WO2007073078A1 - Interactive advertisement system and method for the provision of interactive advertisement using the same - Google Patents

Interactive advertisement system and method for the provision of interactive advertisement using the same Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2007073078A1
WO2007073078A1 PCT/KR2006/005559 KR2006005559W WO2007073078A1 WO 2007073078 A1 WO2007073078 A1 WO 2007073078A1 KR 2006005559 W KR2006005559 W KR 2006005559W WO 2007073078 A1 WO2007073078 A1 WO 2007073078A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
advertisement
interactive advertisement
interactive
event
information
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/KR2006/005559
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Sangsu Kim
Original Assignee
Alticast Corp.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Alticast Corp. filed Critical Alticast Corp.
Publication of WO2007073078A1 publication Critical patent/WO2007073078A1/en

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q50/00—Information and communication technology [ICT] specially adapted for implementation of business processes of specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism
    • G06Q50/10—Services
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/23—Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
    • H04N21/236—Assembling of a multiplex stream, e.g. transport stream, by combining a video stream with other content or additional data, e.g. inserting a URL [Uniform Resource Locator] into a video stream, multiplexing software data into a video stream; Remultiplexing of multiplex streams; Insertion of stuffing bits into the multiplex stream, e.g. to obtain a constant bit-rate; Assembling of a packetised elementary stream

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an interactive advertisement system and a method for the provision of interactive advertisement using the same.
  • An object of the present invention is to provide a method for the convenient and efficient provision of an interactive advertisement targeted to a particular advertisement transmitted through an advertisement transmission server.
  • Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for the convenient and efficient provision of an interactive advertisement targeted to a particular advertisement, in which the braodcasting of the particular advertisement is separated from the broadcasting of the control signal of the interactive advertisement event targeted to the particular advertisement.
  • Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method for the convenient and efficient synchronization of the particular advertisement with the interactive advertisement event in spite of the separated broadcasting of the particular advertisement from the broadcasting of the control signal of the interactive advertisement event targeted to the particular advertisement.
  • Still another object of the present invention is to provide an interactive advertisement system capable of actively responding to an urgent request for the progress of an interactive advertisement event from a commercial advertiser or a program provider, and of performing simple correction, updating, etc. of the interactive advertisement event.
  • an interactive advertisement system comprising (a) an advertisement transmission server which broadcasts advertisements based on advertisement schedule information, (b) an interactive advertisement agent which broadcasts a signal requesting launch of an interactive advertisement event ("an interactive advertisement event launch signal") for a particular target advertisement selected from the advertisements broadcast from the advertisement transmission server, and (c) a user set top box equipped with launcher application that displays a notification message informing that the interactive advertisement event is in progress (“an interactive advertisement event notification message”), along with the target advertisement, to a user screen on receipt of the interactive advertisement event launch signal broadcast from the interactive advertisement agent, on condition that the user is watching a channel through which the target advertisement is broadcast.
  • an interactive advertisement system further comprising a cue-tone receiver that transmits to the interactive advertisement agent a cue-tone information that requests the interactive advertisement agent to broadcast the interactive advertisement event launch signal, wherein information required by the interactive advertisement agent for broadcasting the interactive advertisement event launch signal are included into the cue-tone information.
  • an interactive advertisement system wherein the interactive advertisement agent comprises an interactive advertisement core server that receives a request for the progress of the interactive advertisement event and that in response to the request, collects information required for broadcastting the interactive advertisement event launch signal, a signal transmission headend that receives the information required for broadcastting the interactive advertisement event launch signal from the interactive advertisement core server and broadcasts the interactive advertisement event launch signal via a network, and a data server that manages data including the advertisement schedule information and information related to interactive advertisements ("interactive advertisement related information").
  • the interactive advertisement agent comprises an interactive advertisement core server that receives a request for the progress of the interactive advertisement event and that in response to the request, collects information required for broadcastting the interactive advertisement event launch signal, a signal transmission headend that receives the information required for broadcastting the interactive advertisement event launch signal from the interactive advertisement core server and broadcasts the interactive advertisement event launch signal via a network, and a data server that manages data including the advertisement schedule information and information related to interactive advertisements ("interactive advertisement related information").
  • an interactive advertisement system wherein the interactive advertisement core server comprises a module for receiving the advertisement schedule information ("an advertisement schedule information reception module”), a module for receiving the cue-tone information (“a cue-tone information reception module”), a module for receiving the interactive advertisement related information (“an interactive advertisement related information reception module”), a module for processing and controlling the information (“a data processing and control module”), and a module for managing output of data (“a data output module”).
  • an advertisement schedule information reception module a module for receiving the cue-tone information
  • an interactive advertisement related information reception module a module for receiving the interactive advertisement related information
  • a data processing and control module for processing and controlling the information
  • a data output module for managing output of data
  • an interactive advertisement system wherein the interactive advertisement event launch signal includes an information required for identifying the target advertisement (“target locator”) and an information required for location of the interactive advertisements (“source locator”).
  • target locator an information required for identifying the target advertisement
  • source locator an information required for location of the interactive advertisements
  • an interactive advertisement system wherein the interactive advertisement event launch signal further includes an information on an event start time.
  • an interactive advertisement system wherein the event start time included into the interactive advertisement event launch signal is set identical to a start time of the target advertisement such that the interactive advertisement event notification message is provided to the user screen as synchronized with the target advertisement.
  • an interactive advertisement system wherein the target locator is selected from the group consisting of a channel identification information through which the target advertisement is broadcast, a program identification information and a combination thereof.
  • an interactive advertisement system wherein the interactive advertisement event launch signal further includes an information on a phrase to be included into the interactive advertisement event notification message.
  • an interactive advertisement system wherein the interactive advertisement event launch signal includes a channel identification information, a program identification information, an information on an event start time, an information on a phrase to be included into the notification message and an information on location of interactive advertisements.
  • an interactive advertisement system wherein the interactive advertisement that is displayed in response to user's selection to the interactive advertisement event notification message coupled to the target advertisement is transmitted to the set top box through any one selected from the group consisting of the interactive advertisement agent, the advertisement transmission server and a return channel.
  • an interactive advertisement system wherein the interactive advertisement event launch signal is an in-band signal.
  • an interactive advertisement system wherein the interactive advertisement event launch signal has a form of object carousel or StreamEent.
  • an interactive advertisement system wherein the target advertisement is an advertisement that is inserted into at a suspension of one program.
  • a method for the provision of an interactive advertisement using the interactive advertisement system which comprises the steps of a) at an advertisement transmission server, broadcasting advertisements through a network, b) at an interactive advertisement agent, broadcasting through the network an interactive advertisement event launch signal for a target advertisement selected from the advertisements broadcast from the advertisement transmission server, c) at a set top box of a user, displaying an interactive advertisement event notification message along with the target advertisement, on receipt of the interactive advertisement event launch signal broadcast from the interactive advertisement agent, to a user screen of a set top box on condition that the user is watching a channel through which the target advertisement is broadcast, and d) displaying an interactive advertisement on the user screen in response to the user's selection to the interactive advertisement event notification message.
  • broadcasting of the interactive advertisement event launch signal and that of target advertisement are carried out independent of each other. Accordingly, it is possible to actively respond to an urgent request for the progress of the interactive advertisement event from a commercial advertiser or a program provider, and to perform simple correction, updating, etc. of the interactive advertisement event. Specifically, in case some modification of an interactive advertisement event is required, for example, if the start time of an interactive advertisement event is to be changed or if the location information of the interactive advertisement needs to be changed, it can be easily performed by broadcasting the interactive advertisement event launch signal again without any change to the advertisement and program broadcasted from the advertisement transmission server. Also, an urgent request for the progress of the interactive advertisement event can be promptly met because the interactive advertisement event launch signal is transmitted separately from advertisements. Usually, an interactive advertisement event launch signal has a size as small as 20 Kbytes and can be produced and broadcast in less than 2 minutes.
  • the present invention has an advantage that the synchronization of the target advertisement with the interactive advertisement event can be achieved conveniently and efficiently by setting the event start time included in the interactive advertisement event launch signal identical to the start time of the target advertisement, in spite of the separated broadcasting of the particular advertisement and the control signal for the interactive advertisement event targeted to the particular advertisement.
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of the interactive advertisement system in accordance with the present invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a more preferred embodiment of the interactive advertisement system in accordance with the present invention, in which the "interactive advertisement event launch signal" is generated by receiving the cue-tone information.
  • FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of the interactive advertisement agent employed in the interactive advertisement system of the present invention.
  • FIG. 4 is a drawing showing an exemplarily user interface in which the interactive advertisement event notification message is displayed along with the target advertisement.
  • advertisement(s) means audio/video data broadcast through broadcasting for the promotion of goods, or for upgrading the image of enterprises.
  • the advertisement includes one that is provided between two regular programs and one that is inserted into at a suspension of one program.
  • the advertisement provided between two regular programs is under control of program providers ("PP").
  • the advertisement that is inserted into at a suspension of one program is usually under control of a service operator ("SO").
  • SO service operator
  • the duration of an advertisement inserted into a program is limited to 2 minutes or less.
  • advertisement transmission server means a server which broadcasts advertisements through a network based on the advertisement schedule information.
  • the advertisement transmission server provides a plurality of advertisements at a scheduled time that will be displayed between two program or as inserted into at a suspension of a program based on the advertisement schedule information (the date and channel on which the advertisement will be broadcast, the program in which the advertisement will be broadcast, and so forth).
  • the advertisement transmission server may further have a capability of broadcasting regular programs, which is the usual case.
  • an interactive advertisement means an advertisement coupled to a particular advertisement (or a target advertisement) broadcast by the advertisement transmission server.
  • the interactive advertisement is preferably closely related with the particular advertisement.
  • the particular advertisement is an advertisement of "Samsung Anycall ".
  • the interactive advertisement preferably includes details about the type of the product, available colors, functions, how to use, price, and so forth of the Samsung AnycallTM.
  • the advertisement that becomes the target of the interactive advertisement is called as "a target advertisement”.
  • the interactive advertisement may be transmitted by the advertisement transmission server through a different channel from that of the target advertisement, by the interactive advertisement agent or by a different transmission server.
  • the broadcasting of the interactive advertisement is not limited to a specific transmission server.
  • the target advertisement to which the interactive advertisement is coupled is an advertisement inserted into at a suspension of one program (insert advertisement).
  • the advertisements broadcast between two regular programs are managed by program providers. Thus, if the interactive advertisement events are provided between regular programs, the interest of the program providers may be infringed upon.
  • the interactive advertisement is provided to a user only when a request to watch the interactive advertisement has been received from the user.
  • a notification message informing that the interactive advertisement event is set to the target advertisement is displayed along with the target.
  • Such a message is called as "an interactive advertisement event notification message".
  • the interactive advertisement event notification message may be provided by a launcher application of the set top box in a variety of forms, including banner, popup window, icon, and so forth.
  • the interactive advertisement is displayed on the user screen.
  • an interactive advertisement event launch signal means a signal which commands the set top box to launch the interactive advertisement event. In other words, it is a signal which commands the interactive advertisement event notification message to be displayed on the user screen.
  • This signal is broadcast by the interactive advertisement agent, which is physically independent of the advertisement transmission server (or program transmission server).
  • the interactive advertisement event launch signal is delivered to the set top box at home or office as an in-band signal in an object carousel or StreamEnt type.
  • the set top box interprets the information included in the signal and prepares, based on the information included in the signal, the interactive advertisement event notification message to be displayed. If the user is watching the channel through which the target advertisement coupled to the interactive advertisement is broadcast, the interactive advertisement event notification message is displayed on the user screen as prompted by the interactive advertisement event launch signal.
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of the interactive advertisement system in accordance with the present invention.
  • an interactive advertisement system (1) comprises an advertisement transmission server (100), an interactive advertisement agent (200) and set top boxes (300) at home or office.
  • the advertisement transmission server (100) broadcasts advertisements via a network (700) based on the advertisement schedule information, which is independent of the requests from the users.
  • the advertisement schedule information includes the date on which the advertisement will be broadcast, channel identification information (identification number, hereinafter, "ID") and program ID, and is used to manage a plurality of advertisements.
  • ID identification number
  • the advertisement transmission server (100) broadcasts the advertisements on the scheduled time through a predetermined channel, and the advertisements are displayed between two programs or inserted into at a suspension of one program.
  • the advertisement transmission server (100) may further have the capability of broadcasting regular programs.
  • the interactive advertisement agent (200) generates the interactive advertisement event launch signal defined above and broadcasts it via the network (700).
  • the in- teractive advertisement event launch signal includes the information required to identify the target advertisement (target locator) and information on the location of the interactive advertisement (source locator).
  • the target locator may be the channel ID and/or the program ID of the program inside which the target advertisement is provided.
  • the date on which the target advertisement is broadcast may be included as a target locator.
  • the source locator is the information which informs where the interactive advertisement is provided from. More preferably, the interactive advertisement event notification message includes a phrase which will be included in the interactive advertisement event notification message.
  • the event start time is included in the interactive advertisement event launch signal.
  • the event start time is set identical to the start time of the target advertisement.
  • the interactive advertisement event is provided as synchronized with the target advertisement. This is very important with regard to the synchronization of the advertisement.
  • the interactive advertisement event launch signal includes information on channel number, program ID, event start time, the phrase to be included in the interactive advertisement event notification message and interactive advertisement location information.
  • the set top box (300) In response to the interactive advertisement event launch signal received from the interactive advertisement agent (200), the set top box (300) displays the interactive advertisement event notification message along with the target advertisement to the user screen, on condition that the user is watching the channel through which the target advertisement is broadcast.
  • the set top box (300) is equipped with an application required for generating the interactive advertisement event notification message (hereinafter, "Launcher application").
  • the launcher application checks if the channel the user is watching is identical to the one included in the interactive advertisement event launch signal.
  • the interactive advertisement event notification message launches the interactive advertisement event notification message at a predetermined time.
  • the interactive advertisement event notification message is displayed as synchronized with the target advertisement. This is achieved by setting the event start time included in the interactive advertisement event launch signal identical to the start time of the target advertisement.
  • the interactive advertisement event launch signal by the interactive ad- vertisement agent (200) may be generated in response to requests from external entities or from operator of the interactive advertisement agent (200) at a predetermined time, but is independent of the requests from the users of the set top box (300).
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a more preferred embodiment of the interactive advertisement system in accordance with the present invention, in which the interactive advertisement event launch signal is generated by a request from external entities.
  • a commercial advertiser or a program provider wants to link the interactive advertisement with the target advertisement, he/she transmits a cue-tone to the cue- tone receiver (400) using a cue-tone (or Q-tone) server under his/her control.
  • the cue- tone receiver (400) interprets the received cue-tone and transmits the information included in the cue-tone (briefly, "cue-tone information" to the interactive advertisement agent (200).
  • target advertisement identification information e.g., channel ID, program ID
  • start time etc.
  • target advertisement identification information e.g., channel ID, program ID
  • start time etc.
  • the interactive advertisement agent (200) If the cue-tone information is received from the cue-tone receiver (400), the interactive advertisement agent (200) generates the interactive advertisement event launch signal based on the cue-tone information. Detailed descriptions on the reference numerals identical to Fig. 1 are omitted.
  • the cue-tone receiver (400) may be present as independent of the interactive advertisement agent (200) or may be incorporated into the interactive advertisement agent (200).
  • the generation of the interactive advertisement event launch signal based on the cue-tone information further improves the applicability of the interactive advertisement agent (200).
  • the commercial advertiser or program provider may wish to link an interactive advertisement including details about the product such as product types of AnycallTM, available colors, functions, how to use, price, and so forth, with the "Samsung Anycall " advertisement, in order to improve the advertising effect.
  • the commercial advertiser or the program provider may easily couple the interactive advertisement to the target advertisement just by generating a cue-tone and transmitting it through the cue-tone receiver (400).
  • the advertisement transmission server (100) is a server which broadcasts advertisements via a network (700) based on the advertisement schedule information.
  • the advertisement transmission server (100) broadcasts advertisements that may be displayed between two programs or as inserted into at a suspension of one program on a particular channel at a predetermined time based on the advertisement schedule information.
  • the advertisement transmission server (100) may further have the capability of broadcasting regular programs, which is the usual case.
  • the advertisement transmission server (100) is equipped with a headend (not illustrated) which play a role in the transmission of broadcasting signals. Therefore, the advertisement transmission server (100) may be understood as a broadcasting transmission system (e.g., SkyLife, MBC, SBS, BBC, and so forth).
  • the interactive advertisement event launch signal enables the commercial advertiser to easily and conveniently link the wanted interactive advertisement with the target advertisement at the wanted time, without regard to the channel.
  • the most important feature of the present invention is that the interactive advertisement event launch signal is separately generated from the target advertisement that is broadcast on the advertisement schedule information through a predetermined channel and that the interactive advertisement can be linked with the target advertisement using the signal.
  • the interactive advertisement event launch signal is delivered from the interactive advertisement agent (200) to the user set top box (300) via the network (700).
  • the interactive advertisement agent (200) may be variously configured depending upon circumstances of the commercial advertiser or program provider, facility capability of the interactive advertisement agent (200), and so forth.
  • the cue-tone receiver (400) may be incorporated into the interactive advertisement agent (200).
  • Fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of the interactive advertisement agent (200) employed in the interactive advertisement system of the present invention.
  • the interactive advertisement agent (200) comprises an interactive advertisement core server (210) that receives a request for the progress of the interactive advertisement event and that in response to the request, collects information required for transmitting the interactive advertisement event launch signal, a signal transmission headend (220) that receives the information required for transmitting the interactive advertisement event launch signal from the interactive advertisement core server (210) and broadcasts the interactive advertisement event launch signal via a network, and a data server (230) that manages data including the advertisement schedule information and information related to interactive advertisements ("interactive advertisement related information").
  • the interactive advertisement core server (210) comprises an advertisement schedule information reception module (211), a cue-tone information reception module (212), an interactive advertisement related information reception module (213), a data processing and control module (214) and a data output module (215).
  • the advertisement schedule information reception module (211) is a unit which receives the advertisement schedule information.
  • the advertisement schedule information may be directly inputted by an operator.
  • request to the advertisement schedule information is transmitted from the data output module (215) to an advertisement schedule information database (501) at a predetermined time interval (e.g., 30 minutes) and as a result thereof, the advertisement schedule information is delivered through the advertisement schedule information reception module (211).
  • the received advertisement schedule information is stored into the data server (230) under the control of the data processing and control module (214).
  • the cue-tone information reception module (212) which is a unit that receives the cue-tone information
  • the interactive advertisement related information reception module (213) is a unit which receives the information related with the interactive advertisement (e.g., location information, advertisement type, etc. of the interactive advertisement).
  • the interactive advertisement related information may be directly inputted by the operator.
  • the data output module (215) may request for the transmission of the interactive advertisement related information to the database (502) that manages the interactive advertisement related information and receive the interactive advertisement related information through the interactive advertisement related information reception module (213).
  • the interactive advertisement related information may be received at a predetermined time interval, irrespective of the reception of the cue-tone information, and store it into the data server (230).
  • the information required for the generation of the interactive advertisement event launch signal is accumulated from the cue-tone information, the advertisement schedule information and the interactive advertisement related information.
  • the information required for the generation of the interactive advertisement event launch signal is delivered to the signal transmission headend (220) through the data output module (215) under the control of the data processing and control module (214) and the interactive advertisement event launch signal is produced and transmitted therefrom.
  • the interactive advertisement event launch signal is broadcast by the signal transmission headend (e.g., Altisyschro marketed by the applicant of the present invention) as an in-band signal in a form of object carousel or StreamEent.
  • the interactive advertisement agent (200) may report the successful transmission of the interactive advertisement event to the commercial advertiser or PP through the data output module (215).
  • the advertisement schedule information database (501) and the database (502) that manages the interactive advertisement related information are illustrated as maintained independent of each other. But, this is just for the convenient understanding of the present invention. It should be evident to a person skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains that the advertisement schedule information and interactive advertisement related information can be maintained in a single database.
  • an agent (500) that manages the advertisement schedule information and the interactive advertisement related information may be incorporated into the interactive advertisement agent (200). If required, the interactive advertisement agent (200) may transmit the interactive advertisement on its own. For this purpose, the interactive advertisement agent (200) may be further equipped with a module (not illustrated) for receiving the interactive advertisement. However, because data traffic increases in such a case, it is preferable that the interactive advertisement is transmitted by the advertisement transmission server (100) through a different channel.
  • the user may tune to a wanted channel using numeral keys of the input device (320) and attain various informations using menu bars.
  • a user is watching the channel on which the target advertisement is broadcast.
  • the advertisement will be displayed on a screen of the user.
  • the interactive advertisement event launch signal broadcast from the interactive advertisement agent (200) is received, the advertisement will be provided on the screen in the conventional manner.
  • the interactive advertisement event launch signal is delivered from the interactive advertisement agent (200) to the set top box (300)
  • launcher application of the set top box (300) is activated.
  • the interactive advertisement event notification message is synchronized with the target advertisement and is displayed along with the target advertisement on the user screen, based on the information included in the interactive advertisement event launch signal.
  • the reception and processing procedure of the interactive advertisement event launch signal at the user set top box is as follows: reception of the interactive advertisement event launch signal ⁇ confirming that the channel and/or program information included in the interactive advertisement event launch signal is identical to the channel and/or program that the user is watching ⁇ confirming that the start time of the target advertisement has arrived ⁇ launching of the interactive advertisement event notification message ⁇ display of the interactive advertisement event notification message along with the target advertisement.
  • Fig. 4 shows an example of a user interface in which the interactive advertisement event notification message is displayed along with the target advertisement.
  • the advertisement transmission server (100 in Fig. 1 or 2) broadcasts the "Samsung Anycall " advertisement (601) on channel 100 as an insert advertisement in the "Soccer Game” program from 12:30:00 to 12:30:30 (for 30 seconds). If the interactive advertisement event launch signal targeting the "Samsung Anycall " advertisement (the target advertisement) is received prior to the broadcasting time of the target advertisement "Samsung Anycall " (12:30:00), the launcher application (310) of the set top box (300) displays the interactive advertisement event notification message (602) on the user screen.
  • the interactive advertisement event notification message (602) may be provided in a variety of forms, including banner, popup window, icon, and so forth.
  • the target advertisement, "Samsung Anycall " advertisement (601) and the interactive advertisement event notification message (602) are displayed on the user screen as synchronized with each other. Such synchronization is achieved by setting the event start time of the interactive advertisement event launch signal at "12:30:00". That is, the synchronization is achieved by setting the broadcasting time of the target advertisement identical to the event start time included in the interactive advertisement event launch signal. If the user selects the interactive advertisement event notification message (602), procedures for displaying the interactive advertisement on the screen is initiated.
  • the provision of the interactive advertisement may be made in a variety of ways. For example, the interactive advertisement may be provided through an independent channel.
  • the interactive advertisement may be provided by the interactive advertisement agent (200) along with the interactive advertisement event launch signal. Further, the interactive advertisement may be provided through a return channel of the set top box.
  • the launcher application performs tuning to the interactive advertisement based on the location information of the interactive advertisement included in the interactive advertisement event launch signal.
  • the present invention also provides a method for the provision of an interactive advertisement using the interactive advertisement system, which comprises the steps of a) at an advertisement transmission server, broadcasting advertisements through a network, b) at an interactive advertisement agent, broadcasting through the broadcasting network an interactive advertisement event launch signal for a target advertisement selected from the advertisements broadcast from the advertisement transmission server, c) at a set top box of a user, displaying an interactive advertisement event notification message along with the target advertisement, on receipt of the interactive advertisement event launch signal broadcast from the interactive advertisement agent, to a user screen of the set top box on condition that the user is watching a channel through which the target advertisement is broadcast, and d) displaying the interactive advertisement on the user screen in response to the user's selection to the interactive advertisement event notification message.
  • the broadcasting of the interactive advertisement event launch signal in the step b) is triggered on receipt of a cue-tone information.
  • the event start time of the interactive advertisement event launch signal is set identical to the start time of the target advertisement, so that the interactive advertisement event notification message and the target advertisement can be synchronized with each other.
  • the interactive advertisement event launch signal is delivered to the set top box as an in-band signal in the form of object carousel or StreamEent.

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Abstract

The present invention relates to an interactive advertisement system and a method for the provision of interactive advertisement using the same. The interactive advertisement system in accordance with the present invention comprises (a) an advertisement transmission server which broadcasts advertisements based on advertisement schedule information, (b) an interactive advertisement agent which broadcasts a signal requesting launch of an interactive advertisement event for a particular target advertisement selected from the advertisements broadcast from the advertisement transmission server, and (c) a user set top box equipped with launcher application that displays a notification message informing that the interactive advertisement event is in progress, along with the target advertisement, to a user screen on receipt of the signal broadcast from the interactive advertisement agent, on condition that the user is watching a channel through which the target advertisement is broadcast. In accordance with the present invention, an interactive advertisement can be coupled to a particular advertisement broadcast from the advertisement transmission server. The progress of the interactive advertisement event is hardly limited to time and channel. Usually, the interactive advertisement event can be processed within 2 minutes after the receipt of a request for the progress of the advertisement event. And, the synchronization of the interactive advertisement event and the target advertisement is attained by setting the event start time included in the advertisement event proceed signal identical to the start time of the target advertisement. This provides improved reliability of the advertisement as well as simplified synchronization.

Description

Description
INTERACTIVE ADVERTISEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THE PROVISION OF INTERACTIVE ADVERTISEMENT
USING THE SAME
Technical Field
[1] The present invention relates to an interactive advertisement system and a method for the provision of interactive advertisement using the same. Background Art
[2] The standardization of digital broadcasting is proceeding rapidly and various technical developments are proceeding in transfer of digital signals through broadcast network, data multiplexing, video and sound signal processing, displays for digital televisions, and so forth. It is believed that digital broadcasting will replace analog broadcasting in near future. Digital broadcasting is advantageous over analog broadcasting in data compression capacity, transfer rate and sound and picture qualities.
[3] With the development of interactive digital broadcasting, various advertisement techniques are expected to be evolved. With regard to conventional methods for providing advertisements through broadcasting, please refer to U.S. Patent Nos. 6,704,930, 6,615,039, 6,487,721, 6,463,585, 6,334,109, 5,838,314 and 5,532,735. As disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 6,487,721, a cue-tone is used to direct the insertion of advertisements in a program. However, in the patent, the cue-tone is neither used for the synchronization of a particular advertisement nor used for the couple of the advertisement with an interactive advertisement. Further, the tranmission of the particular advertisement and the transmission of the control signal for the interactive advertisement event for the advertisement are not separated from each other. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem
[4] An object of the present invention is to provide a method for the convenient and efficient provision of an interactive advertisement targeted to a particular advertisement transmitted through an advertisement transmission server.
[5] Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for the convenient and efficient provision of an interactive advertisement targeted to a particular advertisement, in which the braodcasting of the particular advertisement is separated from the broadcasting of the control signal of the interactive advertisement event targeted to the particular advertisement. [6] Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method for the convenient and efficient synchronization of the particular advertisement with the interactive advertisement event in spite of the separated broadcasting of the particular advertisement from the broadcasting of the control signal of the interactive advertisement event targeted to the particular advertisement.
[7] Still another object of the present invention is to provide an interactive advertisement system capable of actively responding to an urgent request for the progress of an interactive advertisement event from a commercial advertiser or a program provider, and of performing simple correction, updating, etc. of the interactive advertisement event. Technical Solution
[8] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an interactive advertisement system comprising (a) an advertisement transmission server which broadcasts advertisements based on advertisement schedule information, (b) an interactive advertisement agent which broadcasts a signal requesting launch of an interactive advertisement event ("an interactive advertisement event launch signal") for a particular target advertisement selected from the advertisements broadcast from the advertisement transmission server, and (c) a user set top box equipped with launcher application that displays a notification message informing that the interactive advertisement event is in progress ("an interactive advertisement event notification message"), along with the target advertisement, to a user screen on receipt of the interactive advertisement event launch signal broadcast from the interactive advertisement agent, on condition that the user is watching a channel through which the target advertisement is broadcast.
[9] According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an interactive advertisement system, further comprising a cue-tone receiver that transmits to the interactive advertisement agent a cue-tone information that requests the interactive advertisement agent to broadcast the interactive advertisement event launch signal, wherein information required by the interactive advertisement agent for broadcasting the interactive advertisement event launch signal are included into the cue-tone information.
[10] According to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an interactive advertisement system, wherein the interactive advertisement agent comprises an interactive advertisement core server that receives a request for the progress of the interactive advertisement event and that in response to the request, collects information required for broadcastting the interactive advertisement event launch signal, a signal transmission headend that receives the information required for broadcastting the interactive advertisement event launch signal from the interactive advertisement core server and broadcasts the interactive advertisement event launch signal via a network, and a data server that manages data including the advertisement schedule information and information related to interactive advertisements ("interactive advertisement related information").
[11] According to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an interactive advertisement system, wherein the interactive advertisement core server comprises a module for receiving the advertisement schedule information ("an advertisement schedule information reception module"), a module for receiving the cue-tone information ("a cue-tone information reception module"), a module for receiving the interactive advertisement related information ("an interactive advertisement related information reception module"), a module for processing and controlling the information ("a data processing and control module"), and a module for managing output of data ("a data output module").
[12] According to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an interactive advertisement system, wherein the interactive advertisement event launch signal includes an information required for identifying the target advertisement ("target locator") and an information required for location of the interactive advertisements ("source locator").
[13] According to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an interactive advertisement system, wherein the interactive advertisement event launch signal further includes an information on an event start time.
[14] According to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an interactive advertisement system, wherein the event start time included into the interactive advertisement event launch signal is set identical to a start time of the target advertisement such that the interactive advertisement event notification message is provided to the user screen as synchronized with the target advertisement.
[15] According to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an interactive advertisement system, wherein the target locator is selected from the group consisting of a channel identification information through which the target advertisement is broadcast, a program identification information and a combination thereof.
[16] According to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an interactive advertisement system, wherein the interactive advertisement event launch signal further includes an information on a phrase to be included into the interactive advertisement event notification message.
[17] According to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an interactive advertisement system, wherein the interactive advertisement event launch signal includes a channel identification information, a program identification information, an information on an event start time, an information on a phrase to be included into the notification message and an information on location of interactive advertisements.
[18] According to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an interactive advertisement system, wherein the interactive advertisement that is displayed in response to user's selection to the interactive advertisement event notification message coupled to the target advertisement is transmitted to the set top box through any one selected from the group consisting of the interactive advertisement agent, the advertisement transmission server and a return channel.
[19] According to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an interactive advertisement system, wherein the interactive advertisement event launch signal is an in-band signal.
[20] According to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an interactive advertisement system, wherein the interactive advertisement event launch signal has a form of object carousel or StreamEent.
[21] According to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an interactive advertisement system wherein the target advertisement is an advertisement that is inserted into at a suspension of one program.
[22] According to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for the provision of an interactive advertisement using the interactive advertisement system which comprises the steps of a) at an advertisement transmission server, broadcasting advertisements through a network, b) at an interactive advertisement agent, broadcasting through the network an interactive advertisement event launch signal for a target advertisement selected from the advertisements broadcast from the advertisement transmission server, c) at a set top box of a user, displaying an interactive advertisement event notification message along with the target advertisement, on receipt of the interactive advertisement event launch signal broadcast from the interactive advertisement agent, to a user screen of a set top box on condition that the user is watching a channel through which the target advertisement is broadcast, and d) displaying an interactive advertisement on the user screen in response to the user's selection to the interactive advertisement event notification message.
Advantageous Effects
[23] In accordance with the interactive advertisement system and method of the present invention, broadcasting of the interactive advertisement event launch signal and that of target advertisement are carried out independent of each other. Accordingly, it is possible to actively respond to an urgent request for the progress of the interactive advertisement event from a commercial advertiser or a program provider, and to perform simple correction, updating, etc. of the interactive advertisement event. Specifically, in case some modification of an interactive advertisement event is required, for example, if the start time of an interactive advertisement event is to be changed or if the location information of the interactive advertisement needs to be changed, it can be easily performed by broadcasting the interactive advertisement event launch signal again without any change to the advertisement and program broadcasted from the advertisement transmission server. Also, an urgent request for the progress of the interactive advertisement event can be promptly met because the interactive advertisement event launch signal is transmitted separately from advertisements. Usually, an interactive advertisement event launch signal has a size as small as 20 Kbytes and can be produced and broadcast in less than 2 minutes.
[24] Further, the present invention has an advantage that the synchronization of the target advertisement with the interactive advertisement event can be achieved conveniently and efficiently by setting the event start time included in the interactive advertisement event launch signal identical to the start time of the target advertisement, in spite of the separated broadcasting of the particular advertisement and the control signal for the interactive advertisement event targeted to the particular advertisement. Brief Description of the Drawings
[25] Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of the interactive advertisement system in accordance with the present invention.
[26] Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a more preferred embodiment of the interactive advertisement system in accordance with the present invention, in which the "interactive advertisement event launch signal" is generated by receiving the cue-tone information.
[27] Fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of the interactive advertisement agent employed in the interactive advertisement system of the present invention.
[28] Fig. 4 is a drawing showing an exemplarily user interface in which the interactive advertisement event notification message is displayed along with the target advertisement. Mode for the Invention
[29] A. Definition of terms
[30] As used herein, "advertisement(s)" means audio/video data broadcast through broadcasting for the promotion of goods, or for upgrading the image of enterprises. The advertisement includes one that is provided between two regular programs and one that is inserted into at a suspension of one program. Typically, the advertisement provided between two regular programs is under control of program providers ("PP"). In contrast, the advertisement that is inserted into at a suspension of one program is usually under control of a service operator ("SO"). Under the Korean law, the duration of an advertisement inserted into a program is limited to 2 minutes or less.
[31] As used herein, "advertisement transmission server" means a server which broadcasts advertisements through a network based on the advertisement schedule information. The advertisement transmission server provides a plurality of advertisements at a scheduled time that will be displayed between two program or as inserted into at a suspension of a program based on the advertisement schedule information (the date and channel on which the advertisement will be broadcast, the program in which the advertisement will be broadcast, and so forth). In addition to the broadcasting of advertisements, the advertisement transmission server may further have a capability of broadcasting regular programs, which is the usual case.
[32] As used herein, "an interactive advertisement" means an advertisement coupled to a particular advertisement (or a target advertisement) broadcast by the advertisement transmission server. The interactive advertisement is preferably closely related with the particular advertisement. For example, suppose that the particular advertisement is an advertisement of "Samsung Anycall ". In this case, the interactive advertisement preferably includes details about the type of the product, available colors, functions, how to use, price, and so forth of the Samsung Anycall™. Of the advertisements broadcast by the advertisement transmission server, the advertisement that becomes the target of the interactive advertisement is called as "a target advertisement". As will be described later, the interactive advertisement may be transmitted by the advertisement transmission server through a different channel from that of the target advertisement, by the interactive advertisement agent or by a different transmission server. That is, the broadcasting of the interactive advertisement is not limited to a specific transmission server. Preferably, the target advertisement to which the interactive advertisement is coupled is an advertisement inserted into at a suspension of one program (insert advertisement). At present, the advertisements broadcast between two regular programs are managed by program providers. Thus, if the interactive advertisement events are provided between regular programs, the interest of the program providers may be infringed upon.
[33] The interactive advertisement is provided to a user only when a request to watch the interactive advertisement has been received from the user. To attain this, a notification message informing that the interactive advertisement event is set to the target advertisement is displayed along with the target. Such a message is called as "an interactive advertisement event notification message". The interactive advertisement event notification message may be provided by a launcher application of the set top box in a variety of forms, including banner, popup window, icon, and so forth. When the user select the interactive advertisement event notification message, the interactive advertisement is displayed on the user screen.
[34] As used herein, a signal requesting launch of an interactive advertisement event
("an interactive advertisement event launch signal") means a signal which commands the set top box to launch the interactive advertisement event. In other words, it is a signal which commands the interactive advertisement event notification message to be displayed on the user screen. This signal is broadcast by the interactive advertisement agent, which is physically independent of the advertisement transmission server (or program transmission server). The interactive advertisement event launch signal is delivered to the set top box at home or office as an in-band signal in an object carousel or StreamEnt type. After receiving the interactive advertisement event launch signal, the set top box interprets the information included in the signal and prepares, based on the information included in the signal, the interactive advertisement event notification message to be displayed. If the user is watching the channel through which the target advertisement coupled to the interactive advertisement is broadcast, the interactive advertisement event notification message is displayed on the user screen as prompted by the interactive advertisement event launch signal.
[35] B. Interactive advertisement system
[36] Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of the interactive advertisement system in accordance with the present invention. As illustrated in Fig. 1, an interactive advertisement system (1) comprises an advertisement transmission server (100), an interactive advertisement agent (200) and set top boxes (300) at home or office.
[37] The advertisement transmission server (100) broadcasts advertisements via a network (700) based on the advertisement schedule information, which is independent of the requests from the users. The advertisement schedule information includes the date on which the advertisement will be broadcast, channel identification information (identification number, hereinafter, "ID") and program ID, and is used to manage a plurality of advertisements. Based on the advertisement schedule information, the advertisement transmission server (100) broadcasts the advertisements on the scheduled time through a predetermined channel, and the advertisements are displayed between two programs or inserted into at a suspension of one program. As described previously, the advertisement transmission server (100) may further have the capability of broadcasting regular programs.
[38] The interactive advertisement agent (200) generates the interactive advertisement event launch signal defined above and broadcasts it via the network (700). The in- teractive advertisement event launch signal includes the information required to identify the target advertisement (target locator) and information on the location of the interactive advertisement (source locator). The target locator may be the channel ID and/or the program ID of the program inside which the target advertisement is provided. Also, the date on which the target advertisement is broadcast may be included as a target locator. The source locator is the information which informs where the interactive advertisement is provided from. More preferably, the interactive advertisement event notification message includes a phrase which will be included in the interactive advertisement event notification message. Most preferably, in addition to the information required to identify the wanted target advertisement (target locator) and the location information of the interactive advertisement (source locator), the event start time is included in the interactive advertisement event launch signal. The event start time is set identical to the start time of the target advertisement. By setting the event start time identical to the start time of the target advertisement, the interactive advertisement event is provided as synchronized with the target advertisement. This is very important with regard to the synchronization of the advertisement. According to a specific example of the present invention, the interactive advertisement event launch signal includes information on channel number, program ID, event start time, the phrase to be included in the interactive advertisement event notification message and interactive advertisement location information. Further, broadcasting date, display duration of the interactive advertisement event notification message, broadcasting type of the interactive advertisement, display duration of the target advertisement, and so forth may be further included. [39] In response to the interactive advertisement event launch signal received from the interactive advertisement agent (200), the set top box (300) displays the interactive advertisement event notification message along with the target advertisement to the user screen, on condition that the user is watching the channel through which the target advertisement is broadcast. The set top box (300) is equipped with an application required for generating the interactive advertisement event notification message (hereinafter, "Launcher application"). When the interactive advertisement event launch signal is received from the interactive advertisement agent (200), the launcher application checks if the channel the user is watching is identical to the one included in the interactive advertisement event launch signal. If so, it launches the interactive advertisement event notification message at a predetermined time. Preferably, the interactive advertisement event notification message is displayed as synchronized with the target advertisement. This is achieved by setting the event start time included in the interactive advertisement event launch signal identical to the start time of the target advertisement. The interactive advertisement event launch signal by the interactive ad- vertisement agent (200) may be generated in response to requests from external entities or from operator of the interactive advertisement agent (200) at a predetermined time, but is independent of the requests from the users of the set top box (300).
[40] Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a more preferred embodiment of the interactive advertisement system in accordance with the present invention, in which the interactive advertisement event launch signal is generated by a request from external entities. When a commercial advertiser or a program provider (PP) wants to link the interactive advertisement with the target advertisement, he/she transmits a cue-tone to the cue- tone receiver (400) using a cue-tone (or Q-tone) server under his/her control. The cue- tone receiver (400) interprets the received cue-tone and transmits the information included in the cue-tone (briefly, "cue-tone information") to the interactive advertisement agent (200). In the cue-tone information, target advertisement identification information (e.g., channel ID, program ID) and/or start time, etc. are included. If the cue-tone information is received from the cue-tone receiver (400), the interactive advertisement agent (200) generates the interactive advertisement event launch signal based on the cue-tone information. Detailed descriptions on the reference numerals identical to Fig. 1 are omitted. The cue-tone receiver (400) may be present as independent of the interactive advertisement agent (200) or may be incorporated into the interactive advertisement agent (200). The generation of the interactive advertisement event launch signal based on the cue-tone information further improves the applicability of the interactive advertisement agent (200). For example, suppose that an advertisement "Samsung Anycall " is broadcast by the advertisement transmission server (100) as inserted into at an suspension of the program "Soccer Game" on Channel 100 from 12:30:00 to 12:30:30 (for 30 seconds). If many users are watching the program, "Soccer Game", the commercial advertiser or program provider may wish to link an interactive advertisement including details about the product such as product types of Anycall™, available colors, functions, how to use, price, and so forth, with the "Samsung Anycall " advertisement, in order to improve the advertising effect. In this situation, the commercial advertiser or the program provider may easily couple the interactive advertisement to the target advertisement just by generating a cue-tone and transmitting it through the cue-tone receiver (400).
[41] B - 1. Advertisement transmission server
[42] The advertisement transmission server (100) is a server which broadcasts advertisements via a network (700) based on the advertisement schedule information. The advertisement transmission server (100) broadcasts advertisements that may be displayed between two programs or as inserted into at a suspension of one program on a particular channel at a predetermined time based on the advertisement schedule information. In addition to the broadcasting of advertisements, the advertisement transmission server (100) may further have the capability of broadcasting regular programs, which is the usual case. Further, the advertisement transmission server (100) is equipped with a headend (not illustrated) which play a role in the transmission of broadcasting signals. Therefore, the advertisement transmission server (100) may be understood as a broadcasting transmission system (e.g., SkyLife, MBC, SBS, BBC, and so forth).
[43] B -2. Interactive advertisement agent
[44] As described above, the interactive advertisement event launch signal enables the commercial advertiser to easily and conveniently link the wanted interactive advertisement with the target advertisement at the wanted time, without regard to the channel. The most important feature of the present invention is that the interactive advertisement event launch signal is separately generated from the target advertisement that is broadcast on the advertisement schedule information through a predetermined channel and that the interactive advertisement can be linked with the target advertisement using the signal. The interactive advertisement event launch signal is delivered from the interactive advertisement agent (200) to the user set top box (300) via the network (700). The interactive advertisement agent (200) may be variously configured depending upon circumstances of the commercial advertiser or program provider, facility capability of the interactive advertisement agent (200), and so forth. As previously described, the cue-tone receiver (400) may be incorporated into the interactive advertisement agent (200). Whether the cue-tone receiver (400) will be incorporated into the interactive advertisement agent (200) or not is determined by nontechnical factors such as economic circumstances, conveniences, and so forth. Fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of the interactive advertisement agent (200) employed in the interactive advertisement system of the present invention.
[45] As illustrated in Fig. 3, the interactive advertisement agent (200) comprises an interactive advertisement core server (210) that receives a request for the progress of the interactive advertisement event and that in response to the request, collects information required for transmitting the interactive advertisement event launch signal, a signal transmission headend (220) that receives the information required for transmitting the interactive advertisement event launch signal from the interactive advertisement core server (210) and broadcasts the interactive advertisement event launch signal via a network, and a data server (230) that manages data including the advertisement schedule information and information related to interactive advertisements ("interactive advertisement related information").
[46] The interactive advertisement core server (210) comprises an advertisement schedule information reception module (211), a cue-tone information reception module (212), an interactive advertisement related information reception module (213), a data processing and control module (214) and a data output module (215). The advertisement schedule information reception module (211) is a unit which receives the advertisement schedule information. The advertisement schedule information may be directly inputted by an operator. Preferably, request to the advertisement schedule information is transmitted from the data output module (215) to an advertisement schedule information database (501) at a predetermined time interval (e.g., 30 minutes) and as a result thereof, the advertisement schedule information is delivered through the advertisement schedule information reception module (211). The received advertisement schedule information is stored into the data server (230) under the control of the data processing and control module (214). Through the cue-tone information reception module (212), which is a unit that receives the cue-tone information, the cue- tone information from the cue-tone receiver (400) is delivered. The interactive advertisement related information reception module (213) is a unit which receives the information related with the interactive advertisement (e.g., location information, advertisement type, etc. of the interactive advertisement). The interactive advertisement related information may be directly inputted by the operator. As an alternative, when the cue-tone information is received, the data output module (215) may request for the transmission of the interactive advertisement related information to the database (502) that manages the interactive advertisement related information and receive the interactive advertisement related information through the interactive advertisement related information reception module (213). If required, the interactive advertisement related information may be received at a predetermined time interval, irrespective of the reception of the cue-tone information, and store it into the data server (230). The information required for the generation of the interactive advertisement event launch signal is accumulated from the cue-tone information, the advertisement schedule information and the interactive advertisement related information. The information required for the generation of the interactive advertisement event launch signal is delivered to the signal transmission headend (220) through the data output module (215) under the control of the data processing and control module (214) and the interactive advertisement event launch signal is produced and transmitted therefrom. Specifically, the interactive advertisement event launch signal is broadcast by the signal transmission headend (e.g., Altisyschro marketed by the applicant of the present invention) as an in-band signal in a form of object carousel or StreamEent. Once the transmission is completed, the interactive advertisement agent (200) may report the successful transmission of the interactive advertisement event to the commercial advertiser or PP through the data output module (215). In Fig. 3, the advertisement schedule information database (501) and the database (502) that manages the interactive advertisement related information are illustrated as maintained independent of each other. But, this is just for the convenient understanding of the present invention. It should be evident to a person skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains that the advertisement schedule information and interactive advertisement related information can be maintained in a single database. In some cases, an agent (500) that manages the advertisement schedule information and the interactive advertisement related information may be incorporated into the interactive advertisement agent (200). If required, the interactive advertisement agent (200) may transmit the interactive advertisement on its own. For this purpose, the interactive advertisement agent (200) may be further equipped with a module (not illustrated) for receiving the interactive advertisement. However, because data traffic increases in such a case, it is preferable that the interactive advertisement is transmitted by the advertisement transmission server (100) through a different channel.
[47] B -3. Control at user set top box
[48] Under manipulation of an input device (320), user controls the set top box (300).
The user may tune to a wanted channel using numeral keys of the input device (320) and attain various informations using menu bars. Let's suppose that a user is watching the channel on which the target advertisement is broadcast. When a certain program is finished or when the broadcasting time of the insert advertisement arrives, the advertisement will be displayed on a screen of the user. Unless the interactive advertisement event launch signal broadcast from the interactive advertisement agent (200) is received, the advertisement will be provided on the screen in the conventional manner. In contrast, if the interactive advertisement event launch signal is delivered from the interactive advertisement agent (200) to the set top box (300), launcher application of the set top box (300) is activated. Under action of the launch application, the interactive advertisement event notification message is synchronized with the target advertisement and is displayed along with the target advertisement on the user screen, based on the information included in the interactive advertisement event launch signal.
[49] The reception and processing procedure of the interactive advertisement event launch signal at the user set top box is as follows: reception of the interactive advertisement event launch signal → confirming that the channel and/or program information included in the interactive advertisement event launch signal is identical to the channel and/or program that the user is watching → confirming that the start time of the target advertisement has arrived → launching of the interactive advertisement event notification message → display of the interactive advertisement event notification message along with the target advertisement.
[50] Fig. 4 shows an example of a user interface in which the interactive advertisement event notification message is displayed along with the target advertisement. The advertisement transmission server (100 in Fig. 1 or 2) broadcasts the "Samsung Anycall " advertisement (601) on channel 100 as an insert advertisement in the "Soccer Game" program from 12:30:00 to 12:30:30 (for 30 seconds). If the interactive advertisement event launch signal targeting the "Samsung Anycall " advertisement (the target advertisement) is received prior to the broadcasting time of the target advertisement "Samsung Anycall " (12:30:00), the launcher application (310) of the set top box (300) displays the interactive advertisement event notification message (602) on the user screen. The interactive advertisement event notification message (602) may be provided in a variety of forms, including banner, popup window, icon, and so forth. The target advertisement, "Samsung Anycall " advertisement (601) and the interactive advertisement event notification message (602) are displayed on the user screen as synchronized with each other. Such synchronization is achieved by setting the event start time of the interactive advertisement event launch signal at "12:30:00". That is, the synchronization is achieved by setting the broadcasting time of the target advertisement identical to the event start time included in the interactive advertisement event launch signal. If the user selects the interactive advertisement event notification message (602), procedures for displaying the interactive advertisement on the screen is initiated. The provision of the interactive advertisement may be made in a variety of ways. For example, the interactive advertisement may be provided through an independent channel. Alternatively, the interactive advertisement may be provided by the interactive advertisement agent (200) along with the interactive advertisement event launch signal. Further, the interactive advertisement may be provided through a return channel of the set top box. The launcher application performs tuning to the interactive advertisement based on the location information of the interactive advertisement included in the interactive advertisement event launch signal.
[51] The present invention also provides a method for the provision of an interactive advertisement using the interactive advertisement system, which comprises the steps of a) at an advertisement transmission server, broadcasting advertisements through a network, b) at an interactive advertisement agent, broadcasting through the broadcasting network an interactive advertisement event launch signal for a target advertisement selected from the advertisements broadcast from the advertisement transmission server, c) at a set top box of a user, displaying an interactive advertisement event notification message along with the target advertisement, on receipt of the interactive advertisement event launch signal broadcast from the interactive advertisement agent, to a user screen of the set top box on condition that the user is watching a channel through which the target advertisement is broadcast, and d) displaying the interactive advertisement on the user screen in response to the user's selection to the interactive advertisement event notification message. As described in the above, it is preferable that the broadcasting of the interactive advertisement event launch signal in the step b) is triggered on receipt of a cue-tone information. The event start time of the interactive advertisement event launch signal is set identical to the start time of the target advertisement, so that the interactive advertisement event notification message and the target advertisement can be synchronized with each other. The interactive advertisement event launch signal is delivered to the set top box as an in-band signal in the form of object carousel or StreamEent.

Claims

Claims
[1] An interactive advertisement system comprising:
(a) an advertisement transmission server which broadcasts advertisements based on advertisement schedule information;
(b) an interactive advertisement agent which broadcasts a signal requesting launch of an interactive advertisement event ("an interactive advertisement event launch signal") for a particular target advertisement selected from the advertisements broadcast from the advertisement transmission server; and
(c) a user set top box equipped with launcher application that displays a notification message informing that the interactive advertisement event is in progress ("an interactive advertisement event notification message"), along with the target advertisement, to a user screen on receipt of the interactive advertisement event launch signal broadcast from the interactive advertisement agent, on condition that the user is watching a channel through which the target advertisement is broadcast.
[2] The interactive advertisement system as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a cue-tone receiver that transmits to the interactive advertisement agent a cue-tone information that requests the interactive advertisement agent to broadcast the interactive advertisement event launch signal, wherein information required by the interactive advertisement agent for broadcasting the interactive advertisement event launch signal are included into the cue-tone information.
[3] The interactive advertisement system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the interactive advertisement agent comprises an interactive advertisement core server that receives a request for the progress of the interactive advertisement event and that in response to the request, collects information required for broadcasting the interactive advertisement event launch signal, a signal transmission headend that receives the information required for transmitting the interactive advertisement event launch signal from the interactive advertisement core server and broadcasts the interactive advertisement event launch signal via a network, and a data server that manages data including the advertisement schedule information and information related to interactive advertisements ("interactive advertisement related information").
[4] The interactive advertisement system as set forth in claim 3, wherein the interactive advertisement core server comprises a module for receiving the advertisement schedule information ("an advertisement schedule information reception module"), a module for receiving the cue-tone information ("a cue-tone information reception module"), a module for receiving the interactive ad- vertisement related information ("an interactive advertisement related information reception module"), a module for processing and controlling the information ("a data processing and control module"), and a module for managing output of data ("a data output module").
[5] The interactive advertisement system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the interactive advertisement event launch signal includes an information required for identifying the target advertisement ("target locator") and an information required for location of the interactive advertisements ("source locator").
[6] The interactive advertisement system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the interactive advertisement event launch signal further includes an information on an event start time.
[7] The interactive advertisement system as set forth in claim 6, wherein the event start time included into the interactive advertisement event launch signal is set identical to a start time of the target advertisement such that the interactive advertisement event notification message is provided to the user screen as synchronized with the target advertisement.
[8] The interactive advertisement system as set forth in claim 6, wherein the target locator is selected from the group consisting of a channel identification information through which the target advertisement is broadcast, a program identification information and a combination thereof.
[9] The interactive advertisement system as set forth in claim 5, wherein the interactive advertisement event launch signal further includes an information on a phrase to be included into the interactive advertisement event notification message.
[10] The interactive advertisement system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the interactive advertisement event launch signal includes a channel identification information, a program identification information, an information on an event start time, an information on a phrase to be included into the notification message and an information on location of interactive advertisements.
[11] The interactive advertisement system as set forth in claim 1, wherein an interactive advertisement that is displayed in response to user's selection to the interactive advertisement event notification message coupled to the target advertisement is delivered to the set top box through any one selected from the group consisting of the interactive advertisement agent, the advertisement transmission server and a return channel.
[12] The interactive advertisement system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the interactive advertisement event launch signal is an in-band signal.
[13] The interactive advertisement system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the in- teractive advertisement event launch signal has a form of object carousel or StreamEent.
[14] The interactive advertisement system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the target advertisement is an advertisement that is inserted into at a suspension of one program.
[15] A method for providing an interactive advertisement using an interactive advertisement system of claim 1 which comprises the steps of: a) at an advertisement transmission server, broadcasting advertisements through a network; b) at an interactive advertisement agent, broadcasting through the network an interactive advertisement event launch signal for a target advertisement selected from the advertisements broadcast from the advertisement transmission server; c) at a set top box of a user, displaying to a user screen of the set top box an interactive advertisement event notification message along with the target advertisement, on receipt of the interactive advertisement event launch signal broadcast from the interactive advertisement agent, on condition that the user is watching a channel through which the target advertisement is broadcast; and d) displaying an interactive advertisement on the user screen in response to the user's selection to the interactive advertisement event notification message.
[16] The method as set forth in claim 15, wherein the step b) is triggered on receipt of a cue-tone information.
[17] The method as set forth in claim 15, wherein an event start time of the interactive advertisement event launch signal is set identical to a start time of the target advertisement such that the interactive advertisement event notification message is provided to the user screen as synchronized with the target advertisement.
[18] The method as set forth in claim 15, wherein the interactive advertisement event launch signal is delivered to the set top box as an in-band signal.
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