Patent Application
20110022669
The subject matter described herein relates to providing mobile network operator controlled content to mobile subscribers. More particularly, the subject matter described herein relates to methods, systems, and computer readable media for providing mobile network operator controlled content to mobile subscribers using social networking messages.
Social networking has become a popular way for people to follow what other people are doing. For example, Twitter is a service available at http://twitter.com that allows people, called followers, to receive updates any time the followed individual posts updates to a Twitter data center. When a followed person makes a post to the Twitter data center, the post is delivered via a method chosen by the followers for delivery of the posts. Using the Twitter service, the posts are typically short, because the service limits the size of the post to 140 characters.
One method for delivering Twitter updates to followers is short message service (SMS). As Twitter and similar social networking services are becoming more popular, the volume of SMS traffic due to such social networking has increased. One problem associated with this increased volume of traffic due to social networking is that the traffic utilizes network resources associated with the delivery of SMS messages and issues can arise as to who should pay for the utilization of those resources. For example, in some countries, subscribers do not pay for receiving SMS messages. When a mobile subscriber is roaming outside of his or her home network and receives a large volume of social networking messages transmitted via SMS, the mobile network operator of the network in which the party is roaming may look to the mobile subscriber's home network provider to pay for the delivery of the social networking messages. Because the home network provider does not charge for delivery of SMS messages to its subscribers, the home network provider may look to the social networking message provider to pay for the delivery of messages. Social networking providers, such as Twitter, do not charge followers for delivery of such messages. Accordingly, the social networking provider must pay the home network provider for delivery of its traffic so that the home network provider can reimburse the roaming network provider. Such charges may result in the social networking message provider eliminating or reducing the flow of messages to some mobile networks.
In light of these difficulties, there exists a need for methods, systems, and computer readable media for providing mobile network operator controlled content using social networking messages.
The subject matter described herein includes methods, systems, and computer readable media for providing mobile network operator controlled content to mobile subscribers using social networking messages. According to one aspect, a method for providing mobile network operator controlled content to mobile subscribers using social networking messages is provided. The method includes receiving, at a mobile network operator node, a message or delivery to a mobile subscriber of the mobile network operator's network. The method further includes determining whether the message is a social networking message. The method further includes, in response to determining that the message is a social networking message, providing mobile network operator controlled content to the subscriber.
As used herein, the term “social networking message” refers to a message originated by a social networking server in response to receiving social networking content from a subscriber of a social networking service for distribution to the one or more subscribers or a message containing the content and generated by equipment downstream from the social networking server in response to the message generated by the social networking server for delivering the content to the one or more subscribers. For example, a social networking message can be a message generated by a short message service center downstream from a social networking server to deliver the social networking content to a subscriber or group of subscribers.
The subject matter described herein for providing mobile network operator controlled content to mobile subscribers using social networking messages may be implemented using a non-transitory computer readable media to having stored thereon executable instructions that when executed by the processor of a computer control the processor to perform steps. Exemplary non-transitory computer readable media suitable for implementing the subject matter described herein includes disk memory devices, programmable logic devices, and application specific integrated circuits. In one implementation, the computer readable medium may include a memory accessible by a processor. The memory may include instructions executable by the processor for implementing any of the methods for handset providing mobile network operator controlled content to mobile subscribers using social networking messages described herein. In addition, a computer readable medium that implements the subject matter described herein may be distributed across multiple physical devices and/or computing platforms.
The subject matter described herein includes methods, systems, and computer readable media for providing mobile network operator controlled content to mobile subscribers using social networking messages.
In the example illustrated in
In the examples illustrated in
In one example, the content that is inserted in the social networking message can be content that is related to the originator, i.e., the followed individual. For example, if the followed individual is Tiger Woods, the ad content inserted in the message may be a Nike golf ad. In an alternate example, the ad content may be tailored to the SMS recipient. For example, ad insertion center 104 may use advertisement profiling and may have access to recipient-related information (e.g., interests, location, sex, age, ethnicity, etc.). If the SMS recipient is a car enthusiast, the ad content inserted in the message may be a car-related ad. In yet another example, the ad content may be selected based on a combination of the followed person and the SMS recipient. For example, if the followed individual is Tiger Woods, and if the SMS recipient is a car enthusiast, the ad content inserted in the message may be a Buick automobile ad.
In the examples illustrated in
In one embodiment, message service node 102 may request the ad content to be inserted in the message based on the previously sent social networking message. The separate SMS message may be generated after the mobile terminated SMS message that carried the social networking content. In a second embodiment, separate SMS messages that includes ad content may be sent based on a ratio of received or sent social networking messages or other criteria. In such an embodiment, message service node 102 may request ad content to be inserted in a separate SMS message after the ratio or other criteria has been met. For example, a separate SMS message that includes ad content may be generated and sent to mobile subscriber 110 for every 5 social networking messages sent to a mobile subscriber 110. In yet another alternate implementation, Twitter data center 100 may send a blank message before or after the first social networking message. The blank message may identify the followed individual so that message service node 102 can determine the appropriate content to insert in the message and forward the message to mobile subscriber 110.
Although the examples illustrated in
It will be understood that various details of the presently disclosed subject matter may be changed without departing from the scope of the presently disclosed subject matter. Furthermore, the foregoing description is for the purpose of illustration only, and not for the purpose of limitation.
This application claims the priority benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/228,964, filed on Jul. 27, 2009, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61228964 | Jul 2009 | US |
