Matching ads to content and users for time and space shifted media network

1 . A method of matching ads with content and with content users comprising:

obtaining respective ad campaign content association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers;

obtaining respective content attributes for content provided by a plurality of content providers;

applying respective ad campaign content association rules to respective content attributes to determine respective ad campaign rules based ad/content matches;

obtaining respective ad campaign user association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers;

obtaining respective user profile information provided by a plurality of content users; and

applying respective ad campaign user association rules to respective user profile information to determine respective ad campaign rules based user profile/ad matches.

2 . The method of claim 1 further including:

obtaining respective content provider ad campaign association rules provided by a plurality of content providers;

obtaining respective ad campaign attributes from a plurality of ad campaign providers; and

applying respective content provider ad campaign association rules to respective ad campaign attributes to determine respective content rules based ad/content matches.

3 . The method of claim 1 or 2 ,

wherein respective user profile information includes user acceptability rules; and further including:

obtaining respective ad campaign attributes from a plurality of ad campaign providers; and

applying respective user acceptability rules to respective ad campaign attributes to determine respective user rules based ad/user profile matches.

4 . The method of claim 1 ,

wherein obtaining respective ad campaign content association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers includes retrieving the rules from a storage repository;

wherein obtaining respective content attributes for content provided by a plurality of content providers includes retrieving the attributes from a storage repository;

wherein obtaining respective ad campaign user association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers includes retrieving the rules from a storage repository; and

wherein obtaining respective user profile information provided by a plurality of content users includes retrieving the user profile information from a storage repository.

5 . The method of claim 1 ,

wherein obtaining respective ad campaign content association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers includes obtaining the rules over the web;

wherein obtaining respective content attributes for content provided by a plurality of content providers includes obtaining the attributes over the web;

wherein obtaining respective ad campaign user association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers includes obtaining the rules over the web; and

wherein obtaining respective user profile information provided by a plurality of content users includes obtaining the user profile information over the web.

6 . A method of matching ads with content and with content users comprising:

obtaining respective ad campaign content association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers;

obtaining respective content attributes for content provided by a plurality of content providers;

applying respective ad campaign content association rules to respective content attributes to determine respective ad campaign rules based ad/content matches;

obtaining respective ad campaign user association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers;

obtaining respective user profile information provided by a plurality of content users;

applying respective ad campaign user association rules to respective user profile information to determine respective ad campaign rules based user profile/ad matches;

obtaining a user profile/content combination; and

identifying at least one ad that is determined in the ad campaign rules based ad/content matches as matched to content of the obtained user profile/content combination;

identifying at least one ad that is determined in the ad campaign rules based user profile/ad matches as matched to a user profile of the obtained user profile/content combination;

selecting at least one ad that is both determined in the ad campaign rules based ad/content matches to be matched to the content of the obtained user profile/content combination and is determined in the ad campaign rules based user profile/ad matches as matched to a user profile of the obtained user profile/content combination.

7 . The method of claim 6 further including:

obtaining respective content provider ad campaign association rules provided by a plurality of content providers;

obtaining respective ad campaign attributes from a plurality of ad campaign providers;

applying respective content provider ad campaign association rules to respective ad campaign attributes to determine respective content rules based ad/content matches; and

identifying at least one ad that is determined in the content rules based ad/content matches as matched to content of the obtained user profile/content combination;

wherein selecting involves selecting at least one ad that is determined in the ad campaign rules based ad/content matches to be matched to the content of the obtained user profile/content combination and is determined in the ad campaign rules based user profile/ad matches as matched to a user profile of the obtained user profile/content combination and is determined in the content rules based ad/content matches to be matched to the content of the obtained user profile/content combination.

8 . The method of claim 6 further including:

wherein respective user profile information includes user acceptability rules;

obtaining respective ad campaign attributes from a plurality of ad campaign providers;

applying respective user acceptability rules to respective ad campaign attributes to determine respective user rules based ad/user profile matches;

identifying at least one ad that is determined in the content rules based ad/user profile matches as matched to content of the obtained user profile/content combination;

wherein selecting involves selecting at least one ad that is determined in the ad campaign rules based ad/content matches to be matched to the content of the obtained user profile/content combination and is determined in the ad campaign rules based user profile/ad matches as matched to a user profile of the obtained user profile/content combination and is determined in the user rules based ad/user profile matches to be matched to the user profile of the obtained user profile/content combination.

9 . The method of claim 6 further including:

obtaining respective content provider ad campaign association rules provided by a plurality of content providers;

obtaining respective ad campaign attributes from a plurality of ad campaign providers;

applying respective content provider ad campaign association rules to respective ad campaign attributes to determine respective content rules based ad/content matches;

identifying at least one ad that is determined in the content rules based ad/content matches as matched to content of the obtained user profile/content combination;

wherein respective user profile information includes user acceptability rules;

obtaining respective ad campaign attributes from a plurality of ad campaign providers;

applying respective user acceptability rules to respective ad campaign attributes to determine respective user rules based ad/user profile matches;

identifying at least one ad that is determined in the content rules based ad/user profile matches as matched to content of the obtained user profile/content combination;

wherein selecting involves selecting at least one ad that,

is determined in the ad campaign rules based ad/content matches to be matched to the content of the obtained user profile/content combination, and

is determined in the ad campaign rules based user profile/ad matches as matched to a user profile of the obtained user profile/content combination, and

is determined in the content rules based ad/content matches to be matched to the content of the obtained user profile/content combination, and

is determined in the user rules based ad/user profile matches to be matched to the user profile of the obtained user profile/content combination.

10 . A method of matching ads with content and with content users comprising:

obtaining respective ad campaign content association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers;

obtaining respective content attributes for content provided by a plurality of content providers;

applying respective ad campaign content association rules to respective content attributes to determine respective ad campaign rules based ad/content matches;

obtaining respective content provider ad campaign association rules provided by a plurality of content providers;

obtaining respective ad campaign attributes from a plurality of ad campaign providers;

applying respective content provider ad campaign association rules to respective ad campaign attributes to determine respective content rules based ad/content matches;

resolving ad campaign rules based content/ad matches and content rules based ad/content matches to determine mutual ad/content matches;

obtaining respective ad campaign user association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers;

obtaining respective user profile information provided by a plurality of content users;

applying respective ad campaign user association rules to respective user profile information to determine respective ad campaign rules based user profile/ad matches;

obtaining a user profile/content combination; and

identifying at least one ad that is determined in the mutual ad/content matches as matched to content of the obtained user profile/content combination;

identifying at least one ad that is determined in the ad campaign rules based user profile/ad matches as matched to a user profile of the obtained user profile/content combination;

selecting at least one ad that is both determined in the mutual ad campaign/content matches to be matched to the content of the obtained user profile/content combination and is determined in the ad campaign rules based user profile/ad matches as matched to a user profile of the obtained user profile/content combination.

11 . A method of matching ads with content and with content users comprising:

obtaining respective ad campaign user association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers;

obtaining respective user attributes for provided by a plurality of users;

applying respective ad campaign user association rules to respective user attributes to determine respective ad campaign rules based ad/user profile matches;

obtaining respective user acceptability rules provided by a plurality of users;

obtaining respective ad campaign attributes from a plurality of ad campaign providers;

applying respective user acceptability rules to respective ad campaign attributes to determine respective user rules based ad/user profile matches;

resolving ad campaign rules based ad/user profile matches and user rules based ad/user profile matches to determine mutual ad/user profile matches;

obtaining respective ad campaign content association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers;

obtaining respective content attributes from a plurality of content providers;

applying respective ad campaign provider content rules to respective content attributes to determine respective ad campaign rules based ad/content matches;

obtaining a user profile/content combination;

identifying at least one ad that is determined in the mutual ad/user profile matches as matched to a user profile of the obtained user profile/content combination;

identifying at least one ad that is determined in the ad campaign rules based ad/content matches as matched to content of the obtained user profile/content combination; and

selecting at least one ad that is both’ determined in the mutual ad/user profile mutual matches to be matched to a user profile of the obtained user profile/content combination and is determined in the ad campaign rules based ad/content matches as matched to content of the obtained user profile/content combination.

12 . A method of matching ads with content and with content users comprising:

obtaining respective ad campaign content association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers;

obtaining respective content attributes for content provided by a plurality of content providers;

applying respective ad campaign content association rules to respective content attributes to determine respective ad campaign rules based ad/content matches;

obtaining respective content provider ad campaign association rules‘provided by a plurality of content providers;

obtaining respective ad campaign attributes from a plurality of ad campaign providers;

applying respective content provider ad campaign association rules to respective ad campaign attributes to determine respective content rules based ad/content matches;

resolving ad campaign rules based content/ad matches and content rules based ad/content matches to determine mutual ad/content matches;

obtaining respective ad campaign user association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers;

obtaining respective user attributes for provided by a plurality of users;

applying respective ad campaign user association rules to respective user attributes to determine respective ad campaign rules based ad/user profile matches;

obtaining respective user acceptability rules provided by a plurality of users;

obtaining respective ad campaign attributes from a plurality of ad campaign providers;

applying respective user acceptability rules to respective ad campaign attributes to determine respective user rules based ad/user profile matches;

resolving ad campaign rules based ad/user profile matches and user rules based ad/user profile matches to determine mutual ad/user profile matches;

obtaining a profile/content combination;

identifying at least one ad that is determined in the mutual ad/content matches as matched to content of the obtained user profile/content combination;

identifying at least one ad that is determined in the mutual ad/user profile matches as matched to content of the obtained user profile/content combination;

selecting at least one ad that is both determined in the mutual ad campaign/content matches to be matched to the content of the obtained user profile/content combination and is determined in the in the mutual ad/user profile mutual matches to be matched to a user profile of the obtained user profile/content combination.

13 . A system to match ads with content and with content users comprising:

means for obtaining respective ad campaign content association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers;

means for obtaining respective content attributes for content provided by a plurality of content providers;

means for applying respective ad campaign content association rules to respective content attributes to determine respective ad campaign rules based ad/content matches;

means for obtaining respective ad campaign user association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers;

means for obtaining respective user profile information provided by a plurality of content users; and

means for applying respective ad campaign user association rules to respective user profile information to determine respective ad campaign rules based user profile/ad matches.

14 . The system of claim 13 further including:

means for obtaining respective content provider ad campaign association rules provided by a plurality of content providers;

means for obtaining respective ad campaign attributes from a plurality of ad campaign providers; and

means for applying respective content provider ad campaign association rules to respective ad campaign attributes to determine respective content rules based ad/content matches.

15 . The system of claim 13 or 14 ,

wherein respective user profile information includes user acceptability rules; and further including:

means for obtaining respective ad campaign attributes from a plurality of ad campaign providers; and

means for applying respective user acceptability rules to respective ad campaign attributes to determine respective user rules based ad/user profile matches.

16 . The method of claim 13 ,

wherein the means for obtaining respective ad campaign content association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers retrieves the rules from a storage repository;

wherein the means for obtaining respective content attributes for content provided by a plurality of content providers retrieves the attributes from a storage repository;

wherein the means for obtaining respective ad campaign user association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers retrieves the rules from a storage repository; and

wherein the means for obtaining respective user profile information provided by a plurality of content users retrieves the user profile information from a storage repository.

17 . The method of claim 13 ,

wherein the means for obtaining respective ad campaign content association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers obtains the rules over the web;

wherein means for obtaining respective content attributes for content provided by a plurality of content providers obtains the attributes over the web;

wherein means for obtaining respective ad campaign user association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers obtains the rules over the web; and

wherein means for obtaining respective user profile information provided by a plurality of content users obtains the user profile information over the web.

18 . An article of manufacture that includes a computer readable medium encoded with code to cause a computer system to perform a process that includes:

obtaining respective ad campaign content association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers;

obtaining respective content attributes for content provided by a plurality of content providers;

applying respective ad campaign content association rules to respective content attributes to determine respective ad campaign rules based ad/content matches;

obtaining respective ad campaign user association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers;

obtaining respective user profile information provided by a plurality of content users; and

applying respective ad campaign user association rules to respective user profile information to determine respective ad campaign rules based user profile/ad matches.

19 . The article of claim 18 , the process further including:

obtaining respective content provider ad campaign association rules provided by a plurality of content providers;

obtaining respective ad campaign attributes from a plurality of ad campaign providers; and

applying respective content provider ad campaign association rules to respective ad campaign attributes to determine respective content rules based ad/content matches.

20 . The article of claim 18 or 19 ,

wherein respective user profile information includes user acceptability rules; and the process further including:

obtaining respective ad campaign attributes from a plurality of ad campaign providers; and

applying respective user acceptability rules to respective ad campaign attributes to determine respective user rules based ad/user profile matches.

21 . The article of claim 18 ,

wherein obtaining respective ad campaign content association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers includes retrieving the rules from a storage repository;

wherein obtaining respective content attributes for content provided by a plurality of content providers includes retrieving the attributes from a storage repository;

wherein obtaining respective ad campaign user association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers includes retrieving the rules from a storage repository; and

wherein obtaining respective user profile information provided by a plurality of content users includes retrieving the user profile information from a storage repository.

22 . The article of claim 18 ,

wherein obtaining respective ad campaign content association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers includes obtaining the rules over the web;

wherein obtaining respective content attributes for content provided by a plurality of content providers includes obtaining the attributes over the web;

wherein obtaining respective ad campaign user association rules provided by a plurality of ad campaign providers includes obtaining the rules over the web; and

wherein obtaining respective user profile information provided by a plurality of content users includes obtaining the user profile information over the web.