Patent Application
20140164130
The present disclosure related generally to the field of mobile computing devices, and more specifically, to systems and methods for providing advertisement data to a mobile computing device.
Mobile devices may be used to provide advertisement data or other content to users of mobile devices. For example, as a user travels, advertisements may be displayed on a mobile device the user is carrying based upon the geographic location of the mobile device or other factors. For example, if a user walks past a restaurant, an advertisement (e.g., coupon, discount, general advertisement, etc.) may be displayed on the user's mobile device.
However, with the increasing usage of mobile devices and location-based advertisements, users may receive numerous advertisements, where many may be irrelevant to the user, and where it may be difficult to identify relevant or useful advertisements because of the high number of advertisements being received.
Referring to
As shown in
According to various exemplary embodiments, housing 12 may be any size, shape, and have a variety of length, width, thickness, and volume dimensions. For example, width 13 may be no more than about 200 millimeters (mm), 100 mm, 85 mm, or 65 mm, or alternatively, width 13 may be at least about 30 mm, 50 mm, or 55 mm. Length 15 may be no more than about 200 mm, 150 mm, 135 mm, or 125 mm, or alternatively, length 15 may be at least about 70 mm or 100 mm. Thickness 17 may be no more than about 150 mm, 50 mm, 25 mm, or 15 mm, or alternatively, thickness 17 may be at least about 10 mm, 15 mm, or 50 mm. The volume of housing 12 may be no more than about 2500 cubic centimeters (cc) or 1500 cc, or alternatively, at least about 1000 cc of 600 cc.
According to an exemplary embodiment, housing 12 may be configured to hold a screen such as display 18 in a fixed relationship above a user input device such as user input device 20 in a substantially parallel or same plane. This fixed relationship excludes a hinged or movable relationship between the screen and the user input device (e.g., a plurality of keys) in the fixed embodiment. Display 18 may be a touch screen display and may comprise a capacitive touch screen, a mutual capacitance touch screen, a self capacitance touch screen, a resistive touch screen, a touch screen using cameras and light such as a surface multi-touch screen, proximity sensors, or other touch screen technologies. Display 18 may be configured to receive inputs from finger touches at a plurality of locations on display 18 at the same time. Display 18 may be configured to receive a finger swipe or other directional input, which may be interpreted by a processing circuit to control certain functions distinct from a single touch input.
Device 10 may be a handheld computer (e.g., a computer small enough to be carried in a typical front pocket in a pair of pants, purse or other similar pocket), comprising such devices as typical mobile telephones and PDAs, but the term “handheld” and the phrase “configured to be held in a hand during use” excluding typical laptop computers and tablet personal computers (“PCs”) for purposes of this disclosure. In alternative embodiments, the teachings herein may extend to laptop computers, tablet PCs, desktop PCs, and other electronic devices. The various input devices and other parts of device 100 as described below may be positioned anywhere on device 100 (e.g., the front side of
Referring now to
Device 10 may also comprise a receiver 38 which comprises analog and/or digital electrical components configured to receive and transmit wireless signals via antenna 22 to provide cellular telephone and/or data communications with a fixed wireless access point, such as a cellular telephone tower, in conjunction with a network carrier, such as, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, etc. Device 10 can further comprise circuitry to provide communication over a local area network, such as Ethernet or according to an IEEE 802.11x standard or a personal area network, such as a Bluetooth or infrared communication technology. Device 10 may further comprise a memory 42 coupled to or as part of processor 40. Memory 42 may store a variety of information, data, applications, files, etc. that may be used or accessed using device 10.
Device 10 further comprises a microphone 36 (see
Device 10 further comprises a location determining application, shown in
Device 10 may be arranged to operate in one or more location determination modes including, for example, a standalone mode, a mobile station (MS) assisted mode, and/or an MS-based mode. In a standalone mode, such as a standalone GPS mode, device 10 may be arranged to autonomously determine its location, without real-time network interaction or support. When operating in an MS-assisted mode or an MS-based mode, however, device 10 may be arranged to communicate over a radio access network (e.g., UMTS radio access network) with a location determination entity such as a location proxy server (LPS) and/or a mobile positioning center (MPC).
Referring now to
Referring to
According to various exemplary embodiments, the advertisement data may include a variety of information and be provided in a variety of ways. For example, advertisement data may be provided to a user of device 10 in the form of a visual image provided on display 18. For example, an icon may be displayed on device 10 and may be selected by a user to provide an enlarged advertisement such as an electronic coupon, etc. Alternatively, rather than providing a visual display, device 10 may provide an audible message (e.g., a recording of an advertisement, etc.). Furthermore, the advertisement data may be provided on display 18 and superimposed over another image, such as the current image the user is viewing, a geographic map indicating the location of the establishment(s) the advertisement data is associated with, and so on. According to various other exemplary embodiments, other types of advertisement data may be provided to device 10 (e.g., text, graphics, audio data, video data, etc.).
According to various exemplary embodiments, one or more of servers 48, 50, 52 may be involved in providing advertisement data to device 10. For example, in one embodiment, server 52 may be associated with an advertisement service (e.g., AdSense, provided by Google, Inc, Mountain View, Calif.) and be configured to provide advertisement data to device 10 independent from servers 48, 50. For example, as shown in
According to other embodiments, server 52 may be configured to provide advertisement data to device 10 in conjunction with or through one or both of servers 48, 50. For example, as noted above, server 50 may be or include a server associated with an application developer that provides applications (e.g., mobile device-specific applications, such as games, financial tools, location-based mapping programs, music players, etc.) to device 10. Advertisement data may be provided to (by one or more of servers 48, 50, 52) and/or displayed on device 10 while one or more applications provided by server 50 are running on device 10. For example, one or more advertisements provided by server 52 may be displayed along a top, side, or bottom portion of display 18 while a user is running an application provided by server 50. As a result, a credit may be provided to accounts associated with server 50 (or the developer associated therewith) and/or server 52 (or the provider associated therewith) in addition to device 10, upon one or both of the delivery of the advertisement data or an input received in response to the delivery of the advertisement data.
In some embodiments, server 48 may communicate with one or both of servers 50, 52 in providing advertisement data to device 10. For example, as noted above, server 48 may be a server associated with a manufacturer of device 10. In some embodiments, server 48 may have wireless or other access to data unavailable to servers 50, 52 (e.g., user-specific data such as data from an information management application, including email, calendar, contacts, and other applications). Server 48 may provide data associated with device 10 (and the associated user) to one or both of servers 50, 52. Such data may be used, for example, to filter advertisement data being provided to device 10 to increase the relevancy of the advertisement data to the particular device/user. For example, a device manufacturer associated with server 48 may be provided with an identifier (e.g., an AdSense identification number) that is assigned to an application developer that is registered with an ad service (e.g., AdSense, provided by Google, Inc.) associated with server 52. Server 48 may then provide data to server 52 that may be utilized to filter or target advertisements to device 10, and the manufacturer may share in the revenue generated by the advertisement data (e.g., by being provided with one or more credits). As a result of providing this data, a credit may be provided to an account associated with server 48 (e.g., an account associated with the manufacturer of device 10) either upon delivery of the advertisement data or upon receiving some type of input in response to the delivery data.
It should be understood that the various embodiments discussed herein are provided for purposes of illustration only, and that more or fewer severs or other parties/entities may be involved in the provision of advertisement data to device 10. All such embodiments are deemed to be within the scope of the present disclosure.
As discussed above, in response to providing the advertisement data to device 10 (see step 62 shown in
According to another embodiment, the input may include a location, or change in location, of device 10. For example, device 10 may provide advertisement data for a retail establishment to a user of device 10. The user may then visit the retail establishment associated with the advertisement data. A server (which in some embodiments may be one of servers 48, 50, 52) or processor 40 may determine or be provided with the location of device 10 and further determine that device 10 is at or near (e.g., within a predetermined distance of) an establishment (e.g., a retail store, a restaurant, etc.) associated with the advertisement data. A credit may then be generated in response to device 10 being within the predetermined distance of the establishment. The credit may be provided to an account associated with a user of device 10, an account associated with a third party (e.g., an advertisement service or server 52), or another entity (e.g., one or both of servers 48, 50, etc.).
According to another embodiment, the input may be associated with a transaction (e.g., a purchase of goods or services using device 10), either via a network-based transaction (e.g., on-line purchases), or a face-to-face transaction where device 10 is utilized in executing the transaction (e.g., paying for retail goods at a retail establishment). For example, advertisement data may be displayed on device 10. A user may select a link embedded in or available via the advertisement data that initiates a purchase of goods, services, etc. (e.g., an on-line purchase). Alternatively, a user may travel to an establishment (e.g., a restaurant, store, etc.) and then execute a transaction using device 10. In some embodiments, device 10 may include a near field communication (NFC) device enabling the device to execute transactions via, for example, point-of-sale terminals at retailers, etc. In response to the transaction being executed, a credit may be provided to one or more entities as discussed above.
According to another embodiment, the input may include an entry in an information management application (e.g., a contact entry, a mailing list entry, a calendar appointment, etc.) running either on processor 40 or on a remote server or processor. For example, in response to receiving advertisement data on a device such as device 10, a user may create a new contact entry, a new calendar entry, or permit data to be transferred to a remote server or processor (e.g., in the case of an advertiser wanting to generate a mailing list, phone list, etc.). Furthermore, the input may include the initiation of a communication utilizing device 10 and directed toward an entity associated with the advertisement data (e.g., a retailer, restaurant, etc.). The communication may include a wireless telephone call, an email, a text message, SMS, or any other type of message initiated or attempted to be place-using device 10.
A variety of other inputs may be received in response to providing the advertisement data of device 10. According to various exemplary embodiments, the input or inputs may include or be based on inputs received via device 10 (e.g., via a keyboard, touch screen, microphone, etc.), or may be based on inputs received as a result of actions taken that involve device 10 (e.g., executing a transaction using device 10, moving device 10 to a geographic location, etc.). In some embodiments, device 10 may be configured such that a camera or other device may capture a user's expression (e.g. facial expression, etc.) upon the advertisement data being provided, thereby providing an indication of potential user excitement, enthusiasm, etc. in response to the advertisement data (in response to which a credit may be provided in some embodiments).
According to various exemplary embodiments, a variety of revenue models may be used in conjunction with device 10 in providing advertisement data to device 10, and credits may be provided to a variety of parties dependent on the revenue model utilized. For example, as discussed above, one or more credits may be provided to device 10, servers 48, 50, 52, or other entities depending on how the advertisement data or other content is provided to device 10. In some embodiments, an accounting system (e.g., application, program, code, etc.) may be provided on device 10, one of servers 48, 50, 52, or another server, processor, etc. to monitor the activity of various entities (e.g., processors, servers, etc.) and to generate, provide, and/or track the credits being provided to each entity.
Referring to
In some embodiments, the monetary amount or value of the credit may be based on a variety of factors. For example, the amount of a credit may be based on the cost of goods and/or services purchased or, the credit may include a discount on goods purchased. Alternatively, the amount of the credit may be based on a pre-existing agreement such as an advertisement agreement where, for example, the purchase price of device 10 may be reduced or eliminated in exchange for a user permitting advertisement data or advertisement data of a certain type to be delivered to device 10 or in exchange for the user providing user data to one of servers 48, 50, or 52 to assist in filtering of advertisements. In such an arrangement, a user may be permitted to later “buy-out” of the agreement for a certain (e.g., predetermined) amount in order to stop or limit the advertisement data provided to device 10.
According to yet other embodiments, the amount of the credit may vary between tiers of a multi-tier revenue generation model. In such an arrangement, the amount of the credit may increase (or alternatively, decrease, stay the same, vary according to a number of factors, and so on) with each tier. For example, a user may be provided with an advertisement for a restaurant that includes a link to a web site for the restaurant. Should a user select the link, the user may be directed to the restaurant's website and the user's account may be provided with a first credit. The user may then generate a dinner reservation (e.g., in the form of a calendar entry in device 10), upon which a second (e.g., greater) credit may be provided. Further, when the user arrives at the restaurant (with device 10) an additional credit (e.g., greater than one or more preceding credits) may be generated based on the user being at the geographic location associated with the advertisement data. Further yet, should the user execute a transaction (e.g., pay for a meal) with device 10, yet another credit (e.g., greater than one or more preceding credits) may be generated. As discussed above, the amount of the credits may vary between tiers and credits may be provided to other accounts beyond accounts associated with device 10.
The use of a multi-tiered revenue generation system as that described herein may in some embodiments provide many benefits, including providing an additional incentive to users to react to advertisement data and providing sources of advertisements (e.g., restaurants, retailers, etc.) with the potential for enhanced revenues due to increased sales, etc. It should be noted that a variety of parties or entities (e.g., servers 48, 50, 52, etc.) may be included in a multi-tier revenue generation system such as that described herein, and all such features and combinations of features are deemed to be within the scope of the present application.
While the detailed drawings, specific examples and particular formulations given describe exemplary embodiments, they serve the purpose of illustration only. The hardware and software configurations shown and described may differ depending on the chosen performance characteristics and physical characteristics of the computing and other devices. The systems shown and described are not limited to the precise details and conditions disclosed. Furthermore, other substitutions, modifications, changes, and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions, and arrangement of the exemplary embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as expressed in the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12324678 | Nov 2008 | US |
| Child | 14183449 | US |
