Online game advertising system
In one embodiment an online game advertising system provides an architecture for enabling the definition, sales, distribution, and management of interactive advertisements, sponsorships, and placements that appear within an online video game as part of the game experience or during idle load, wait, and pause screens. For example, in a race car game, when a driver pulls in for a pit stop, the engine oil brand that the game player may choose may be defined as locations for advertisements or product placements for real life engine oils and game publishers and advertisers may manage what specific advertisements to place in these locations.
1 - 53 . (canceled)
54 . A method for managing player interaction with add-on components presented in association with at least one gaming program executing at least one player device, the method comprising:
retrieving at least one presentation rule associated with the add-on components, wherein at least one of the add-on components is associated with advertising, and wherein the at least one presentation rule represents one or more criteria used to determine how, where, and/or when the add-on components will be presented in association with the at least one gaming program; and
applying the retrieved at least one presentation rule to manage player interaction with the add-on components.
55 . The method of claim 54 wherein the at least one presentation rule is stored as metadata in a database.
56 . The method of claim 54 wherein the retrieving is performed, at least in part, by the at least one gaming program.
57 . The method of claim 54 wherein the retrieving is performed at least in part, at an add-on management component that is remote from the at least one gaming program.
58 . The method of claim 54 wherein the applying is performed, at least in part, by the at least one gaming program.
59 . The method of claim 54 wherein the applying is performed at least in part, at an add-on management component that is remote from the at least one gaming program.
60 . The method of claim 54 wherein the at least one presentation rule is established by at least one advertiser that uses the add-on components to display advertisements in association with the at least one gaming program.
61 . The method of claim 54 wherein the at least one presentation rule is established by at least one game publisher that publishes the at least one gaming program.
62 . The method of claim 54 wherein the at least one presentation rule is based on one or more game environment variables selected from the group consisting of: player geographic location, player skill level, points that a game player has achieved through prior or current game play, the number of times a game player has viewed an advertisement, a specific theme or genre of a current level of a game, and a presence or existence of one or more specified game objects, game characters, game weapons, game equipment, and/or game items.
63 . The method of claim 54 wherein the at least one presentation rule is based on one or more game environment variables relating to previous game actions of a game player, a game character, and/or a game object.
64 . The method of claim 54 wherein the at least one presentation rule includes a rule based on a combination of timing requirements and player characteristic requirements.
65 . The method of claim 54 wherein the at least one presentation rule includes a rule based on an actual game player profile matching requirements of a preferred game player profile.
66 . The method of claim 54 wherein the at least one presentation rule includes a rule based on a game player meeting specified game performance or skill requirements.
67 . The method of claim 54 further comprising:
providing a presentation rule definition interface, wherein the presentation rule definition interface allows a game publisher, a game advertiser, or another entity to define the at least one presentation rule.
68 . The method of claim 54 wherein the at least one presentation rule governs a location in a game that one or more add-on components associated with a specified campaign are presented, a time frame associated with the presentation of the one or more add-on components associated with the campaign, and a sequence that advertisements associated with the campaign are to be presented in association with the one or more add-on components.
69 . The method of claim 54 wherein the at least one presentation rule includes a rule that a player must have accumulated a specified number of points before being presented with an add-on component comprising a specified advertisement.
70 . The method of claim 54 wherein the at least one presentation rules includes a rule that a player must be a certain age before being presented with an add-on component comprising a specified advertisement.
71 . The method of claim 54 wherein the at least one presentation rule includes a rule that an add-on component can only be presented during specified time intervals.
72 . The method of claim 54 wherein the at least one presentation rule includes a rule than an add-on component can only be presented upon the occurrence of a specified sequence of actions occurring during game play.
73 . The method of claim 54 wherein the at least one presentation rule includes a rule that controls display contents of an add-on component based on a characteristic of the game player, wherein a first version of display content is displayed when the game player possesses the characteristic, and wherein a second version of display content is displayed when the game player does not possess the characteristic.
74 . The method of claim 54 wherein the at least one presentation rule includes a rule that controls display contents of a beverage can add-on component based on an over-twenty-one age characteristic of the game player, wherein alcoholic beverage-related display content is displayed in a case that the game player satisfies the over-twenty-one age characteristic, and wherein non-alcoholic beverage-related display content is displayed in a case that the game player does not satisfy the over-twenty-one age characteristic.
75 . A system for managing player interaction with interchangeable content components presented in association with at least one gaming program executing at least one player device, the system comprising:
means for retrieving at least one presentation rule associated with the interchangeable content components, wherein at least one of the interchangeable content components is associated with advertising, and wherein the at least one presentation rule represents one or more criteria used to determine how, where, and/or when the interchangeable content components will be presented in association with the at least one gaming program; and
means for applying the retrieved at least one presentation rule to manage player interaction with the interchangeable content components.
76 . A computer-readable medium containing a data structure, the data structure comprising:
information defining an interchangeable content component for a game, wherein the interchangeable content component allows for advertising within the game, and wherein the information includes:
executable or interpretable programming code defining the interchangeable content component so it can be presented in the game during game play; and
wherein the add-on component is configured to be presented in the game as an update to an existing game object or display in accordance with one or more presentation rules that allow for a selection of the interchangeable content component for presentation based on to demographic information about a game player or conditions occurring while a game is played.