System and method for displaying advertisements responsive to EPG information
View Patent ↗A system and method for utilizing data stored in an EPG database for modifying advertisement information. In this way, a service provider and/or an advertiser can transmit a single advertisement to all the television stations regardless of their geographic location and other user specific information, and need not re-transmit the advertisement even if there is a change in the show's program description. When the advertisement is displayed, the correct updated information is retrieved from the EPG database and inserted into the advertisement. In one aspect, the present invention describes a method for modifying an advertisement in an EPG comprising the steps of: storing television schedule information in a first database; storing advertisement information in a second database; incorporating a portion of the television schedule information into a portion of the advertisement information to form a modified advertisement; and displaying the modified advertisement on a screen.
1. A method for causing advertisements to be displayed with an electronic program guide (EPG) comprising:
automatically monitoring a plurality of user interactions with user equipment;
transmitting information related to the automatically monitored interactions to a remote computer;
receiving, from the remote computer, a list of recommended programs that the user is likely to be interested in, wherein the recommended programs are identified for inclusion in the list based on user characteristics determined from the transmitted information;
generating for display with the EPG a plurality of program listings corresponding to the list of recommended programs;
receiving an advertisement matching the transmitted information; and
causing the received advertisement to be displayed with the EPG simultaneously with the plurality of program listings.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein causing the received advertisement to be displayed with the EPG simultaneously with the plurality of program listings comprises causing the received advertisement to be displayed in a panel advertisement window adjacent to the plurality of program listings.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein causing the received advertisement to be displayed with the EPG simultaneously with the plurality of program listings comprises causing the received advertisement to be displayed within the plurality of program listings.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein at least a portion of the plurality of program listings are arranged in a plurality of rows, and the received advertisement is displayed between two of the rows.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the plurality of rows each has a vertical height, and the received advertisement is displayed with substantially the same vertical height as at least one of the rows.
6. The method of claim 4 wherein the plurality of rows each has a horizontal width, and the received advertisement is displayed with substantially the same horizontal width as at least one of the rows.
7. The method of claim 4 wherein the plurality of rows each has a horizontal width and a vertical height, and the received advertisement is displayed with substantially the same horizontal width as at least one of the rows and substantially the same vertical height as at least one of the rows.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein generating for display with the EPG the plurality of program listings comprises generating for display time, channel, and date information for each of the plurality of program listings.
9. The method of claim 1 further comprising activating the displayed advertisement to invoke a function.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the automatically monitored user interactions comprise user selections of program themes;
the user characteristics comprise a favorite program theme;
the received advertisement is associated with the favorite program theme; and
the plurality of program listings correspond to programs associated with the favorite program theme.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user characteristics comprise demographic information determined based on the automatically monitored user interactions.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the recommended programs are identified for inclusion in the list based on a comparison of the user characteristics determined from the transmitted information and user characteristics of a second user.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the received advertisement is additionally selected based on the list of recommended programs.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the received advertisement, the recommended programs and the user characteristics are associated with a particular subject matter.
15. An electronic program guide (EPG) system for causing advertisements to be displayed comprising:
control circuitry configured to:
automatically monitor a plurality of user interactions with user equipment;
transmit information related to the automatically monitored interactions to a remote computer;
receive, from the remote computer, a list of recommended programs that the user is likely to be interested in, wherein the recommended programs are identified for inclusion in the list based on user characteristics determined from the transmitted information;
generate for display with the EPG a plurality of program listings corresponding to the list of recommended programs;
receive an advertisement matching the transmitted information; and
cause the received advertisement to be displayed with the EPG simultaneously with the plurality of program listings.
16. The system of claim 15 wherein the received advertisement is simultaneously displayed in a panel advertisement window adjacent to the plurality of program listings.
17. The system of claim 15 wherein the received advertisement is simultaneously displayed within the plurality of program listings.
18. The system of claim 17 wherein at least a portion of the plurality of program listings are arranged in a plurality of rows, and the received advertisement is displayed between two of the rows.
19. The system of claim 18 wherein the plurality of rows each has a vertical height, and the received advertisement is displayed with substantially the same vertical height as at least one of the rows.
20. The system of claim 18 wherein the plurality of rows each has a horizontal width, and the received advertisement is displayed with substantially the same horizontal width as at least one of the rows.
21. The system of claim 18 wherein the plurality of rows each has a horizontal width and a vertical height, and the received advertisement is displayed with substantially the same horizontal width as at least one of the rows and substantially the same vertical height as at least one of the rows.
22. The system of claim 15 wherein each of the plurality of program listings comprises time, channel, and date information.
23. The system of claim 15 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to invoke a function in response to receiving a user selection of the displayed advertisement.
24. The system of claim 15 , wherein:
the automatically monitored user interactions comprise user selections of program themes;
the user characteristics comprise a favorite program theme;
the received advertisement is associated with the favorite program theme; and
the plurality of program listings correspond to programs associated with the favorite program theme.
25. The system of claim 15 , wherein the user characteristics comprise demographic information determined based on the automatically monitored user interactions.
26. The system of claim 15 , wherein the recommended programs are identified for inclusion in the list based on a comparison of the user characteristics determined from the transmitted information and user characteristics of a second user.
27. The system of claim 15 , wherein the received advertisement is additionally selected based on the list of recommended programs.
28. The system of claim 15 , wherein the received advertisement, the recommended programs and the user characteristics are associated with a particular subject matter.