Patent Application
20080243610
The core of the World Wide Web (WWW) comprises several billion interlinked web pages which are visited by over a billion people. As such, web pages, especially popular web pages, provide a powerful advertising medium. Traditionally, the financial aspects of web page advertising have either been based on the number of “views” of the ad, the number of “click-throughs” occurring through the ad, or some combination thereof. Because it was traditionally considered impossible to track what any given visitor to a web page actually looks at, the mere fact that a visitor viewed the web page was generally counted as a “view” of an advertisement displayed on the web page at that time. Conversely, a “click-through” required not just that a visitor to the web page saw and read the ad, but that they actually clicked on the ad, thereby suspending their visit to the web page and instead visiting the advertiser's web page, or whatever other web page may be linked with the advertisement.
As web-based advertising matured, the financial compensation based on ad views was commonly reduced to a small amount, as empirical data showed a weak correlation between the number of views of an advertisement and an attendant increase in the advertiser's sales. Click-throughs, on the other hand, maintained a much higher level of compensation because, as expected, individuals who were so interested in the advertised product that they left the website they had intended to visit, and instead visited the advertiser's web site, often did end up purchasing the advertised product or service. Click-throughs likewise formed the basis by which web-based advertising was tuned by advertisers. Advertisements that generated click-throughs were expanded upon, while those that failed to generate click-throughs were discarded.
Just as advertisers sought to display web-based ads that were interesting to viewers so as to entice them to purchase the advertised product, the publishers of the content provided on web pages that hosted those ads likewise sought to display web-based ads that were interesting to the readers of the web page. Advertisements that are not interesting to the visitor of a web page are often annoying or, at best, distracting. Visitors that are repeatedly annoyed by the advertisements on a web page can choose to stop visiting the web page, thereby decreasing the web page's popularity and, ultimately, impacting the income received by the web page publisher for the web page. However, like advertisers, web page publishers were often limited to the use of click-throughs for gauging visitor reaction to the advertisements displayed on the publisher's web page.
Although not as prevalent, ad-supported software utilized a similar model even prior to web-based advertisements. Such ad-supported software was provided for free to users, but would display advertisements as the user interacted with the software. As with web-based advertisements, the software developer could be compensated either based on the number of times that an ad was displayed to a user, the number of times that the user clicked on the ad, or some combination thereof. Again, as with web-based advertisements, both the advertiser and the software developer sought to display ads that would be interesting for the user, and both generally gauged that interest by monitoring the user's clicking on an ad.
A greater amount of information regarding user reactions to displayed advertisements can be collected by providing incrementally increasing levels of advertisements, with each level comprising a greater amount of information and presentation. Initial advertisements can be small and unobtrusive. A user action that indicates some measure of interest can trigger a subsequently larger and more obtrusive advertisement which can provide the user with a greater amount of information, but can still be presented within the context of the user's primary goal, such as reading a web site or interacting with an ad-sponsored software application. Increasingly larger and more informative advertisements can be displayed in response to user actions that indicate a desire to continue to gather more information regarding the advertised product or service. Ultimately, the user can be directed to an advertiser web site or similar destination in an similar manner to a traditional click-through. By providing incrementally greater interaction with an advertisement package, the user's interest in the advertising can be more accurately gauged and recorded. More specifically, user interest can be quantified even if it does not extend to the level needed to cause the user to set aside their primary goal, such as reading the web site, and instead click-through to the advertiser's web site.
The user's interaction with each of the varying levels of an advertisement package can be recorded by the application with which the user is currently interacting, such as a web browser or an ad-sponsored software package; and this information can be stored locally or sent to one or more servers, such as the servers that provided the ad package in the first place. User interaction data can be aggregated and provided on a per-advertiser basis to the advertiser and on a per-web-page or per-publisher basis to the publisher of the web page, or on a per-program basis to the developer of the ad-sponsored software. In each case, the data can be used to more effectively tune the advertising. The publisher and developer can use the data to more accurately gauge user interest in the advertisements that are being displayed. The advertiser can use the data to more accurately gauge user interest in the advertising package. The data can also be used to establish a more tiered, and thus more negotiable, financial agreement between the advertiser and the publisher or software developer.
This record of user interest and interaction can serve as the foundation for additional functionality that can be of value to users. For example, with an appropriate interface, users can be provided a mechanism with which to recall the advertisements for which they showed a given level of interest. Such an interface can provide functionality similar to “bookmarking” but it can be advertisement-focused and more lightweight and automatic, since the user would not need to explicitly bookmark the advertisement. Users can also be provided with mechanisms with which to recall any other aspects of their advertisement interactions, such as the context in which the user encountered any particular advertisement.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Additional features and advantages will be made apparent from the following detailed description that proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The following detailed description may be best understood when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, of which:
The following description relates to providing multiple levels of advertisements to more accurately gauge user or visitor interest. In one embodiment, web pages, ad-sponsored software, or other ad-hosting mechanisms can provide increasingly informative levels of advertising in response to user behavior that evidences an interest in the previously provided advertising level. If, at any level, the user does not evidence an interest in the advertisement, then no further levels need to be presented. The highest level presented to a user, therefore, provides a more finely grained gauge of the user's interest in the advertised product or service. Information regarding the highest level reached by users of a particular program, or visitors to a particular web page, can be used by both the advertiser and the developer of the program, or publisher of the web page, to tune the types of ads presented to those users or visitors. Such information can likewise be used to establish more flexible financial terms for the advertising.
The techniques described herein focus on the presentation of multiple levels of advertisements in response to predefined user actions, and the collection of information regarding the presentation of such levels to particular users. The techniques described herein further focus on the flexibility afforded to publishers, software developers, and advertisers because of the multiple advertisement level information collected. While the described techniques are illustrated within the context of a web page, they are intended to cover any type of ad-hosting mechanism, including, for example, ad-sponsored software. Similarly, while the described techniques suggest particular visual presentations, they are not limited to such visual elements, and can be implemented using any appropriately selected visual cues and visual information presentation mechanisms.
Although not required, the description below will be in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computing device. More specifically, the description will reference acts and symbolic representations of operations that are performed by one or more computing devices or peripherals, unless indicated otherwise. As such, it will be understood that such acts and operations, which are at times referred to as being computer-executed, include the manipulation by a processing unit of electrical signals representing data in a structured form. This manipulation transforms the data or maintains it at locations in memory, which reconfigures or otherwise alters the operation of the computing device or peripherals in a manner well understood by those skilled in the art. The data structures where data is maintained are physical locations that have particular properties defined by the format of the data.
Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the computing devices need not be limited to conventional personal computers, and include other computing configurations, including hand-held devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. Similarly, the computing devices need not be limited to a stand-alone computing devices, as the mechanisms may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.
With reference to
Also illustrated in
In one embodiment, a web page from the publisher website 21 can host one or more of the ad packages, such as ad package 60, obtained from the platform operator computing device 40. More specifically, the web page from the publisher website 21 can link to the platform operator computing device 40 such that a request by the web browser 11 to display the web page results in the transmission of an ad package 60 from the platform operator computing device to the personal computing device 10, either directly, or by first being transmitted to the publisher website hosting device 20. The advertisements 61, 62 and 63 of the ad package 60 can be selectively displayed by the web browser 11 in response to user actions. For example, advertisement 61 can be displayed initially as part of the web page requested from the publisher website 21. If the user performs an action that evidences an interest in the advertisement 61, the web browser 11 can display advertisement 62. Logic for implementing such a decision-based functionality is well known in the art and includes common browser-understandable scripting tools such as JavaScript and AJAX.
Upon display of an advertisement, such as ad 62, the web browser 11 can notify the platform operator computing device, either directly or indirectly through the publisher website hosting device, of the display of the advertisement. Such data can be collected by the platform operator computing device, amalgamated, and subsequently provided to either or both the publisher and the advertiser. The amalgamated data can then be used to determine the requisite level of compensation to be provided by the advertiser to the publisher, and can also be used by both the publisher and the advertiser to tune the advertisements provided to a visitor.
Turning to
The exemplary computing device 100 can include, but is not limited to, one or more central processing units (CPUs) 120, a system memory 130, and a system bus 121 that couples various system components including the system memory to the processing unit 120. The system bus 121 may be any of several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation, such architectures include the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus and various higher speed versions thereof, the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus and Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, the Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, and the Video Electronics Standards Associate (VESA) bus. The computing device 100 can optionally include graphics hardware, including, but not limited to, a graphics hardware interface 190 and a display device 191.
The computing device 100 also typically includes computer readable media, which can include any available media that can be accessed by computing device 100 and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media and removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the computing device 100. Communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of the any of the above should also be included within the scope of computer readable media.
The system memory 130 includes computer storage media in the form of volatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM) 131 and random access memory (RAM) 132. A basic input/output system 133 (BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computing device 100, such as during start-up, is typically stored in ROM 131. RAM 132 typically contains data and/or program modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presently being operated on by processing unit 120. By way of example, and not limitation,
The computing device 100 may also include other removable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. By way of example only,
The drives and their associated computer storage media discussed above and illustrated in
Of relevance to the descriptions below, the computing device 100 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers. For simplicity of illustration, and in conformance with the exemplary system 99 of
In a World Wide Web based environment, network communications occur generally within the context of the display of one or more web pages. Turning to
An exemplary user experience flow 300 is illustrated in
A visitor to web page 310 can notice the advertisements 311, 312, 313 and 314, and can, to receive more information, take some action with respect to the particular advertisement that piqued that visitor's interest. In one embodiment, such an action requires nothing more than a “hover,” whereby the visitor simply moves their web browser's cursor into the area of the web page displaying the advertisement. For example, the visitor could simply hover their cursor 315 over an advertisement, such as ad 311, as shown in
As shown in
If, however, the visitor decides that they desire to learn yet more information about the advertised product or service after viewing the second level ad 321, the visitor can perform another yet another triggering action, this time with respect to advertisement 321. For example, as shown in
As can be seen, by providing multiple levels of advertisements within a single ad package, a visitor to a web page can obtain more information regarding the advertised product or service without leaving the context of the web page or deviating from their intended purpose in visiting the web page in the first place. In addition, the publisher of a web page can select to display a greater amount of advertising, since the first level advertisements for ad packages can be small and unobtrusive.
In addition, by providing multiple levels of advertisements, a greater level of detail can be obtained regarding a user's interest. More specifically, visitors to a web page can initiate the display of a second level ad even if they were not sufficiently interested in the first level ad to visit the advertiser's web page. Thus, while such user interest would not have previously been recorded, since it did not rise to the level of interest required to generate a click-through, such a lower interest level can now be quantified, since it may generate a view of the second level advertisement.
Turning to
If the user of the web browser 11 performs an action that causes one or more subsequent level advertisements to be displayed, the web browser 11 can communicate such an event back to the platform operator computing device, either directly via communication 425 or indirectly by first notifying the publisher website hosting device 21, via communication 420, and subsequently the publisher website hosting device can notify the platform operator computing device via communication 421. In one embodiment, communications 420 and 421, or 425, can occur on a real-time basis. For example, the web browser 11 can have received only a first level ad 61 of the ad package 60, and communications 420 and 421, or 425, can comprise requests for subsequent level advertisements. In another embodiment, communications 420 and 421, or 425, can occur on a delayed basis. For example, the display of subsequent level advertisements from an ad package 60 can be recorded in a file, known as a “cookie,” stored on the personal computing device 10. Information from the cookie can be obtained by the platform operator computing device 40 or the publisher website hosting device 20 at a subsequent time via communications 420, 421 or 425.
The platform operator computing device 40 can collect user interaction data from multiple personal computing devices and multiple publisher website hosting devices. The amalgamated user interaction data can then be provided to the advertiser via communication 430. It can also be provided to the publisher if such data is not already available to the publisher from communications 420. The amalgamated user interaction data provided to the advertiser can be advertiser-specific, such that each advertiser receives user interaction data regarding their advertisement packages. For each advertisement package, the data provided can include such information as the number of times that a first level ad was displayed, the number of times each successive level advertisement was displayed and the number of times that the viewer ultimately clicked through to the advertiser's web site or other advertiser location.
In one embodiment, the amalgamated user interaction data can be used as the basis for the financial agreement between the advertiser and the publisher of the web pages that display the advertiser's advertisements. Because multiple levels of advertisements can be displayed, a more gradually tired financial agreement can be used than would have otherwise been possible. For example, rather than paying a very low amount for mere advertisement views, and a higher amount for much rarer advertisement click-throughs, advertisers can pay gradually increasingly higher amounts for each higher advertising level that is displayed to a particular viewer of the web page. Consequently, the exact payment levels can be set in such a manner to more accurately reflect the overall value of each successive level to the advertiser.
Payments from the advertiser in accordance with the financial agreements reached can be provided as illustrated by payments 440 and 441, or 445 of
The amalgamated user interaction data can also be used to tune the ad packages. In one embodiment, the advertiser can use the amalgamated user interaction data to better understand potential customer's reactions to specific advertising elements. For example, if the amalgamated user interaction data illustrated that a sizeable percentage of users who viewed a second level ad also viewed a third level ad, the advertiser can model further advertisements after that second level ad, even if the rest of the ad package was not empirically shown to be successful. Similarly, if the amalgamated user interaction data further illustrated that a very small percentage of users who viewed a third level ad ultimately clicked-through to the advertiser's web site, the advertiser can modify only that third level ad, leaving the remaining advertisements in the ad package unchanged. Thus, as can be seen, user interaction data for multiple levels of advertisements provides the advertiser information regarding specific elements of advertisement campaigns, enabling the advertiser to modify only those elements. Consequently, the advertisers can tune their advertisements in a more precise manner. Such tuned advertisements can then be provided to the platform operator computing device 40 via communication 460 for subsequent display to web page visitors.
Publishers can likewise more accurately tune the advertisements that they display. More specifically, user interaction data for multiple levels of advertisements provides a more precise measurement of users' interest in an advertisement. For example, users that perform a triggering action to display a second level advertisement, but then do not trigger a third level advertisement can be deemed to be less interested in the ad package than those users that proceed to view the third level ad. With the user interaction data for multiple level ad packages, publishers can determine which types of ad packages were the most interesting to the greatest amount of users, or which advertiser's ad packages were the most interesting to the greatest amount of users. Consequently, the publishers can select, for future display on their web pages, ad packages advertising specific types of products or services, or ad packages from particular advertisers. Such a selection can be communicated to the platform operator computing device 40 via communication 450, as shown in
Turning to
Once the ad packages have been sent to the personal computing device 10, information regarding the user's actions with respect to those ad packages can be received by the platform operator as shown at step 540. As indicated previously, the user's actions can be reported via a number of mechanisms. For example, each level of advertisement of an ad package can be requested individually by the web browser 11, and each such request implicitly indicates the level of advertisement that is being displayed to a particular user. Alternatively, data regarding the level of advertisement displayed to a user by the web browser 11 can be stored in a cookie at the web browser, and can be subsequently read by the platform operator.
Data from each individual user's experiences with an ad package 60 can be amalgamated at step 550 and the data relevant to the ad packages for a particular advertiser can be provided to the advertiser at step 560. Step 560 can likewise entail the provision of publisher-specific user interaction data to the publisher so as to enable the publisher to tune the types of advertisements their viewers are presented.
The platform operator can likewise maintain the user interaction data on a user-specific basis to provide value-added features for individuals users that can be offered by one or more publisher's web pages. In one embodiment, a value-added feature that can be provided to visitors based on the user interaction data is an ability to review or search advertisements that were previously presented to the visitor. Such a value-added feature can be especially useful in the context of a search web page. For example, if the exemplary web page 200 was a web page providing the results of a search, the ad packages displayed in advertisement areas 230 and 240, among others, could be associated with the terms that were searched for in order to display that search results web page. A search for “spark plug,” for example, could result in the presentation of ad packages from auto manufacturers.
The correlation between search terms and displayed ad packages can make value-added features, such as the ability to review or search previously presented advertisements, more useful. For example, a search web page visitor may remember that they viewed several layers of an ad package that was of interest to them, but cannot remember its exact content. If the search web page visitor can remember the search terms that they were searching for when they saw the ad package, the individual user interaction data maintained by the platform operator can identify the advertisement packages that were presented to the search web page visitor in connection with that search. Conversely, a search web page visitor might remember one or more levels of an ad package that they were presented with, but cannot recall the exact search terms that the visitor used. If the visitor wishes to perform the search again, so as to visit a link that was returned as a search result, the platform operator can reference the user-specific user interaction data and identify the search terms used when the visitor was presented the ad package they remembered.
The maintenance of user-specific user interaction data enables value-added features that are also relevant outside of the context of search web pages. For example, a value-added feature that can be provided by any type of web page is an automatically generated list of the advertisement packages for which a user triggered at least a third level advertisement to be displayed. Such as list can be offered to be emailed to individuals of the user's choosing as the user's gift wish list. Alternatively, such a list can be useful to the user as a supplement to the web browser's history list, which traditionally would only include individual web pages, and not the advertisements viewed therein.
Turning back to
As can be seen from the above descriptions, multiple levels of advertisements from a single ad package can be presented in response to triggering actions, enabling a more accurate assessment of a viewer's interest. In view of the many possible variations of the subject matter described herein, we claim as our invention all such embodiments as may come within the scope of the following claims and equivalents thereto.
