Patent Application
20160092919
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and apparatuses for interfacing with a user on a mobile device. In particular, the present invention relates to methods and apparatuses for delivering and placing contextual contents such as advertisements, applications, or messages on a mobile device based on user engagement with the mobile device.
2. Description of Related Art
The ubiquity of mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets offers unparalleled marketing opportunities for vendors of products and services. Vendors may tailor mobile advertisements (ads) to a user based on how the user interacts with a mobile device. Presently, advertisers may leverage a user's engagement with a mobile application (app) or a web browser to deliver ads. For example, when the user opens up a mobile app or a browser, advertisers may place banner ads in a non-intrusive area within the app or the browser. One limitation of this mode of advertising is that the delivery of ads is predicated on the user's engagement with the particular app or the browser. When the user closes the app or the browser, the advertising opportunity is lost. Advertisers may attempt to leverage multiple apps to deliver ads. However, this increases the cost to advertisers and does not overcome the dependence of advertisers on the user engaging with the apps. Even if the advertiser can deliver ads when the user is not engaged with any app or browser, it may be difficult to locate an area on the home screen to non-intrusively display the ads. Further compounding the problem is that advertisers are increasingly using sophisticated data analytics on user engagement to optimize targeted advertising. When user engagement data is predicated on the user's engagement with an app, information on how the user interacts with other apps is not available, severely limiting the effectiveness of the data analytics. As such, it is desirable to provide a more effective platform to collect and analyze user engagement on a mobile device, and to deliver and display targeted mobile ads on the mobile device.
The present invention provides a platform to collect data throughout a user's engagement with a mobile device independent of user engagement with any one app. The user engagement data may be used by data analytics to target mobile ads to the user. The present invention also provides a platform to deliver and display dynamic, targeted ads on a mobile device at all times, even when the user transitions between apps, or is on the home screen and disengaged from all apps.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, data on user engagement throughout a user's interaction with a mobile device is sent to a dashboard for analysis. For example, not only are information on user engagement with an app or a browser tracked and collected, but information on how the user transitions from app to app, or how the user engages with the home screen while disengaged from apps are sent to the dashboard. User engagement between apps is tracked and collected by a platform that makes other apps available within an opened app. The user may transition between apps by opening a second app without closing a first app. The apps whose user engagement data is tracked and collected need not share an application program interface (API) or may not be related in other ways. The dashboard has a global view of user engagement with the mobile device and may analyze the collected data to optimize the contextual message to target the user.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the dashboard delivers targeted, contextual ads for display in a non-intrusive and ergonomically accessible part of the display of the mobile device. The ads may be displayed within an opened app or on the home screen when all apps are disengaged. For example, an ad for downloading an app may display next to a related app in an arc interface area of the home screen for easy access by the user. From within an app, an ad or message based on user activity not associated with the opened app may also display in an arc area of the opened app. In one embodiment, multiple ads or messages may display in one offering to facilitate user interaction.
The advantages of the present invention are that user engagement is tracked, collected, and analyzed independently of apps or browsers to optimize targeted contextual ads or messages that are more relevant. The targeted ads or messages are also displayed more timely in an ergonomically accessible manner to capture a user's attention, increasing the chance of user response and the return on investment for the advertisers.
The accompanying drawings are provided together with the following description of the embodiments for a better comprehension of the present invention. The drawings and the embodiments are illustrative of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It is understood that a person of ordinary skill in the art may modify the drawings to generate drawings of other embodiments that would still fall within the scope of the present invention.
The following paragraphs describe several embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the embodiments are used only to illustrate and describe the present invention, and are not to be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present invention.
The arcs of apps may be visible from any screen, either from within an active app or from the home screen. The user may thus be able to open a new app or to return to a previously opened app from an active app without the need to close the active app or to return to the home screen. For example, nine apps, designed app1 through app9, may be visible in the arcs. App1 through app9 need not share resources, data and other information through an API, may not invoke each other's functionalities or be related in other ways. The user may invoke app1, app3, app9, and app8 to have all four apps opened simultaneously. User engagement across the four apps are tracked and collected. For example, app1 may be an app for making travel reservations, app3 may be an app for travel research, app8 may be a search engine, and app9 may be a social media site used by the user to exchange travel suggestions with friends. The user may interact with the four apps to plan a vacation. The user's engagement with any one app may not give sufficient insight into the user's destination preference. However, when the user's engagement with all four apps is analyzed, a data analytics tool may discern the user's preference. An advertiser such as a travel agent may use the result to generate a promotion targeted to the user's destination preference. The ad may be placed in a non-intrusive and ergonomically accessible area of the screen.
The data analytics of the dashboard analyzes the user engagement data to discern the user's vacation plan including the destination, dates, budget, activities, etc. A travel agent website may mine the results from the data analytics to generate ads targeted to the user. In one embodiment, the dashboard may transmit the user's vacation plan to the travel agent. The travel agent may tailor a promotional campaign such as ads, messages, apps, links, or other services addressing the user's vacation plan. The dashboard may receive the promotional information from the travel agent and may transmit the promotional information to the mobile device for display. The mobile device may place icons for the ads, messages, apps, links, or other services in one of the arcs for easy access by the user from any app or from the home screen. The use may tap on the icons to view the ads, download the apps, open the links, or to invoke services offered by the travel agent.
In another example, the dashboard may analyze the preference of the user for an app. The provider of the app may use the user preference information to launch a targeted branding campaign. For example, the data logging software may track the time duration, the frequency, and the details of the user's interaction with two social media apps, designated app2 and app4. The data analytics software may analyze the user engagement information to determine the usage pattern of app2 and app4. The data analytics software may determine that the user prefers app2 when reaching out to a group of contacts sharing a first characteristic and prefers app4 when reaching out to a second group of contacts sharing a second characteristic. A provider of app2 may use the results to launch a targeted branding campaign to promote the use of app2 for reaching out to contacts having the second characteristic. Similarly, a provider of app4 may use the results to promote the use of app4 for reaching out to contacts having the first characteristic. A provider of a new social media app may launch a branding campaign promoting the use of the new app for reaching out to contacts having either the first or second characteristic. The mobile device may display an ad for downloading the new app next to app2 or app4 on the home screen. In one embodiment, the mobile device may display the ad for downloading the new app in an arc within an opened app2 or app4. Thus, by analyzing user engagement across apps, the dashboard may tailor ads to better address the needs of the user, increasing the chance that the user will respond to the ads.
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The descriptions set forth above are provided to illustrate one or more embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Although the invention is described in details with reference to the embodiments, a person skilled in the art may obtain other embodiments of the invention through modification of the disclosed embodiment or replacement of equivalent parts. It is understood that any modification, replacement of equivalent parts and improvement are within the scope of the present invention and do not depart from the spirit and principle of the invention as hereinafter claimed.
