Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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INTERACTIVE SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VIEWING ON LINE ADVERTISING .
BACKGROUND
The present invention relates to Internet advertising and more particularly
relates to a system
and method which allows an on line consumer to elect to view advertising to
defray or
eliminate the costs of Internet time or to receive rewards which may be
applied to a purpose
dictated by the consumer. The invention further comprises a system and method
for enabling
a consumer to electively receive advertising from an advertising provider via
a host and which
may be specific to a predetermined consumer profile and without the need for
the consumer to
download software from the advertising provider or host to interact direct
with the consumer
computer. The system provides the consumer with credits, rewards, prizes or
the like in return
for viewing advertising, thereby allowing the consumer the option of directly
or indirectly
reducing Internet charges.
PRIOR ART
There are already in existence a variety of interactive Internet advertising
systems which
enable a consumer accessing the Internet to view advertising in return for
payment by an
advertising provider ~at least pan of the costs of the consumers Internet
time. The concept of
viewing advertising on a consumer computer as a means to subsidise the cost of
transmission
of information is well known. The known advertising systems allow for change
of
advertisements but rely on downloaded software which interacts with the
operating system on
the consumer's computer. This software must be manually installed. More
recently there has
been an expansion of advertising on the Internet spawning interactive systems
allowing a
consumer to link to an advertising provider for receipt of advertisements to
defray the costs of
on line Internet access. The advertising is usually mixed with information and
may be carried
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in a banner which appears on a computer screen and incidental to the main
program operated
by a user.
Banner advertising on the Internet is controlled by service and information
providers who
randomly introduce advertising during Internet browsing. The user has no
control over this
random advertising and cannot defray Internet costs by viewing the
advertisements. In fact the
user can be distracted by the advertising from the users main search
objective. A more recent
alternative form of advertising involves interaction between an advertising
provider and the
target consumer in which the consumer is provided with advertising which might
be tailored to
suit a particular consumer profile and which enables the consumer to defray
Internet costs by
viewing the advertisements. In these systems the consumer has some control
over and choice
as to when and to what extent advertising is to be viewed. In return, the
consumer is able to
obtain free access to the Internet commensurate with the amount of advertising
viewed. It is
important when supplying mixed advertising and information not to make the
advertising so
intrusive that the consumer is unwilling to accept advertising as a trade off
for free Internet
access. One such interactive system has involved the embedding of advertising
in the
associated computer programs but these have the disadvantage that the
advertising cannot be
easily updated. These systems have been improved to allow convenient updating
of the
information for the benefit of the consumer and subject to the consumer
profile. The updating
takes place at a consumer work station. Advertising providers realised that
consumers might
be attracted by the idea of viewing advertisements in return for free Internet
access during
periods where advertising is viewed. As an example of the known systems,
United States
Patent 5,774,869 discloses a method for promoting a sponsor's products by
providing a
consumer with sponsor paid access to the Internet. The method described
utilises Internet
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access software which has a unique PIN number for each consumer computer. An
Internet
Entry Server verifies the PIN number and times the sponsor paid Internet
access. In return, the
Internet Entry Server performs a registration process which includes personal
questions about
the consumer whereupon the sponsor gathers queries for response by the user
and gives the
user a guided tour of the sponsors Internet page where the user is exposed to
current products
and services of the sponsor . The user is then free to browse the Internet and
after the free time
is over user paid refresh options are available. One disadvantage of this
system is that the user
is prevented from Internet browsing during the guided tour and is thus totally
subservient to
the sponsor for the period of the tour . The system described is not user
friendly in that each
time the user wishes to connect to the Internet, he is obliged due to the
system set up and the
access software to take the guided tour. In that case should the user wish to
abandon the
sponsor paid Internet access, new Internet access software would need to be
installed.
Accordingly, under the system described, the user has no choice but to take
the guided tour if
the Internet access is to be sponsor paid. This disrupts the consumer during
Internet browsing
where the consumer wishes to offset Internet costs.
US Patent 5,446,919 discloses a communication system and method with
demographically or
psyhographically defined audiences. This system employs a data base which
contains
information about audience members and selects the most appropriate media
message for that
audience.
US Patent 5,740,549 discloses an advertising distribution system including a
data base which
stores data which can be updated. The data base contains categorised
advertisements. An
information administrator in each work station establishes communication with
the data server
from time to time so as to update the information items and advertisements
stored in local
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memory with at least a subset of the information items stored in the data
server. The system
further includes a subset of workstations including a profiler for storing
data representing
subscriber information and viewing preferences indicating categories for which
the subscriber
does and does not want to view information items. The user can select
advertising information
at will and the system will detect idleness criteria wherein the user fails to
input for a
predetermined amount of time. The object of the invention in that patent is to
disseminate
information and advertisements to subscribers' computers where the advertising
and
information is automatically displayed when the user's computer is on but
meets
predetermined idleness criteria. The invention described in United States
patent 5,740,549 was
an attempt to mix advertising and information supply over the Internet in a
manner which is
acceptable to users and advertisers. The system is specifically intended to
disseminate
information during time periods when the users computer is inactive. This
system does not
allow the user complete control over receipt of advertisements in
circumstances where
advertisements are not required. This system has the advantage however that
the
advertisements can be updated which is distinguishable from those systems in
which the
advertising is embedded in computer programs or reside in the programs and the
information
cannot be easily updated.
United States Patent No. 5,933,811 discloses a system and method for
delivering customised
advertising within the framework of an interactive communication system
wherein an Internet
consumer may have an Internet account credited each time the consumer views a
customer
advertisement. That system credits the consumer via the Internet provider
based on the number
of advertisements viewed by the consumer. This enables the Internet provider
to use the
advertising to reduce consumer access fees. The system described in this
patent is relatively
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complicated in that it relies on direct interaction between the service
provider, the consumer
and the advertising provider via the consumers computer. The system is
characterised in that
the advertisement provider down loads not only a consumer member code but also
a consumer
control module which is stored on the consumers computer. The system operation
is partially
controlled at the consumer end which relies on the control module to determine
interaction
with the advertisement provider. Embedded advertisement requests in the
consumer's
computer directs the consumer computer to invoke the referenced content
provider script and
obtains the content provider member code. The enabling software is unique to
the consumers
computer and enhances the consumers browser so that custom advertisements can
be merged
with electronic documents obtained from the content provider. The content
provider websites
must also register with the advertising provider before they can receive the
customised
advertisement services.
Each content provider creates a program called a content provider script and
transfers an
advertising request to the content provider which identifies the content
provider script. The
advertising request contains commands which invoke the content provider
script. This system
is relatively complex and is totally reliant on the efficacy of the enabling
software. The
objective of this system is to free content providers from having to generate
advertising data,
from having to contact individual advertisers and from having to maintain
advertising
administrative staff. In other words it places responsibility for advertising
in the hands of
another provider. The system is however, unduly complex and only indirectly
benefits the
consumer in that the consumer is reliant on the service provider to pass on
the benefits the
content provider derives from the link with the advertising provider.
Another known interactive Internet advertising system uses an advertisement
serving engine
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which facilitates consumer access to advertisements in return for payment of a
percentage of
Internet on line costs. That system allows the consumer to view advertising
while browsing the
world wide web, working on a document or sending Email. The system however,
involves a
complicated registration system which requires the consumer to provide a
profile and to down
load enabling software which controls the system. The consumer becomes 'locked
in ' and
must signal the advertising provider when it does not want to receive
advertisements rather
than having the option of deciding when it will invite advertising. Once
registration is
effected, interaction with the site is constant until the consumer elects to
bar advertising. The
ideal form of Internet advertising is that which allows the consumer the
benefits of optional
selective viewing advertising and at the same time obtaining credits on
Internet connection
costs. This objective will only be attractive to the consumer where the
advertising is relevant
to the consumer, is not too intrusive on the consumer, can be controlled by
the consumer
without the consumer having to permanently submit to one advertising provider
and can be
achieved in the most uncomplicated manner without the need for the consumer to
down load
proprietary software unique to the consumer. Furthermore, it is desirable for
the consumer to
have the flexibility to elect when it will invite advertising rather than
having to positively
cancel advertising when it does not wish to view advertisements.
INVENTION
The present invention seeks to provide a simple alternative to the known
interactive
advertising systems by providing an interactive advertising system which
allows a consumer
to exercise complete control over receipt of advertisements and the benefits
of Internet access
credits, benefits and rewards, commensurate with extent of exposure to
advertising. According
to the invention there is provided a system for interactive exposure to
advertising on line
wherein the system comprises; a consumer station in direct or indirect
communication with
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an advertising provider, wherein the consumer elects to view advertising in
response to an
invitation from the advertising provider whereupon the advertising provider
supplies
advertisements to the consumer while the consumer is receiving information
from an
information provider; wherein the system operates without the need to download
software
unique to the consumer and which by necessity interacts with the consumer's
operating
system, wherein the consumer is credited with cash rewards, prizes, credits or
benefits for the
costs of Internet access commensurate with the amount of advertising viewed.
In another broad form the present invention comprises:
an on line interactive advertising system which enables viewing of advertising
by a person
engaged in an activity in which the person receives electronic data and/or
images and at the
same time and at the option of the person views said advertising; the system
comprising; a
consumer station which receives electronic data or images; an information
provider which
delivers said electronic data or images to said consumer station, a host
provider having a
website with which said consumer station communicates, an advertising provider
station in
communication with said host; wherein the advertising provider station
communicates via said
host with said consumer station via the Internet upon election by said
consumer station
responsive to an invitation from said host; wherein, without requiring,
consumer oriented
enabling software downloaded to the consumer station, the consumer receives
said advertising
material by responding to a random invitation from the host appearing at the
consumer station
wherein, when said consumer elects to view advertising from said advertising
provider, the
consumer receives rewards, benefits, credits commensurate with the length of
time advertising
is viewed.
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in another broad form the present invention comprises:
an interactive advertising system which enables a consumer to optionally view
advertising, the
system including an advertising provider computer in communication with a
consumer
computer while the consumer is obtaining information from an information
provider,
wherein the advertising provider computer communicates with said consumer
computer via
the advertising providers web site upon election by said consumer responsive
to an invitation
from said advertising provider; wherein, without requiring enabling consumer
oriented
software downloaded to the consumer's computer , the consumer receives said
advertising
material by responding to a random invitation from the advertising provider
appearing on the
consumer computer screen after the consumer has registered with the
advertising provider by
forwarding to the provider the consumer's Email address; said random
invitation appearing as
a moving icon on the screen of the consumer computer and including a
predetermined idleness
criteria such that in the event the consumer computer fails to respond to the
random invitation
within a predetermined period the consumer will not receive advertising and
thus credits,
cash, prizes or like incentives, whereupon the invitation will reappear
randomly at a later
time on the consumer's computer screen allowing the consumer repeated
opportunity to elect
whether to receive advertising material whilst on line; wherein upon
acceptance by the
consumer of advertising by signaling the advertising provider , advertisements
will be sent to
the consumer's computer for a predetermined random period following which the
advertisements will be suspended until reactivated by the consumer by
signalling the
advertising provider; the system thereby allowing the consumer to view
advertising
simultaneously with Internet information at the option of the consumer,
thereby allowing the
consumer to receive credits, prizes or like or to offset the cost of Internet
time commensurate
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with the extent of exposure by the consumer to advertising messages; the
system operable
without the need for the consumer to download specific software.
Preferably, the invitation comprises a flashing icon such that when the icon
is flashing, the
consumer is not receiving advertising nor credits, rewards, prizes etc for
viewing said
advertising. Alternatively, the icon does not flash, but may emit sound or
moves in a manner
which attracts the attention of the consumer to invite interaction from said
consumer.
In another broad form the present invention comprises:
an on line interactive advertising system which enables elective viewing of
advertising by a
person receiving electronic data and/or images from an information provider;
the system
comprising; a consumer computer which receives electronic data or images, an
information
provider for providing said electronic data or images; an advertising provider
station in
communication with said consumer computer; wherein the advertising provider
station
communicates with said consumer computer via the intemet upon election by said
consumer
responsive to an invitation from said advertising provider; wherein, without
requiring
consumer oriented enabling software downloaded to the consumer computer, the
consumer
receives said advertising material by responding to a random invitation from
the advertising
provider appearing at the consumer computer; wherein, when said consumer
elects to view
advertising from said advertising provider the consumer receives rewards
commensurate with
the length of time advertising is viewed.
In another broad form of the method aspect the present invention comprises:
a method for elective viewing by a consumer of advertisements provided by an
advertisement
provider while the consumer is on the Internet such that the consumer can
optionally view
advertisements while viewing information supplied by an information provider
to defray the
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costs of the Internet on line time or to obtain benefits, cash or rewards; the
method comprising
the steps of
a) connecting a consumer computer to an information provider computer via the
Internet,
b) establishing a link to a web page of an advertising provider via the
information
provider computer;
c) sending particulars of the consumer computer such as the computer's Email
address to the advertising provider to establish a link between the consumer
computer
and the advertising provider computer,
d) receiving at the consumer's computer from the advertising provider computer
a
randomly displayed invitation to receive advertising material at the option of
the
consumer whilst the consumer is receiving information from an information
provider;
e) allowing said random invitation to display on the consumer's computer for a
predetermined length of time, whereupon;
i) in the event that the consumer ignores the invitation to receive
advertising material, the invitation will cease after a predetermined
period of idleness and will reappear allowing the consumer to accept
the invitation to receive advertising,
ii) in the event that the consumer accepts the random invitation from the
advertiser to receive advertisements from the advertising provider, the
consumer will receive on the consumer's computer screen an
advertising banner which will display advertising targeted to the
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consumer profile until such time as the consumer cancels the
advertising;
f) in the event of selection of option e) ii) the consumer will be credited
for the
cost of the on line time of the Internet connection commensurate with the
amount of time
spent by the consumer viewing advertising provided by the advertising
provider.
In another broad form of the method aspect the present invention comprises:
a method for elective viewing by a consumer of advertisements provided by an
advertisement
provider whilst the consumer is on the Internet such that the consumer can
optionally view
advertisements whilst viewing information supplied by an information provider
to defray the
costs of the Internet on line time, the method comprising the steps of:
a) connecting a consumer computer to an information provider computer via the
Internet,
b) establishing a link to a web page of an advertising provider via the
information
provider computer;
c) sending particulars of the consumer computer such as the computer's Email
address to the advertising provider to establish a link between the consumer
computer and the advertising provider computer,
d) receiving at the consumer's computer from the advertising provider computer
a
randomly displayed invitation to receive advertising material at the option of
the consumer whilst the consumer is receiving information from an information
provider;
e) allowing said random invitation to display on the consumer's computer for a
predetermined length of time, whereupon;
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i) in the event that the consumer ignores the invitation to receive
advertising material, the invitation will remain as a randomly flashing icon
and may disappear
and reappear again at a random time allowing the consumer subsequent
opportunities to
accept the invitation to receive advertising,
ii) in the event that the consumer accepts the random invitation from the
advertiser to receive advertisements from the advertising provider, the
consumer will receive on the consumer's computer screen an
advertising banner which will display advertising targeted to a
predetermined parameter such as the consumer profile, post code or
Email address; whereupon after a predetermined period of supplying
advertising, the advertising provider will cease provision of
advertisements and will re activate the invitation to the consumer to
request supply of the advertisements;
f) in the event of selection of option e) ii) the advertising provider will
during the
period of provision of advertisements credit the consumer with cash, rewards
prizes or equivalent or with the cost of the on line time of the Internet
connection commensurate with the amount of time spent by the consumer
viewing advertising provided by the advertising provider.
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In another broad form of the method aspect the present invention comprises:
a method for elective viewing by a consumer of advertisements provided by an
advertisement
provider whilst the consumer is on the Internet such that the consumer can
optionally view
advertisements whilst viewing information supplied by an information provider
to defray the
costs of the Internet on line time, the method comprising the steps of:
a) connecting a consumer computer to an information provider computer via the
Internet,
b) establishing a link to a web page of a host advertising provider via the
information
provider computer;
c) sending particulars of the consumer computer such as the computer's Email
address to the advertising provider to establish a link between the consumer
computer and the advertising provider computer,
d) receiving at the consumer's computer from the advertising provider computer
a
randomly displayed invitation to receive advertising material at the option of
the consumer whilst the consumer is receiving information from an information
provider;
e) allowing said random invitation to display on the consumer's computer for a
predetermined length of time, whereupon;
i) in the event that the consumer ignores the invitation to receive credits,
prizes or rewards for viewing advertising material, the invitation will
remain as a randomly flashing icon until the consumer signals said
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advertising provider that it wishes to receive said credits, rewards prizes or
the like in
return for viewing said advertising,
ii) in the event that the consumer accepts the invitation from the advertiser
to receive credits, prizes or rewards for viewing advertisements from the
advertising provider,
the consumer will continue to receive on the consumer's computer screen on an
advertising
banner, advertisements, whereupon after a predetermined period of obtaining
credits, rewards,
prizes etc for viewing advertising said icon will start moving indicating that
the consumer is
no longer receiving credits, rewards or prizes for viewing advertising sent to
the consumer
computer,
f) in the event of selection of option e) ii) the advertising provider will
during the
period of provision of advertisements credit the consumer with benefits, cash,
rewards prizes
or equivalent or with the cost of the on line time of the Internet
connectioncommensurate with
the amount of time spent by the consumer viewing advertising provided by the
advertising
provider during a predetermined reward period.
According to a preferred embodiment, the invitation to the consumer appearing
on the
consumer computer to receive advertising from the advertising provider is a
flashing icon
which the consumer may either click on or answer by an alternative means such
as a key
stroke or other signal which signals to the advertising provider whereupon,
the advertising
provider matches with the particular consumer's Email particulars whereupon
the advertising
provider supplies advertising to the consumer computer until the consumer
cancels the
advertising. One advantage of the above system is that the consumer computer
does not
require downloaded software to access the advertising material.
In another broad form the present invention comprises:
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an interactive system for accessing from a consumer computer at the option of
a consumer,
advertising material supplied by an advertising provider in communication with
said consumer
computer whilst the consumer computer is obtaining information from an
information
provider; the system including a consumer computer which at the option of the
consumer,
establishes communication with an information provider computer responsive to
an invitation
from the advertising provider computer, an advertising provider which
communicates with
said consumer computer via the advertising providers web site upon election by
said consumer
in response to an invitation from said advertising provider; wherein the
consumer receives
without the need for enabling consumer oriented software downloaded to the
consumer
computer , said advertising material by responding to a random invitation from
the advertising
provider appearing on the consumer computer screen after the consumer has
registered with
the advertising provider by forwarding to the provider the consumer's Email
address and /or
such data as consumer's postcode; said random invitation appearing as a
flashing icon on the
screen of the consumer computer near a banner advertisement such that in the
event the
consumer responds to the random invitation within a predetermined period,
advertising will
be sent to the consumer's computer for a random period of time unknown to the
consumer
allowing the consumer repeated opportunity to elect whether to receive
advertising material
whilst on line; the system thereby allowing the consumer to view advertising
simultaneously
with Internet information at the option of the consumer thereby allowing the
consumer to gain
credits, cash, rewards , prizes or the like or to offset the cost of Internet
time commensurate
with the extent of self determined exposure by the consumer to advertising
messages.
In another broad form the present invention comprises;
an interactive system for transmitting advertisements from an advertising
provider to a
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consumer computer via the Internet, the system comprising;
a consumer computer capable of establishing an Internet connection with an
information
provider;
an advertisement provider computer capable of establishing a connection with a
consumer
computer,
a registration module at the advertisement provider's computer for receiving
data including the
consumer computer's Email address and or data from the consumer to identify
and profile the
consumer, such as post code;
an icon or like indicia at the consumer computer delivered by the advertising
provider to allow
the consumer the option of receiving advertising from the advertising provider
by signalling
via that icon or indicia that the consumer wishes to receive advertising;
means at the advertisement provider's computer to identify a received signal
as that of a
particular consumer when the consumer signals the advertising provider via
said icon its desire
to receive advertising, means at the advertisement provider computer to
terminate the icon or
like indicia in the event that a predetermined period of idleness of the icon
or indicia is
detected where the consumer does not signal via the icon or indicia of its
request for
advertising material whereupon the advertising provider's computer permanently
or
temporarily terminates the display of the icon or indicia whereupon after a
predetermined
period of time has elapsed, the icon will reappear on
the consumer's computer allowing the consumer the option of electing to view
advertising;
whereupon in the event that the consumer elects to view advertising material,
the advertising
provider will provide to the consumer, credit, cash, rewards, prizes or the
like commensurate
with the amount of time spent by the consumer viewing advertisements.
Consumers gain
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rewards each time they acknowledge advertisers messages by responding to an
icon invitation.
The advantages of the interactive system according to the present invention
include the ability
of a user to earn rewards when working in any program while on line. A further
advantage is
that advertisers only pay for user acknowledgements of the advertising
providers
advertisements. Also, advertisers can interact direct with consumers and
therefore potential
customers as a result of which the advertisers acquire a detailed analysis of
the consumers.
According to one embodiment consumers allocate on line rewards derived from
viewing
advertising to a predetermined recipient such as a charity or community
organisation,
individual, school council etc.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The present invention will now be described according to a preferred but non
limiting
embodiment and with reference to the accompanying illustrations wherein;
Figure 1 shows schematic layout of the system according to one embodiment of
the
invention; and
Figure 2 shows a block diagram of system processing according to a preferred
embodiment.
Figure 3 shows a schematic layout of a typical system arrangement according to
a
preferred embodiment of the invention.
The system will primarily be described with reference to viewing
advertisements via a user
computer but it will be appreciated that the system is adaptable to other
mediums which may
receive information including advertising such as Wireless Application
Protocol phones,
digital television receivers and Webpads.
Figure 1 shows a schematic layout of an interactive communication system
according to a
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preferred embodiment of the invention. The system shown comprises a consumer
computer 1
capable of browsing the Internet via a service or information provider
computer 2. Included in
the system is an advertising provider computer 3 which is accessible to the
consumer
computer 1 via the service provider computer 2. Consumer computer 1 is linked
to provider
computer 2 in the usual manner by dialing an information provider's computer,
whereupon the
consumer computer i gains access to the web page of an advertising provider.
The consumer
interacts with the web page to register for future receipt of advertisements.
Figure 2 shows a block diagram of the processing required for a consumer to
access and use
the system. In order to operate the system, the consumer must link the
consumer computer 1
to information provider computer 2. This is done in the usual manner by
dialing any standard
service provider via known communication protocols. Once the consumer is
connected to the
Internet the consumer is free to visit selected web sites. The consumer will
normally be
charged by the information provider for Internet on line time. The consumer
utilising the
system of the present invention has the option of receiving credits, cash,
rewards or prizes or
reducing Internet costs by electing to view advertising but it is the way in
which the consumer
interacts with the advertising supplier which distinguishes this system from
the known
systems. As previously indicated, the known systems are unduly complicated to
set up, are
intrusive and do not allow the consumer sufficient choices in respect of
control over the supply
of advertising. In use, once the consumer is connected to the Internet the
consumer accesses
the selected advertiser's web site which has prompt instructions for
registration.
Registration is according to the invention, a simple process of the consumer
calling up the
advertisers web site and electing to send its E mail address to enable the
advertiser to identify
the particular consumer. The consumer may also send a profile so that
advertisements can be
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tailored to suit the consumer. With the simple act of sending the consumer's
Email address to
the advertising provider, the consumer will be automatically registered
whereupon the
advertising provider will then send a facility to the consumer for containing
advertisements
and including an icon which acts as an invitation to the consumer to elect
whether to receive
advertisements.
At this point, the consumer has a choice as to whether to ignore or to respond
to the
invitation. Should the consumer ignore the invitation, no advertising or
benefits of viewing the
advertising will be received. The icon will providing a renewed invitation to
the consumer to
view advertising, the invitation appearing in the forTn of a flashing icon.
In practice, the consumer would be unlikely to register then perpetually
ignore the invitation to
receive advertising. The system allows for random re appearance of the
invitation to receive
advertising. Should the consumer choose to receive advertising, the
advertising provider will
send advertisements to the consumer until either the consumer elects to cancel
the
advertisements or until such time as a predetermined random time period has
elapsed
whereupon the advertisements and benefits will be terminated until the
consumer elects to
receive further advertisements.
According to another embodiment, the system provides for advertising to be
constantly sent to
the consumer computer for which the consumer will not be credited for viewing
until such
time as the consumer accepts an invitation in the form of a flashing icon to
signal via the icon
to the advertising provider that the consumer wishes to receive credits,
rewards or prizes for
viewing the constantly transmitted advertising whereupon the icon will cease
flashing for a
predetermined period unknown to the consumer. The advantage of the system
described
above is that it does not require proprietary software and the consumer can
control; whether it
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receives advertisements once registered.
Preferably, there may be one advertisement distributed to the consumer per
minute and the
advertising could be available for random times unknown to the consumer such
as but not
limited to between 5 and 30 minutes to ensure the consumer actually views the
advertisements.
According to an alternative embodiment the interactive advertising system may
be adapted for
distribution through a digital television receiver, Webpad or through a
Wireless application
protocol ( WAP) phone. In that case, the consumer station will be a television
receiver or
WAP phone which receives banner advertising in a similar manner and responsive
to an
invitation flashing in the banner or on the screen display.
The advertisements viewed by the consumer within the framework of the system
may be
customised to the individual viewer. The system provides for a display banner
on which
advertising is viewed and which is transmitted to the viewer computer. The
system does not
use cookies and does not require installation of software to the viewer
station or interaction
between down loaded software and an operating system. The system may be used
immediately following user registration. Email and postcode may be parameters
required for
login. Animated images are stored as GIF files.
A typical operating regime is described in Figure 3. The arrangement includes
a consumer
station 10 which receives banner advertising images 11 using HTTP. The banner
advertising is
provided by an advertisement loader 12 which is in communication with a read
/write data
base from which can be determined the account status of a viewer of
advertising and also
parameters which profile a particular consumer. Data base 13 includes an
advertiser data base
31a which logs advertising activity for a particular consumer and a user
profile data base 13b
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including profile data on a particular consumer. The arrangement described
operates as
follows. Once Email and postcode are verified, there is a collection of 30
minute sequence of
ad reference codes. Animated GIF files are loaded and displayed each minute
and viewer
interaction is requested at intervals of 5 - 30 minutes. User interaction must
take place
within 30 seconds of prompt. Where interaction is too late, no credit will be
given to the
viewer and the system will pause. A list of viewed ad reference codes may be
sent after
interaction and a request is made when an advertisement supply is depleted.
The system
further includes an advertiser loader and scheduler which loads and schedules
advertiser
information. A Java application is developed in a windows environment with
average loading
time for advertisements being two minutes. The loader/scheduler provides
system usage
graphs with configuration files formatted as readable text files. A data base
and scripts creates
a schedule of advertised reference codes with a data base backup process used
to form a
history data base which can be maintained and debugged.
A primary advantage of the system described is that there is no need for the
end viewer to
intervene to down load software. Although software is required in the
technical sense, it is not
in the form that an end user would usually associate with a program in that
the software is not
permanently stored in the end viewers receiving station such as a computer.
The software is in
effect transient in that it exists only when the viewer is viewing advertising
and interacts not
with an operating system at the viewer station but with browser software at
the time of
viewing the advertisements. Prior to the present invention, a viewer of
advertising or the like
had to load platform specific enabling software via such medium as a CD which
would then
interact with the operating system of the receiving station. The CD rom runs a
program at the
bottom of the viewing screen. The present invention uses browser specific
software and as
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there is no down load in the technical sense the interaction with the icon is
essential. This
necessitates the viewer to click on the icon which enables the viewing of
advertising One
advantage of the system is that the host knows when the viewer is viewing
advertising which is
attractive to the advertiser. For security reasons the icon forming the viewer
invitation may be
changed to prevent tampering with the system. As there is no software
downloaded to a
viewing station operating system there is no software to be tampered with by
the viewer. The
icon may not appear different to the viewer but can be made unrecognisable as
the same icon
to a computer. The host is able to know when the viewer is viewing
advertising.
It will be recognised by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations
and modifications
may be made to the invention as broadly described herein without departing
from the overall
spirit and scope of the invention.
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