Patent Application
20070299723
Embodiments of the instant invention will now be described in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:
The following description is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and is provided in the context of particular applications thereof. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art, and the general principles defined herein are readily applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments disclosed, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.
Referring to
The game software includes a plurality of game identifiers, which are embedded in the game software at the time the game software is built. In the instant example, game 104 includes a first game identifier 106 and a second game identifier 108. Optionally, at least one game identifier is unique to a particular software package. In other words, each different software package for a same game title includes at least one completely unique identifier. Further optionally, at least one game identifier is unique only to a particular game title and game platform combination. In a first specific and non-limiting example game identifier 106 and game identifier 108 are different game identifiers, both of which are completely unique to the specific software package in execution on the game platform at gaming site 102. In a second specific and non-limiting example, game identifier 106 is unique to the specific software package in execution on the game platform at gaming site 102, whilst game identifier 108 is unique only to the combination of game title and game platform type associated with gaming site 102. In a third specific and non-limiting example, game identifier 106 and game identifier 108 are different game identifiers, both of which are unique only to the combination of game title and game platform type associated with gaming site 102. Further optionally, more than two game identifiers are embedded in the game software when the game software is built.
Advertising service provider (ADSP) 110 and ADSP 112 also are connected to WAN 100. ADSP 110 and ADSP 112 each implement one or more ad campaigns at a time. In the case of plural ad campaigns, ADSP 110 and ADSP 112 each schedule delivery of advertising content that is provided by different advertisers, to a limited number of available spots within an instance of game 104 at gaming site 102. Clearly, it is a complex task managing and scheduling advertising content that is selected from a plurality of different advertising campaigns, being implemented by a plurality of different ADSPs, for serving impressions at advertising spots within game 104. Providing an advertising broker site 114, which also is connected to communications network 100, facilitates efficient execution of these processes. The advertising broker site 114 includes a storage portion 116 for storing an inventory 118 containing characteristic information for registered games and business logic that integrates gaming site 102 with ADSP 110 and ADSP 112, as well as for storing other data 120. In this way, the advertising broker site 114 acts as an intermediary between gaming site 102 and ADSP 110 and/or ADSP 112, as described for instance in U.S. Provisional Patent Application 60/636,543, filed on Dec. 17, 2004 and in a co-pending U.S. patent application claiming priority therefrom and filed on Dec. 19, 2005, the entire contents of both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Optionally, advertisers 122 and 124 also are connected to communications network 100. Advertisers 122 and 124 optionally provide content directly to ADSP 110 and/or ADSP 112 via the communications network 100, or utilize the services of an ad agency 126. The ad agency 126 acts as an intermediary between the advertisers and the advertising service providers. Further optionally, at least one game console provider 128 also is connected to the communications network 100.
Additionally, storage portion 116 is shown in
According to
Each different game identifier supports separate communication between game 104 and the other entities shown in
Referring now to
The game software in execution at gaming site 202 includes a game identifier 206, which is embedded in the game software at the time the game software is built. Optionally, the game identifier 206 is unique to the particular software package in execution on the game platform at gaming site 202. Further optionally, the game identifier 206 is unique only to a specific version of the software package in execution on the game platform at gaming site 202.
Similarly, a user at gaming site 208 purchases game software and connects to the communications network 200 to play game 204 with other likeminded individuals. Optionally, the user plays game 204 on their own, but the game platform still connects to the communications network 200 at least some of the time. As will be apparent to one of skill in the art, the game software is loaded onto the computer system that is located at gaming site 208. The game software optionally is loaded from a portable storage medium such as a compact disc, or is loaded from a remote server via the communications network 200.
The game software in execution at gaming site 208 includes a game identifier 210, which is embedded in the game software at the time the game software is built. Optionally, the game identifier 210 is unique to the particular software package in execution on the game platform at gaming site 208. Further optionally, the game identifier 210 is unique to a specific version of the software package in execution on the game platform at gaming site 208. In the example that is shown in
Advertising service provider (ADSP) 212 and ADSP 214 also are connected to WAN 200. ADSP 212 and ADSP 214 each implement one or more ad campaigns at a time. In the case of plural ad campaigns, ADSP 212 and ADSP 214 each schedule delivery of advertising content that is provided by different advertisers, to a limited number of available spots within game 204 at gaming sites 202 and 208. Clearly, it is a complex task managing and scheduling advertising content that is selected from a plurality of different advertising campaigns, being implemented by a plurality of different ADSPs, for serving impressions at advertising spots within game 204. Providing an advertising broker site 216, which also is connected to communications network 200, facilitates efficient execution of these processes. The advertising broker site 216 includes a storage portion 218 for storing an inventory 220 containing characteristic information for registered games and business logic that integrates the gaming sites 202 and 208 with ADSP 212 and ADSP 214, as well as for storing other data 222. In this way, the advertising broker site 216 acts as an intermediary between gaming sites 202 and 208 and ADSP 212 and/or ADSP 214, as described for instance in U.S. Provisional Patent Application 60/636,543, filed on Dec. 17, 2004 and in a co-pending U.S. patent application claiming priority therefrom and filed on Dec. 19, 2005, the entire contents of both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Optionally, advertisers 224 and 226 also are connected to communications network 200. Advertisers 224 and 226 optionally provide content directly to ADSP 212 and/or ADSP 214 via the communications network 200, or utilize the services of an ad agency 228. The ad agency 228 acts as an intermediary between the advertisers and the advertising service providers. Further optionally, at least one game console provider 230 also is connected to the communications network 200.
Additionally, storage portion 218 is shown in
According to
Several specific and non-limiting examples are provided, in order to describe and particularly point out features of embodiments of the instant invention. The examples that follow are not intended to be an exhaustive list of examples, and one skilled in the art will recognize other specific implementations and applications of the embodiments of the instant invention.
A specific software package for a particular game title is provided with a plurality of different game identifiers, for instance two different game identifiers. When in execution on an Internet enabled gaming platform the game identifies itself to an advertising broker site two times, one time using each of the two different game identifiers. The two different game identifiers provide two communication paths to the advertising broker site, each communication path separate from the other. Accordingly, information relating to advertising content that is provided to the game via one of the two communication paths is independent of information relating to advertising content that is provided to the game via the other of the two communication paths. Optionally, a subset of advertising spots within the game is assigned to a first game identifier, and the remaining advertising spots are assigned to a second game identifier. For instance, a provider of the game title uses the communication path that is associated with the first game identifier to provide advertising content for display at the subset of advertising spots, whilst all other advertising content is provided via the communication path that is associated with the second game identifier to provide advertising content for display at the remaining advertising spots.
A specific software package for a particular game title is provided with a plurality of different game identifiers, for instance two different game identifiers. When in execution on an Internet enabled gaming platform the game identifies itself to an advertising broker site two times, one time using each of the two different game identifiers. The two different game identifiers provide two communication paths to the advertising broker site, each communication path separate from the other. Accordingly, information relating to advertising content that is provided to the game via one of the two communication paths is independent of information relating to advertising content that is provided to the game via the other of the two communication paths. Optionally, a subset of advertising spots within the game is assigned to a first game identifier, and the remaining advertising spots are assigned to a second game identifier. For instance, a leaseholder ADSP uses the communication path that is associated with the first game identifier to provide advertising content for display at the subset of advertising spots, more specifically the primary advertising spots. A second ADSP uses the communication path that is associated with the second game identifier to provide advertising content for display at the remaining spots, more specifically those spots that have been wholesaled by the leaseholder ADSP. The advertising broker site simply responds to a request from the game for advertising content by providing instructions to use the first game identifier to authenticate with the leaseholder ADSP and to use the second game identifier to authenticate with the second ADSP.
A specific software package for a particular game title is provided with a plurality of different game identifiers, for instance two different game identifiers. When in execution on an Internet enabled gaming platform the game identifies itself to an advertising broker site two times, one time using each of the two different game identifiers. The two different game identifiers provide two communication paths to the advertising broker site, each communication path separate from the other. Accordingly, information relating to advertising content that is provided to the game via one of the two communication paths is independent of information relating to advertising content that is provided to the game via the other of the two communication paths. Optionally, a subset of advertising spots within the game is assigned to a first game identifier, and the remaining advertising spots are assigned to a second game identifier. For instance, the different communication paths are used to deliver different advertising content formats. For instance, the communication path associated with the first game identifier is used to deliver a standard advertising content format and the communication path associated with the second game identifier is used to deliver advertising content having a special, promotional format. By way of a non-limiting example, the first game identifier identifies the game title and game platform, whilst the second game identifier is completely unique to the specific software package of that game title. The second game identifier is used to authenticate with a remote server, and to establish a communication path for receiving the promotional advertising content. The promotional advertising content, for instance, instructs the user to perform an action outside of the game, such as for instance buying a product to obtain a code. Once the action has been performed and the code has been obtained, the user provides the code within the game at an advertising spot associated with the second game identifier, and the result is communicated to the remote server via the communication path associated with the second game identifier.
A specific software package for a particular game title is provided with a plurality of different game identifiers, for instance two different game identifiers. When in execution on an Internet enabled gaming platform the game identifies itself to an advertising broker site two times, one time using each of the two different game identifiers. The two different game identifiers provide two communication paths to the advertising broker site, each communication path separate from the other. Accordingly, information relating to advertising content that is provided to the game via one of the two communication paths is independent of information relating to advertising content that is provided to the game via the other of the two communication paths. Optionally, a subset of advertising spots within the game is assigned to a first game identifier, and the remaining advertising spots are assigned to a second game identifier. For instance, the different communication paths are used to support user content delivery control functionality. For instance, the communication path associated with the first game identifier is used to deliver advertising content and the communication path associated with the second game identifier is used to shut off all or certain types of advertising content delivery within the game. By way of a non-limiting example, the first game identifier identifies the game title and game platform, whilst the second game identifier is completely unique to the specific software package of that game title. The second game identifier is used to authenticate with an advertising broker site or with an ADSP directly, and to establish a communication path for providing a code or other data for shutting off delivery of user-specified advertising content types. For instance, the user pays to “upgrade” to a non-advertising enabled version of the game and receives a code. The code is provided from the game using the communication path that is associated with the completely unique second game identifier. Once the code is authenticated, no additional advertising content of the user-specified types is provided for display within the game.
A specific software package for a particular game title is provided with a plurality of different game identifiers, for instance two different game identifiers. A first game identifier of the plurality of different game identifiers is indicative of the game title and publisher, for instance. A second game identifier of the plurality of different game identifiers is indicative of a console type for which the specific software package is intended. Accordingly, the first game identifier is common to all software packages of the same game title that are published by a same publisher, regardless of the type of console the game is played on. However, all software packages of any game title that is intended to be played on a first console type have a common second game identifier, and all software packages of any game title that is intended to be played on a second console type have a different common second game identifier. A console provider may reserve a predetermined number of advertising spots in every one of their console game titles. The reserved advertising spots are associated with the second game identifier, such that content for display at the reserved advertising spots is provided via a dedicated communication path that is established when the second game identifier is provided to a remote server, such as for instance a server of the console provider. Accordingly, the reserved advertising spots cannot be disabled or filled with content other than that provided by the console provider. Optionally, the reserved advertising spots have uniform size and contextual properties so as to support display of standardized advertising content across a wide range of different game titles.
Multiple software packages of a first version of a game title are released, each one of the software packages of the first version having a first game identifier embedded into the software. Multiple software packages of a second version of the same game title are released, each one of the software packages of the second version having a second game identifier embedded into the software, the second game identifier different than the first game identifier. Optionally, the second version is released simultaneously with or at a time later than release of the first version.
For instance, a first version of a game title is released for sale at a price that is high. Users paying the high price for the first version obtain a software package having the first game identifier, which is indicative of the version and therefore the price that was paid. Accordingly, the amount of content that is delivered to a game that is identified as a first version is relatively small. At a later date, a second version of the game is released for sale at a price that is lower than that charged for the first version. Users paying the lower price for the second version obtain a software package having the second game identifier. Accordingly, the amount of content that is delivered to a game that is identified as a second version is relatively larger than the amount that is delivered to a game that is identified as a first version.
For instance, an English language version of a game title is released for sale and a French language version of the same game title is released simultaneously for sale. Each software package of the English language version includes a first game identifier, and each software package of the French language version includes a second game identifier. In a broker mediated advertising environment, when a game communicates with an advertising broker site and provides the first game identifier, the game is directed to an English language ADSP, or to an ADSP that hosts at least some English language content. Similarly, when a game communicates with an advertising broker site and provides the second game identifier, the game is directed to a French language ADSP, or to an ADSP that hosts at least some French language content. Alternatively, a bilingual version of the game title is released including both the first game identifier and the second game identifier, and the user selects a language preference during an initialization process. Based on the user-selected preference, the game provides an appropriate one of the first game identifier and the second game identifier.
At least some software packages of a game title are provided with a completely unique game identifier. For instance, individuals that are involved in the processes of selling or designing advertising content for being displayed within advertising spots of a video game title are provided with a personalized and fully functional version of the video game title. When the unique game identifier for the individual is provided to a server, the server responds by providing advertising content that is appropriate for the individual. For example, the individual determines in advance a plurality of advertising content pieces for being presented to a client. The plurality of advertising content pieces are not for being displayed to actual gamers, but are only for display during a “sales pitch” using a game that provides the unique game identifier for the individual. Advertising content that is not available for general viewing may nevertheless be displayed, thereby allowing the client to view their own advertising content within the context of an actual video game, rather than relying on screen shots or captured video clips containing the advertising content.
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Of course, the reference numerals referred to in the discussion of the methods according to
Numerous other embodiments may be envisaged without departing from the spirit and scope of the instant invention. All specific examples have been provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be limiting in any way.
