Patent Application
20140358697
Showing advertisements during breaks in television program broadcasts has been, and is still, widely used. For example, a television broadcaster may sell advertisement opportunities according to fixed prices or by auction. Advertisement opportunities are increasingly sold for many situations where end users view on-line or pre-recorded content or use software applications. For example, where an end user views video content provided at an internet site advertisement breaks may be made. Other examples include internet radio, connected television, display advertisements, in-application advertisements and others. Connected television may be television content that solely accessed via the internet or other web-based communications networks or has at least a partial on-line internet based component, for example an interactive component Display advertisements are advertisements displayed at web sites for example, by the side of or next to content that a user is browsing. In-application advertisements are advertisements that are displayed within an interface of a software application that a user is operating. For example, a game, an email application, a photo editing application.
Where advertisements become overly intrusive, end users may desire to suppress or skip advertisements. Previous approaches have involved recording and/or offsetting of content streams to enable advertisements to be skipped. However, it has been difficult to enable end users to have fine grained control of advertisement suppression without increasing complexity unduly.
The embodiments described below are not limited to implementations which solve any or all of the disadvantages of known advertisement suppression processes and equipment.
The following presents a simplified summary of the disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding to the reader. This summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure and it does not identify key/critical elements or delineate the scope of the specification. Its sole purpose is to present a selection of concepts disclosed herein in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
Automated bidding for advertisement suppression is described, for example, to enable a user to pay to skip advertisements by using a bidding agent [zippit server] to act on behalf of the user in an auction for advertisement opportunities. In various examples, where the bidding agent wins the auction on behalf of the user, no advertisement, or an unobtrusive blank advertisement, is presented. In some examples the bidding agent is a web service with access to data about pre-registered end user devices and associated bid configurations and histories. In examples the bidding agent receives a bid request, identifies an associated registered end user device and bid configuration, and places a bid in an auction for an advertisement opportunity. In some examples, when the bidding agent wins the auction, the bidding agent enables either a publisher or the end user device to skip advertisements. For example, by providing a decryption key or in other ways.
Many of the attendant features will be more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.
The present description will be better understood from the following detailed description read in light of the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Like reference numerals are used to designate like parts in the accompanying drawings.
The detailed description provided below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of the present examples and is not intended to represent the only forms in which the present example may be constructed or utilized. The description sets forth the functions of the example and the sequence of steps for constructing and operating the example. However, the same or equivalent functions and sequences may be accomplished by different examples.
The end user device 100 is arranged to receive and display content from one or more publishers 112. Only one publisher 112 is shown in
The bidding agent 118 is also computer implemented using software and/or hardware. For example, the bidding agent 118 may comprise one or more web servers arranged to provide a web service which involves acting on behalf of the user in an auction for advertisement opportunities. Where the bidding agent wins the auction on behalf of the user, no advertisement, or an unobtrusive blank advertisement, may be presented at the user's device or devices. The functionality to skip advertisements in this manner may be provided at any one or more of: the end user device 100, the publisher 112 or another entity in communication with the publisher or end user device.
The bidding agent 118 may comprise a web-based interface accessible by end user devices 100 and arranged to enable end users to enroll with the web-service, to set bid configurations, to view history (comprising data about past use of the web service) and for other purposes. The bidding agent 118 has access to one or more data stores such as databases or other records holding user data 120, web service history 122, and bid configurations 124. A bid configuration is a plurality of parameter value ranges, criteria, thresholds or other data relating to how one or more users desire to bid in an auction for advertisement opportunities.
The bidding agent 118 is in communication with one or more auction mechanisms 116 (one auction mechanism is shown in
One or more advertisers 114 (which are computer implemented entities controlled by entities desiring to purchase advertisement opportunities) are in communication with the auction mechanism 116 and are able to place bids for advertisement opportunities.
It is possible for a publisher to act as an end user device in addition to acting as a publisher.
In the example of
In this example the publisher obtains 204 user device information (where the user has registered with the bidding agent and given consent). For example, the publisher receives cookies from the end user device or detects an IP address of the end user device. In other examples the publisher obtains 204 information about the end user device 100 by obtaining a device id or SIM (subscriber identification component) data.
The publisher 112 in this example comprises a bidding agent component 128. This component is arranged to create 206 a bid request each time a user begins to view content at the publisher site (whether that user is registered with the bidding agent service or not). A bid request is a message comprising a destination address (address of the bidding agent), an address or other identifier of the publisher site being browsed, the obtained user device information, and how many advertisement display opportunities are present at the publisher site (for example, there may be a video in one region of a display and a second region available on the same display).
The publisher 112 sends 208 the bid request to the supply side platform using any suitable communications protocol such as TCP, HTTP or any other suitable communications channel. The supply side platform forwards 210 the bid request to the bidding agent.
The bidding agent uses the data from the bid request to check that it recognizes 212 the user. If the user is enrolled with the bidding agent service the user device has a user device profile and history which the bidding agent is able to access from databases 120, 122. If the bidding agent does not recognize the user, or if the user account is blocked then the bidding agent takes no further action. If the bidding agent recognizes the user it proceeds to look up the bid configuration 214 of the user device. Bid configurations are described in more detail later in this document. In an example where the optional bidding agent component 124 is installed on the end user device 100 the bidding agent may be able to recognize the user prior to the publisher obtaining user information 204.
The bidding agent uses the bid configuration and knowledge of the auction mechanism 116 (such as the particular auction rules being used) to calculate a bid. It places 216 the bid by sending a message to the supply side platform. The supply side platform receives 218 bids from advertisers for the opportunity to display advertisements at the end user device as the publisher site is browsed. The supply side platform calculates 220 an outcome of the auction. In a first example the supply side platform sends 222 the auction outcome to the bidding agent which updates 230 the history. In an alternative example (not shown in
In the event that the bidding agent won the auction on behalf of the user, the publisher returns one or more empty advertisements to the end user device 100. If the bidding agent lost the auction on behalf of the user, the publisher returns one or more advertisements associated with the winning advertiser.
In some examples the empty advertisements are transparent to the end user so that the viewing experience is not interrupted. In other examples the empty advertisements are insignificant but visible to the user so that the user is aware of the success of the bidding agent service.
In this example, a connected TV publisher, sends TV content to an end user device 100 where it is played 302. In an example the TV publisher may send TV content to the end user device 100 in response to a request from the end user device for TV content, for example an on demand TV content request. The TV content may be encrypted 300 during advertisement breaks. During the advertisement breaks the connected TV publisher (or another entity) sends unencrypted advertisement to the end user device 100 which are displayed at the end user device during the advertisement break.
A bidding agent 118 publishes an interface 304 to the bidding agent service. At the end user device the interface is displayed as an in-application online interface to the bidding agent. For example, a software application at the end user device which is used to play the TV content comprises a component or component (optional bidding agent component 126 of
An end user is able to submit a user login 308 request to the bidding agent 118 using the bidding agent interface displayed at the device. A bid request is sent 310 from the device to the bidding agent using the bidding agent interface. The bid request comprises an address or other identifier of the publisher site being browsed and user device information. In another example, the login 308 request may have occurred in advance and is not repeated, for example, the device may store details of a previous user login so that this step does not have to be repeated.
The bidding agent identifies 312 or recognizes the user by checking the user device information against the user profile associated with the user login. The bidding agent looks 314 up the bid configuration of the user device. It calculates a bid using the bid configuration and knowledge of the auction mechanism 116. The bidding agent 118 places 316 a bid by sending a message to the auction mechanism. It receives 318 an auction outcome.
In some examples, indicated by bracket A in
In another example, indicated by bracket B in
In the event that the bidding agent loses the auction, the bidding agent is able to send feedback to the in-application online interface to the bidding agent at the end user device. For example, the feedback may display 332 to the user the fact that the auction was lost and give examples of bid amounts that have been successful in the past for similar situations. In another embodiment a lost bid may be derived by recording bids and subtract the winning bids. User input may be received 334 at the in-application online interface. For example, the user input may be a bid configuration change 336 which increases the bid. The bid configuration change is used at the bidding agent to update 338 the stored bid configuration.
The bidding agent 118 is arranged to update 324 the history after each auction outcome.
Although
The examples described with respect to
The example of
In an example, the publisher 112 publishes 400 a web site with content to be viewed by an end user. The publisher 112 has previously enrolled on the bidding agent service. The publisher web site comprises a bidding agent tag or other marker comprising an identifier of the publisher web site (which is known to the bidding agent service through the enrollment process) and an address of the bidding agent.
The end user device 100 is used to browse 402 the publisher site in order that an end user may view the content. In some examples, the publisher detects the advertising opportunity and generates a bid request comprising a user device identifier and an identifier of the publisher site. In other examples the end user device has a browser plug-in which is triggered by the bidding agent tag presence to generate and send 404 a bid request to the bidding agent. In other examples the end user device has an in-application online interface to the bidding agent which is triggered by the bidding agent tag presence to generate and send a bid request to the bidding agent.
The bidding agent recognizes the user 406 as described above with reference to
If the end user device wins the auction, the bidding agent sends messages to the end user device 100 to update 414 a publisher configuration at the end user device. The publisher configuration is updated to enable advertisements to be skipped for content published at the publisher site. If the end user device loses the auction, advertisements continue to be presented at the end user device.
The bidding agent updates 416 the history according to the auction outcome.
In some examples, the bidding agent tag at the publisher web site comprises a script or instructions comprising functions from an application programming interface (API) of the bidding agent. In examples where the end user device comprises a browser plug-in the browser-plug in notices the bidding agent tag and loads the instructions identified in the script. This enables the browser at the end user device to communicate with the bidding agent service and make bid requests.
A device name is received 506 (which may be input by the user or selected by the bidding agent) for each end user device a user registers with the service. The bidding agent also receives 508 an identification method selection for each end user device a user registers with the service. The identification method may be any of: detect IP address of end user device, obtain cookies from the end user device, obtain a SIM identifier or telephone number of the end user device, use a bidding agent component (such as a browser plugin or other component) at the end user device. The bidding agent stores the selections and data it receives by updating 510 databases 120, 124 of
a time stamp for the event which may show a date and/or time;
a site name which is an identifier of a web site from which content was viewed and at which advertisement opportunities were available;
an impression format such as pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll, all video, display, in-application, TV, audio, radio, offline, video game;
a category (this is used where the auction comprises multiple rounds);
a bid amount (the bid amounts may be in different currencies);
an auction outcome (such as yes or no, win or lose);
a debit amount (which may be more than the bid amount where the bidding agent service takes a commission).
A user is able to select a cell of the table to receive guidance and/or suggestions for future bid amounts. For example, selecting a cell of the table may cause a pop up display 602 to appear giving more detail about the event and requesting user input. In the example of
The bidding agent receives 800 a user login and offline viewing request from the end user device. The offline viewing request comprises details of the publisher and content to be viewed offline. The bidding agent obtains 802 a plurality of encrypted tokens from the publisher and sends 804 those to a bidding agent component at the end user device. In some examples the tokens are time limited so that after a specified time they expire.
The end user device, whilst offline, is able to play the downloaded content and use the encrypted tokens to skip advertisements in the downloaded content. For example, the encrypted tokens may comprise decryption keys to decrypt content during advertisement breaks (as described above with reference to
Once online again the bidding agent component at the end user device sends the tokens to the bidding agent. The bidding agent receives 808 the used tokens and reconciles those with the tokens provided by the publisher. As a result of the reconciliation the bidding agent debits the account associated with the end user device.
In an example, a method at a computer-implemented bidding agent comprises: receiving a login and offline viewing request from an end user device to view content published by a publisher at a publisher web site; obtaining a plurality of encrypted tokens from the publisher; sending the tokens to a bidding agent component at the end user device; receiving used tokens from the bidding agent component at the end user device and reconciling the used tokens with the tokens received from the publisher. In examples the tokens are time limited. In examples the tokens enable advertisements associated with the published content to be skipped.
Computing-based device 900 comprises one or more processors 902 which may be microprocessors, controllers or any other suitable type of processors for processing computer executable instructions to control the operation of the device in order to provide bidding agent functionality, or, in the case of a publisher or end user device, to communicate with a bidding agent in order to enable a end user to purchase advertisement opportunities in an auction so as to skip advertisements when playing content. In some examples, for example where a system on a chip architecture is used, the processors 902 may include one or more fixed function blocks (also referred to as accelerators) which implement a part of the method of any of
The computer executable instructions may be provided using any computer-readable media that is accessible by computing based device 900. Computer-readable media may include, for example, computer storage media such as memory 912 and communications media. Computer storage media, such as memory 912, includes volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program components or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transmission medium that can be used to store information for access by a computing device. In contrast, communication media may embody computer readable instructions, data structures, program components, or other data in a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave, or other transport mechanism. As defined herein, computer storage media does not include communication media. Therefore, a computer storage medium should not be interpreted to be a propagating signal per se. Propagated signals may be present in a computer storage media, but propagated signals per se are not examples of computer storage media. Although the computer storage media (memory 912) is shown within the computing-based device 900 it will be appreciated that the storage may be distributed or located remotely and accessed via a network or other communication link (e.g. using communication interface 914).
The computing-based device 900 also comprises an input/output controller 916 arranged to output display information to a display device 918 which may be separate from or integral to the computing-based device 900. The display information may provide a graphical user interface. The input/output controller 916 is also arranged to receive and process input from one or more devices, such as a user input device 920 (e.g. a mouse, keyboard, camera, microphone or other sensor). In some examples the user input device 920 may detect voice input, user gestures or other user actions and may provide a natural user interface (NUI). This user input may be used to input bid configurations, enroll at a bidding agent, view bid history, enter user registration data or for other purposes. In an embodiment the display device 918 may also act as the user input device 920 if it is a touch sensitive display device. The input/output controller 916 may also output data to devices other than the display device, e.g. a locally connected printing device.
Any of the input/output controller 916, display device 918 and the user input device 920 may comprise NUI technology which enables a user to interact with the computing-based device in a natural manner, free from artificial constraints imposed by input devices such as mice, keyboards, remote controls and the like.
In some examples, the bidding agent is a content suppression server which may provide a service to enable a user device to control suppression of content to the device. The content suppression server may comprise:
a communications interface arranged to receive a content suppression request over a communications network, the content suppression request comprising at least data about an end user device and a publisher site identifier;
a processor arranged to recognize the end user device on the basis of the data;
the processor arranged to access a content suppression configuration associated with the recognized end user device, the content suppression configuration comprising values related to a user's propensity to suppress content;
the processor arranged to calculate a propensity value using the accessed content suppression configuration and the publisher site identifier;
an interface to an automated resolution mechanism, the interface arranged to send the propensity value to the automated resolution mechanism and to receive an outcome indicating whether content delivery is to be suppressed.
The term ‘computer’ or ‘computing-based device’ is used herein to refer to any device with processing capability such that it can execute instructions. Those skilled in the art will realize that such processing capabilities are incorporated into many different devices and therefore the terms ‘computer’ and ‘computing-based device’ each include PCs, servers, mobile telephones (including smart phones), tablet computers, set-top boxes, media players, games consoles, personal digital assistants and many other devices.
The methods described herein may be performed by software in machine readable form on a tangible storage medium e.g. in the form of a computer program comprising computer program code means adapted to perform all the steps of any of the methods described herein when the program is run on a computer and where the computer program may be embodied on a computer readable medium. Examples of tangible storage media include computer storage devices comprising computer-readable media such as disks, thumb drives, memory etc. and do not include propagated signals. Propagated signals may be present in a tangible storage media, but propagated signals per se are not examples of tangible storage media. The software can be suitable for execution on a parallel processor or a serial processor such that the method steps may be carried out in any suitable order, or simultaneously.
This acknowledges that software can be a valuable, separately tradable commodity. It is intended to encompass software, which runs on or controls “dumb” or standard hardware, to carry out the desired functions. It is also intended to encompass software which “describes” or defines the configuration of hardware, such as HDL (hardware description language) software, as is used for designing silicon chips, or for configuring universal programmable chips, to carry out desired functions.
Those skilled in the art will realize that storage devices utilized to store program instructions can be distributed across a network. For example, a remote computer may store an example of the process described as software. A local or terminal computer may access the remote computer and download a part or all of the software to run the program. Alternatively, the local computer may download pieces of the software as needed, or execute some software instructions at the local terminal and some at the remote computer (or computer network). Those skilled in the art will also realize that by utilizing conventional techniques known to those skilled in the art that all, or a portion of the software instructions may be carried out by a dedicated circuit, such as a DSP, programmable logic array, or the like.
Any range or device value given herein may be extended or altered without losing the effect sought, as will be apparent to the skilled person.
Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
It will be understood that the benefits and advantages described above may relate to one embodiment or may relate to several embodiments. The embodiments are not limited to those that solve any or all of the stated problems or those that have any or all of the stated benefits and advantages. It will further be understood that reference to ‘an’ item refers to one or more of those items.
The steps of the methods described herein may be carried out in any suitable order, or simultaneously where appropriate. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from any of the methods without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein. Aspects of any of the examples described above may be combined with aspects of any of the other examples described to form further examples without losing the effect sought.
The term ‘comprising’ is used herein to mean including the method blocks or elements identified, but that such blocks or elements do not comprise an exclusive list and a method or apparatus may contain additional blocks or elements.
It will be understood that the above description is given by way of example only and that various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art. The above specification, examples and data provide a complete description of the structure and use of exemplary embodiments. Although various embodiments have been described above with a certain degree of particularity, or with reference to one or more individual embodiments, those skilled in the art could make numerous alterations to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of this specification.
