U.S. patent application number 11/601274 was filed with the patent office on 2008-04-03 for targeting of advertisements based on mutual information sharing between devices over a network.
Invention is credited to Anand Madhavan.
Application Number | 20080082414 11/601274 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39262137 |
Filed Date | 2008-04-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080082414 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Madhavan; Anand |
April 3, 2008 |
Targeting of advertisements based on mutual information sharing
between devices over a network
Abstract
A system and method to facilitate targeting of advertisements
based on mutual information sharing between devices over a network
are described. Users access an entity over a network and further
initiate various events, which are subsequently captured by
selective processing servers within the network-based entity. Each
of such events or actions initiated by the user is associated with
one or more categories and is further stored within the entity
along the respective categories. Subsequently, if the user connects
to one or more media devices, and the media devices are coupled to
the entity via the network, then the entity selects advertisements
to be displayed within the viewing area of the media device, such
that each advertisement is related to the stored events or actions
and their respective categories. Alternatively, a user connects to
one or more media devices and further performs specific actions.
The actions are then transmitted to the entity via the network and
are stored within the entity along with respective categories
associated with each user action. Subsequently, if the user
connects to the entity through a client machine and through the
network, the entity selects advertisements to be displayed within
the display area of the client machine along with content
information requested by the user, such that each selected
advertisement is related to the previously stored events or actions
and their respective categories.
Inventors: |
Madhavan; Anand; (Sunnyvale,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
STATTLER - SUH PC
60 SOUTH MARKET STREET, SUITE 480
SAN JOSE
CA
95113
US
|
Family ID: |
39262137 |
Appl. No.: |
11/601274 |
Filed: |
November 17, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
11542874 |
Oct 3, 2006 |
|
|
|
11601274 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/14.53 ;
705/14.73 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 21/812 20130101;
G06Q 30/0255 20130101; G06Q 30/0277 20130101; G06Q 30/0251
20130101; G06Q 30/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/14 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 30/00 20060101
G06Q030/00 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: storing action data associated with a user
in a data storage module, said action data being received from a
client machine over a network, said action data further comprising
actions related to said user while coupled to said client machine;
and transmitting advertisements related to said actions and
predetermined classification categories associated with said
actions to said user over said network to be displayed on at least
one media device subsequently coupled to said user.
2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving
user identification information from said client machine coupled to
said user; and receiving said action data associated with said
user.
3. The method according to claim 2, wherein said storing further
comprises: storing said user identification information with said
action data and said predetermined classification categories
corresponding to said actions within said data storage module.
4. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: analyzing
each received action within said action data; determining said
predetermined classification categories associated with said each
received action; and storing said predetermined classification
categories with said action data within said data storage
module.
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein said transmitting
further comprises: receiving user identification information over
said network from said at least one media device coupled to said
user; retrieving said predetermined classification categories from
said data storage module based on said user identification
information and a stored user profile; and retrieving said
advertisements associated with said predetermined classification
categories from an advertising storage module.
6. The method according to claim 1, wherein said at least one media
device further comprises a network-enabled television set.
7. The method according to claim 1, wherein said at least one media
device further comprises a network-enabled television set and a
digital video recording device.
8. The method according to claim 1, wherein said at least one media
device is coupled to said network through a network interface
device.
9. The method according to claim 2, wherein said user
identification information further includes an Internet Protocol
(IP) address assigned to said client machine and password
information corresponding to said user.
10. The method according to claim 1, wherein said advertisements
are displayed as banner advertisements during broadcast programs
displayed on said at least one media device.
11. The method according to claim 1, wherein said advertisements
are displayed as banner advertisements during previously recorded
programs displayed on said at least one media device.
12. An apparatus comprising: processing servers to store action
data associated with a user in a data storage module, said action
data being received from a client machine over a network, said
action data further comprising actions related to said user while
coupled to said client machine; and advertising servers coupled to
said processing servers to transmit advertisements related to said
actions and predetermined classification categories associated with
said actions to said user over said network to be displayed on at
least one media device subsequently coupled to said user.
13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said processing
servers further receive user identification information from said
client machine coupled to said user and said action data associated
with said user.
14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said processing
servers further store said user identification information with
said action data and said predetermined classification categories
corresponding to said actions within said data storage module.
15. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said processing
servers further analyze each received action within said action
data, determine said predetermined classification categories
associated with said each received action, and store said
predetermined classification categories with said action data
within said data storage module.
16. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said processing
servers receive user identification information over said network
from said at least one media device coupled to said user and
further retrieve said predetermined classification categories from
said data storage module based on said user identification
information and a stored user profile, and wherein said advertising
servers further retrieve said advertisements associated with said
predetermined classification categories from an advertising storage
module.
17. A computer readable medium containing executable instructions,
which, when executed in a processing system, cause said processing
system to perform a method comprising: storing action data
associated with a user in a data storage module, said action data
being received from a client machine over a network, said action
data further comprising actions related to said user while coupled
to said client machine; and transmitting advertisements related to
said actions and predetermined classification categories associated
with said actions to said user over said network to be displayed on
at least one media device subsequently coupled to said user.
18. The computer readable medium according to claim 17, wherein
said method further comprises: receiving user identification
information from said client machine coupled to said user; and
receiving said action data associated with said user.
19. The computer readable medium according to claim 18, wherein
said storing further comprises: storing said user identification
information with said action data and said predetermined
classification categories corresponding to said actions within said
data storage module.
20. The computer readable medium according to claim 18, wherein
said method further comprises: analyzing each received action
within said action data; determining said predetermined
classification categories associated with said each received
action; and storing said predetermined classification categories
with said action data within said data storage module.
21. The computer readable medium according to claim 17, wherein
said transmitting further comprises: receiving user identification
information over said network from said client machine coupled to
said user; retrieving said predetermined classification categories
from said data storage module based on said user identification
information and a stored user profile; and retrieving said
advertisements associated with said predetermined classification
categories from an advertising storage module.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/542,874, filed on Oct. 03, 2006, and
entitled "Targeting of Advertisements Based on Mutual Information
Sharing Between Devices Over A Network," which is incorporated by
reference herein in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present invention relates generally to the field of
network-based communications and, more particularly, to a system
and method to facilitate targeting of advertisements based on
mutual information sharing between devices over a network, such as
the Internet.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The explosive growth of the Internet as a publication and
interactive communication network has created an electronic
environment that is changing the way business is transacted. As the
Internet becomes increasingly accessible around the world, users
need efficient tools to navigate the Internet and to find content
available on various websites.
[0004] Internet portals provide users an entrance and guide into
the vast resources of the Internet. Typically, an Internet portal
provides a range of search, email, news, shopping, chat, maps,
finance, entertainment, and other content and services. The
Internet portal further provides advertising information supplied
by advertising entities, which target the users of the portal.
Thus, it would be advantageous if the information presented to the
users is efficiently and properly categorized and stored within the
portal and the advertising information closely matches interests of
the users and activities performed by the users within the
Internet.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] A system and method to facilitate targeting of
advertisements based on mutual information sharing between devices
over a network are described. In some embodiments described in
detail below, users access an entity, such as, for example, a
content service provider or network portal, over a network, such as
the Internet, and further initiate various events, which are
subsequently captured by selective processing servers within the
network-based entity.
[0006] Each of such events or actions initiated by the user is
associated with one or more categories and is further stored within
the entity along with the respective categories. Subsequently, if
the user connects to one or more media devices, such as, for
example, a network-enabled television set and/or a digital video
recording device, and the media devices are coupled to the entity
via the network, then the entity selects advertisements to be
displayed within the viewing area of the respective media device,
such that each advertisement is related to the stored events or
actions and their respective categories.
[0007] In alternate embodiments described in detail below, a user
connects to one or more media devices and further performs specific
actions, such as, for example, watches a broadcast television
program on the network-enabled television set or watches a
television program which has been previously recorded onto the
digital video recording device. The actions are transmitted to the
entity via the network and are stored within the entity along with
respective categories associated with each user action.
[0008] Subsequently, if the user connects to the entity through a
client machine and through the network, then the entity selects
advertisements to be displayed within the display area of the
client machine along with content information requested by the
user, such that each selected advertisement is related to the
previously stored events or actions and their respective
categories.
[0009] Other features and advantages of the present invention will
be apparent from the accompanying drawings, and from the detailed
description, which follows below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] The present invention is illustrated by way of example and
not intended to be limited by the figures of the accompanying
drawings in which like references indicate similar elements and in
which:
[0011] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional
network architecture;
[0012] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary
network-based entity within the network architecture, according to
one embodiment of the invention;
[0013] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a data storage module
within the network-based entity, according to one embodiment of the
invention;
[0014] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a taxonomy
architecture within the network-based entity, according to an
alternate embodiment of the invention;
[0015] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a method to facilitate
targeting of advertisements based on mutual information sharing
between devices over a network, according to one embodiment of the
invention;
[0016] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method to facilitate
targeting of advertisements based on mutual information sharing
between devices over a network, according to an alternate
embodiment of the invention;
[0017] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method to process
action information received at the network-based entity, according
to one embodiment of the invention;
[0018] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a method to facilitate
matching of advertisements to the action information received at
the network-based entity, according to one embodiment of the
invention;
[0019] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a method to process
action information received at the network-based entity, according
to an alternate embodiment of the invention;
[0020] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a method to
facilitate matching of advertisements to the action information
received at the network-based entity, according to an alternate
embodiment of the invention;
[0021] FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a generalized
behavioral targeting system;
[0022] FIG. 12 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the
exemplary form of a computer system within which a set of
instructions may be executed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0023] In the following description, numerous details are set forth
for purpose of explanation. However, one of ordinary skill in the
art will realize that the invention may be practiced without the
use of the specific details. In other instances, well-known
structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order not
to obscure the description of the invention with unnecessary
detail.
[0024] In some embodiments described in detail below, users access
an entity, such as, for example, a content service provider or
network portal, over a network, such as the Internet, and further
input various data, which is subsequently captured by selective
processing servers within the network-based entity.
[0025] In one embodiment, data includes multiple events performed
within one or more user search and navigation sessions. In one
embodiment, a user search and navigation session encompasses
activity that a user entity with a unique Internet Protocol (IP)
address, such as, for example, a user or an agent of the user,
performs in a predetermined period of time, which activity may or
may not overlap with previous sessions associated with the same
user.
[0026] In one embodiment, an event is a type of action initiated by
the user, typically through a conventional mouse click command.
Events include, for example, advertisement clicks, search queries,
search clicks, sponsored listing clicks, page views and
advertisement views. However, events, as used herein, may include
any type of online navigational interaction or search-related
events.
[0027] Generally, a page view event occurs when the user views a
web page. In one example, a user may enter a web page for music
within an Internet portal by clicking on a link for the music
category page. Thus, a page view event is classified as the user's
view of the music category page. In one embodiment, the page view
event may be classified by the text occurring on the web page. In
addition, the co-occurrence or sequence of page view events may be
used to classify a set of page view events.
[0028] An advertisement view event occurs when the user views a web
page for an advertisement. For example, an Internet portal may
display banner advertisements on the home page of the portal. If
the user clicks on the banner advertisement, the portal redirects
the user to the link for the corresponding advertiser. The display
of a web page, in response to the conventional mouse click command,
constitutes an advertisement click event. A user may then generate
multiple page view events by visiting multiple web pages at the
advertiser's web site.
[0029] An advertisement click event occurs when a user clicks on an
advertisement. For example, a web page may display a banner
advertisement. An advertisement click event occurs when the user
clicks on the banner advertisement.
[0030] A search query event occurs when a user submits one or more
search terms within a search query to a web-based search engine.
For example, a user may submit the query "Madonna Music CD", and a
corresponding search query event containing the search terms
"Madonna," "music," and "CD" is recorded. In response to a user
query, a web-based search engine returns a plurality of links to
web pages relevant to the corresponding search query terms. If a
user clicks on one of the links, a search click event occurs.
[0031] A sponsored listing advertisement refers to advertisements
that are displayed in response to a user's search criteria. A
sponsored listing click event occurs when a user clicks on a
sponsored listing advertisement displayed for the user.
[0032] Each of such events or actions initiated by a user is
associated with one or more classification categories and is
further stored within the entity along the respective categories,
as described in further detail below. Subsequently, if the user
connects to one or more media devices, such as, for example, a
network-enabled television set and/or a digital video recording
device, and the one or more media devices are coupled to the entity
via the network, then the entity selects advertisements to be
displayed within the viewing area of the respective media device,
such that each advertisement is related to the previously stored
events or actions and their respective classification
categories.
[0033] In alternate embodiments described in detail below, a user
connects to one or more media devices and further performs specific
actions or activities, such as, for example, watches a broadcast
television program on the network-enabled television set or watches
a television program which has been previously recorded onto the
digital video recording device. The actions are transmitted to the
entity via the network and are stored within the entity along with
respective classification categories associated with each user
action, as described in further detail below.
[0034] Subsequently, if the user connects to the entity via a
client machine and via the network, then the entity selects
advertisements to be displayed within the display area of the
client machine in conjunction with content information requested by
the user, such that each selected advertisement is related to the
stored events or actions and their respective classification
categories.
[0035] Generally, content information is presented to the user in a
variety of formats, such as, for example, text, images, video,
audio, animation, program code, data structures, hyperlinks, and
other formats. In addition, as used herein, advertising information
includes multiple advertisements, which may include a hyperlink,
such as, for example, a sponsor link, an integrated link, an inside
link, or other known link. The format of an advertisement may or
may not be similar to the format of the content displayed for the
user and may include, for example, text advertisements, graphics
advertisements, rich media advertisements, and other known types of
advertisements.
[0036] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional
network architecture. While an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention is described within the context of a network-based
content and advertising entity 100 enabling automatic matching of
advertising information to events or actions and interests of
users, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the
invention will find application in many different types of
computer-based, and network-based, entities, such as, for example,
commerce entities, content provider entities, or other known
entities having a presence on the network.
[0037] As illustrated in FIG. 1, an entity 100 is coupled via a
network 120 to one or more user entities 110, such as, for example,
users and/or agents of such users. The user entities 110 are
coupled to the network 120 through a client machine 130 and/or at
least one media devices 140, as described in further detail
below.
[0038] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary
network-based entity within the network architecture, according to
one embodiment of the invention.
[0039] In one embodiment, the network-based content and advertising
entity 100 is a network content service provider, such as, for
example, an Internet portal like Yahoo! and its associated
properties, and includes one or more front-end web servers 102,
which may, for example, deliver web pages to multiple users, (e.g.,
markup language documents), handle search requests to the entity
100, provide automated communications to/from users of the entity
100, deliver images to be displayed within the web pages, deliver
content information to the users in various formats, and deliver
advertising information to the users.
[0040] The entity 100 further includes one or more back-end
servers, for example, one or more processing servers 104 and one or
more advertising servers 105. Each server maintains and facilitates
access to one or more storage modules such as, for example, a data
storage module 106 coupled to the processing servers 104 to store
data related to the users, and an advertising storage module 108
coupled to the advertising servers 105 to store advertisements to
be transmitted and displayed for users over the network 120. In one
embodiment, the advertising servers 105 are configured to transmit
and receive content, such as, for example, advertisements,
sponsored links, integrated links, and other types of advertising
content, to/from advertiser entities (not shown) via the network
120.
[0041] The network-based entity 100 may be accessed by a client
program 132, such as a browser (e.g., the Internet Explorer.TM.
browser distributed by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.,
Netscape's Navigator.TM. browser, the Mozilla.TM. browser, a
wireless application protocol enabled browser in the case of a
cellular phone, a PDA or other wireless device), that executes on a
client machine 130 coupled to one or more user entities 110 and
accesses the entity 100 via a network 120, such as, for example,
the Internet. Other examples of networks that a client may utilize
to access the entity 100 includes a wide area network (WAN), a
local area network (LAN), a wireless network (e.g., a cellular
network), a virtual private network (VPN), the Plain Old Telephone
Service (POTS) network, or other known networks.
[0042] In one embodiment, other network entities may also access
the network-based entity 100 via the network 120, such as, for
example, publisher entities (not shown), which communicate with the
web servers 102 to populate web pages transmitted by the web
servers 102 to the user entities 110 with appropriate content
information, advertiser entities (not shown), which communicate
with the web servers 102 and the advertising servers 104 to
transmit advertisements to be displayed for the user, and broadcast
television entities (not shown), which broadcast television
programs to the user entities 110.
[0043] In one embodiment, the network-based entity 100 may also
communicate with one or more media devices via the network 120, for
example, with a network-enabled television set 142, such as an
Internet TV set, which may or may not be coupled to a digital video
recording device 144. In an alternate embodiment, both the
network-based television set 142 and the digital video recording
device 144 are coupled to the entity 100 via the network 120 and a
network interface module 146.
[0044] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a data storage module
within the network-based entity, according to one embodiment of the
invention. As illustrated in FIG. 3, in one embodiment, the data
storage module 106 may be a database, which at least partially
implements and supports the network-based entity 100. The database
200 shown in FIG. 3 may be implemented as a relational database,
and may include a number of tables having entries, or records, that
are linked by indices and keys. Alternatively, the database 200 may
be implemented as collection of objects in an object-oriented
database, a distributed database, or any other databases.
[0045] As illustrated in FIG. 3, in one embodiment, the exemplary
database 200 includes multiple tables, of which tables specifically
provided to enable an exemplary embodiment of the invention, namely
user tables 210, category tables 220, and event or activity tables
230, are shown.
[0046] In one embodiment, the user tables 210 contain a record for
each user 110 of the entity 100, such as, for example, a user
profile containing user data which may be linked to multiple items
stored in the other tables 220 and 230 within the database 200,
such as, for example, user identification information, user account
information, and other known data related to each user 110. The
user identification information may further include a user profile
containing demographic data about the user 110, geographic data
detailing user access locations, behavioral data related to the
user 110, such behavioral data being generated by a behavioral
targeting system, which analyzes user activities in connection with
the entity 100, and other identification information related to
each specific user 110. In one embodiment, the stored data may also
include near short term behavior of the user, or, in the
alternative, long term behavior of the user or an algorithmic
combination of short term and long term behavior of the user.
[0047] In one embodiment, the event or activity tables 230 may
contain, for example, records of events or other actions performed
by the user 110 while accessing the network 120, and the category
tables 220 may contain, for example, multiple classification
categories used to group the events or activities performed by the
user 110. For example, a "MUSIC" category stored within the tables
220 may be linked to various music-related events or
activities-stored within the tables 230 and may also be linked to a
user profile stored within the user tables 210.
[0048] It is to be understood that the database 200 may include any
of a number of additional tables, which may also be shown to be
linked to the user tables 210, the category tables 220, and the
user event/activity tables 230, such as, for example, page tables,
which store web page information related to the web pages
transmitted to the user, or content tables, which store content
information related to the stored web pages.
[0049] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a taxonomy
architecture within the network-based entity, according to an
alternate embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 4, in the
alternate embodiment, both the data storage module 106 and the
advertising storage module 108 may further include one or more
respective taxonomies, such as, for example, a data taxonomy 310
stored within the data storage module 106 and a respective
advertising taxonomy 320 stored within the advertising storage
module 108.
[0050] In one embodiment, the data storage module 106 stores events
and activities organized into a hierarchical data taxonomy 310
based on multiple categories, such that events in the same
classification category are mapped closer together, either manually
or automatically. The mapping assigns each stored event to one or
more categories, the events being subsequently stored within the
data taxonomy 310 at respective nodes associated with each
corresponding category. For example, the taxonomy of stored
categories may comprise a high-level category for "cities," and
several sub-categories, located hierarchically below the "cities"
category, and illustrating different objectives associated with
each particular city, such as, for example, "restaurants," "parks,"
"city services."
[0051] However, it is to be understood that any other
representation of a taxonomy used to classify subject matter may be
used in conjunction with the embodiments described below without
deviating from the spirit or scope of the invention. In addition,
in an alternate embodiment, the assigned classification categories
may not be mapped into a hierarchical taxonomy and may instead be
stored as a collection of categories within the data storage module
106.
[0052] Similarly, in one embodiment, the advertising storage module
108 stores advertisements organized into a hierarchical advertising
taxonomy 320 based on multiple categories and advertisement
parameters, such as, for example, text of each advertisement offer,
the advertiser entity associated with each respective
advertisement, advertiser industry, and other features of the
stored advertisements. The mapping assigns each advertisement to
one or more categories, the advertisements being subsequently
stored within the advertising taxonomy 320 at respective nodes
associated with each corresponding category. In one embodiment,
data stored within the data taxonomy 310 may be mapped into
corresponding advertisements stored within the advertising taxonomy
320 to enable retrieval of advertisements related to specific
events and activities.
[0053] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a method to facilitate
targeting of advertisements based on mutual information sharing
between devices over a network, according to one embodiment of the
invention. As shown in FIG. 5, at processing block 410, events or
actions related to a user 110 coupled to at least one media device
140 and categories associated with the user actions are stored
within the data storage module 106 of the entity 100.
[0054] In one embodiment, the user 110 coupled to the
network-enabled television set 142 and/or the digital video
recording device 144 performs various activities, such as, for
example, watches a television program broadcast on the television
set 142. In an alternate embodiment, the user 110 may watch a
program previously recorded on the digital video recording device
144.
[0055] In one embodiment, the network-based television set 142 is
coupled directly to the network 120 and is assigned specific
identification information, such as, for example, a unique IP
address, which identifies the user 110 and is dedicated to the user
110 during the session. Similarly, the digital video recording
device 144 is also coupled directly to the network 120 and is
further assigned specific identification information, such as, for
example, a corresponding IP address. In an alternate embodiment,
both the television set 142 and the digital video recording device
144 may be coupled to the network 120 via a network interface
module 146, which may also be identified through a respective IP
address.
[0056] In one embodiment, the user 110 accesses the entity 100
through the network-based television set 142 and the network 120
and initiates a login procedure using one or many known network
protocols. In an alternate embodiment, the user 110 may choose to
avoid the login procedure and just watch the respective programs on
the television set 142.
[0057] In one embodiment, the actions of the user 110 are collected
in data logs for further processing and are associated with the
respective user identification information, such as the unique IP
address and/or password information. If the user 110 is logged on
to the entity 100, data is transmitted to the processing servers
104 within the entity 100. Alternatively, if the user is not logged
on, data is stored at the television set 142 for subsequent
transmission to the entity 100 upon receipt of a request from the
web servers 102 of the entity 100.
[0058] In one embodiment, the processing servers 104 receive the
user data and determine classification categories associated with
each respective action performed by the user 110. If, for example,
the user 110 watched a basketball game broadcast on the television
set 142, the activity is assigned to a "sports" category and a
"basketball" category. The user data and associated categories are
further stored into respective category tables 220 and activity
tables 230 within the data storage module 106 and are linked to the
user profile of the user 110 stored within the user tables 210
based on the user identification information. Alternatively, the
user data and associated categories may be stored at corresponding
nodes within the data taxonomy 310 of the data storage module
106.
[0059] Referring back to FIG. 5, at processing block 420,
advertisements related to the stored user actions or activities and
their respective categories are transmitted to the user 110 to be
displayed on the client machine 130 coupled to the user 110.
[0060] In one embodiment, subsequent to the actions detailed above,
the user 110 accesses the entity 100 via the client machine 130 and
the network 120 and initiates a login procedure with the entity
100. During the login procedure, the processing servers 104 within
the entity 100 receive the user identification information, such
as, for example, the unique IP address and/or password information,
associated with the user 110.
[0061] In one embodiment, the user 110 further inputs various data
and initiates multiple events or actions, such as, for example,
advertisement clicks, search queries, search clicks, sponsored
listing clicks, page views, advertisement views, or other types of
events. The web servers 102 within the entity 100 transmit content
information related to the user actions via the network 120 to be
displayed on the client machine 130 for the user 110.
[0062] At the same time, classification categories related to
previously stored action data are retrieved based on the user
identification information and the stored user profile. In one
embodiment, the processing servers 104 access respective tables
within the data storage module 106 to retrieve the user profile and
categories related to previously stored actions of the user 110
based on the user identification information.
[0063] In one embodiment, the advertising servers 105 communicate
with the processing servers 104 to receive the user identification
information and the retrieved classification-categories. The
advertising servers 105 within the entity 100 access respective
tables within the advertising storage module 108 to retrieve
advertisements related to the previously stored actions of the user
110 and the retrieved classification categories. Alternatively, the
advertising servers 105 may access the advertising taxonomy 320
within the advertising storage module 108 to retrieve the
corresponding advertisements.
[0064] For example, the advertising servers 105 may retrieve
advertisements related to the "sports" and "basketball" categories
associated with the programs viewed by the user 110, irrespective
of the current events or actions performed by the user while logged
on to the entity 100. The advertising servers 105 further transmit
the retrieved advertisements to the user 110 to be displayed on the
client machine 130 along with the content information requested by
the user 110.
[0065] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method to facilitate
targeting of advertisements based on mutual information sharing
between devices over a network, according to an alternate
embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 6, at processing
block 510, events or actions related to a user 110 coupled to a
client machine 130 and classification categories associated with
the user events or actions are stored within the data storage
module 106 of the entity 100.
[0066] In one embodiment, the user 110 accesses the entity 100 via
the client machine 130 and the network 120 and initiates a login
procedure with the entity 100. During the login procedure, the
processing servers 104 within the entity 100 receive the user
identification information, such as, for example, the unique IP
address and/or password information, associated with the user
110.
[0067] In one embodiment, the user 110 further inputs various data
and initiates multiple events or actions, such as, for example,
advertisement clicks, search queries, search clicks, sponsored
listing clicks, page views, advertisement views, or other types of
events. The web servers 102 within the entity 100 transmit content
information related to the user actions via the network 120 to be
displayed on the client machine 130 for the user 110.
[0068] In one embodiment, the processing servers 104 receive the
user data and determine classification categories associated with
each respective event or action input by the user 110. If, for
example, the user 110 requested a sports-related page, such as the
ESPN web page related to basketball, the action is assigned to a
"sports" category and a "basketball" category. The user data and
associated categories are further stored into respective category
tables 220 and activity tables 230 within the data storage module
106 and are linked to the user profile of the user 110 stored
within the user tables 210 based on the user identification
information. Alternatively, the user data and associated categories
may be stored at corresponding nodes within the data taxonomy 310
of the data storage module 106.
[0069] Referring back to FIG. 6, at processing block 520,
advertisements related to the stored user actions or activities and
their respective categories are transmitted to the user 110 to be
displayed on one or more media devices 140 coupled to the user
110.
[0070] In one embodiment, subsequent to the actions detailed above,
the user 110 initiates a connection to the network 120 via one or
more media devices 140 coupled to the user 110, such as the
network-enabled television set 142 and/or the digital video
recording device 144. Next, the user 110 performs various
activities, such as, for example, watches a television program
broadcast on the television set. In an alternate embodiment, the
user 110 may watch a program previously recorded on the digital
video recording device 144.
[0071] In one embodiment, the network-based television set 142 is
coupled directly to the network 120 and is assigned specific
identification information, such as, for example, a unique IP
address, which identifies the user 110 and is dedicated to the user
110 during the session. Similarly, the digital video recording
device 144 is also coupled directly to the network 120 and is
further assigned specific identification information, such as, for
example, a corresponding IP address. In an alternate embodiment,
both the television set 142 and the digital video recording device
144 may be coupled to the network 120 via a network interface
module 146, which may also be identified through a respective IP
address.
[0072] In one embodiment, the user 110 accesses the entity 100
through the network-based television set 142 and the network 120
and initiates a login procedure using one or many known network
protocols. In an alternate embodiment, the user 110 may choose to
avoid the login procedure and just watch the respective programs on
the television set 142.
[0073] In one embodiment, the processing servers 104 receive the
user identification information and access respective tables within
the data storage module 106 to retrieve classification categories
related to previously stored actions of the user 110 based on the
user identification information. The advertising servers 105 within
the entity 100 receive the user identification information and the
classification categories from the processing servers 104 and
access the advertising storage module 108 to retrieve
advertisements related to previously stored actions of the user 110
and their respective associated categories. Alternatively, the
advertising servers 105 may access the advertising taxonomy 320
within the advertising storage module 108 to retrieve the
corresponding advertisements.
[0074] For example, the advertising servers 105 may retrieve
advertisements related to the "sports" and "basketball" categories
associated with the web pages viewed by the user 110, irrespective
of the current programs viewed by the user 110 on the television
set 142. The advertising servers 105 further transmit the retrieved
advertisements to the user 110 to be displayed on the television
set 142 along with the television programs requested by the user
110.
[0075] In one embodiment, the advertising servers 105 may transmit
the retrieved advertisements to the television set 142 to be
displayed as banner advertisements during broadcast programs.
Alternatively, the advertisements may be displayed as full screen
advertisements between broadcast programs. In another alternate
embodiment, the advertising servers 105 may transmit the retrieved
advertisements to the digital video recording device 144 to be
displayed as banner advertisements during viewing of previously
recorded television programs.
[0076] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method to process
action information received at the network-based entity, according
to one embodiment of the invention. As illustrated in FIG. 7, at
processing block 610, user identification information is received
from at least one media device 140 coupled to a user 110. In one
embodiment, the processing servers 104 within the entity 100
receive the user identification information, such as, for example,
an IP address associated with the user 110.
[0077] At processing block 620, action data associated with the
user 110 is received from the one or more media devices 140. In one
embodiment, the processing servers 104 within the entity 100
receive user data containing actions or activities performed by the
user 110.
[0078] At processing block 630, the user identification
information, the action data, and corresponding classification
categories related to the action data are stored within a data
storage module 106. In one embodiment, the processing servers 104
determine classification categories associated with each respective
activity performed by the user 110.
[0079] The user data and associated categories are further stored
into respective category tables 220 and activity tables 230 within
the data storage module 106 and are linked to the user profile of
the user 110 stored within the user tables 210 based on the user
identification information. Alternatively, the user data and
associated categories may be stored at corresponding nodes within
the data taxonomy 310 of the data storage module 106. Next, the
procedure jumps to processing block 420 described in detail in
connection with FIG. 5.
[0080] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a method to facilitate
matching of advertisements to the action information received at
the network-based entity, according to one embodiment of the
invention. As shown in FIG. 8, the procedure starts with processing
block 410 described in detail in connection with FIG. 5. At
processing block 710, user identification information is received
from a client machine 130 coupled to a user 110. In one embodiment,
the processing servers 104 within the entity 100 receive the user
identification information, such as, for example, an IP address
associated with the user 110.
[0081] At processing block 720, categories related to stored action
data are retrieved based on the user identification information. In
one embodiment, the processing servers 104 access respective tables
within the data storage module 106 to retrieve categories related
to previously stored actions of the user 110 based on the user
identification information.
[0082] At processing block 730, advertisements associated with the
classification categories are retrieved. In one embodiment, the
advertising servers 105 within the entity 100 communicate with the
processing servers 104 to receive the user identification
information and the retrieved categories. The advertising servers
105 further access the advertising storage module 108 to retrieve
advertisements related to the previously stored actions of the user
110 and the retrieved categories. Alternatively, the advertising
servers 105 may access the advertising taxonomy 320 within the
advertising storage module 108 to retrieve the corresponding
advertisements.
[0083] At processing block 740, the retrieved advertisements are
transmitted to the user 110 to be displayed on the client machine
130 coupled to the user 110. In one embodiment, the advertising
servers 105 within the entity 100 further transmit the retrieved
advertisements to the user 110 to be displayed on the client
machine 130 along with the content information requested by the
user 110.
[0084] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a method to process
action information received at the network-based entity, according
to an alternate embodiment of the invention. As illustrated in FIG.
9, at processing block 810, user identification information is
received from a client machine 130 coupled to a use 110. In one
embodiment, the processing servers 104 within the entity 100
receive the user identification information, such as, for example,
an IP address associated with the user 110.
[0085] At processing block 820, action data associated with the
user 110 is received from the client machine 130. In one
embodiment, the processing servers 104 within the entity 100
receive user data containing events or actions performed by the
user 110.
[0086] At processing block 830, the user identification
information, the action data, and corresponding classification
categories related to the action data are stored within a data
storage module 106. In one embodiment, the processing servers 104
determine classification categories associated with each respective
event or action performed by the user 110.
[0087] The user data and associated categories are further stored
into respective category tables 220 and activity tables 230 within
the data storage module 106 and are linked to the user profile of
the user 110 stored within the user tables 210 based on the user
identification information. Alternatively, the user data and
associated categories may be stored at corresponding nodes within
the data taxonomy 310 of the data storage module 106. Next, the
procedure jumps to processing block 520 described in detail in
connection with FIG. 6.
[0088] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a method to
facilitate matching of advertisements to the action information
received at the network-based entity, according to an alternate
embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 10, the procedure
starts with processing block 510 described in detail in connection
with FIG. 6. At processing block 910, user identification
information is received from at least one media device 140 coupled
to a user 110. In one embodiment, the processing servers 104 within
the entity 100 receive the user identification information, such
as, for example, an IP address associated with the user 110.
[0089] At processing block 920, categories related to stored action
data are retrieved based on the user identification information. In
one embodiment, the processing servers 104 access respective tables
within the data storage module 106 to retrieve categories related
to previously stored actions of the user 110 based on the user
identification information.
[0090] At processing block 930, advertisements associated with the
classification categories are retrieved. In one embodiment, the
advertising servers 105 within the entity 100 communicate with the
processing servers 104 to receive the user identification
information and the retrieved categories. The advertising servers
105 further access the advertising storage module 108 to retrieve
advertisements related to the previously stored actions of the user
110 and the retrieved categories. Alternatively, the advertising
servers 105 may access the advertising taxonomy 320 within the
advertising storage module 108 to retrieve the corresponding
advertisements.
[0091] At processing block 940, the retrieved advertisements are
transmitted to the user to be displayed on the one or more media
devices 140 coupled to the user 110. In one embodiment, the
advertising servers 105 within the entity 100 further transmit the
retrieved advertisements to the user 110 to be displayed on one or
more media devices 140 coupled to the user 110.
[0092] In one embodiment, the system and methods to facilitate
matching of advertising information to actions and interests of
users within a network, described in detail above in connection
with FIGS. 2 through 10, may be used in a behavioral targeting
system, which is configured to identify interests of users based on
the users' online activities.
[0093] FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a generalized
behavioral targeting system. The behavioral targeting system 1000
includes a behavioral targeting processing module 1020, which
captures the user input 1010, such as, for example, one or more
events. The behavioral targeting processing module 1020 generates a
plurality of user interest profiles specific for a target
objective. A user interest profile further provides an indication
of interest in a subject matter for a particular objective. For
example, the user profile output may indicate that the user is a
good candidate for a particular objective regarding a "finance"
topic, and a poor candidate for the specific objective regarding a
"music" topic.
[0094] In one embodiment, the behavioral targeting processing
module 1020 generates user interest profiles for marketing
objectives. As shown in FIG. 11, the behavioral targeting system
1000 outputs user interest profiles for direct response advertising
(1030), brand awareness advertising (1050), personalization
activities (1070), and purchase intention activities (1080).
[0095] FIG. 12 shows a diagrammatic representation of a machine in
the exemplary form of a computer system 1200 within which a set of
instructions, for causing the machine to perform any one of the
methodologies discussed above, may be executed. In alternative
embodiments, the machine may comprise a network router, a network
switch, a network bridge, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a
cellular telephone, a web appliance or any machine capable of
executing a sequence of instructions that specify actions to be
taken by that machine.
[0096] The computer system 1200 includes a processor 1202, a main
memory 1204 and a static memory 1206, which communicate with each
other via a bus 1208. The computer system 1200 may further include
a video display unit 1210 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or
a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 1200 also includes
an alphanumeric input device 1212 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor
control device 1214 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 1216, a
signal generation device 1218 (e.g., a speaker), and a network
interface device 1220.
[0097] The disk drive unit 1216 includes a machine-readable medium
1224 on which is stored a set of instructions (i.e., software) 1226
embodying any one, or all, of the methodologies described above.
The software 1226 is also shown to reside, completely or at least
partially, within the main memory 1204 and/or within the processor
1202. The software 1226 may further be transmitted or received via
the network interface device 1220 over the network 120.
[0098] It is to be understood that embodiments of this invention
may be used as or to support software programs executed upon some
form of processing core (such as the CPU of a computer) or
otherwise implemented or realized upon or within a machine or
computer readable medium. A machine readable medium includes any
mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form
readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a machine
readable medium includes read-only memory (ROM); random access
memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media;
flash memory devices; electrical, optical, acoustical or other form
of propagated signals (e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals,
digital signals, etc.); or any other type of media suitable for
storing or transmitting information.
[0099] In the foregoing specification, the invention has been
described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof.
It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes
may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and
scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The
specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an
illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.
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