Patent Application
20080057915
The method of this invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:
A method and system adapted to distribute advertising using mobile communications is illustrated in the figures. Although the disclosed embodiments will be described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present invention may have many alternate forms. In addition, any suitable size, shape or type of elements or materials could be used.
A local mobile communication network for mobile communication device 100, which could be for example, a cellular telephone, PDA, or other type of device using mobile communication services is shown in
Within mobile communication device 100, a control unit 120 is coupled to the transceiver 110. The control unit 120 may comprise signal processing circuitry in order to process e.g. voice data and message data (e.g. SMS MMS, or IM/Presence) from a user/sender of the mobile telecommunication terminal 100 and provide the transceiver 110 with the processed data for transmission to the base station 102. Likewise, the control unit 120 may comprise signal processing circuitry for processing data received from the other telecommunication terminals 105, 107, sponsor server 300, and location server 200 in order to provide the user of the mobile telecommunication terminal 100 with e.g. audio, image, video or message data. Alternatively (not shown) some or all of the signal processing functionality may be provided by specialized circuitry in the mobile telecommunication terminal 100.
The control unit 120 is coupled to a display 130 for providing a user of the mobile telecommunication terminal 100 with visual data regarding e.g. a specific call in progress, telecommunication numbers stored in the mobile telecommunication terminal 100, signal strength of the wireless communication link 104, messages received from other mobile telecommunication terminals, etc. In particular in accordance with the system described in this application, the display may be adapted to present advertising. Audio portions of multi-media ads would make use of a microphone or speaker provided at the mobile communication terminal 100.
The control unit 120 is moreover coupled to an input unit 140, which may be in the form of a keyboard/keypad; an on-screen touch-sensitive keyboard; a navigation wheel or joystick for scrolling and selecting items, digits and/or characters shown on the display 120; etc. A memory 150 is connected to the control unit 120.
The memory 150 may be a single memory or many different memories implemented on different chips, alone or together with other electronic circuitry, by means of different technologies (such as RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, Flash, etc) which all are accessible by the control unit 120.
A mobile communications device of this basic kind is well-known in the art and there is no need for any further detailed description of the basic features of the mobile communications device.
According to an embodiment of the system of this application, control unit 120 executes software contained in a software module 160. A sponsor advertising package forms part of software module 160 and includes application software for initiating sponsor financed communications and enabling the insertion of selected advertisements into the sponsor financed communications. A user of the mobile communication device may obtain the sponsor advertising package by solicitation from a sponsor, internet advertisement, communication service provider, Internet service provider, communication device supplier or other means. It could be downloaded, or provided as part of a smart card or other type of media that may be connected to the mobile communications terminal 100. It may be a service provided by a communications service provider, telecommunications operator, or internet service provider and others and executed on a subscription or call by call basis on the respective server, such as location server 200.
Once the user obtains or connects with the sponsor financed communication/advertising package, a communication can be made according to the needs of the user. In all embodiments of the system of this application, communication financing is provided by sponsors in return for permitting the dissemination of advertisements before, during, or after a particular connection or at other convenient times. Such charges can be applied on a per call, per message, per minute, as a subscription rate or any other convenient standard.
The application software provides for the initiation of the communication through a mobile telephone menu, an internet browser menu, a presence or session style menu or other similar means. Examples of the menus and displays associated with sending messages are shown in
In one embodiment, the sponsor communication financing application software may be selected as part of a normal communication transaction, as shown in the flow diagram of
In applying credits under a sponsored communication program, different models may be used, such as one ad for one communication, an ad for a time period, i.e. one ad/minute, or other convenient model.
In another embodiment, advertisements may be preloaded to the communications terminal, using an appropriate protocol and initiated by installation of the communication sponsored software or other event (updates, etc.). Whenever a new e-mail, SMS or other communication is received, the notification of the connection may include the sponsor advertisement message. The display of an ad could also be triggered by other events, such as, calendar notification, alarm, etc. This type of sponsor communication financing model may be financed by a subscription for a particular term and the advertisements would be displayed automatically for the term of the subscription. This would eliminate the need to select a sponsored communication program as each call is made.
In another embodiment where advertisements may be preloaded to the communication terminal, the ad may be displayed to the user when the user makes an outgoing call. The display of an ad to the user could also be triggered by other events, such as, calendar notification, alarm, etc.
In another embodiment a sponsored based messaging model could be applied to offline messaging. In this instance the program would provide for the display of ads by the receiver, with an incoming message (SMS, MMS, IM, etc.). This could be accomplished on a subscription basis in which an inventory of ads are downloaded to the communication terminal and displayed either to the user/sender or the receiver or both. As in other embodiments the user could access the ads and trigger acknowledgements that would be sent to the sponsor server for credit.
In another embodiment where advertisements are preloaded to the communication terminal, the user may browse the ad content without a triggering event, like, incoming or outgoing calls, calendar alarms and the like. After the user browses a particular ad, an acknowledgement may be indicated by the user pressing a button or other means, for example automatically. The acknowledgement would be sent to the sponsor server, recorded and a credit would be awarded to the user towards a call, message, or other communication.
The advertisements may be multi-media such as video, images, text, logos, or even audio ads associated with receiving a textual message. The advertisements may include attachments, URL information for direct internet access and many other types of content limited only by the capability of the mobile communicator. As the power and sophistication of mobile communication devices expands, such ads may become significant presentations of information and services.
In another embodiment of the method, the calls are internet based calls, using presence based protocols, such as voice over Internet protocols (VoIP) and session based protocols, such as those that enable establishment of communication sessions between two (or more) parties, e.g. Jabber protocol (IETF standard) used in GoogleTalk, SIP (session initiation protocol, IETF, 3GP, OMA standard), and other proprietary protocols.
In another embodiment of the method, the calls may be direct calls through a mobile communications server in which application software, including sponsor advertisements, programs to permit insertion of the advertisements in to a communication and billing activation may be executed on the mobile communication server.
In any of the various types of communications where sponsored communications are enabled, the ad content may be transferred on a real-time basis as part of the signaling initiating a connection and display may be triggered by acceptance of the connection. In another embodiment, the ad content may be preloaded to the communication device upon initiating the sponsored communication application. In this instance display of the ad content may be triggered by a variety of events within the communication device. In some circumstances, the display of an ad may be triggered as soon as the signaling messages with advertisement content is received, i.e. with the call identification.
In another embodiment the sponsor financed communication application may be downloaded to the sending mobile communications terminal and the application software will direct the sending mobile communication terminal to access the sponsor financed communication application and execute a financed communication.
It should be understood that the above description is only illustrative of the invention. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art with out departing from the invention. Accordingly, the disclosed embodiments are intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances which fall with the scope of the appended claims.
