HK1151373A - Advanced advertisements - Google Patents

Description

Advanced advertising

Technical Field

The present invention relates to internet-based advertising and, more particularly, to internet-based advertising for use in conjunction with internet-based media.

Background

Networked electronic devices, such as personal computers, mobile phones, personal digital assistants, game consoles, interactive televisions, or automated information communication devices, increasingly have the ability to display rich media, such as video and audio clips, and even interactive games. In the past, advertisements that needed to provide economic returns to support the development of rich media were limited to graphical advertisements, such as banner advertisements or text-based advertisements, either of which were placed somewhere on a web page containing rich media.

One drawback of this form of advertising is that rich media can often be segregated from web pages from their origin and can appear anywhere in a large number of different contexts. For example, rich media such as videos found on online service providers such as Yahoo corporation of Senyvale, Calif. may be placed on web pages that are not hosted or searched by Yahoo corporation. More specifically, video clips originally found on Yahoo corporation may be embedded into a third party's personal web page using HTML code. Thus, given the mobility of the presence of sequential media and the diversity of contexts, an advertisement appearing only on the page from which the media originated does not provide the necessary revenue and customer service opportunities needed to support the costs of hosting and distribution of sequential media.

Other solutions to this problem include the use of post-roll, mid-roll, and pre-roll advertising attached to sequential media. Pre-roll ads are ads that are displayed to the user before the selected sequence of media begins playing. The post-roll advertisement is displayed to the user after the end of the sequential media play. The post-roll advertisement suffers from the fact that the user has little incentive to continue watching or listening to the post-roll advertisement when the sequential media play is finished.

The middle scrolling advertisement is an advertisement that is played in the middle of the sequential media. The timing of these intermediate scrolling advertisements may be selected by an algorithm or by a human operator. Mid-roll advertisements are affected by the fact that they may be uncomfortable or may detract from the user experience through unwanted interruptions at exciting high points or information high points. Additionally, information that the user would like to seek from viewing the sequential media may have been provided to the user before the intermediate scrolling advertisement was presented, thus making it possible for the user to stop viewing the sequential media before the intermediate scrolling advertisement was played.

Accordingly, there is a need for improved systems and methods for providing advertising information to users viewing rich media.

Disclosure of Invention

To overcome the disadvantages of the prior art, a system and method for configuring a media player to display advertisements to a user includes a computer having a processor and a memory unit containing instructions, a display in communication with the processor of the computer via the media player to display a media asset, and a network interface in communication with the processor.

The instructions configure the processor to suspend display of the media asset by the media player during an "individual time" and to scroll through advertisements in a display used by the media player during the "individual time". Then, after expiration of the separate time period, the instructions configure the processor to display the media asset.

The playing of the media asset may also be suspended when prompted by a first action, such as the user pausing the media asset. If this occurs, the rich media advertisement will be displayed in at least a portion of the display used by the media player. Playback of the media asset will then resume when prompted by a second action, such as continuing the media asset. Finally, when the media asset is finished playing, the second rich media advertisement will be displayed in at least a portion of the display used by the media player.

Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following description, with reference to the drawings and claims that are appended to and form a part of this specification.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for providing advertising and web services to users viewing Internet-based media;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the general purpose computer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a screen shot of a media player scrolling an advertisement before display;

FIG. 4 is a screen shot of the media player of FIG. 3 displaying media and a persistent banner advertisement;

FIG. 5 is a screen shot of the media player of FIG. 3 displaying a rich media advertisement; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart for configuring a media player to display advertisements to a user.

Detailed Description

Referring to FIG. 1, a system 10 for providing advertisements to users viewing media assets is shown. Typically, the media asset is sequential media, however, the media asset may be any type of internet-based media asset, such as an interactive computer game, a still picture, a mini-website that may enable other websites, an interactive map, an internet telephony connection, or an instant messaging connection. For this exemplary embodiment, the media asset will be sequential media. Sequential media includes visual, auditory, and other information presented in sequences of discrete portions or a continuous stream of information, or a combination thereof. The sequential media may be encoded as digital data or analog signals for processing, playback, storage, or other use using suitable hardware or software tools.

The system 100 includes a general purpose computer 12 having a display 14 and input devices such as a keyboard 16 and a mouse 18. The general purpose computer 12 is capable of displaying sequential media played by the media player 20 via the display 14. The media player 20 may be located within a window 22 of an internet browser. However, it should be understood that the media player 20 may be located in any location such that the display 14 may display the media player 20 to a user of the general purpose computer 12. Additionally, it should be understood that the media player 20 shown in the figures is one example; any type of media player that can display media through the display 14 of a general purpose computer may be utilized.

Referring to FIG. 2, a more detailed view of the general purpose computer 12 is shown. The general purpose computer 12 may be any of a number of different devices that can interface with the network 24. For example, the general purpose computer 12 may be a mobile device such as a mobile telephone or personal digital assistant, personal computer, or may be an internet protocol television. Regardless of the form the general purpose computer takes, the general purpose computer 12 includes a processor 13 in communication with a memory unit 15. The memory unit 15 contains a set of instructions for configuring the processor to perform certain functions. A more detailed description of these functions will be described later in this section. The general purpose computer 12 may also include a storage device 17. The processor 13 of the general purpose computer 12 is connected to a network 24 (shown in FIG. 1) via a network interface 25. The network 24 is preferably a distributed network such as the internet.

Referring back to FIG. 1, in order for the media player 20 to display sequential media, a media object containing a media asset (which contains sequential media) must be provided to the general purpose computer 12. This may be accomplished in any of a variety of ways. For the present example, the central server 26 may accomplish this task by sending the media object to the general purpose computer 12 via the network 24. As will be better described later, the media object contains not only the media asset, but also an advertising asset containing advertising information and executable code for controlling the media player.

The central server 26 must first construct the media object to contain the media asset and any advertising assets before the media object is sent to the general purpose computer 12. The central server 26 accomplishes this task by requesting media assets and advertising assets from the sequence media server 28 and the advertising server 30, respectively, via the network 34. Like network 24, network 34 is typically a distributed network such as the Internet. However, it should be understood that the network 34 may be a local area network or a wide area network.

When constructing the media object, the server 26 will request the appropriate sequential media asset from the media server 28. At the same time, the central server 26 also requests the appropriate advertising resources from the advertising server 30. It should be appreciated that the central server 26 may select the appropriate advertising resource based on various algorithms. For example, the central server 26 may construct a profile (profile) of the user of the general purpose computer 12 such that the requested advertising asset may be more interesting to the user of the general purpose computer 12. This may be accomplished by generating a master profile of the user of the general purpose computer 12. This primary profile may be constructed by tracking user interactions with the general purpose computer 12 or by collecting information stored in the general purpose computer 12.

After both the media asset and the advertising asset are provided to the central server 26, the central server 26 will then create a media object that encapsulates the media asset and the advertising asset in the media object. Alternatively, the media assets and advertising assets may be sent directly to the general purpose computer 12 from the servers 28 and 30.

Referring to fig. 3 and 4, the portion of the display 14 used by the media player 20 may be divided into 3 regions: a persistent banner 36, a sequential media area 38, and a control area 40. In the present exemplary embodiment, the persistent banner is generally located at or near the top of the viewing area of the sequence media player 20. As best shown in FIG. 4, the persistent banner 36 contains advertisements that originate from the advertising resources provided by the advertisement server 30.

The sequential media area 38 is the portion of the media player 20 that is used to display the sequential media asset. As previously mentioned, while the present embodiment shows the media player 20 playing sequential media, any type of Internet-based media asset may be displayed. The control area 40 includes a plurality of controls for controlling the sequential media in the sequential media display area 38. These controls include a play button 42 for playing the sequential media, a fast forward button 44 for fast forwarding the sequential media, and a sound button 46 for adjusting the sound, if any, of the sequential media.

Additionally, the control area may include a progress bar 48 having a progress indicator for graphically indicating the amount of play time remaining for the sequential media. A timer 52 may be displayed to indicate the amount of time sequential media has been played or the amount of play time remaining. Of course, additional controls and indicators may be implemented within the control area 40 to provide additional ways for the user to interact with the sequential media.

When the general purpose computer 12 receives a media object containing a sequential media asset and an advertising asset from the central server 26, the media player 20 will first display a pre-roll advertisement as shown in FIG. 3. Similar to the persistent banner 36, the pre-roll advertisements originate from an advertising resource provided by the advertisement server 30. Pre-roll ads are typically short ads that are less than about 5 seconds in duration, but may be longer in duration. The pre-roll advertisement may be configured such that if a user clicks on the pre-roll advertisement, a website related to the subject matter of the pre-roll advertisement may be launched. For example, a user may select or click on a pre-roll advertisement using a mouse or other pointing device attached to a computer displaying the media object. In response, a web browser program is launched by the computer and directed to the website specified by the pre-roll advertisement.

The purpose of the pre-roll advertisement is to inform the user of the ad sponsor without disturbing the user so that the user decides not to watch the sequential media anymore. Additionally, to further reduce user anxiety in waiting for the pre-roll advertisement to complete, a timer may be displayed to inform the user of the remaining duration of the pre-roll advertisement.

Referring now to FIG. 4, when the current scrolling advertisement has completed playing, the sequential media asset is displayed in the sequential media area 38. The persistent banner advertisement 36 is positioned above the sequential media area 38 and advertises the products and services provided by the advertiser displayed in the pre-roll advertisement. However, it should be understood that the persistent banner advertisement may come from a different advertiser than the pre-roll advertisement.

As the sequential media is played in the sequence area 38, the user 12 may then open a rich media advertisement as shown in FIG. 5. Similar to the persistent banner 36 and pre-roll advertisements, the rich media advertisements are derived from advertising resources provided by the advertisement server 30. The rich media advertisement in FIG. 5 may be opened in a number of ways. The rich media advertisement may be opened by clicking on an OPEN (OPEN) button 54 as shown in fig. 4. Alternatively, the rich media advertisement may be opened by moving a cursor in a region of the sequence media region 38 with a mouse. For example, the area may be the upper third of the sequential media area 38 designated by line 56. The media player 20 may use an indicator (not shown) to prompt the user to open the rich media advertisement.

The rich media advertisement is displayed in at least a portion of the sequential media play area 38. The rich media advertisement may be a video, an interactive computer game, a configurator for customization (build), solicitation and purchase of goods and/or services, a static advertisement, a mini-website capable of launching other websites, an interactive map, an internet telephony connection, an instant messaging connection, or any combination of the foregoing. Of course, the rich media advertisement may be any of a number of electronic advertising systems that can be displayed on the display 14 of the general purpose computer 12.

When the rich media advertisement is played, sequential media that may have been previously played is paused while the rich media advertisement is displayed. The rich media advertisement may be removed from the sequential media play area 38 by selecting a CLOSE (CLOSE) button 58 located within the persistent banner advertisement 36 or simply pressing the play button 42. The media player 20 may use an indicator (not shown) to prompt the user to close the rich media advertisement.

Another way to initiate the display of a rich media advertisement is to have the media player 20 complete playing the sequential media. When the playing of the sequential media is completed by the media player 20, the rich media advertisement may then be displayed in the sequential media area 38. It should be appreciated that the rich media advertisement shown after the sequential media asset has completed playing may be different than that shown previously.

As a user interacts with the rich media advertisement, information about the user interaction may be collected. This information may then be forwarded to the ad server 30. This information may then be used to create a profile indicating advertisements that may be of interest to the user. When the profile is created, the ad server 30 may then customize the rich media advertisement to provide a rich media advertisement that may be of interest to the user.

User interaction with a rich media advertisement may include several factors. These factors include the time spent interacting with the rich media advertisement, the behavior of the user when interacting with the rich media advertisement, performance metrics of the rich media advertisement, the execution speed of the rich media advertisement, the time and date when the user interacted with the rich media advertisement, the internet protocol address of the user, the system, platform, web browser configuration information of the user, and media identifier information of the user.

Additionally, the user information may be sent to a remote location such as the central server 26 (FIG. 1) so that the central server 26 may generate a profile based on the user information. After the profile is generated, the central server 26 may alter the advertising information contained in the media object based on the profile. The user information collected by the central server may contain information about the user's interaction with the rich media advertisement. However, the user information may also contain information related to the web page in which the sequential media is displayed.

Referring to FIG. 6, a method for configuring a media player to display advertisements to a user of the general purpose computer 12 is shown. The method 60 is essentially divided into two parts by line 62. The steps above line 62 are essentially the steps associated with the media player. The steps below the line 62 are generally associated with advertising assets that will control the media player so that the advertisements contained in the media asset can be played by the media player. As previously described, in addition to containing advertising information, the advertising asset contains executable code to control the media player.

The method 60 begins at step 64, where an advertising asset is loaded. As previously mentioned, the advertising resources are typically from a remote server. Subsequently, the media player begins to connect to the media asset, as shown at step 66. At approximately the same time, the advertising asset prevents the media asset from being played by the media player for a particular "individual slot", as shown at step 67. During this "individual slot," the pre-roll advertisement of the advertising asset will be played by the media player. Essentially, this "individual slot" is a set period of time during which the advertising asset controls the media player to scroll through the advertisements before display.

When the "individual slot" expires and the pre-roll advertisement has completed playing, the advertisement asset will instruct the media player to begin displaying the media asset, as shown in step 68. When playback of the media asset begins as shown at step 70, the advertising asset is notified that the media asset has begun playing at step 72. It is useful to inform the advertising asset that the media asset is playing. For example, assume that the media asset has not completed loading. The advertising asset may maintain control over the showing of the media player until the media asset is ready for display. By doing so, the amount of time dedicated to advertising may be extended until the media asset is ready to be displayed.

As described in the preceding paragraph, it is noted that the rich media advertisement may be displayed after a first action (e.g., pausing the media player) occurs during playback of the media asset. In this example, if the user presses the pause button of the media player, as shown at step 74, the advertisement resource will then instruct the media player to begin showing rich media advertisements, as shown at step 76.

When the rich media advertisement is being played by the media player, the advertising resource will determine whether the rich media advertisement is being played properly by "ping" the advertising media, as shown in step 78. If the rich media advertisement is not running properly, the advertising asset will stop the display of the rich media advertisement (as shown in step 80) and resume the display of the media asset (as shown in step 82).

At step 82, when the rich media advertisement has terminated or a second action has occurred (e.g., to continue the media player), the rich media asset will continue to play. When the rich media asset has completed playing or the user has skipped viewing the rich media asset (as shown in step 83), the media player informs the advertising asset that the media asset has completed playing, as shown in step 84. The advertising asset then performs steps 76, 78 and 80 described in the preceding paragraph, efficiently displaying the rich media advertisement after the media asset has completed playing. Finally, the method ends with step 86, wherein the media player indicates to the advertising asset that the sequence is complete.

Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the above description is meant as an illustration of implementation of the principles this invention. This description is not intended to limit the scope or application of this invention in that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change, without departing from spirit of this invention, as defined in the following claims.

Claims (20)

1. A method for configuring a media player to display advertisements to a user of a computer via a display, the method comprising the steps of:

buffering display of a media asset by the media player during an individual time period;

during the separate time period, displaying a pre-roll advertisement in a display used by the media player;

displaying the media asset after the individual time period expires;

when prompted by a first action, suspending display of the media asset;

when prompted by the first action, displaying a first rich media advertisement in at least a portion of a display used by the media player;

resuming display of the media asset when prompted by a second action; and

displaying a second rich media advertisement in at least a portion of a display used by the media player when the media player has completed displaying the media asset.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

determining whether the media resource is available;

displaying the pre-roll advertisement in a display used by the media player until the media asset becomes available and the separate time period expires.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first action is when the user selects a pause button or the media player or selects a persistent banner displayed by the media player.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second action is when the user selects a play button of the media player.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

determining whether the first rich media advertisement or the second rich media advertisement is running properly;

resuming display of the media asset when the first rich media advertisement or the second rich media advertisement is not running properly.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

determining whether display of the media asset has been terminated by the user;

displaying the first or second rich media advertisement in at least a portion of a display used by the media player when the media asset has been terminated by the user.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first rich media advertisement and the second rich media advertisement comprise the same rich media advertisement.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the media asset is a video.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the media resource comprises at least one of an interactive computer game, a still image, a mini website that can open other websites, an interactive map, an internet telephony connection, or an instant messaging connection.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second rich media advertisements comprise at least one of videos, interactive computer games, configurators for customizing, pricing and purchasing goods and/or services, static advertisements, mini-websites that can open other websites, interactive maps, internet telephony connections, or instant messaging connections.

11. A system for configuring a media player to play advertisements to a user, the system comprising:

a computer having a processor and a memory unit containing instructions;

a display in communication with the processor of the computer via the media player to display a media asset;

a network interface in communication with the processor, the network interface configured to receive the media resource from a remote server via a network;

wherein the instructions configure the processor to:

buffering display of a media asset by the media player during an individual time period; during the separate time period, displaying a pre-roll advertisement in a display used by the media player;

displaying the media asset after the individual time period expires;

when prompted by a first action, suspending display of the media asset;

when prompted by the first action, displaying a first rich media advertisement in at least a portion of a display used by the media player;

resuming display of the media asset when prompted by a second action; and

displaying a second rich media advertisement in at least a portion of a display used by the media player when the media player has completed displaying the media asset.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the instructions further configure the processor to:

determining whether the media resource is available;

displaying the pre-roll advertisement in a display used by the media player until the media asset is available and the separate time period expires.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the first action is when the user selects a pause button or the media player or selects a persistent banner displayed by the media player.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the second action is when the user selects a play button of the media player.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the instructions further configure the processor to:

determining whether the first rich media advertisement or the second rich media advertisement is running properly;

resuming display of the media asset when the first rich media advertisement or the second rich media advertisement is not running properly.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the instructions further configure the processor to:

determining whether display of the media asset has been terminated by the user;

displaying the first or second rich media advertisement in at least a portion of a display used by the media player when the media asset has been terminated by the user.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the first and second rich media advertisements comprise like rich media advertisements.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the media asset comprises a video.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the media resource comprises at least one of an interactive computer game, a still image, a mini website that can open other websites, an interactive map, an internet telephony connection, or an instant messaging connection.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein the first and second rich media advertisements comprise at least one of videos, interactive computer games, configurators for customizing, pricing and purchasing goods and/or services, static advertisements, mini-websites that can open other websites, interactive maps, internet telephony connections, or instant messaging connections.