Patent Application

App. No. 11/400,469

Abstract

Claims (110)

1 . An advertisement system for providing an advertisement impression in response to each advertisement request received from each of a plurality of advertisement delivery systems, the advertisement system comprising:

a placement database storing a plurality of instances of advertisement content, each instance being stored in association with a subject matter category, rendering factors, and a financial parameter;

a distribution system coupled to the placement database for:

receiving each advertisement request, the advertisement request comprising a channel identifier and at least one query parameter, and

returning an advertisement impression that includes an instance of advertisement content that:

i) is stored in association with a subject matter category meeting selection criteria determined from the query parameters;

ii) is stored in association with rendering factors that correspond to the rendering type parameters, the rendering parameters being one of rendering parameters selected from a group of rendering parameters consisting of: i) rendering type parameters associated with the channel identifier; ii) rendering parameters included in the impression request; and iii) rendering parameters derived from the query parameters; and

iii) is stored in association with a financial parameter meeting financial parameter selection criteria, the financial parameter defining an amount payable by the advertiser upon the occurrence of an assessment event associated with rendering the instance of advertisement content.

2 . The advertisement system of claim 1 ,

further comprising a channel database associating rendering type parameters with each of a plurality of channel identifiers; and

the distribution object returns an advertisement impression that includes an instance of advertisement content that is stored in association with rendering factors that correspond to the rendering type parameters by looking up, in the channel database, the rendering type parameters stored in association with the channel identifier of the impression request.

3 . The advertisement system of claim 2 ,

wherein the placement database further stores, in association with each instance of advertisement content, response data defining a manner in which a consumer is to respond to the instance of advertisement content; and

the distribution object returns an advertisement impression that includes response instructions which i) are compatible with an advertisement rendering media associated with the channel identifier; and ii) direct consumer response to the instance of advertisement content as defined by the response data.

4 . The advertisement system of claim 3 , wherein:

the response instructions include a response object in a rendering format compatible with the advertisement rendering media; and

the response instructions include instructions for rendering of the response object upon consumer interaction with the instance of advertisement content.

5 . The advertisement system of claim 3 , wherein the response instructions include a URL of the advertisement system which uniquely maps to a record in a response database which includes a re-direct URL to a landing page of a web site of the advertiser.

6 . The advertisement system of claim 3 , wherein the response instructions include a telephone number for establishing a PSTN connection to a call center of the advertiser.

7 . The advertisement system of claim 1 ,

the distribution object returns an advertisement impression that includes an instance of advertisement content that is stored in association with rendering factors that correspond to both i) rendering type parameters stored in association with the channel identifier of the impression request; and ii) rendering type parameters included in the impression request.

8 . The advertisement system of claim 7 ,

wherein the placement database further stores, in association with each instance of advertisement content, response data defining a manner in which a consumer is to respond to the instance of advertisement content; and

the distribution object returns an advertisement impression that includes response instructions which i) are compatible with an advertisement rendering media associated with the channel identifier; and ii) direct consumer response to the instance of advertisement content as defined by the response data.

9 . The advertisement system of claim 8 , wherein:

the response instructions include a response object in a rendering format compatible with the advertisement rendering media; and

the response instructions include instructions for rendering of the response object upon consumer interaction with the instance of advertisement content.

10 . The advertisement system of claim 8 , wherein the response instructions include a URL of the advertisement system which uniquely maps to a record in a response database which includes a re-direct URL to a landing page of a web site of the advertiser.

11 . The advertisement system of claim 9 , wherein the response instructions include a telephone number for establishing a PSTN connection to a call center of the advertiser.

12 . The advertisement system of claim 1 ,

wherein the placement database further stores, in association with each instance of advertisement content, response data defining a manner in which a consumer is to respond to the instance of advertisement content; and

the distribution object returns an advertisement impression that includes response instructions which i) are compatible with an advertisement rendering media associated with the channel identifier; and ii) direct consumer response to the instance of advertisement content as defined by the response data.

13 . The advertisement system of claim 12 , wherein:

the response instructions include a response object in a rendering format compatible with the advertisement rendering media; and

the response instructions include instructions for rendering of the response object upon consumer interaction with the instance of advertisement content.

14 . The advertisement system of claim 12 , wherein the response instructions include a URL of the advertisement system which uniquely maps to a record in a response database which includes a re-direct URL to a landing page of a web site of the advertiser.

15 . The advertisement system of claim 12 , wherein the response instructions include a telephone number for establishing a PSTN connection to a call center of the advertiser.

16 . The advertisement system of claim 1 , further comprising an auto rendering object:

receiving an instance of advertisement content; and

generating an auto rendered instance of advertisement content from the instance of advertisement content the auto rendered instance of advertisement content being in a rendering format different than the rendering format of the instance of advertisement content;

17 . The advertisement system of claim 16 , wherein the auto rendering object further:

defines, in the placement database, the auto rendered instance of advertisement content in association with:

the same subject matter category as the instance of advertisement content; and

rendering factors associated with the rendering format of the auto rendered instance of advertisement content.

18 . The advertisement system of claim 16 , wherein:

the auto rendering object includes a text to speech rendering object which, in response to input of a text string portion of the instance of advertisement content, renders a spoken representation of the text string as an audio file, the audio file being the auto rendered instance of advertisement content.

19 . The advertisement system of claim 16 , wherein:

the auto rendering object includes a motion video rendering object which, in response to input of a text string portion of the instance of advertisement content, renders motion video of an animated character performing an audio representation of the text string as a video file, the video file being the auto rendered instance of advertisement content.

20 . The advertisement system of claim 16 , wherein the auto rendering object further:

receives rendering format requirements in conjunction with receiving the instance of advertisement content;

auto rendered instance of advertisement content is compatible with the rendering format requirements;

provides the auto rendered instance of advertisement content to the distribution system for inclusion in an advertisement impression returned in response to receiving an advertisement request including rendering parameters associated with the rendering format requirements.

21 . The method of claim 1 , wherein, if similar instances of advertisement content, each in a different rendering format, correspond to the rendering parameters, selecting the instance of advertisement content that corresponds to both:

i) rendering parameters selected from a group of rendering parameters consisting of: a) rendering type parameters associated with the channel identifier; and b) rendering parameters included in the impression request; and

ii) additional rendering parameters derived from the query parameters.

22 . A method for operating an advertisement system for providing an advertisement impression in response to each advertisement request received from each of a plurality of advertisement delivery systems, the method comprising:

storing, in a placement database storing a plurality of instances of advertisement content, each instance being stored in association with a subject matter category, rendering factors, and a financial parameter;

receiving each advertisement request, the advertisement request comprising a channel identifier and at least one query parameter, and

returning an advertisement impression that includes an instance of advertisement content that:

i) is stored in association with a subject matter category meeting selection criteria determined from the query parameters;

ii) is stored in association with rendering factors that correspond to the rendering type parameters, the rendering parameters being one of rendering parameters selected from a group of rendering parameters consisting of: i) rendering type parameters associated with the channel identifier; ii) rendering parameters included in the impression request; and iii) rendering parameters derived from the query parameters; and

iii) is stored in association with a financial parameter meeting financial parameter selection criteria, the financial parameter defining an amount payable by the advertiser upon the occurrence of an assessment event associated with rendering the instance of advertisement content.

23 . The method of claim 22 ,

further comprising, associating, in a channel database, rendering type parameters with each of a plurality of channel identifiers; and

returning an advertisement impression that includes an instance of advertisement content comprises:

looking up, in the channel database, the rendering type parameters stored in association with the channel identifier of the impression request; and

selecting an instance of advertisement content stored in association with rendering factors that correspond to the rendering type parameters.

24 . The method of claim 23 ,

further comprising storing, in association with each instance of advertisement content in the placement database further stores, response data defining a manner in which a consumer is to respond to the instance of advertisement content; and

returning an advertisement impression that includes an instance of advertisement content comprises returning an advertisement impression that includes response instructions which i) are compatible with an advertisement rendering media associated with the channel identifier; and ii) direct consumer response to the instance of advertisement content as defined by the response data.

25 . The method of claim 24 , wherein:

the response instructions include a response object in a rendering format compatible with the advertisement rendering media; and

the response instructions include instructions for rendering of the response object upon consumer interaction with the instance of advertisement content.

26 . The method of claim 24 , wherein the response instructions include a URL of the advertisement system which uniquely maps to a record in a response database which includes a re-direct URL to a landing page of a web site of the advertiser.

27 . The method of claim 24 , wherein the response instructions include a telephone number for establishing a PSTN connection to a call center of the advertiser.

28 . The method of claim 22 , wherein returning an advertisement impression further includes selecting an instance of advertisement content that is stored in association with rendering factors that correspond to both i) rendering type parameters stored in association with the channel identifier of the impression request; and ii) rendering type parameters included in the impression request.

29 . The method of claim 28 ,

further comprising storing, in association with each instance of advertisement content in the placement database further stores, response data defining a manner in which a consumer is to respond to the instance of advertisement content; and

returning an advertisement impression that includes an instance of advertisement content comprises returning an advertisement impression that includes response instructions which i) are compatible with an advertisement rendering media associated with the channel identifier; and ii) direct consumer response to the instance of advertisement content as defined by the response data.

30 . The method of claim 29 , wherein:

the response instructions include a response object in a rendering format compatible with the advertisement rendering media; and

the response instructions include instructions for rendering of the response object upon consumer interaction with the instance of advertisement content.

31 . The method of claim 29 , wherein the response instructions include a URL of the advertisement system which uniquely maps to a record in a response database which includes a re-direct URL to a landing page of a web site of the advertiser.

32 . The method of claim 29 , wherein the response instructions include a telephone number for establishing a PSTN connection to a call center of the advertiser.

33 . The method of claim 22 ,

further comprising storing, in association with each instance of advertisement content in the placement database further stores, response data defining a manner in which a consumer is to respond to the instance of advertisement content; and

returning an advertisement impression that includes an instance of advertisement content comprises returning an advertisement impression that includes response instructions which i) are compatible with an advertisement rendering media associated with the channel identifier; and ii) direct consumer response to the instance of advertisement content as defined by the response data.

34 . The method of claim 33 , wherein:

the response instructions include a response object in a rendering format compatible with the advertisement rendering media; and

the response instructions include instructions for rendering of the response object upon consumer interaction with the instance of advertisement content.

35 . The method of claim 33 , wherein the response instructions include a URL of the advertisement system which uniquely maps to a record in a response database which includes a re-direct URL to a landing page of a web site of the advertiser.

36 . The method of claim 33 , wherein the response instructions include a telephone number for establishing a PSTN connection to a call center of the advertiser.

37 . The method of claim 22 , further comprising an auto rendering object:

receiving an instance of advertisement content; and

generating an auto rendered instance of advertisement content from the instance of advertisement content the auto rendered instance of advertisement content being in a rendering format different than the rendering format of the instance of advertisement content;

38 . The method of claim 37 , wherein the auto rendering object further:

defines, in the placement database, the auto rendered instance of advertisement content in association with:

the same subject matter category as the instance of advertisement content; and

rendering factors associated with the rendering format of the auto rendered instance of advertisement content.

39 . The method of claim 37 , wherein:

the auto rendering object includes a text to speech rendering object which, in response to input of a text string portion of the instance of advertisement content, renders a spoken representation of the text string as an audio file, the audio file being the auto rendered instance of advertisement content.

40 . The method of claim 37 , wherein:

the auto rendering object includes a motion video rendering object which, in response to input of a text string portion of the instance of advertisement content, renders motion video of an animated character performing an audio representation of the text string as a video file, the video file being the auto rendered instance of advertisement content.

41 . The method of claim 37 , wherein the auto rendering object further:

receives rendering format requirements in conjunction with receiving the instance of advertisement content;

auto rendered instance of advertisement content is compatible with the rendering format requirements;

provides the auto rendered instance of advertisement content to the distribution system for inclusion in an advertisement impression returned in response to receiving an advertisement request including rendering parameters associated with the rendering format requirements.

42 . The method of claim 22 , wherein, if similar instances of advertisement content, each in a different rendering format, correspond to the rendering parameters, selecting the instance of advertisement content that corresponds to both:

i) rendering parameters selected from a group of rendering parameters consisting of: a) rendering type parameters associated with the channel identifier; and b) rendering parameters included in the impression request; and

ii) additional rendering parameters derived from the query parameters.

Assignments (10)