System, method and computer program for selecting an advertisement broker to provide an advertisement

1 . A system for enabling use of a plurality of advertisement brokers in order to obtain advertisements for use by a service provider, comprising:

an advertisement management system arranged to obtain data about a user requesting a service from the service provider and/or about pricing relating to advertisements provided by the advertisement brokers,

said advertisement management system being further arranged to enable selection of one of the advertisement brokers to provide an advertisement to be associated with the service being requested by the user in consideration of the data about the user and/or the advertisement brokers.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein said advertisement management system includes at least one database which stores data corresponding to at least one of a profile of the user, the user's behavior, the user's likelihood of responding to a certain type of advertisement, a user's preference for a particular type of service provider, and a user's assessment of a particular type of advertisement.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein said advertisement management system is arranged to provide the data to the service provider and enable the service provider to select one of the advertisement brokers to provide an advertisement to be associated with the service being requested by the user in consideration of the data about the user and/or the advertisement brokers, and obtain an advertisement from the selected advertisement broker.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein said advertisement management system is further arranged to select one of the advertisement brokers to provide an advertisement to be associated with the service being requested by the user in consideration of the data about the user and/or the advertisement brokers, and to direct the service provider to obtain an advertisement from the selected advertisement broker.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the advertisement brokers have the same or overlapping advertisement inventory.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the service provider is a provider of mobile services to mobile terminals.

7 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising an interface provided by each of the advertisement brokers which enables each advertiser to reserve, program, and/or book an advertising campaign with the advertisement broker and provide preferences relating to the delivery of the advertisements.

8 . The system of claim 7 , further comprising at least one database for storing the advertisements and preferences of each advertiser's advertising campaign.

9 . The system of claim 7 , further comprising a respective database associated with each advertisement broker for storing advertisements and preferences of each advertiser's advertising campaign with that advertisement broker.

10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein said advertisement management system is arranged to obtain data about pricing relating to advertisements provided by the advertisement brokers including revenue generated by association of an advertisement with the requested service and is further arranged to enable selection of one of the advertisement brokers to provide an advertisement to be associated with the service being requested by the user in consideration of the potential revenue to be generated by association of the advertisement.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the data about the revenue generated by association of an advertisement with the requested service is dependent on data about the user, said advertisement management system thus being arranged to enable selection of one of the advertisement brokers to provide an advertisement to be associated with the service being requested by the user in consideration of both data about the user and the potential revenue to be generated by association of the advertisement.

12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the requested service is a web or WAP page including at least one space for an advertisement, said advertisement management system being arranged to enable insertion of an advertisement into each of the at least one space such that a modified web or WAP page is deliverable to the user including the original web or WAP page and an advertisement.

13 . A system for enabling use of a plurality of advertisement brokers in order to obtain advertisements for use by a service provider, comprising:

means for storing data about users of terminals and/or about pricing relating to advertisements provided by the advertisement brokers;

means for determining that a user of a terminal is requesting a service from the service provider; and

means for enabling selection of one of the advertisement brokers to provide an advertisement to be associated with the service being requested by the user as determined by the determining means in consideration of the data about the user and/or the advertisement brokers stored in the means for storing data.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the means for storing data are arranged to store data corresponding to at least one of a profile of the user, the user's behavior, the user's likelihood of responding to a certain type of advertisement, a user's preference for a particular type of service provider, and a user's assessment of a particular type of advertisement.

15 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the selection enabling means are arranged to provide the data to the service provider and enable the service provider to select one of the advertisement brokers to provide an advertisement to be associated with the service being requested by the user in consideration of the data about the user and/or the advertisement brokers, the service provider including means for obtaining an advertisement from the selected advertisement broker.

16 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the selection enabling means are arranged to select one of the advertisement brokers to provide an advertisement to be associated with the service being requested by the user in consideration of the data about the user and/or the advertisement brokers, further comprising means for directing the service provider to obtain an advertisement from the selected advertisement broker.

17 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the service provider is a provider of mobile services to mobile terminals.

18 . The system of claim 13 , further comprising interface means associated with each of the advertisement brokers for enabling each advertiser to reserve, program, and/or book an advertising campaign with the advertisement broker and provide preferences relating to the delivery of the advertisements.

19 . The system of claim 18 , further comprising advertisement broker data storing means for storing the advertisements and preferences of each advertiser's advertising campaign via the interface means of the advertisement broker.

20 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the means for storing data are arranged to store data about pricing relating to advertisements provided by the advertisement brokers including revenue generated by association of an advertisement with the requested service and the selection enabling means are arranged to enable selection of one of the advertisement brokers to provide an advertisement to be associated with the service being requested by the user in consideration of the potential revenue to be generated by association of the advertisement.

21 . The system of claim 20 , wherein the data about the revenue generated by association of an advertisement with the requested service is dependent on data about the user, the selection enabling means being arranged to enable selection of one of the advertisement brokers to provide an advertisement to be associated with the service being requested by the user in consideration of both data about the user and the potential revenue to be generated by association of the advertisement.

22 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the requested service is a web or WAP page including at least one space for an advertisement, further comprising means for generating a modified web or WAP page including the original content of the web or WAP page and the selected advertisement in the at least one space.

23 . A method for enabling use of a plurality of advertisement brokers in order to obtain advertisements for use by a service provider, comprising:

obtaining data about a user requesting a service from the service provider and/or about pricing relating to advertisements provided by the advertisement brokers; and

selecting one of the advertisement brokers to provide an advertisement to be associated with the service being requested by the user in consideration of the data about the user and/or the advertisement brokers.

24 . The method of claim 23 , further comprising:

providing the advertisement from the selected one of the advertisement brokers to the service provider; and

associating the advertisement into the service being provided by the service provider.

25 . The method of claim 24 , further comprising delivering the service with associated advertisement to the user.

26 . The method of claim 25 , wherein the service provider is an Internet service provider and the service is a web or WAP page which is deliverable to the user's mobile terminal.

27 . The method of claim 23 , wherein the selection of one of the advertisement brokers is performed by the service provider.

28 . The method of claim 27 , further comprising:

storing the data in a database of an advertisement management system; and

providing stored data to the service provider to enable the service provider to select one of the advertisement brokers based on the delivered data.

29 . The method of claim 27 , further comprising:

providing the advertisement from the advertisement broker selected by the service provider to the service provider; and

associating the advertisement into the service being provided by the service provider.

30 . The method of claim 23 , further comprising storing the data in a database of an advertisement management system, the selection of one of the advertisement brokers being performed by the advertisement management system.

31 . The method of claim 23 , further comprising enabling each advertiser to reserve, program, and/or book an advertising campaign with the advertisement broker and provide preferences relating to the delivery of the advertisements.

32 . The method of claim 23 , wherein the requested service is a web or WAP page including at least one space for an advertisement, further comprising:

inserting an advertisement from the selected advertisement broker into each of the at least one space such that a modified web or WAP page is deliverable to the user including the original web or WAP page and an advertisement.

33 . A method for enabling an advertiser to manage advertising campaigns with a plurality of advertisement brokers, comprising:

enabling the advertiser to reserve, program, and/or book an advertising campaign with each advertisement broker and provide preferences relating to the delivery of the advertisements;

obtaining data about a user requesting a service from a service provider and/or about pricing relating to advertisements provided by the advertisement brokers; and

selecting one of the advertisement brokers to provide an advertisement in consideration of the data about the user and/or the advertisement brokers.

34 . The method of claim 33 , further comprising enabling the advertiser to provide the same advertisements to a plurality of advertisement brokers such that the advertisement brokers have the same or overlapping advertisement inventory.

35 . The method of claim 33 , further comprising:

providing the advertisement from the selected one of the advertisement brokers to the service provider; and

associating the advertisement into the service being provided by the service provider.

36 . The method of claim 35 , further comprising delivering the service with associated advertisement to the user.

37 . The method of claim 36 , wherein the service provider is an Internet service provider and the service is a web or WAP page which is deliverable to the user's mobile terminal.

38 . The method of claim 33 , wherein the selection of one of the advertisement brokers is performed by the service provider.

39 . The method of claim 38 , further comprising:

storing the data in a database of an advertisement management system; and

providing stored data to the service provider to enable the service provider to select one of the advertisement brokers based on the delivered data.

40 . The method of claim 38 , further comprising:

providing the advertisement from the advertisement broker selected by the service provider to the service provider; and

associating the advertisement into the service being provided by the service provider.

41 . The method of claim 33 , further comprising storing the data in a database of an advertisement management system, the selection of one of the advertisement brokers being performed by the advertisement management system.

42 . The method of claim 33 , wherein the requested service is a web or WAP page including at least one space for an advertisement, further comprising:

inserting an advertisement into each of the at least one space such that a modified web or WAP page is deliverable to the user including the original web or WAP page and an advertisement.

43 . The method of claim 33 , further comprising storing the information about the advertising campaign in a respective database associated with each advertisement broker.

44 . A computer program embodied on computer-readable media and arranged to interface with a plurality of advertisement brokers in order to obtain advertisements for use by a service provider, the computer program being arranged to:

obtain and/or access data about a user requesting a service from the service provider and/or about pricing relating to advertisements provided by the advertisement brokers; and

select one of the advertisement brokers to provide an advertisement to be associated with the service being requested by the user in consideration of the data about the user and/or the advertisement brokers.

45 . The computer program of claim 44 , wherein the computer program is further arranged to:

direct the selected one of the advertisement brokers to provide the advertisement to the service provider; and

direct the service provider to associate the advertisement into the service being provided by the service provider.

46 . The computer program of claim 45 , wherein the computer program is further arranged to direct the service provider to deliver the service with associated advertisement to the user.

47 . The computer program of claim 46 , wherein the service provider is an Internet service provider and the service is a web or WAP page which is deliverable to the user's mobile terminal.

48 . The computer program of claim 44 , wherein the computer program is further arranged to interact with a database of an advertisement management system in which the data is stored.

49 . The computer program of claim 48 , wherein the computer program is resident at the advertisement management system

50 . The computer program of claim 44 , wherein the requested service is a web or WAP page including at least one space for an advertisement, the computer program being further arranged to receive the web or WAP page from the service provider, insert an advertisement from the selected advertisement broker into each of the at least one space and direct delivery of a modified web or WAP page to the user including the original web or WAP page and an advertisement.

51 . A system for enabling use of a plurality of service providers in order to provide services to users, comprising:

a management system arranged to obtain data about a user requesting a service and/or about pricing relating to the services provided by the service providers,

said management system being further arranged to enable selection of one of the service providers to provide a service to the user in consideration of the data about the user and/or the service providers.

52 . The system of claim 51 , wherein the requested service is information and the service providers are capable of providing the information in the form of a web or WAP page, the user being presented with the link for the web or WAP page of the selected one of the service providers.

53 . The system of claim 51 , wherein said management system is arranged to direct a variable link to the user to enable the user to obtain the requested service from the selected one of the service providers, the link being varied based on the selected one of the service providers.

54 . The system of claim 51 , wherein said management system includes at least one database which stores data corresponding to at least one of a profile of the user and a user's preference for a particular type of service provider.

55 . The system of claim 51 , wherein said management system is arranged to obtain data about revenue generated from providing services of the service providers to the users and is further arranged to enable selection of one of the service providers to provide the requested services to the user in consideration of the potential revenue to be generated from the selected service provider.

56 . The system of claim 55 , wherein the data about the revenue generated from providing services of the service providers to the users is dependent on data about the users, said management system thus being arranged to enable selection of one of the service providers to provide the requested service to the user in consideration of both data about the user and the potential revenue to be generated from the selected service provider

57 . The system of claim 51 , wherein said management system is further arranged to obtain data about a file size of a link to be provided by each of the service providers to the user to enable the user to obtain the requested service and to select one of the service providers to provide the requested service to the user in consideration of the potential revenue to be generated from the user accessing the link which varies as a function of the file size of the link.

58 . A system for enabling use of a plurality of service providers in order to provide services to users, comprising:

means for storing data about users of terminals and/or about pricing relating to the services provided by the service providers;

means for determining that a user of a terminal is requesting a service from a service provider; and

means for enabling selection of one of the service providers to provide a service to the user as determined by the determining means in consideration of the data about the user and/or the service providers stored in the means for storing data.

59 . The system of claim 58 , wherein the requested service is information and the service providers are capable of providing the information in the form of a web or WAP page, the user being presented with the link for the web or WAP page of the selected one of the service providers.

60 . The system of claim 58 , wherein the selection enabling means are arranged to direct a variable link to the user to enable the user to obtain the requested service from the selected one of the service providers, the link being varied based on the selected one of the service providers.

61 . The system of claim 58 , wherein the means for storing data are arranged to store data corresponding to at least one of a profile of the user and a user's preference for a particular type of service provider.

62 . The system of claim 58 , wherein the service provider is a provider of mobile services to mobile terminals.

63 . The system of claim 58 , wherein the means for storing data are arranged to store data about revenue generated from providing services of the service providers to the users and the selection enabling means are arranged to enable selection of one of the service providers to provide the requested service to the user in consideration of the potential revenue to be generated from the selected service provider.

64 . The system of claim 63 , wherein the data about the revenue generated from providing services of the service providers to the users is dependent on data about the users, the selection enabling means being arranged to enable selection of one of the service providers to provide the requested services to the user in consideration of both data about the user and the potential revenue to be generated from the selected service provider

65 . The system of claim 58 , wherein the means for storing data are further arranged to store data about a file size of a link to be provided by each of the service providers to the user to enable the user to obtain the requested service, the selection enabling means being arranged to select one of the service providers to provide the requested service to the user in consideration of the potential revenue to be generated from the user accessing the link which varies as a function of the file size of the link.

66 . A method enabling use of a plurality of service providers in order to provide services to users, comprising:

obtaining data about a user requesting a service and/or about pricing relating to the services provided by the service providers; and

selecting one of the service providers to provide a service to the user in consideration of the data about the user and/or the service providers.

67 . The method of claim 66 , wherein the service providers are Internet service providers and the service is a web or WAP page which is deliverable to the user's mobile terminal.

68 . The method of claim 66 , wherein the requested service is information and the service providers are capable of providing the information in the form of a web or WAP page, further comprising presenting the user with a link for the web or WAP page of the selected one of the service providers.

69 . The method of claim 66 , further comprising:

directing a variable link to the user to enable the user to obtain the requested service from the selected one of the service providers; and

varying the link based on the selected one of the service providers.

70 . The method of claim 66 , wherein the step of obtaining data comprises obtaining data about revenue generated from providing services of the service providers to the users, the step of selecting one of the service providers comprising selecting one of the service providers in consideration of the potential revenue to be generated from the selected service provider.

71 . The method of claim 70 , wherein the data about the revenue generated from providing services of the service providers to the users is dependent on data about the user, the step of selecting one of the service providers comprising selecting one of the service providers to provide the requested service to the user in consideration of both data about the user and the potential revenue to be generated from the selected service provider

72 . The method of claim 66 , further comprising obtaining data about a file size of a link to be provided by each of the service providers to the user to enable the user to obtain the requested service, the step of selecting one of the service providers comprising selecting one of the service providers to provide the requested service to the user in consideration of the potential revenue to be generated from the user accessing the link which varies as a function of the file size of the link.

73 . A computer program embodied on computer-readable media and arranged to interface with a plurality of service providers in order to provide services to users, the computer program being arranged to:

obtain and/or access data about a user requesting a service and/or about pricing relating to the services provided by the service providers; and

select one of the service providers to provide the requested service to the user in consideration of the data about the user and/or the service providers.

74 . The computer program of claim 73 , wherein the computer program is further arranged to direct the selected one of the service providers to provide the requested service to the user.

75 . The computer program of claim 74 , wherein the service provider is an Internet service provider and the service is a web or WAP page which is deliverable to the user's mobile terminal.