 2 may be supplied by the advertiser using other conventional means; for example, telephoning an automated or live agent of the on-line service provider, or mailing the completed form via regular mail or delivery service. Regardless of the manner in
which the information is collected from the advertiser, the collected information from the advertiser is stored in advertiser offer database 104.
In this illustrative example of the invention. the advertiser's name is Wilson Sport, as noted in field 201 of FIG. 2. Fields 202 and 204, respectively, indicate the start and ending dates of a particular advertisement or offer. Fields 206 and
208 contain targeted user characteristics of bids for two advertisements or offers. It is emphasized that the illustration of two bids is merely illustrative. Likewise, the subfields in fields 206 and 208 illustrate the various types of user
characteristics that may typically be utilized when practicing the invention, but many types of user characteristics may also be used and are intended to fall within the scope of the invention. For example, gender, age, income, geographic information
and session content are shown in FIG. 2 as an illustration of the type of user characteristics that are of interest to Wilson Sport. However, other advertisers may choose to target profession, number of children in the household, types of vehicles
driven, pets owned, and other demographic information.
Field 210 in FIG. 2 indicates the response options that are of interest to the advertiser, Wilson Sport in this example. User name and address and the date that the advertisement was viewed or accessed is returned to Wilson Sport in accordance
with the invention.
Field 212 in FIG. 2 includes a reference as to the content of the advertisement. Field 212 is the advertising content as is stored in the advertising content database 108.
Field 214 in FIG. 2 includes the name and address of a contact at the advertiser. Other information about the advertiser may also be collected, for example, credit and financial data and the like.
FIG. 3 is a simplified flowchart of a usage example of an on-line service advertising auction, in accordance with the invention. The end on-line user at PC 160 starts the process by connecting to the on-line service in a conventional way in
block 302. In block 304, session controller 101 retrieves that particular end user's profile from customer profile database 102 in on-line service platform 100 (FIG. 1). Session controller 101 passes the user profile information to advertising offer
manager 104, as shown in block 306.
Session controller 101 provides a start-up menu of applications to the end user at PC 160 in a conventional manner, as shown in block 308 of FIG. 3. These applications are stored in applications database 116 (FIG. 1). Such applications include
e-mail, bulletin boards, chat sessions, new groups, electronic shopping, and others that are typically provided a part of the suite of applications by many on-line service providers. In block 310, the user at PC 160 selects an application, and session
controller retrieves the application from applications database 116 and executes the application, as shown in blocks 312 and 314, respectively.
In blocks 316 and 318, the session controller 101 reports the application selected to the advertising offer manager 104 which looks for a match among the user profile, selected application, and advertisement bids from the offer specifications
which are stored in advertisers offer database 106, as discussed above. Referring briefly back to FIG. 2, fields 216 and 218 contain subfields which indicate that the advertiser Wilson Sport is interested in targeting users between the ages of 28 and 35
with annual incomes greater than $50,000 who live in particular geographic areas and select either bulletin board or electronic shopping applications related to tennis. If, in this particular session, a match between the targeted and actual attributes
is made, then control is passed to block 322 from decision block 320, as shown. Otherwise, control is passed back to block 314, and the process of FIG. 3 repeats as the user moves from application to application during the session.
If a match is found, in block 322, the advertising offer manager 104 notifies the session controller 101 and provides offer data and advertiser content addresses. In response to the notification, session controller 101 in block 324 opens an
auction "window" or frame on PC 160 to display the bids of the advertiser. It is noted at this point in the discussion that the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 is illustrative of a single bid process. The invention contemplates many such bid processes
occurring in parallel. That is, the window displayed on PC 160 may display a variety of bids from multiple advertisers. The user may choose to see the advertisement associated with the highest bid, or may select the view the advertisements associated
with any bid.
At decision block 326, if the user selects no bids from any advertiser, then control returns back to block 314 and the process of FIG. 3 repeats as the user moves from application to application during the session.
If the user does select an advertisement associated with a particular bid, then as shown in block 328, session controller 101 displays an advertisement from advertisement content database 108 according to the content address that was provided
from advertiser offer manager 104 as described above. The process ends at block 330 as session controller 101 updates service billing database 114 with a credit corresponding to the bid amount as well as a record of the event so that the advertiser can
be billed for the transaction. In cases where a user name and address are requested from the advertiser (as is the case with the Wilson Sport example here), the service billing database 114 is updated with this information for a subsequent delivery to
the appropriate advertiser.
Turning now to FIG. 4, there is illustrated an exemplary screen display showing the top four bids from advertisers. Such exemplary screen would be displayed on the monitor of PC 160 shown in FIG. 1. It is emphasized that FIG. 4 is merely
illustrative, as many styles of screens may be used, and any number of advertisers' bids may be conveniently shown. On-line service session controller 101 (FIG. 1) controls the display by showing the bid amount, the bidder (i.e., the name of the
advertiser), and the advertisement medium. Thus, sufficient information is provided to the user so that the user can select and control which advertising is seen, but the complete message or advertisement is not presented until the user takes an
affirmative action. As shown in FIG. 4, Hilton Head Resorts is the top bidder, followed by Wilson Sport and two other advertisers. As the bids are arranged by bid amount, an electronic auction for the on-line service user's attention is herein created. As bid amounts, or the bids themselves change, on-line service session controller 101 continuously, and dynamically, updates the screen display shown in FIG. 4 to reflect the new bid information.
It is envisioned that the bid amounts could change according to the success (or failure) of the advertiser in reaching his targeted audience. For example, if Wilson Sport is having good success in getting its message to the targeted users, then
it may decide to lower its bid. Or, if fewer messages are being opened and read, then Wilson Sport may choose to raise its bid. Other factors may also affect the bid price, for example, budget constraints of the advertiser, exhaustion of promotional
samples, offers, or other media, and the like. The bid price may also vary according to the user's interaction with the on-line service. For example, the attention of an on-line service user who has expressed an interest in tennis but who is currently
looking at news headlines might be worth 50 cents to a sports clothing provider, but that same user's attention might be valued at 75 cents if the user starts reading e-mail postings on a tennis bulletin board.
Advertisers may choose to offer new advertisements, or discontinue presently offered advertisements according to their particular needs, or according to similar criteria associated with bid price changes. A particular advantage of the present
invention is that advertisers are able to receive feedback on the effectiveness of a particular advertisement quickly. Such feedback is either nonexistent or significantly slower with traditional advertising media.
As mentioned above, and as shown in FIG. 5, the message or advertisement medium is presented to the on-line service user as part of the auction process. A number of different media are encompassed within the scope of the present invention,
including multimedia (for example, a mix of sound, video, still images, and/or interactive computing), e-mail, voice mail, and traditional mail. The messages or advertisements may, at the option of the user, be viewed or received immediately or in the
future. Those skilled in the art will recognize that traditional advertising concepts such as sales promotions may readily be incorporated into the present inventive concept.
The exemplary computer display screen shown in FIG. 4 is preferably implemented as an active region on the on-line service user's display device so that it may be refreshed and updated with auction information in a dynamic manner. Thus, an
on-line service user may choose to size and position the auction display region in a convenient location on the user's electronic work space so that, if the user chooses, the user can continuously monitor the advertising auction without disrupting the
interaction with the substantive (i.e., non-advertising) portion of the on-line service. In some applications of the invention, it may be desirable for the on-line session controller 101 to be user-configurable so that the number and types of
advertisements presented in the auction are selectable. Such control, along with frequent changes in the advertising offerings in the auction, is envisioned to be of some entertainment value to users in and by themselves which provides yet further
advantages in the practice of the present invention in on-line service contexts.
An example of the operation of the present invention is now presented. An advertiser at advertiser workstation 120 determines characteristics of on-line service users of particular interest. In this illustrative example of the invention, one
particular advertiser as noted above is a tennis equipment retailer. The retailer is named Wilson Sport and specializes in both retail and on-line sales. Wilson Sport may be interested, for example, in targeting on-line service users who are married
males, between the ages of 35 and 50, with annual household incomes of $50,000 or more who are avid tennis players, to receive notice of a particular promotion of tennis equipment. Wilson Sport, via advertiser workstation 120 and data network 130,
contacts on-line service platform 100 and indicates that it will pay the on-line service, for example, five cents per user to have its tennis promotion message offered to users who meet the targeted profile, plus 20 cents for each user who opens and
reads the message. Wilson Sport may also pay, for example, an additional 75 cents for every user who matches the targeted profile and is presently or regularly accessing a tennis bulletin board, with the payment going to defray the user's on-line
session charge.
The concept of weighted attributes and characteristics may also be applied to the present invention. That is, certain attributes and characteristics of a user may be more valuable to the advertiser than others. For example, an advertiser may
wish to place emphasis on the type of on-line information that a user is currently accessing at the time of auction.
An alternate embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 6, as it is applied in an internet network 640. The internet network consists of the National Science Foundation Network backbone (NSFNET) 650 which interconnects router 652 with the
router 652'. The internet access provider server 660 is connected by means of line 653 to the router 652. The internet access provider server 660 is connected by line 663 to the telephone network 664. The user's computer 670 is connected by the line
663' to the telephone network 664. The advertiser's computer 672 can also be connected to the telephone network 664. Still further, the plurality of user computers such as the second user's computer 670' can be connected to the telephone network 664.
A plurality of advertisers such as the second advertiser 672' can be connected to the telephone network 664. The router 652' in the backbone network 650, can be connected through he router 664' to a third advertiser 672" and a fourth advertiser 672'",
and also to the user's bank 730.
The internet access provider server 660 includes a data processor 720 connected by means of the bus 722 to the disk storage 724 and to the active user and advertiser buffer 732. The on-line activity of the user's computer 670 and the second
user's computer 670' is maintained in the active user and advertiser buffer 732. The on-line activity of the advertiser's computer 672 and a second advertiser 672' is also maintained in the active user advertiser buffer 732. The user profile buffer 200
of FIG. 6 is equivalent to database 102 and database 110 of FIG. 1. The advertiser specifications buffer 702 of FIG. 6 is equivalent to database 106 of FIG. 1. The advertiser message buffer 710 of FIG. 6 is equivalent to database 108 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 11 is a flow | | |
