JP6510470B2 - Method and apparatus for providing targeted advertising - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates generally to advertising, and more particularly to enabling users of video services (viewers) to modify and influence the advertisements they are viewing. That is, the present invention provides targeted advertising improvement.

  Advertising (and many others) is a matter of personal preference. Some people found Taco Bell Dog, a propaganda character for the taco fast food chain store Taco Bell, to be interesting and familiar. Other people hated Taco Bell Dog's commercials. As time went on, some people moved from the former to the latter. For commercial viewers, good commercials can have great effects. That is, because I like the commercial, I want to buy / use the product. It has generally been overlooked that bad commercials can have the opposite effect. Viewers will avoid the products represented by bad commercials. Alternatively, as also mentioned above, repetition may cause the viewer to begin to avoid the product over time. In the case of a particular event (e.g. watching college basketball all day on Saturday), the same commercial is shown repeatedly, even having a good commercial having a bad commercial effect.

  Advertisers advertise to appeal to consumers to buy their products. Often, bad advertisements can detract from the viewer's interest in the product, and repetition of bad advertisements can cause the viewer to completely avoid the product. Excessive repetition of a good commercial may have an adverse effect as well.

  In multicast and broadcast applications, data is sent from servers to multiple receivers over wired and / or wireless networks. As used herein, a multicast system is one in which a server transmits the same data to multiple receivers simultaneously, forming a subset of all receivers until the multiple receivers include all of the receivers. It is. A broadcast system is a system in which a server simultaneously transmits the same data to all receivers. That is, a multicast system, by definition, can include broadcast.

  The invention enables viewers of video services to influence the advertisements they are watching. The present invention allows the user to rank the advertisements so that the advertisement (ad) server can broadcast (send) more effective advertisements to the user. At the same time, very valuable feedback is given to the advertisers, enabling them to respond to current viewing trends. The invention also allows the ranking by the user to be changed to correspond to their current preferences.

  The system of the present invention allows viewer feedback to change the advertisements provided to that particular viewer, resulting in a better experience for both the viewer and the advertiser. Engaging the user may also reduce "channel surfing" as the user may be more likely to view the ad if he recognizes that he can influence the ad. Feedback from the present is made available to advertisers, thus creating an environment where actual user feedback drives new advertisements.

  The present invention is similar to the Nielsen ratings system in that feedback from users can be made available to advertisers (broadcasters in the Nielsen world) and used to determine which ads are preferred . This can, in turn, form a future advertisement (commercial). The present invention is a ranking based system such as TV programs, movies, products etc.

  Method and apparatus for providing targeted advertisements to users via user equipment, receiving content provided by a content provider, rendering the provided content, and selecting a default commercial at a commercial break Display a commercial inserted into the content based on an algorithm, determine if the user wants to rate the commercial, and receive a rating by the user of the commercial if the user wants to rate the commercial A method and apparatus are described for sending the commercial and the user's evaluation of the commercial to the content provider. Also, a method and apparatus for providing a targeted advertisement to a user device by a content provider, wherein the content is sent to the user device for rendering, the profile of the user is retrieved, and the user is specific to the user Determining whether it has a commercial selection algorithm, inserting commercials into the content prior to the commercial break based on the user-specific commercial selection algorithm and the user's profile, and providing the commercial to the user device; Determine whether user feedback regarding the evaluation of the provided commercial was received, modify the user-specific commercial selection algorithm of the user when feedback is received, and select the user-specific commercial selection Default method and apparatus wherein the insert commercials into the content based on the commercial selection algorithm is described before a commercial break when algorithm can not find.

  A method and apparatus for using a commercial rating, receiving user feedback that evaluates a commercial from a plurality of users, collecting commercial related data, aggregating the commercial related data and the commercial rating, and aggregating Methods and apparatus are described that calculate statistics based on the data and apply the statistics to a default commercial selection algorithm.

  Receiving content provided by a content provider, rendering the provided content, displaying commercials inserted in the content based on the default commercial selection algorithm at commercial break, and the user wants to evaluate the commercials A method of determining if it is desired, receiving the user's rating of the commercial when the user wants to rate the commercial, and sending the commercial and the rating of the commercial to the one or more social networking sites An apparatus is described.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system for delivering content to users (e.g., home or end users or clients). It is a flowchart of the current model of advertising (commercial) display. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example receiver. Fig. 5 is a flow chart of the targeted advertisement ranking (evaluation) system of the present invention from the user's point of view. Fig. 5 is a flow chart of an exemplary embodiment of the method of the invention from the content provider's point of view. FIG. 7 is an alternative exemplary embodiment of the method of the invention from the content provider's point of view. FIG. 7 is an illustrative embodiment of the invention from the content provider's point of view for receiving and aggregating user ad rankings.

  The invention is best understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The drawings include the figures briefly described above.

  The present invention rectifies both good repeat over advertising and bad commercial rendering. It makes both the audience and the advertiser happy and thus the content providers and Multiple System Operators (MSOs). The present invention is a system that requires some form of bi-directional communication with video services. The present invention interacts with a video server and includes, for example, a local STB which may be a PC or a mobile device, an interactive TV or some other form of client device. At the server, there is a preference engine that makes decisions about which advertisements to send (send, broadcast, multicast). In a preferred embodiment, advertising decisions are focused on individual STBs or households.

  When the viewer is watching a program, he / she has the ability to rank the ads being rendered. The ability of the user to rank advertisements may be by means of a dedicated button on a remote control, or a popup on a selectable screen, or a gesture based on an alternative system such as a cell phone or tablet. The ranking may be, for example, 1 to 5 or some other conventional ranking level. The priority level information is sent (returned) to the server. The server can then use the received ranking level information to customize the current user or household preference profile.

  In addition, such rankings may be stored and aggregated to provide anonymous feedback to the advertiser as to which commercials are well-lapsed and which commercials are not. This allows the advertiser to remove commercials that do not have a positive effect on the consumer and create new commercials similar to what the viewer currently likes. This also helps to inform the advertiser if they are starting to like commercials (eg Taco Bell Dog). If the advertiser stops the commercial at the appropriate time, such commercial is well remembered. Such commercials are badly remembered if the advertiser allows even good commercials to be overplayed.

  Users can change their own ranking of commercials at any time. In this way, the advertiser can determine if the playback of a particular ad is excessive or insufficient, and adjust the rendering of the ad accordingly.

  This feedback can be extremely useful to the advertiser. There is a poor ranking, but there are (presence) TV shows that succeed with certain key demographics. Such programs continue to be broadcast as the broadcaster can be charged by the advertisements during the program if the advertisers want to access their particular demographics. That is, ads are rendered (rendered) in specific geographic regions based on local demographics, regardless of any type of interactivity. Canoe Ventures, Enhanced TV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF) and tru2way allow users to interact with advertisements at the macro level. That is, for example, a user (viewer) can click a button that pops up during an add of Ford Focus to obtain additional information regarding one or more features of the Ford Focus. Such macro level bidirectionality is not the macro level of the interaction of the present invention. Enabling ranking of ads associated with demographic recognition of the viewers of the program means that the advertiser discovers what demographics of the viewers are positive for their ad Make it possible. Advertisements viewed online or through interactive television are static (pre-embedded in video (content) streams or inserted in content streams) and of limited nature. Often, the same ad is broadcast multiple times (multicast). The present invention uses an ad server to insert an ad, which the user may prefer, into a content (video) stream, based on the user's ranking of the ad. The targeted advertisement of the present invention uses digital insertion to insert preferred ads.

  FIG. 1A is a block diagram of an example system for delivering content to users (eg, home or end users or clients). Content originates from a content source 102, such as a cinema or production company. Content may be provided in at least one of two forms. One form may be a broadcast form of the content. Broadcast content is provided to the broadcast branch manager 104. The broadcast branch manager 104 is usually a national broadcast service such as ABC (American Broadcasting Company), NBC (National Broadcasting Company), CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System), and the like. The broadcast branch manager may collect and store the content, and may schedule the distribution of the content on a distribution network shown as distribution network 1 (106). Distribution network 1 (106) may include satellite link transmissions from the National Center to one or more regional or local centers. The distribution network 1 (106) may also include local content distribution by a local distribution network (system), such as over the air, satellite or cable broadcast, or the Internet. The locally distributed content is provided to a receiver 108 at the user's home. There, the content is then retrieved by the user. Of course, the receiving device 108 can take many forms, and can be embodied as a set top box, a digital video recorder (DVR), a gateway, a modem, a digital TV, etc. Furthermore, the receiving device 108 may operate as an entry point or gateway for a home network system including additional devices configured as either clients or peer devices in the home network.

  The second form of content is called special content. Special content may include content that is delivered as extra viewing, pay per view, or other content that is not provided to broadcast branch manager 104, eg, movies, video games or other video elements. In many cases, special content may be content requested by the user. Special content may be delivered to content manager 113. The content manager 113 may be, for example, a service provider, such as a content provider, an internet website under the umbrella of broadcast services or distribution network services. Content manager 113 may also incorporate Internet content into the distribution system. Content manager 113 may deliver content to the user's receiving device 108 on delivery network 2 (112), which is a separate delivery network. Distribution network 2 (112) may include a high speed broadband internet communication system. It should be noted that the content from broadcast branch manager 104 may also be distributed by all or part of distribution network 1 (106). In addition, the user may also obtain content directly from the Internet via the distribution network 2 (112) without necessarily having the content managed by the content manager 113.

  Several adaptations may be possible to use separately delivered content. In one possible approach, special content is provided as an addition to broadcast content providing alternative display, purchase and promotion options, enhancement material, etc. In other adaptations, special content may completely replace any programming content provided as broadcast content. Finally, special content may be completely separate from broadcast content, and may simply be a media substitute that the user can choose to use. For example, the special content may be a library of movies not yet available as broadcast content.

  The receiving device 108 may receive different types of content from one or both of the distribution network 1 and the distribution network 2. The receiving device 108 processes the content and provides content separation based on user preferences and commands. The receiving device 108 may further include a storage device such as a hard drive or an optical disc drive to record and play back content (audio, video and multimedia content). Further details of the operation of receiving device 108 are described below with respect to FIG. 1C. The processed content is provided to the display device 114. Display device 114 may be a 2D type display, or alternatively may be an advanced 3D display.

  The receiver 108 may also be interfaced to the touch screen controller 116. Touch screen controller 116 may be adapted to provide user control of receiving device 108 and / or display device 114. Touch screen controller 116 may have the ability to display content. The content may be a graphics entry, such as a user interface entry, or may be part of the content to be delivered to the display device 114. The touch screen controller 116 may interface to the receiver 108 using any well known signal transmission system, such as infrared (IR) or radio frequency (RF) communication, and may use infrared data. A standard protocol such as an association (IRDA) standard, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and the like, or some other proprietary protocol may be included. The operation of touch screen controller 116 is described in further detail below.

  The advertisement server (ad server) 118 has an ad (commercial) stored therein and can be connected to any one or more of the broadcast office manager 104, the content manager 113 and / or the receiving device 108 It is an apparatus. Ads may be delivered to any one or more of broadcast office manager 104, content manager 113 and / or receiving device 108 and may be inserted into the content by them.

  Referring now to FIG. 1B, FIG. 1B is a flowchart of the current model of ad (commercial) display. At 105, the user receives and views content (eg, a television program or movie or some other content that may include audio, video or multimedia content). Content may be received (supplied) from a content provider (eg, Comcas, Verizon FIOS, Atlantic Broadcast or local cable provider), a satellite system operator (eg, operated by DirecTV), or the Internet. At 110, according to the metadata contained in the content or based on time, the content provider suspends the content during the commercial break. At 115, the content provider inserts or embeds the ad into the content (program, movie, etc.). At 120, the inserted (implanted) ad is provided to the user (viewer). Content and ads are both broadcast (multicast) to users (viewers, consumers, clients).

  FIG. 1C is a block diagram of an illustrative receiver. The receiving device 200 may operate similar to the receiving device described in FIG. 1A and may be included as part of a gateway device, modem, STB or other similar communication device. The illustrated receiving device 200 may also be incorporated into an audio device or other system that includes a display device. In any case, some of the components necessary for the complete operation of the system are not shown for the sake of brevity when they are well known to those skilled in the art.

  At the receiving device 200, the content is received by the input signal receiver 202. The input signal receiver 202 receives and demodulates the signal provided over one of several possible networks, including broadcast, cable, satellite, Ethernet, fiber optic and telephone networks. , May be one of several known receiver circuits used to decode. The desired input signal may be selected and retrieved by the input signal receiver 202 based on the user input provided through the control interface or touch panel interface 222. Touch panel interface 222 may include an interface to a touch screen device. Touch panel interface 222 may also be adapted to interface to a mobile phone, tablet device, mouse, standard remote control device, high end remote control device, or any device with similar functionality. The input signal receiver 202 may also be adapted to provide a back channel to provide feedback regarding user ratings of commercials.

  The decoded output signal is provided to the input stream processor 204. The input stream processor 204 performs final signal selection and processing, including the separation of video content from audio content for the content stream. Audio content is provided to audio processor 206 for conversion from a receiving format, such as a compressed digital signal, to an analog waveform signal. The analog waveform signal is provided to the audio interface 208 and further to the display device or audio amplifier. Alternatively, the audio interface 208 may be a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI®) or a Sony / Phillips Digital Interconnect Format (SPDIF) or the like. An alternative audio interface may be used to provide digital signals to the audio output device. Audio interface 208 may also include an amplifier to drive one or more sets of speakers. Audio processor 206 also performs any necessary conversion for storage of the audio signal.

  Video output from input stream processor 204 is provided to video processor 235. The video signal may be in one of several formats. Video processor 235 optionally provides conversion of video content based on the input signal format. Video processor 235 also performs any necessary conversion for storage of the video signal.

  The storage unit 212 stores audio and video content received by the input unit. The storage device 212 is further under the control of the controller 214 and based on commands received from the user interface 216 and / or the touch panel interface 222, for example, navigation instructions such as fast forward (FF) and rewind (Rew). Allow for later retrieval and playback of content. The storage 212 may be a hard disk drive, one or more mass integrated electronic memories, such as static RAM (SRAM) or dynamic RAM (DRAM), or a replaceable optical disc storage system, such as a compact disc (CD) drive or digital video disc (DVD) drive.

  The converted video signal from video processor 235, which originates from the input or from storage 212, is provided to display interface 218. The display interface 218 may further be an analog signal interface such as red-green-blue (RGB) or a digital interface such as HDMI. Of course, the display interface 218 generates various screens for presenting search results in a three dimensional grid, as described in more detail below.

  The controller 214 is interconnected via a bus to some of the components of the apparatus 200 including the input stream processor 204, the audio processor 206, the video processor 235, the storage 212 and the user interface 216. The controller 214 manages the conversion process that converts the input stream into signals for storage in storage or for display (rendering). Controller 214 also manages the retrieval and playback of stored content. In addition, as described below, the controller 214 performs a search for content and creation and coordination of a grid display that presents content that is stored or distributed via the distribution network described above.

  The controller 214 further includes a control memory 240 (eg, RAM, SRAM, DRAM, ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), flash memory, electronic programmable ROM (EPROM) for storing information and instruction codes for the controller 214. , Volatile or non-volatile memory), including electronically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) and the like. Control memory 240 may also store a database of elements, such as graphic elements that contain content. Alternatively, control memory 240 stores graphic elements at identified or grouped memory locations, and uses access or position tables to locate memory locations for various pieces of information associated with graphic elements. You may Further details regarding the storage of graphic elements are described below. Further, the implementation of control memory 240 may have several possibilities, such as a single memory device or alternatively more than one memory circuit communicatively connected or coupled to form a shared or common memory. May be included. Still further, the memory may be included along with other circuitry, such as portions of bus communication circuitry, in larger circuitry.

  User interface 216 also includes an interface for the microphone. The user interface 216 may be wired or wireless and enables the reception of audio signals for use in the present invention. Such voice commands should be processed through a speech recognition unit (not shown). The user interface process of the present invention uses an input device to provide feedback for the targeted ad ranking system and method of the present invention. To enable this, a touch panel device may be interfaced via the user interface 216 and / or the touch panel interface 222. The touch panel device makes it possible to provide input to the operation of the various devices, including the receiving device or STB, or to the targeted advertisement ranking method and system of the present invention. The touch panel device enables input based on hand movements or gestures, or by touching an option rendered on the touch panel. A touch panel device may also be included as part of the remote control device. Feedback to the server may be completed, for example, via the user interface 216 or the touch panel interface 222. Both the user interface 216 and the touch panel interface 222 communicate bi-directionally with the controller 214. The controller 214 communicates bi-directionally with the input stream processor 204, and the input stream processor 204 bi-directionally communicates with the input signal receiver 202. The input signal receiver 202 communicates bi-directionally with the various components shown in FIG. 1A.

  In a first embodiment of the invention, the user (viewer) ranks the ads in the same way as the Nielsen ratings system used to evaluate television programs. Users can update their ad ranking (evaluation) at any time. In the preferred embodiment, this occurs when the ad (commercial) is played back (rendered), so that the user is looking at the ad (commercial) when the user ranks (values) the ad, it is Remain vivid in the mind of the user.

  Referring now to FIG. 2, a flow chart of the targeted advertisement ranking (evaluation) system of the present invention from the user's point of view is described. The user device may be an interactive TV (2D or 3D), a computer, a laptop, a dual mode smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a tablet device, an iPod (registered trademark), an iPhone (registered trademark), an iPad (registered trademark) or content. It may be any equivalent device for receiving. At 205, the user receives and views content (eg, a television program or movie or some other content that may include audio, video or multimedia content). Content may be received (supplied) from a content provider (eg, Comcas, Verizon FIOS, Atlantic Broadcast or local cable provider), a satellite system operator (eg, operated by DirecTV), or the Internet. At 210, according to the metadata included in the content or based on time, the content provider suspends the content during the commercial break. At 215, the content provider inserts or embeds the ad into the content (program, movie, etc.). At 220, the inserted (implanted) ad is provided to the user (viewer). Content and ads are both broadcast (multicast) to users (viewers, consumers, clients). Users (viewers) are encouraged to rank ads (commercials). At 225, a test is performed to determine if the user would like to rank (evaluate) the ad. The user may also directly pay or coupon to the user that the user can use for the product being advertised, based on the number of ads ranked (evaluated), or points earned for the product or service, Alternatively, through a monthly bill reduction, the content provider may be invited to rank (evaluate) the ad. If the user does not want to rank the ad, the process proceeds to 205 after the ad finishes broadcasting. Lack of interest in ranking ads may be considered to mean that the user does not want to participate in the ad ranking program or that the user is out of the room and not looking at the advertisement. If the user desires to rank the advertisement, then at 230, the user provides ranking of the advertisement. The ranking may be a numerical value, or may be consenting or not (thumbs up or down) meaning that the user likes or dislikes the advertisement. At 233, data ranked by the user is sent to the content provider. Content providers may include, but are not limited to, MSOs, satellite providers or Internet providers. Communication to the content provider may be performed directly by the user device or by a receiving device as described above. The content provider may use the advertisement ranking information by the user in any manner, as described in more detail below.

  The user may use any button of the IR remote control device or by any means including using a touch screen or using hand movements or gestures through a gesture detection controller such as may be connected to the user interface 216. It may indicate both that it wants to participate in the ad ranking and the actual ad ranking.

  In a second embodiment of the present invention, the first embodiment is enhanced to include the ability to insert user preferred ads by the ad server (ad server) and set top box (STB). This is one way that content providers can use the ad ranking information. The method of the invention from the user's point of view (see FIG. 2) does not change appreciably. The only difference is that the head end (content provider) will change the user's commercial (advertisement) algorithm to display the user's preferred ads, so the user will see his preferred ads. In this case, the content is still broadcast (multicast) to any user requesting the content, but the ad is unicast to a specific user (household, work). The preferred embodiment sends the ad to the local STB. The local STB inserts the advertisement at the scheduled commercial break. Digital insertion is the means by which advertisements are selected. The ad server can supply specific ads to be inserted into the content based on its database or metadata. Relevant data may be separated from the ad (advertisement, commercial) itself. There are many ways in which this can be achieved using an ad server or receiver or home gateway as an engine to make decisions and / or achieve insertions.

  FIG. 3 is an illustrative embodiment of the method of the present invention from the content provider's point of view. At 305, the content provider (e.g., the head end) sends the content to the user. The content is a multicast or broadcast to the user device for the user to view. At 310, a commercial break occurs or is imminent (to be scheduled or should be scheduled) according to the commercial break algorithm. Commercial breaks may be scheduled based on content metadata such as scene changes. The content provider (e.g., the head end) looks at its database to find the user's profile. At 320, a test is performed to determine if a profile for this particular user has been found. If a profile for this particular user is not found, at 325, the content provider inserts a default commercial (advertisement) into the content based on the default commercial selection algorithm available at the content provider ). At 330, the content provider provides (spools) a default commercial selection algorithm. The default commercial may be based on geography (demographics) and / or program content. If a profile is found for this particular user, at 335, the content provider inserts (embeds) one or more commercials into the content based on the user's profile and the commercial selection algorithm. Advertisements will be broadcasted more frequently if certain advertisements are "preferred" (ie, for example, ranked 5 (or higher) in a 1 to 5 grade, with 5 being the most preferred) , Will be screened. Advertisements are broadcasted less frequently if a particular ad is "disliked" (ie, for example, ranked as 2 (or less on a 1 to 5 scale, with 5 being preferred most)) , Not screened. For example, if the user (the viewer) continues to "dislike" diaper commercials, the user's commercial selection algorithm will begin to reduce the number of times the commercials associated with infant products as well as infant products are screened. On the other hand, if the user (the viewer) "likes" beer commercials, commercials of beer and other alcoholic products will be broadcast more frequently. It may be possible to distinguish whether the user (viewer) prefers humorous advertising. At 340, the selected advertisement is presented (spooled) to the user device either directly or by the receiving device as described above. In a preferred embodiment, this is the selected advertisement directly to the user device or to a receiving device (eg a local STB, DVR or a tuned device) to be inserted locally into the content at the scheduled commercial break. Is achieved by transmission (transmission, communication). Because digital insertion is the means by which advertisements are selected, advertisements should have metadata associated with each ad to select the ad that the user prefers. At 345, a test is performed to determine if the content provider has received user feedback (advertising ranking). User feedback may also include the time to rebroadcast the ranked (rated) advertisements. The time may be a specific time or period of time, after which the advertisement may be rebroadcast. For example, the user may not “broadcast, show, render, display” for one hour, as the user may generally “preference” a particular commercial but feel that it is being repeated too often. Can be requested. If the content provider receives user feedback, at 350, the content provider changes the commercial selection algorithm for this particular user. At 355, a test is performed to determine if the commercial break has been completed. If the commercial break is not complete, processing proceeds to 310. If the commercial break has ended, the process proceeds to 305. If the content provider has not received user feedback, at 360, the content provider stops providing (spooling) the current commercial and the process proceeds to 355.

  It should be noted that certain very reputable events (e.g. superballs) may be exempted by the broadcaster from the ranking method above. In such cases, the user's commercial selection algorithm and / or the ability to rank ads may be disabled, or the ability to rank ads may remain valid. Well, on the other hand, the commercial selection algorithm is disabled.

  FIG. 4 is an alternative illustrative embodiment of the method of the present invention from the content provider's point of view. Since FIG. 4 is the same as FIG. 3 except that 435 replaces 335, the above description is not repeated. At 435, the selected commercial (advertisement) is inserted into the content based on the user's commercial selection algorithm and the advertiser for the current time zone. A particular advertiser may choose to play his / her advertisement to flow in a particular time zone, whereby one of the advertiser's commercials should flow in this time zone. However, if the advertiser is a Procter & Gamble (P & G) who produces many products including, for example, toothpaste and diapers, it will best match the user's preferences based on this particular user's commercial selection algorithm Ads (commercials, advertisements) are provided (spooled, played, rendered, delivered). Thus, if an advertiser has an advertisement for some of his products available, this advertiser's advertisement will always be played during this time slot, but it is an advertisement that is preferred or suggested by the advertiser It does not have to be.

  In a third embodiment of the present invention, the first embodiment of the present invention is enhanced to include ad insertion control with social networking feedback. In this embodiment, the user can send his favorite ads to his BFF by any one of the social networking sites and ask his friends to also rank the ads. Thus, the advertiser has a wider advantage due to the added benefit that the BFF of the original audience (user) gets the ad by recommendation from the original user (assuming that the original user liked the ad) Get exposure (free). In this embodiment, the user operates as shown in FIG. 2, but instead of or in addition to step 233, the user prefers one or more advertisements to his / her BFF that he / she likes (fun) Communicate (transmit, transmit) to the social networking website of Social networking sites such as Twitter (registered trademark) have "trend" topics related to special hashtags that can be sent as part of a message. Advertisers can easily confirm that their ad is a trend (if Twitter (R) is a public forum) and can follow the discussion about their ad. Advertisers may also set up Facebook® pages or the like (many of which have already been done), and users can push their assessments to their site. The user can not only select the ad as "like", but also send a notification to his user that he did not like the commercial. This may cause others to look at the ad to see how they think about it, or it may cast a dark cloud on public opinion like the power of a newspaper or magazine article is there.

  In a fourth embodiment of the invention, certain advertisement rankings (ratings) are provided anonymously to the advertiser. FIG. 5 is an illustrative embodiment of the present invention from the content provider's point of view for receiving and aggregating the ranking of advertisements by users. At 505, the content provider receives user feedback (advertising ranking). Advertisement ranking may be numeric or simply "like" or "dislike". At 510, the content provider may include data related to the commercial, the date and time the ad was broadcast, geography (demographics), the number of times the ad was broadcasted per program and / or channel, and the commercial meta Collect data and At 515, the collected data is aggregated and optionally assigned weights. The aggregated collected data may be stored in any or all of a variety of manners, including per user, by date and / or time, by geography (demographics), by programming and / or by channel. It should be noted that demographics are available at least through the use of census data, often at the (city) block level. At 520, the content provider may decide on which program (program, channel) and / or in which region (demographics) and / or on which time and / or day a particular advertisement should be broadcast (offered) , Evaluate and use aggregated advertisement ranking data in the database. Content providers can provide such information to advertisers, either as a fee or as a solicitation to post their ads with this service. In this way, privacy is maintained because the advertiser does not receive any personal data. Advertisers, however, can better allocate better targeted consumers who may be interested in buying their products and their marketing budget. At 525, the content provider also uses advertisement ranking to update its default commercial selection algorithm. This gives the content provider the ability to remove ads that are not well received by users (viewers, consumers, clients, customers) or to rotate ads by day, time, program, channel, demographics, etc.

  It should be understood that the present invention may be implemented in various forms of hardware, software, firmware, special purpose processors, or a combination thereof. Desirably, the present invention may be implemented as a combination of hardware and software. In addition, the software may desirably be implemented as an application program tangibly embodied on a program storage device. The application program may be uploaded to a machine having any suitable architecture and executed thereby. Preferably, the machine is implemented on a computer platform comprising hardware such as one or more central processing units (CPUs), random access memories (RAMs), and input / output (I / O) interfaces. The computer platform also includes an operating system and microinstruction code. The various processes and functions described herein may be either portions of application programs or portions of microinstruction code (or a combination thereof) executed via an operating system. In addition, various other peripherals may be connected to the computer platform, such as additional data storage or printing devices.

Since some of the component system elements and method steps represented in the attached drawings are preferably implemented in software, the actual connection between the system elements (or processing steps) is to the method in which the present invention is programmed. It should be further understood that there may be differences depending on. Given the teachings herein, one of ordinary skill in the related art will be able to contemplate these and similar implementations or configurations of the present invention.
In addition to the above embodiments, the following appendices are disclosed.
(Supplementary Note 1)
A method of providing targeted advertisements to a user via a user device, comprising:
Receiving content provided by the content provider;
Rendering the provided content;
Displaying commercials inserted into the content based on a default commercial selection algorithm at commercial break;
Determining if the user wishes to rate the commercial;
Receiving a rating by the user of the commercial if the user wishes to rate the commercial;
Sending the user's evaluation of the commercial to the content provider.
(Supplementary Note 2)
The content provider is a multiple system operator, an online provider, or a broadcast provider.
The method according to appendix 1.
(Supplementary Note 3)
The default commercial selection algorithm is based on demographics and / or the content
The method according to appendix 1.
(Supplementary Note 4)
The user rating of the commercial is also provided to the ad server.
The method according to appendix 1.
(Supplementary Note 5)
A method for providing targeted advertising to a user device by a content provider, comprising:
Sending content to the user device for rendering;
Retrieving the profile of the user;
Determining whether the user has a user-specific commercial selection algorithm;
Inserting a commercial into the content prior to a commercial break based on the user specific commercial selection algorithm and the profile of the user;
Providing the commercial to the user device;
Determining whether user feedback regarding the rating of the provided commercial has been received;
Changing a commercial selection algorithm specific to the user of the user if feedback is received;
And D. inserting the commercial into the content prior to the commercial break based on a default commercial selection algorithm if no commercial selection algorithm specific to the user is found.
(Supplementary Note 6)
The content provider is a multiple system operator, an online provider, or a broadcast provider.
The method according to appendix 5.
(Appendix 7)
The default commercial selection algorithm is based on demographics and / or the content
The method according to appendix 5.
(Supplementary Note 8)
The step of inserting a commercial into the content prior to a commercial break based on the user specific commercial selection algorithm and the profile of the user is further based on an advertiser of the current time zone,
The method according to appendix 5.
(Appendix 9)
An apparatus for providing targeted advertisements to a user via a user device, comprising:
An input signal receiver for receiving content provided by a content provider;
A display interface for rendering the provided content;
A display device for displaying commercials inserted into the content based on a default commercial selection algorithm at commercial break;
And a user interface that determines whether the user wishes to rate the commercial.
The user interface also receives a rating by the user of the commercial if the user wishes to rate the commercial.
The input signal receiver is adapted to send the user's evaluation of the commercial to the content provider.
apparatus.
(Supplementary Note 10)
An apparatus for supplying targeted advertisements to a user device by a content provider,
Means for sending content to the user device for rendering, the means being one of a broadcast branch manager and a content manager;
Said content provider adapted to retrieve a profile of a user;
Furthermore, the content provider determining whether the user has a user-specific commercial selection algorithm;
An ad server that inserts commercials into the content prior to a commercial break based on the user specific commercial selection algorithm and the user's profile;
A receiving device for providing the commercial to the user device;
Furthermore, the content provider determining whether user feedback regarding the rating of the provided commercial has been received;
Furthermore, the content provider modifying a commercial selection algorithm specific to the user of the user if feedback is received;
And an ad server for inserting the commercial into the content prior to a commercial break based on a default commercial selection algorithm if no user specific commercial selection algorithm is found.

102 content source 104 broadcast station manager 108 receiver 113 content manager 114 display 116 touch screen controller 118 advertisement server (ad server)
200 receiver 202 input signal receiver 204 input stream processor 206 audio processor 208 audio interface 212 storage 214 controller 216 user interface 218 display interface 222 touch panel interface 235 video processor 240 control memory

Claims (24)

Presenting a first content including a first commercial;
Determining whether the first content is exempted from the rating function by the first content provider ;
When the first content is excluded from the evaluation function by the provider of the first content, the evaluation function is disabled, and the provider of the first content makes the first content from the evaluation function. If not excluded,
Receiving a user rating of the presented first commercial;
Modifying a commercial selection algorithm based on the user rating;
Presenting a second content comprising a second commercial selected based on the modified commercial selection algorithm;
How to have it. Receiving the first content from a server;
Forwarding the user ratings to the server;
The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving the second content from the server. Receiving the first content from a server;
Receiving a plurality of commercials from the ad server;
The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving the second content from the server. The server is operated by a content provider, which is
Multiple system operator, online provider or broadcast provider,
The method of claim 2. The commercial selection algorithm is based on demographics or content or demographics and content.
The method of claim 2. The user rating of the first commercial is provided to the ad server,
The method of claim 3. A way for content providers to deliver targeted advertising,
Providing, by the content provider, a first content comprising a first commercial selected based on a commercial selection algorithm;
Determining whether the content provider is exempt from the rating function by the content provider ;
When the first content is exempted from the evaluation function, the evaluation function is invalidated, and the first content is not exempted from the evaluation function.
Receiving a user rating of the provided first commercial;
Modifying a commercial selection algorithm based on the user rating;
Presenting a second content comprising a second commercial selected based on the modified commercial selection algorithm;
How to have it. The first commercial is selected based on the profile of the user in addition to the commercial selection algorithm
The method of claim 7. The content provider is a multiple system operator, an online provider or a broadcast provider,
The method of claim 7. The commercial selection algorithm is based on demographics or content or demographics and content.
The method of claim 7. The user rating of the first commercial is provided to an ad server,
The method of claim 7. A device comprising a user interface and a controller,
The controller
Presenting the first content including the first commercial,
Determining whether the first content is exempt from the rating function by the first content provider ;
When the first content is excluded from the evaluation function by the provider of the first content, the evaluation function is invalidated, and the provider of the first content makes the first content from the evaluation function. If not excluded,
Receiving a user rating of the presented first commercial from the user interface;
Modify the commercial selection algorithm based on the user rating,
Presenting a second content comprising a second commercial selected based on the modified commercial selection algorithm,
Configured as a device. The controller further
Receiving the first content from a server;
Forwarding the user ratings to the server;
Receiving the second content from the server;
The apparatus according to claim 12, configured as. The controller further
Receiving the first content from a server;
Receive multiple commercials from the ad server,
Receiving the second content from the server;
The apparatus according to claim 12, configured as. The server is operated by a content provider, which is a multiple system operator, an online provider or a broadcast provider.
An apparatus according to claim 13. The commercial selection algorithm is based on demographics or content or demographics and content.
An apparatus according to claim 12. The user rating of the first commercial is provided to the ad server,
An apparatus according to claim 14. A device for providing content, comprising a display device, a user interface and a controller, comprising:
The controller
Presenting on the display device first content comprising a first commercial selected based on a commercial selection algorithm;
Determining whether the first content is exempt from the rating function by the first content provider ;
When the first content is excluded from the evaluation function by the provider of the first content, the evaluation function is disabled, and the provider of the first content makes the first content from the evaluation function. If not excluded,
Receiving a user rating of the presented first commercial from the user interface;
Modify the commercial selection algorithm based on the user rating;
Presenting on the display device second content including a second commercial selected based on the modified commercial selection algorithm;
Configured as a device. The first commercial is selected based on the profile of the user in addition to the commercial selection algorithm
An apparatus according to claim 18. The first content and the second content are received from a content provider, and the content provider is a multiple system operator, an online provider or a broadcast provider.
An apparatus according to claim 18. The commercial selection algorithm is based on demographics or content or demographics and content.
An apparatus according to claim 18. The user rating of the first commercial is provided to the ad server,
An apparatus according to claim 18. Presenting a first content including a first commercial;
Determining whether the first content is exempted from the rating function by the first content provider ;
If the first content is excluded from the evaluation function by the provider of the first content, the evaluation function is disabled, and the first commercial is generated by the first content provider from the evaluation function. If not excluded,
Receiving a user rating of the presented first commercial;
Modify the commercial selection algorithm based on the user rating,
Presenting a second content comprising a second commercial selected based on the modified commercial selection algorithm,
Method. An apparatus comprising a user interface and a controller, the apparatus comprising:
The controller
Presenting the first content including the first commercial,
Determine whether the first content is exempt from the user rating function by the first content provider ;
If the provider of the first content excludes the first content from the user evaluation function, the provider of the first content disables the user evaluation function, and the first content is the user If not excluded from the evaluation function,
Receiving a user rating of the presented first commercial from the user interface;
Modify the commercial selection algorithm based on the user rating,
Presenting a second content comprising a second commercial selected based on the modified commercial selection algorithm,
Configured as a device.

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