Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR USING A COMMUNICATION NETWORK TO
SUPPLY TARGETED ADVERTISING IN INTERACTIVE MEDIA
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
s The present invention relates to a method and system for using an
interactive
communication system to play to users, streaming, i.e., sequential content
interleaved with
targeted advertisements selected according to predetermined criteria, and in
particular, to a
method and system in which the switching between the streaming content and the
targeted
advertisements is accomplished by the user's multimedia player based on
messages embedded
z o within the content stream.
Public and network television, cable systems and radio stations have for
decades distributed proprietary copyrighted subj ect matter to the viewing and
listening public
without any charge or at subsidized rates due to the sponsorship and financing
of these
programs by various advertisers and/or governmental bodies. With television
and radio
z5 broadcast as well as cable delivery, it is difficult if not impossible to
deliver specific
advertisement messages to finely selected audiences since audience targeting
is possible only
on the basis of broad geographical areas, e.g. the City of New York. It is
presently impossible
through broadcast radio or television to target individuals, or individuals
who share a common
trait, e.g. a certain age range, educational background, etc. Likewise, it is
impossible to
a o deliver such targeted advertising messages while at the same time
permitting the advertising
recipient the immediate ability to respond.
In contrast, digital cable systems, bi-directional satellite systems as well
as the
Internet communicate (at least along a portion of their paths) over personal
communication
lines, i.e. by telephone, by cable, by satellite or by using wireless
communication technology.
25 This enables sending of tailored messages between the ultimate recipient of
specific
information and the source of the information, e.g. a cable head end,
satellite, a website,
Internet Service Provider, etc. Traditionally, proprietary, e.g. copyrighted,
information could
be delivered to the user. In most cases, charge accounts are established with
an Internet
Service Provider, cable operator, satellite or other wireless communication
provider, etc. and
a o the recipient of the proprietary data content pays for those services
and/or information. It is
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desirable to provide a bi-directional communication method and system for the
dissemination
of valuable proprietary information substantially free of charge, just as it
is provided through
network television and broadcast radio stations without any costs or with
reduced cost to the
ultimate userlsubscriber and with advertiser sponsorship thereof targeted to
the user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a general obj ect of the present invention to provide
programmed or on demand television, multimedia or other copyrighted data via a
bi-
directional communication facility such as a cable system to numerous users
while reducing or
1 o eliminating charges thereto.
It is a further obj ect of the invention to provide data content to the
general
public in a manner which facilitates the delivery of such data content in
sequence with
advertisement material tailored to the individual or his or her receiving
device, to thereby
underwrite the cost of supplying to members of the public valuable television,
multimedia and
i5 other data containing information content.
It is a further obj ect of the invention to provide advertisers a method of
targeting consumers meeting a profile designated by the advertiser which
assures that the
targeted consumer or the consumer's device receives a message tailored for
such consumer.
It is a further obj ect of the invention to provide a system of the above type
a o which is easy to use and implement.
The present invention provides advertising and multimedia content or audio
sequentially in a seamless manner so that the user perceives no break between
the advertising
and multimedia content or audio.
The foregoing and other objects of the invention are realized in accordance
a5 with a preferred embodiment of the present invention which includes a
software-controlled
and microprocessor-based repository in which the dossiers of users are stored
and updated.
Users use their own microprocessor-based systems to receive the programmed
data and
advertisements from the repository over cable, satellite, wireless or Internet
enabled devices.
The method and system handle advertisers by creating advertiser dossiers
3 o containing the amount of advertising purchased by each advertiser, the
amount used up and
the amount remaining to be used ("available allocation"). The advertiser
dossiers also contain
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specifications of the desired consumer profiles to be targeted, specifications
of the category of
products or services to be advertised, specifications of any territorial or
local time
requirements or preferences, and a key to the location of the audio or
multimedia advertising
content.
The present invention includes a repository, i.e. one or more databases, in
which streaming content is stored and updated in either or both digital or
analog form or a
micro-processor based system which provides encoding and distribution of near
real-time
broadcasts, e.g. radio and/or television stations, cable broadcast, cable on
demand or Internet
only broadcasts and the like. Each item of streaming content is preferably
cataloged, defining
1 o the nature or category of the contents, the identity of the copyright
holder or holders, the
characteristics of the anticipated consumer or most likely user, the category
of any product or
service the advertising for which is not to be inserted into the content, and
any limitation on
the availability of the content. The content is converted to digital form for
delivery over the
interactive communication system. The content may further be encoded to
provide selected
is functional data for control purposes, to prevent unauthorized duplication
and to identify the
user to whom the content is to be delivered.
The database also includes the identity of each copyright holder of the
content
and a message identifying the artist and/or the copyright holders of each item
of content
("identity message").
z o A separate database is used to store and update the advertising content,
again
in either digital or analog form, later to be matched and transmitted to the
ultimate
consumer/subscriber so that it is perceived by the consumer as sequential and
without
interruption between advertisements and content. The advertisements are
converted to digital
form for delivery as audio and/or audiolvideo messages over the interactive
communication
zs system. The advertising content of the database may include generic
messages.
The present invention provides a method of using a communication network to
deliver information to at least one user in which a user profile is stored for
each of the at least
one users in a database. A request is received for a selected content data
stream from the at
least one user. The selected content data stream may be encoded to indicate
various
3 o information pertaining to the data stream such as the nature and timing of
the content, e.g. the
timing and sequence of a song, a TV program or other audio/video content
and/or of at least
one advertisement. The selected content data stream is played on a terminal or
device
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corresponding to the user. Special codes placed in the selected content data
to facilitate timing
of advertising are detected by the user's device. An advertising break is
identified in the
selected content data stream. At least one advertisement from an advertisement
database is
selected in which each advertisement has at least one criterion associated
therewith, the
retrieved at least one advertisement being selected in accordance with a
matching of the
corresponding user's profile with the at least one advertisement criterion.
The at least one
retrieved advertisement is played on the user's device during the identified
point within the
content.
The present invention also provides a system which uses a communication
~ o network in communication with at least one user device to play streaming
information to at
least one user of the at least one device, in which the system includes at
least one server in
communication with the communication network, the at least one server executes
functions
which are distributed among the at least one server. The functions include:
receiving a request from the user device to invoke a selected content
i s stream;
storing at least one advertisement and providing an advertisement
stream to the at least one user device. The advertisement stream includes at
least one
advertisement selected based upon a matching of a profile corresponding to the
user with at
least one criterion corresponding to the stored advertisement. The
advertisement stream is
a o played by the at least one user device during advertisement breaks in the
selected content
stream.
As another aspect, the present invention provides a method of using a
communication network to play multimedia or streaming audio content to at
least one user in
which a user profile for each of the at least one users is stored in a
database. A request for a
a5 selected multimedia streaming or audio content stream is received from the
at least one user.
The multimedia or streaming audio content stream includes a message providing
information
relating to an upcoming advertisement break such as an identifier, and a
duration indicator,
the nature of the advertisement, etc. The selected content stream is played on
a device
corresponding to the user. The retrieved at least one advertisement is
selected in accordance
3 o with a matching of the corresponding user's profile with the at least one
advertisement
criterion. A message indicating the beginning of the advertisement break is
identified. The at
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least one buffered advertisement is played on the device during the identified
advertising break.
As another aspect, the present invention enables a user to directly respond to
the selected and targeted advertising message in substantially immediate
interaction by using a
media player (i.e. a software or hardware based presentation system) on the
user terminal or
device communicating thereto. The advertiser and user are thereby enabled to
further
exchange additional information in near real-time.
As still yet another aspect, the present invention provides a device connected
to
a communication network for playing streaming information to at least one
user, in which the
device has at least one media player. The at least one media player plays a
content stream
i o selected by the at least one user and plays an advertising data stream to
the user in which the
advertising stream is separate from the content stream. The content stream
includes an
advertising period. The advertising data stream is played to the user during
the advertising
period in the content stream.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent
15 from the following description of the invention which refers to the
accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fox the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings
a
form which is presently preferred, it being understood, however, that the
invention is not
20 limited to the precise arrangement and instrumentalities shown.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the basic system hardware arrangement of the
present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of maj or software blocks of the present invention.
FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the software control and protocol flow
z5 suitable for implementing a portion of the preferred embodiment of the
present invention.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example of a hardware and software
arrangement of elements constructed in accordance with the principles of the
present invention
in the case where a PC separately receives the selected content data stream
and advertisement
data stream.
3 o FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the operation of a second aspect of the present
invention.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Initially, it is noted that the below description of the present invention is
applicable to both audio content, for example music and/or speech, etc., and
multimedia
(audio/video) content. As such, those portions of the description which are
directed toward
music or audio content should be understood to include and be operable with
multimedia
content as well. It is also noted that the terms "subscriber" and "user"
represent any type of
possible user, regardless of the registration process or requirements, if any,
of a server
associated with the system or the provider of the server or system.
For convenience, the term "Internet " as used herein is intended to mean any
z o method of near immediate at least two way communication without regard to
whether the
communication is the result of use of telephone lines, cables, satellite,
cellular, spread
spectrum or other wireless means.
In general terms, the present invention comprises a software controlled CPU,
e.g. a microprocessor based repository in which the dossiers of a plurality of
users are stored
z5 and updated. The information contained in the dossiers includes the type of
music that the
subscribers enjoy, the data or multimedia content selections previously or
simultaneously
made, the age, marital status, income level, geographic location and other
characteristics of
the user.
Preferably, the users receive the programmed music and advertisements from at
20 least one repository over the Internet. However, the invention is
applicable to
communications between system and users that use non-Internet channels or
combinations of
channels, e.g. cable, direct broadcast, direct narrowcast or any means of
communication
provided the method of communication permits delivery of an identified audio
and/or
audio/video message to an identified class of user and enables the user to
communicate or
25 respond to the advertiser or system in substantially real time. The
specific data or multimedia
content and advertisements transmitted may vary as a function of the
information contained in
the dossiers of the users and the dossiers of the advertisements. In addition,
the dossiers may
change from time to time with a resulting change in data or multimedia content
and
advertisement programming. Further, the programmed data or multimedia content
and
a o advertisements may change as a function of the time of year or other
conditions.
Referring to FIG. 1, the physical hardware/software configuration of the
present invention preferably comprises a central processing unit (CPU) 10
which interfaces via
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the Internet 20 with a plurality of users operating PCs 12, 14 ... 16 (or
other device capable of
receiving individualized content for audio and/or multimedia production) which
respectively
have speakers 12a, 14a ... 16a to play programmed music or other audio
information which is
transmitted to them via the Internet 20 and/or a video display. As already
explained, in
accordance with the present invention, the music being transmitted over the
Internet to the
users is sequentially related to or linked to targeted advertising material
paid for by
advertisers in the form of audio or multimedia messages tailored to the user
or musical profile
18, 19 ... 21.
The CPU 10 may be any type of computer system, for example a mainframe, a
io server-based system of PCs, a stand-alone microprocessor and the like, The
CPU 10 has the
usual operator interface, e.g. a keyboard 22 and complement of memory and IO
devices (not
shown). Of significance here is that the CPU 10 either directly or through
communication
with other CPUs maintains a plurality of databases including at least one
database containing
the advertising content, the location where the advertising content is stored,
an
advertisers/marketing criteria database 24 in which it stores the advertising
preferences of the
advertisers 18, 19 ... 21, e.g. the type of users that these advertisers would
like to reach, such
as their geographic locations, and the system usage privileges and/or credit
balance of these
advertisers.
The database 26 stores the advertisement content, i.e. the actual advertising
a o copy of the various advertisers 18, 19 ... 21. Note that any one of the
adverb sers 18, 19 ... 21
can have several different audio or multimedia messages stored for
transmission to different
classes of users 12, 14 ... 16 as well as to the same users.
The users profile database 28 contains the actual profiles of the individual
users 12, 14, 16, specifying for each user criteria as, for example, age,
demographic data,
education, sex, marital status, income, ethnic background, data content
selections previously
or simultaneously made by the user, purchasing habits, personal habits, and
the like. Finally,
the content is stored in the database 30. This database includes the musical
work, the profile
of the work, the identity of the artist and copyright holders or the place
from which any such
data may be retrieved. Together, these databases enable the present invention
to attain its
a o objective of matching requested data content with advertisement copy to be
transmitted to the
individual users.
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The operation/control block 32 contains the executable portion of the program
code which runs the CPU 10 and which controls the overall operation of the
system of the
present invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates a representative (non-limiting) flowchart of the overall
s software functions performed by the CPU 10 of FIG. 1. Proceeding from the
starting/initialization software block 50, the program proceeds to decisional
block 52 where it
queries what maj or function is to be performed. If the maj or function is a
response to a
request from a customer for music, the program proceeds to the set of routines
54 which
involve the servicing of a customer request and which are more fully described
further on by
s o reference to FIG. 3 .
Otherwise, the program proceeds to software block 56 to handle general
housekeeping, database management and customer and business relations. At
decisional block
58, the program further determines whether the requested task is to manage the
databases or
other functions. If database management, the program proceeds to block 60 to
execute a
is series of program functions involving the creation or updating of the
advertiser database
(element 24 of FIG. 1) which contains the names of the advertisers,
individuals at advertisers
to be contacted, billing information, prepaid advertising time available for
each advertiser and
a range of other business information and criteria. Most importantly for the
present invention,
this database also specifies for each particular advertisement the type, i.e.
the profile of the
a o users/listeners which the particular advertiser would like to target. It
is not necessary to limit
the specification to a narrow class of individuals. Several classes can be
identified and
prioritized. Moreover, each advertiser may have different renditions of audio
advertising copy
to be directed to different audiences, i.e. classes of listeners or to the
same classes of listeners.
From block 60 the program proceeds to block 62 where it performs similar
25 functions for the users/listener database 28. For each user that is being
added to the database
or whose profile is being updated, the database includes personal data
including (as already
mentioned) age, education, income, data selections previously or
simultaneously made by the
user, purchasing habits, etc. This database can also include a field in which
the user specifies
the type or types of music that the individual prefers, to facilitate the
system's ability to present
3 o to each individual a menu of music selection which best fits the
individual's preferences and
music taste.
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Software block 64 attends to and handles the maintenance of the actual music
content and/or location. Each source or file of music is classified,
categorized and its
location, e.g. Uniform Resource Locator, included in the database for future
reference and
ultimate content transmission to the users 12, 14 ... 16.
Similarly, at block 66 the program handles the maintenance and updating of the
library of advertising copy, each piece of which has been submitted by or
prepared for one or
another of the advertisers. A single advertiser may have stored one or several
different
advertisements.
While the inventors contemplate that this advertising copy will be in the form
of
1 o audio/musical messages, the invention is not so limited. Indeed, the
invention contemplates
that the advertising copy may be video information that can be played on the
users media
player device and includes voice information that will play through the
speakers of the user's
equipment and/or video information for display on the user's device. In sum,
the program
blocks 60, 62, 64 and 66 are responsible for the handling of all aspects of
the creation,
is updating and modification of the large databases with which the CPU 10 of
the present
invention constantly communicates.
Alternatively, from decisional block 58, the program proceeds to decisional
block 70 to determine whether it is necessary to take care of billing matters.
If so, the program
proceeds to block 72 where the program tallies accounts, listing the content
provider and any
a o required royalty payments, and the billings from ads inserted within
content. Together, this
information is useful, for example, for calculating (if necessary) fees
payable to the providers
of the music and to provide "play" statistics for the industry on a current
and accurate basis.
The block 72 further tackles the task of preparing billing data for
advertisers and revenue
sharing data for e.g. content providers, sources of users, advertising,
sellers, etc. For example,
25 the system may allow certain advertisers to operate without prepaid credit
balances. In this
case, as the advertisements of the particular advertiser are being sent to
users, an accounting is
made of the total advertising messages delivered and that advertiser may be
billed accordingly
on a monthly, bi-monthly or other basis. The proceeds of such billing may then
be allocated
among the content providers, system operator, advertising seller, source of
listeners, etc. The
3 o program also proceeds to block 60 to decrement advertising availability.
Another software task of the CPU based system 10 is executed at software
block 74 which is dedicated to the tasks of interfacing, via the Internet or
other interactive
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medium, with existing or potential content providers and advertisers for
purposes of signing
up such content providers and advertisers, providing information regarding
billing data and
available content, answering general inquiries through the running of an
automatic voice mail
system, a web page or the like.
From decisional block 70, the program also has the option of proceeding via
decisional block 80 to block 82 which is responsible for the distribution of
one or several
programs or digital contracts which may be used for controlling and/or
identifying the local
devices or particular users of such devices 12, 14 ... 16 and/or to interface
with the CPU 10
(which may be made available through a web page on the Internet). Such
programs or digital
to contracts downloaded from the web page, which operate in conjunction with
the system of the
present invention, provide various functions including allowing users to
automatically call up
the CPU 10, automatically make content selections, identify the user and the
like.
Other functions provided by the software of the present invention are shown by
proceeding from the decisional block 80 to block 84 which broadly designates
the general
i5 class of miscellaneous functions performed in the system of the present
invention. This
includes, as shown in block 86, software which contains and carries out the
protocols for
creating packets of digital information which are to be transmitted to users.
Another function
involves security which is handled by software block 88. Security includes
filtering any data
input to the system and the encoding and decoding of advertising copy that is
transmitted
a o over the Internet.
Software block 90 generally designates a portion of the program which
interfaces with users for the purposes of allowing users to place orders for
products or
services that are advertised or presented in the advertising messages that are
delivered to the
users. In well known manner, the various software routines eventually reach
end block 67, so
25 that the program may loop and return to the start block to permit the
orderly and reliable
operation thereof.
The specific task of responding to a user's request for particular data or
content
and the delivery of that data or content to the user is illustrated in the
general software block
diagram of FIG. 3. At block 100, the program initiates a search for the
specific music content
3 0 or other data content the user has requested. The program proceeds to
software block 102
where the request for the particular music/information is recorded in the
accounting database
and an independently running subroutine at block 104 proceeds to create a
"response packet"
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for the individual user. Such a response packet typically consists of one or
more pieces of
music, (or uniform resource locators to such music, music streams or other
data) which has
been encoded/encrypted for transmission over the Internet, to which an
advertiser's message
has been appended as a leader or header thereof, along with a generic or music
specific voice
over. Also, a message may be appended at the end of each piece of music, for
example, in the
form of a statement from the artist, i.e. "a wrapper". While the response
packet is being
prepared at block 104, the program proceeds to block 106 to determine the
availability of the
selection. If available, the program proceeds to block 108 pertaining to music
data selection
and block 110 for advertiser selection. If an audio message is authorized to
be added, the
io program proceeds from block 110 to validate and attend to the audio message
authorization.
If authorized, the audio message is looked up at block 126 (from database
block 66) and is
added to the response packet at block 128. By implication, a uniform resource
locator
directed thereto can also be added. Block 130 registers the audio message
delivery in the
accounting database at block 130, as previously described. The program
proceeds to block
124 which consists of a sequence of software instructions that are responsible
for adding the
response packet to the queue at block 104.
As described above, simultaneously, block 108 validates content authorization
by prohibiting replay of the same music in a single request and limiting the
number of requests
to a programmed limit, i.e., 10 selections, or if a uniform resource locator
is used, then
a o whether the uniform resource locator includes or represents content
approved for delivery. If
the request is validated, the program proceeds to collect the musical works)
selected (or
redirects user's player thereto) and its related generic or individualized
identity audio message
at block 112 and 114, or the applicable uniform resource locator therefore.
The program then
delivers the partial response packet at block 124 where it is appended to the
audio message
packet and delivered to block 104 ready to receive further response packets,
if any, and for
delivery via block 10 to subscribers ... 12, 14, 16.
However, if no authorization to provide a particular type of response packet
is
noted, the program creates at software block 118 an "access denied" message
which is then
transmitted without any music or other data content or uniform resource
locator (other than a
3 o request to select another offering) to the user at block 124.
Simultaneously, a record of the
inability to deliver the particular subscriber selection is registered in
software block 122.
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Thus, the present invention achieves its objectives by providing a software
controlled microprocessor based repository in which the dossiers of all
advertisers are stored
and updated. The information contained in the dossiers contains the amount of
advertising
purchased, the amount used and the amount remaining to be used ("available
allocation"), a
specification of the desired consumer profile, a specification of the category
of product or
service to be advertised, a specification of any territorial or local time
requirements or
preferences, and a key to the location of the audio advertising content.
The present invention includes a software controlled microprocessor based
repository in which all content is stored and updated in either or both
digital or analog form
i o for either audio or audio/video delivery. Each item of content is
catalogued defining the
nature or category of the content, the identity of the source, the profile of
the expected
consumer or user, the category of any product or service which is not to be
annexed to the
content, and any limitation on the availability of the content. Content is
converted to a digital
form for delivery over the Internet or other communication medium permitting
individualized
i5 delivery. Content is encoded to prevent unauthorized duplication and to
identify the
subscriber to whom the content is to be delivered.
~ne aspect of the present invention includes a software controlled
microprocessor-based repository in which all advertisements are stored and
updated in either
digital or analog form ready to be linked and transmitted. Advertisements are
converted to a
2 o digital form for delivery as audio and/or audio/video messages over the
Internet or other
communication medium permitting individualized identification and delivery.
Another aspect of the present invention preferably includes at least one
software controlled microprocessor-based repository of digital audio content
which contains
generic audio messages and/or identity audio messages.
25 The subscriber selects the content which he or she desires to receive, and
the content is placed
in a queue. Based on the profile of the content and/or the profile of the
user, a determination
is made by the system as to which advertising messages may be delivered. The
system
determines whether the permitted advertising message has available
"allocation" and whether
other required parameters have been met. From the remaining filter, the next
available
3 o advertising message is selected based upon strategies specified by the
advertiser.
The selected advertising message is then placed in a queue. The system
automatically links the advertising message to the user selected content so
that the advertising
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message and selected content and optionally a generic or identity message is
presented to the
user as a single data stream along with other such streams pursuant to the
user's request. The
completed data streams, including all selections, are then delivered to the
user over the
Internet or other communication medium, permitting individualized delivery.
s There is no requirement for a one-to-one relationship between an advertising
message and a class of subscribers. For example, a particular advertisement
can be classified
to be played to a first class of subscribers as a first choice, to a second
class of subscribers as a
second choice and so on. In this manner, an advertiser desiring that its
messages reach
broader audiences may also ear mark its advertisements to secondary classes of
listeners, thus
s o increasing the versatility and usefulness of the present invention.
As another aspect of the present invention inherent to the above description,
one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that the arrangement of the
transmission of
the selected content and the advertisements is not critical to the invention,
as long as the
advertisements appear as sequentially appended to the content when played to
the user, For
s5 example, PCs 12, 14 ... 16 can be arranged with software which separately
receives the
content data stream and the advertisement, appends the advertisement to the
content data
stream either by insertion therein or by switching from one stream to the
other, and
sequentially plays the resultant composite stream. A specific example of an
embodiment of
this aspect is described with reference to FIG. 4.
2 o FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the elements and their
logical
interconnectivity constructed in accordance with the principles of the present
invention in the
case where PCs 12, 14 ... 16 separately receive the selected content data
stream and the
advertisement data stream. For the sake of simplifying the description, the
example refers
only to PC 12, it being understood that the present invention can be scaled to
include many
a5 PCs. Although this aspect of the invention is described with respect to a
PC, it is understood
that, as described above, any user device with access to the Internet or any
other interactive
network can be used as long as that device can play streaming content to a
user.
As shown in FIG. 4, this aspect of the present invention preferably comprises
a
multitude of application specific servers. It should be noted, however, that
descriptions of the
3 o servers and the functions they perform need not necessarily be implemented
on separate
physical devices. For example, software implementing specific functions, such
as an
advertisement management function, etc., can be implemented within the same
physical server.
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These functions are described below in detail. Further, although not shown, it
is contemplated
that each of the functions are implemented as part of devices which have
access to the Internet
or other global or private interactive communication network upon which the
system is
implemented.
Two elements of this aspect, namely content server 140 and advertisement
stream server 142, preferably provide the selected content and targeted
advertisements,
respectively, to PC 12. The advertisements provided by advertisement stream
server 142 are
preferably retrieved from advertising content database 26 (See FIG. 1). The
content provided
by content server 140 can be stored in a content database such as database 30,
or can be a
1 o streaming digital representation of a near real-time broadcast such as
radio programming
distributed across the computer network, for example, by a webcasting service
(not shown).
The streaming content is preferably arranged in a standard streaming format
such as the
Advanced Streaming Format (ASF) capable of being played on a media player such
as by
MICROSOFT's Media Player.
is According to the aspect shown in FIG. 4, content server 140 provides
streaming content of near real-time broadcasts and is preferably comprised of
on-air system
144 and On-air Internet Protocol (OIP) server 146. On-air system 144 in
conjunction with
OIP server 146 inserts special marks into outbound streaming audio content
stream 148 as the
broadcast content is encoded into the streaming audio format.
a o Although the system is described with respect to streaming audio, it is
contemplated that streaming video or audio/video data content and audio/video
advertising
can be equally provided.
Some predefined time before an advertisement break occurs in the streaming
audio, for example 10 or more seconds, a special instruction such as an "open
event" message
25 is placed into the stream, along with an indication as to the duration of
the upcoming
advertisement break ("break"). Advertisement break refers to the period in
which
advertisements are present in the content stream such as those which occur
during a radio or
television broadcast or the point at which the content stream provider will
permit advertising
content to be played. Just as an advertisement break occurs, OIP server 146
inserts an "event"
3 o message into the data stream. This allows PC 12 to determine that a break
is upcoming and
the exact time the break occurs.
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Media players A 150 and B 152 can be any audio and/or audio/video
multimedia players which can execute on PC 12, for example MICROSOFT'S Windows
Media Player. The media player uses above referred to messages to determine
when to
request and play the advertisements. As such, it is PC 12 which switches
between the
streaming content received from content server 140 and the advertisement
stream received
from advertisement stream server 142 to create a sequential play of content
and advertisement.
Although it is contemplated that media player A 150 can play both the selected
content stream from content server 140 and the streaming advertisements from
ad stream
to server 142 by switching between the streams as described below, it is also
contemplated that
PC 12 can execute multiple instances of the media player, shown as media
player A 150 and
media player B 152. In the latter case, the selected content stream 148 is
played by one media
player such as media player A 150 while streaming advertisements are played by
a different
instance of the media player such as media player B 152. Stream coordination
and
15 reproduction in the form of play back to the user and control communication
between media
player A 150 and media player B 152 are controlled by a web browser such as
web browser B
166. In the alternative, play back and control communication can be
accomplished directly
between media player A 150 and media player B 152 without the need for
facilitating software
such as web browser B 166.
2o For the sake of simplicity, this aspect of the present invention is
explained with
reference to the multiple media player instance approach, it being understood
however, that
the present invention is also implementable with a single media player
instance,
Also as shown in FIG. 4, this aspect of the present invention preferably
includes profile server 156, advertisement management server 158,
advertisement management
25 user system 160, stream database 162 and ad stream server 142.
As discussed below, ad management server 158 manages the advertisements
such that one or more targeted advertisements are distributed and played to
the user during
each advertising break in content stream 148. Operation in this manner allows
the user to hear
their selected content with targeted advertisements appended to the content
stream during
3 o each advertising break in data stream 148. For example, if the user opts
to listen to a content
stream which originates from a different geographic region, the advertising
breaks in data
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stream 148 appear to the user to be a seamless sequential appending of content
with targeted
advertisements relating to the user's particular interests.
Once a user selects a data stream, for example by selecting a corresponding
link
from web browser A 164, ad management sever 158 creates a list of targeted
advertisements
which will replace a break for an individual user, and causes the player on
the user's
corresponding PC 12 to switch to those advertisements instead of the "live"
content stream.
As discussed above, the targeted ads are selected based on the content
profile, the user's
profile, and advertisement criteria.
CPU 10 preferably provides a number of functions relating to the execution of
Zo break support functions, including receiving an advance stream re-director
(ASX) request,
receiving fetch requests, receiving load data requests, determining that a
time interval has
been reached to retrieve further break information from OIP server 146,
determining that the
time interval has been reached before a scheduled break is to occur and
determining that the
time interval has been reached without receiving an ASX file request from PC
12. CPU 10
is preferably responds to each request independently and is able to handle
multiple concurrent
requests for each event from different user devices.
The request for an ASX file comes from a media player, such as media player A
150 in the case of a single media implementation or media player B 152 in the
case of a
multiple media player implementation 165. The ASX file contains the list of
advertisements to
z o be streamed to PC 12 during a break. In particular, an ASX file is
typically an extended mark-
up language (XML) file arranged using a known set of instruction types which
controls the
sequencing of streams played by media player A 150 and media player B 152.
Although this
aspect of the invention preferably implements advertisement list transmission
using the
standard ASX format, it is contemplated that any suitable format and
technology can be used
25 to retrieve an identification file comprising the list of advertisements to
be requested and
played during a break. The list of advertisements includes the storage
locations of the listed
advertisements in advertisement content database 26.
Upon receiving an ASX file request, CPU 10 constructs the ASX file based on
the user's profile information as received from profile server 156 and
advertisement
3 o management server 158. The operation of profile server 156 and
advertisement management
server 158 are described in detail below. The ASX file includes an entry for
every
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advertisement to be played together with a URL comprised of the website
address for a web
page related to the streaming advertisement.
CPU 10 also responds to fetch requests transmitted by media player A 150.
Media player A 150, or some other software application executing on PC 12
operates to
allow a user to request more information for an advertisement playing or
played, preferably by
providing an HTML link which the user can select. Selecting this link
generates a fetch
request which is transmitted to CPU 10. CPU 10 then responds to PC 12 by using
the website
address in the fetch request to launch web browser C 154 and directing web
browser C 154 to
the corresponding website. In addition, CPU 10 preferably notes the user's
request to
to advertisement management server 158 for future advertisement targeting and
accounting
purposes.
Upon receipt by media player A 150 of an "open event" message providing
notice that a break is forthcoming, media player A 150 notifies CPU 10 that a
break is
anticipated. CPU 10 notifies advertisement management server 158 to select one
or more ads
appropriate for the corresponding user's profile. A plurality of ads or other
content can be
selected such that the total break time interval will be occupied with
taxgeted advertisements
and content.
CPU 10 preferably notifies ad management server 158 of the upcoming break
to obtain the list of targeted ads so CPU 10 can create the ASX file which
will be requested by
a o andlor sent to media player B 152. In the case where the time interval has
been reached
without receiving the ASX file request from media player B 152, PC 12 (and the
corresponding user) and the user identification data are deactivated such that
CPU 10 and the
other servers discontinue delivery of the requested data stream and ad stream
to PC 12. This
can occur, for example, where the user has shut down media player A 150 or a
communication
a5 interruption has occurred between PC 12 and the communication network.
Profile server 156 responds to requests by CPU 10 by providing profile
information thereto. Profile server 156 attempts to gather information about
users' likes and
preferences, preferably by tracking websites visited by the user and what
links they select or
from existing profile data pertaining to the user found in user profile
database 28. Profile
3 o server technologies are known. The data gathered by profile server 156 can
be stored therein
or can be transferred to user profile database 28.
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Ad management server 158 preferably determines the actual advertisements
which will be streamed to the corresponding PC 12 based on the user's profile
and the
marketing criteria stored in advertiser or marketing criteria database 24. For
example,
advertisement management server 158 can select advertisements based on a
demographic
keyword such as might be found in user profile database 28, track
advertisement requests,
quantities and frequencies of play, duration of the advertisements, play
dates, day parts etc. In
addition, ad management server 158 supports an association with a URL such as
that used to
support the fetch request with each advertisement. Ad management server 158
preferably
includes the ability to generate reports such as reports by advertiser, agency
or content stream.
to
Although certain types of advertisement management applications are known, it
is preferred that ad management server 158 as implemented in the present
invention be
arranged to include functions which accept submissions via the Internet, allow
on-line payment
for advertisements and be integrated to provide ad management user system 160,
ad stream
i5 server 142 and ad content database 26 functionality.
Advertising management user system 160 is a computing platform which
includes an interface by which advertisements are loaded into the present
invention. Ad
management user system 160 allows an administrator to enter marketing criteria
for a
corresponding ad and includes executable programmatic code which encodes the
2o advertisement as a data stream for storage on advertising content database
26 for subsequent
delivery by advertising stream server 142. The interface provided to the
administrator by ad
management user system 160 is preferably a web browser interface. As noted
above, the
actual encoded advertisement is transmitted to, and stored on, advertisement
content database
26, while the corresponding criteria are transmitted to, and stored on,
advertiser marketing
~ s criteria database 24.
It is noted that the advertisement content is not limited to audio or
audio/video
content, and is not linnited merely to a commercial message. The advertisement
can include
content in the form of uniform resource locators, executable programmatic code
such as Java
code and the like, which enables the user to communicate with the advertiser.
Further, the
3 o advertisement can include supplementary content, such as a comedic
message, to be played
within an advertising break. The communication between the user and the
advertiser can
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effectuate a sale of the advertiser's goods or services and/or can contain
data which identifies
the user to the advertiser, but is not so limited.
Stream database 162 preferably includes a list of those content data streams
available to a particular user. For example, stream database 162 can include a
list of streams
available to that particular user, perhaps based on geographic location,
profile, point of user
access etc. The stream list is preferably provided to web browser 164 in the
form of hypertext
mark-up language (HTML) page data for easy viewing and selection. Far each
stream, stream
database 162 preferably stores the stream name, broadcast frequency of the
stream, an
identifying slogan, the URL of the stream, for example, the webcasting service
URL address,
to the URL of the corresponding broadcast station website, the genre of the
content provided by
the station, the geographic location of the station, a contact name, a contact
e-mail address
and password, if appropriate, for the content provider's OIP server 146.
Further, although FIG. 4 shows separate web browser A 164, web browser B
166 and web browser C 154, these web browsers can be (a) separately executing
instances of
the web browser software; (b) different web browser applications; or (c)
multiple windows
executing under a single web browser application.
An example of a user's interaction with the system according to the aspect of
the invention depicted in FIG. 4 is described with reference to FIG. 5.
Upon establishing contact with a website or other interface which provides a
ao list of available streams from which the user can select, for example as
retrieved and displayed
by web browser A 164, the user selects a desired content stream in block 200.
The selection is
transmitted to CPU 10 and invokes media player A 150 and media player B 152 on
PC 12, for
example, via an ASX script file. Media player invocation is shown in block
202. This can also
be done, as described above, via the response packet which activates the
user's media
players) and which provides uniform resource locators directing PC 12 to
selected content
and uniform resource locators directing users device to the system advertising
subsystems at
block 106.
Media player A 150 initiates a session with content server 140 which transmits
the content stream, preferably as an ASF stream, including break marks to
media player 150 as
3 o shown in block 204. Media player A 150 then plays the content stream as
shown in block
206.
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As previously discussed, the content stream includes "open event" messages, or
the like, indicating that a break is upcoming and specifies the duration of
the break. Media
player A 150 detects the upcoming break in block 208 and notifies media player
B 152 which
requests an ASX file, or the like, from CPU 10 as shown in block 210. CPU 10
queries ad
management server 158 for a list of targeted advertisements based on a
matching of the user's
profile with the advertisement criteria, creates the ASX file and sends it to
media player B 152.
Media player B 152 requests an advertisement indicated in the ASX file from
advertisement
stream server 142 (or the streaming can be automated via other servers such as
ad
management server 158). Media player B 152 preferably begins to buffer, but
not play, the
i o advertisement as shown in block 212.
Upon receipt of the event message in data stream 148 indicating the arrival of
the break as shown in block 214, media player A 150 switches reproduction and
playback to
the user from data stream 148 to the advertisement data stream sent by
advertisement stream
server 142 as shown in block 216 or notifies media player B 152 to play and
invokes the mute
function of media player A 150 thereby suspending play. At some point during
or after the
advertisement is being played by media player B 152, the user may want to view
a webpage for
the product or service, etc., corresponding to the played advertisement. As
shown by decision
block 218, the user can make a fetch request which causes the requested page
to be loaded by
web browser C 154 as shown in block 220.
a o In the case where more than one advertisement will play, as determined by
ad
management server 158 based on the duration of the break, the process reverts
to buffer
advertisement block 212 as shown by decision block 222. In the case where no
additional
advertisement is to play, such as where the break is over a,nd has been fully
occupied by
targeted advertisements, media player B 152 ceases to play back and media
player A 150 again
a5 commences play back of content stream 148 as shown by block 206.
Although the period during which the advertising content is played is
described
above as being introduced by one or more messages such as an "open event"
message, it is
contemplated that the advertising period within the content stream can be
detected in other
ways, such as by detecting that the content stream includes an advertisement
or detecting a
3 o silent period within the content stream. The duration of the advertisement
or the silent period
in the content stream can be determined and an advertisements) for the
advertising data
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stream selected based on the detected duration. The length can be detected,
for example, by
delaying the play back of content stream.
The process described by FIG. 5 continues until the user terminates the
session
by closing media player A 150 and/or media player B 152, losing connectivity
with a server,
etc.
Although the operation of this aspect of the invention as shown in FIG. 5 is
described with reference to the specific servers presented in FIG. 4, it
should be noted that the
implementation of this aspect of the present invention is not so limited. It
is contemplated that
any server arrangement which can perform the steps identified in FIG. S can be
used.
to This aspect of the present invention advantageously allows the content
server
to be separated from the ad stream server by allowing the user's PC to switch
between the
requested content and the targeted advertisements. This arrangement
advantageously allows
streaming content to be provided from a near real-time server, including a
content server
which incorporates untargeted advertisements or a blank duration of time for
the inclusion of
15 an advertisement within its data stream. By detecting upcoming
advertisement breaks in the
content stream, the present invention provides substantial flexibility for how
the targeted
advertisements are presented to the user.
For example, an audio only content data stream offered by content server 140
can be augmented with a multimedia advertisement stream from advertisement
stream server
z o 142 and presented on PC 12 to the user and vice-versa. In addition, the
advertisements can
advantageously be arranged such that multiple, short, targeted advertisements
can be
presented to the user, along with supplemental content even where content
stream 148
actually contains a smaller number of lengthy advertisements.
In addition, the present arrangement advantageously allows the user to visit a
as website while receiving the content/advertisement data streams. This allows
a user to retrieve
product and service information while their interest is still fresh. This
arrangement can lead to
a higher rate of impulse sales for the advertising vendor.
The above-described aspect of the present invention is described with respect
to dual media
players 150 and 152 executing on PC 12 in which media players 1 SO and 152
switch between
3 o a content stream and an advertising data stream based on the receipt of
particular instructions
embedded in the content stream. It is also contemplated that the present
invention can be
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implemented by executing a single instance of a media player 150 on PC 12
sequentially
playing advertising data streams and content streams.
In the arrangement in which two instances of a media player are invoked on PC
12 such that one instance, media player A 150, plays the content stream and,
interacting with
executable programmatic code within web browser B 166 such as Java code, the
second media
player, media player B 152, begins queuing an advertisement data stream. As
such, the
executable programmatic code coordinates communication between the two media
players,
Upon receipt of an appropriate instruction, the first media player
discontinues play of the
content stream and the second media player begins playing the advertisement
data stream.
to Upon completion of the advertisement break, the first media player
continues content stream
play.
In the alternative, the second media player can itself monitor the content
stream
and begin queuing and/or playing the advertisement stream upon receipt of the
appropriate
instructions(s) without the aid of web browser B 166. Upon completion of the
advertisement
i5 break, the first media player continues playing the content stream. Of
course, there is no limit
to the quantity of media player instantiations which can be used, subject to
the capability of PC
12 to accommodate those instantiations.
Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular
embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses
will become
a o apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the
present invention be
limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended
claims.
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