Patent Application
20090248505
Typically, online advertisements that are targeted to a consumer are behavior-based, such as advertisements based on a recent purchase, or are based on some type of consumer information that the consumer does not provide, but that is retrieved from an online transaction or other source. Although these types of advertisements are intended to provide the consumer with relevant advertisements of interest to the consumer, in most cases, they do not. In fact, targeted advertisements are typically so marginally targeted to a specific consumer that the consumer may not even know that the advertisements are directed to him or her personally. In addition, consumers often times make referrals to other consumers, such as friends and family members, for products or services that they recommend. The users making the referrals, whether the referrals are by word of mouth or over the internet, are typically not rewarded, even though they are providing a company with free advertising. Equally important, when referrals are made, there typically is no data on the referrals that could be used for future marketing efforts by the advertisers.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Embodiments of the present invention relate to sending customized content items, such as advertisements, to a user after receiving an indication from the user, through a user profile controlled by the user, that the user wishes to receive customized content items at specific times or places. In accordance with some embodiments, a system provides a user with custom advertisements based on a user profile that the user controls. In other embodiments, a user is provided with an incentive in accordance with some type of user action, such as purchasing an item represented in a customized advertisement, or referring a customized advertisement to another user.
Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:
The subject matter of the present invention is described with specificity herein to meet statutory requirements. However, the description itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent. Rather, the inventors have contemplated that the claimed subject matter might also be embodied in other ways, to include different steps or combinations of steps similar to the ones described in this document, in conjunction with other present or future technologies. Moreover, although the terms “step” and/or “block” may be used herein to connote different elements of methods employed, the terms should not be interpreted as implying any particular order among or between various steps herein disclosed unless and except when the order of individual steps is explicitly described.
The present invention relates to systems and methods for determining or selecting customized content items and sending the customized content items, such as advertisements and coupon codes, to the user. The customized content items are determined based upon user-specific information provided in a user-controlled profile. The user-controlled profile may be web-based, and may be provided to the user in a user interface on the user's computing device. The user-specific information may be provided by a user.
Embodiments of the present invention relate to sending one or more customized content items to a user after receiving a user indication, by way of a user profile that is controlled by the user, that the user wishes to receive customized content items, such as advertisements or coupons. In response to user-specific information provided into a user-controlled profile, data fields are populated with this user-specific information. This user-specific information may be modified by the user. Next, the customized content items are selected based on any of the user-specific information in the user-controlled profile, the user's location, or both. The determined customized content items are then sent to the user.
In some embodiments, a system is provided for that sends customized advertisements to a user based on user-specific information in a user-controlled profile. In these embodiments, a user interface component provides the user with a template so that the user may input user-specific information into the template. A user profile component is provided to populate the user-controlled profile with the user-specific information provided by the user in the template. In addition, an advertisement selection component, such as an artificial intelligent learning agent, determines the customized advertisements that would be of the most interest and relevance to the user based on, for example, one or more of the user-specific information in the user-controlled profile, or the last determined location of the user. Lastly, an advertisement sending component sends the customized advertisements to the user by way of the user interface provided for by the user interface component.
In other embodiments, a method provides a user with an incentive, which is based on some type of user action in relation to the customized advertisements sent to the user. A user-controlled profile having one or more data fields is populated with user-specific information. In some instances, the user-specific information may be provided by a user. This user-specific information may be modified by the user. Next, customized advertisements are selected (e.g., by an artificial intelligent learning agent) based on the user-specific information in the user-controlled profile, the user's last determined location, or both. The customized advertisements are then sent to the user. The user may perform an action, such as purchasing an item in relation to one of the customized advertisements, or referring one of the customized advertisements to another user who may also have provided user-specific information in a user-controlled profile. The user, by performing one of these actions, may be provided with an incentive.
Having briefly described an overview of exemplary embodiments of the present invention, an exemplary operating environment for the present invention is now described. Referring to the drawings in general, and initially to
The invention may be described in the general context of computer code or machine-useable instructions, including computer-executable instructions such as program components, being executed by a computer or other machine, such as a personal data assistant or other handheld device. Generally, program components including routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and the like, refer to code that performs particular tasks, or implement particular abstract data types. Embodiments of the present invention may be practiced in a variety of system configurations, including hand-held devices, consumer electronics, general-purpose computers, specialty computing devices, etc. Embodiments of the invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote-processing devices that are linked through a communications network.
With continued reference to
Computer 110 typically includes a variety of computer-readable media. Computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by computer 110 and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by computer 110.
Memory 112 includes computer-storage media in the form of volatile and/or nonvolatile memory. The memory may be removable, non-removable, or a combination thereof. Exemplary hardware devices include solid-state memory, hard drives, optical-disc drives, etc. Computing device 100 includes one or more processors that read data from various entities such as memory 112 or I/O components 120. Presentation component(s) 116 present data indications to a user or other device. Exemplary presentation components include a display, speaker, printing component, vibrating component, etc.
I/O ports 118 allow computing device 100 to be logically coupled to other devices, including I/O components 120, some of which may be built in. Illustrative components include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, printer, wireless device, etc.
As previously mentioned, embodiments of the present invention relate to sending customized content items to a user after receiving an indication from the user (e.g., a user-controlled profile) to receive customized content items.
The system 200 includes one or more user computing devices 210, one or more source systems 212 (e.g., websites and the like), a data store 214, and one or more servers 218, all in communication with one another via a network 216. The network 216 may include, without limitation, one or more local area networks (LANs) and/or wide area networks (WANs). Such networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets, and the Internet. Accordingly, the network 216 is not further described herein.
The data store 214 is configured to store information related to determining and sending customized content items to a user. In various embodiments, such information may include, without limitation, the user-specific information provided by the user, user-controlled profiles, content items, such as advertisements and coupons, and the like. In embodiments, the data store 214 is configured to be searchable for one or more of the items stored in association therewith. It will be understood and appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the information stored in the data store 214 may be configurable and may include any information relevant to determining and sending customized content items. The content and volume of such information are not intended to limit the scope of embodiments of the present invention in any way. Further, though illustrated as a single, independent component, data store 214 may, in fact, be a plurality of data stores, for instance, a database cluster, portions of which may reside on one or more user computing device 210, the servers 218, another external computing device (not shown), and/or any combination thereof.
Each computing device 210 shown in
As shown in
Referring to
Each user computing device 310 and the customized advertisement engine 320 shown in
The data store 330 may comprise an advertisement data store 332 and a profile data store 334. Data stores 332 and 334 are configured to store information related to the determination and sending of customized advertisements to a user. In various embodiments, such information may include, without limitation, the user-specific information provided by the user, user-controlled profiles, content items, such as advertisements and coupons, and the like. In embodiments, the data stores 332 and 334 are configured to be searchable for one or more of the items stored in association therewith. It will be understood and appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the information stored in the data stores 332 and 334 may be configurable and may include any information relevant to the determination and sending of customized advertisements to a user. The content and volume of such information are not intended to limit the scope of embodiments of the present invention in any way. Further, though illustrated as two separate data stores 332 and 334, data stores 332 and 334 may be integrated into one data store. Data store 330 may, in one embodiment, be a plurality of data stores, for instance, a data store cluster, portions of which may reside on one or more user computing devices, such as 310, or may be integrated into one data store as illustrated by data store 214 in
As shown in
The advertisement selection component 326 selects one or more customized advertisements to send to the user. The selection may be based on one of a number of factors, including, but not limited to, a portion of the user-specific information provided by the user in the user-controlled profile, or the last determined location of the user. Information provided in the user-controlled profile may include, but is not limited to, the user's demographic information (e.g., age, gender, income, occupation), sports that the user is interested in, specific sports teams of interest, the marital status of the user, whether the user has children, location derived from the user-controlled profile (e.g., information from the user's web-based calendar, user input as to the user's anticipated or current location), and the like. In one instance, if a user inputs information into the user-controlled profile that her favorite sport is soccer, she may receive advertisements that are relevant to soccer, such as an advertisement from an online retailer of soccer merchandise. In another instance, if a user inputs into the user-controlled profile that his occupation during weekdays is a chemical engineer, but on the weekends, the user is strictly a father to his children, he may receive advertisements on weekdays that are relevant to an occupation as a chemical engineer, such as engineering job openings. In this instance, the user may receive advertisements or coupons on the weekends that are relevant to children, such as advertisements for games or books.
In some instances, the advertisement selection component 326 may be provided in the form of an artificial intelligent learning agent, or an artificial intelligent learning agent may be one part of the advertisement selection component 326. A learning agent may enhance the selection of advertisements and other customized content items that are sent to the user. This type of learning agent may leverage artificial intelligence techniques to learn advertisement relevance and assist in delivering the most relevant advertisments to the user. In learning about a particular user-controlled profile, the learning agent may be able to enhance the relevance, effectiveness, and conversion of advertisements. Many artificial intelligence technologies are available, and may be used for the purpose described above.
The last determined location of the user may be detected in a number of ways. In some embodiments, localization using triangulation is used (e.g., Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)), which is based on a signal strength of a user's cell phone to nearby signal masts. In other embodiments, location is detected using a global positioning system. It will be understood by one skilled in the art that any technology that provides a user's location may be used. As an example of selecting customized advertisements based on the last determined location of a user, if a user is at a football game at a particular stadium, the user may receive a coupon for half price refreshments redeemable only at that particular stadium. In another instance, if a user is driving and his location can be determined by, for example, one of the methods described above, he may receive an advertisement or coupon from a nearby restaurant for a buy one, get one free meal.
The advertisement sending component 340 is configured to send the customized advertisements for presentation to the user, which may be presented on a user interface of the user's computing device, such as user computing device 310. Once the customized advertisements are selected by the advertisement selection component 326, the advertisement sending component 340 may send the selected advertisements for presentation to the user (e.g., via a user interface on the user's computing device).
Referring to
In one embodiment of
In addition to having control by inputting user-specific information, the user, such as a first user, may have the ability to control whether other users (e.g., users who have a user-controlled profile in the system provided for herein) are able to view the customized content items of the first user. The first user may not want others to see certain advertisements, such as advertisements that are personal in nature. In these cases, the first user may have the option to specify which customized content items are publicly viewable, and which are not. In some embodiments, the first user may be provided with a public option and a private option for some or all of the data fields in the user-controlled profile. In these embodiments, if the first user selects the public option for a particular data field, advertisers, businesses, and other end-users may be able to view the first user's customized content items and other user-specific information relating to that particular data field. To the contrary, if the first user selects the private option for the particular data field, other users may not be able to see the customized content items that are related to that particular data field. This allows users to have complete flexibility and control over what other users see and do not see. In other embodiments, the user may have the option to select certain other users to view the customized content items so that some users are able to view some or all of the customized content items, and others are not. In this embodiment, the users who are able to view some or all of the customized content items may be users in a selected friends list or the like.
Further, users may be provided with a content item volume control in order to control the volume of content items sent to the user. In one embodiment, the user may control the total number or volume of content items sent to the user. For example, a user may wish to pay for his cell phone by way of receiving advertisements. In this case, the user may specify a higher number or volume of customized content items to receive. As another example, a user may not wish to receive many customized content items while at work during the weekdays, and subsequently, may decrease the number or volume of customized content items received during that time period. In another embodiment, the user may be able to control the number or volume of content items sent to the user for one or more individual data fields. In one instance, a user may be planning for a vacation and may wish to receive an elevated number or volume of customized content items related only to the upcoming vacation, and receive a low number or volume of customized content items relating to other areas of interest. Because the user has complete control in these regards, the user will be much more likely to pay attention to the customized content items received, in contrast to receiving random content items, such as an advertisement for a car when the user has absolutely no interest or need to purchase a new car at that time.
In some embodiments, the user may be required to login in order to access and modify the user-specific information. This may be provided for security and/or privacy reasons, so that others cannot access and view the user-specific information, which may be personal in some instances. In one instance, the user may be provided with login information, such as a username and password, at the time the user creates the user-controlled profile for the first time.
Referring again to
In other embodiments, the customized content items may be determined or selected based on a location of the user. As described above, in some embodiments, localization using triangulation is used (e.g., GSM), which is based on a signal strength of a user's cell phone to nearby signal masts. In other embodiments, location is detected using a global positioning system. Other methods of locating a user may also be used and are contemplated to be within the scope of the present invention. As provided above, an example of selecting customized content items based on the last determined location of a user is if a user is at a football game at a particular stadium, the user may receive a coupon for half price refreshments redeemable only at that particular stadium. In another instance, if a user is traveling and his location can be determined by, for example, one of the methods described above, he may receive an advertisement from a nearby restaurant for a buy one, get one free meal, which may be more relevant to the user if he is in the vicinity of the restaurant or if the restaurant is along the user's route or in the direction that the user is traveling. Lastly, the one or more customized content items are sent for presentation to the user at block 430.
In one embodiment of
In another embodiment of
Turning now to
As described above, in addition to having control by inputting and modifying user-specific information, the user may have the ability to control whether other users (e.g., advertisers, businesses, or end-users who have a user-controlled profile in the system provided for herein) are able to view the customized content items by selecting a public option or private option for some or all of the data fields in the user-controlled profile. Additionally, when a user selects the private option, this portion of the user-specific information may not be personally identifiable by advertisers, so that advertisers may only refer to the anonymous side of the users' information via a unique identifier that may not be traced back to the user.
In other embodiments, the user may have the option to select certain other users to view the customized content items so that some users are able to view some or all of the customized content items, and others are not. In this embodiment, the users who are able to view some or all of the customized content items may be users in a selected friends list or the like. Further, users may be provided with a content item volume control in order to control the volume of content items sent to the user. In one embodiment, the user may control the total number or volume of content items sent to the user, and in another embodiment, the user may be able to control the number or volume of content items sent to the user for one or more individual data fields.
At block 520, customized advertisements are selected in accordance with, in some embodiments, a portion of the user-specific information. For example, if a user has specified in the user-controlled profile that he is in the market for a new bicycle, that user may receive customized advertisements or coupons, for instance, from bicycle retailers. In some instances, the user-specific information may be information from the user's personal or work calendar, and this information may be transferred to the user-controlled profile. The information provided by the calendar may be used to provide highly relevant advertisements to the user, such as the user's anticipated location on a certain day and at a certain time of the day. In other instances, the customized advertisements are selected using an artificial intelligent learning agent, as was previously described.
In other embodiments, the customized advertisements may be determined or selected based on a last determined location of the user. As described above, in some embodiments, localization using triangulation is used (e.g., GSM), which is based on a signal strength of a user's cell phone to nearby signal masts. In other embodiments, location is detected using a global positioning system. Other methods of locating a user may also be used and are contemplated to be within the scope of the present invention. At block 530, the customized advertisements are sent for presentation to the user.
At block 540, an indication is received as to a user action in relation to one or more of the customized advertisements. The user action may be one of a number of actions, such as, but not limited to, a user's purchase of one or more items advertised in the customized advertisements sent to the user, or a referral from the user, such as a first user, to another user, such as a second user, of one or more of the customized advertisements sent to the first user. In many instances, in order to effectuate a user action, both users may have user-controlled profiles, and thus be participants in the system as described herein. Both the purchase and referral may be tracked, and may even provide the advertisers with valuable feedback as to which advertisements are effective, and which are not.
Next, the user is provided with an incentive in accordance with a user action at block 550, the user actions of which are described above. The incentive may be one of a number of incentives, including, but not limited to, points based on a points system, currency, credit, or a discount on a future purchase. The points, for instance, may be redeemable to participating advertisers, such as the advertiser of the item from which the points were earned. Users may receive incentives, such as points, as a result of performing explicitly defined activities, such as the user actions described above. The user may also receive incentives for actions, such as creating a user-controlled profile, updating user-specific information in the user-controlled profile, allowing other users to view customized advertisements, or when referrals lead to a transaction. Advertisers and marketers may agree in advance to allow for the redemption of incentives, such as points, for their products or services.
The present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments, which are intended in all respects to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from its scope.
From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all the ends and objects set forth above, together with other advantages which are obvious and inherent to the methods. It will be understood that certain features and sub-combinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and sub-combinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.
