Granted Patent B2

US 7,865,187 · App. 12/701,968 · Granted Jan 4, 2011

Abstract

Claims (181)

1. A computer-implemented method for targeted delivery of a sponsored content item of a first or second sponsor to a plurality of mobile communication facilities whose respective users have a common usage history characteristic statistically modeled as a profile associated with the respective users, wherein the profile has associated therewith one or more keywords, wherein advertising of the sponsored content item relates to the one or more keywords, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) presenting one or more keywords to the first sponsor and the second sponsor;

(b) receiving a bid from the first sponsor, wherein the bid includes:

(i) a selection of the one or more keywords; and

(ii) a financial consideration offered for delivery of the sponsored content item of the first sponsor to the users associated with the selected one or more keywords;

(c) receiving a bid from the second sponsor, wherein the bid includes:

(i) a selection of the same one or more keywords as the first sponsor; and

(ii) a financial consideration offered for delivery of the sponsored content item of the second sponsor to the users associated with the selected one or more keywords;

(d) attributing a priority to the delivery of the sponsored content item of the first sponsor over the delivery of the sponsored content item of the second sponsor to the users associated with the selected one or more keywords based upon a determination that a yield derived from the financial consideration of the first sponsor is greater than a yield derived from the financial consideration of the second sponsor; and

(e) delivering the sponsored content item of the first sponsor instead of the sponsored content item of the second sponsor to the plurality of mobile communication facilities whose respective users have the profile associated with them that has the selected one or more keywords associated therewith.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of presenting a mobile subscriber characteristic to the first and second sponsor.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the at least one other mobile subscriber characteristic includes a device type.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the at least one other mobile subscriber characteristic includes a geographic region.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the usage history characteristic is selected from the list consisting of:

(a) streaming media history;

(b) stored cookies;

(c) RSS feeds;

(d) summaries of automated email subscriptions;

(e) site visit history;

(f) call history;

(g) clickthrough histories; and

(h) phone call histories.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the usage history characteristic is selected from the list consisting of:

(a) shopping habits of the user as recorded through use of the mobile communication facility;

(b) payment and billing history associated with the user of the mobile communication facility;

(c) duration of on-line interactions by the user from using the mobile communication facility;

(d) number of on-line interactions of the user via the mobile communication facility;

(e) usage patterns of the mobile communication facility dependent on location or time of day of use thereof;

(f) content accessed by the user via the mobile communication facility; and

(g) previous search queries entered by the user via the mobile communication facility.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the shopping habits are one or more of:

(a) products viewed or purchased;

(b) purchase amounts;

(c) purchase dates; and

(d) elapsed time between a product viewing and a product purchase.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of presenting includes presenting through a web interface.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of presenting includes presenting through a client program.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of presenting includes presenting through an application programming interface.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sponsored content item comprises a sponsored link.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sponsored content item comprises a sponsored call.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sponsored content item is a ringtone.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sponsored content item is an audio file.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sponsored content item is a video file.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sponsored content item is an image file.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sponsored content item is text.

18. The method of claim 2 , wherein the mobile subscriber characteristic is a demographic selected from the list consisting of:

(a) age, age-range, or birthdate of the user;

(b) gender of the user;

(c) race of the user;

(d) religion of the user;

(e) marital status of the user;

(f) area code of the phone number assigned to the mobile communication facility;

(g) zip code of the user;

(h) home address of the user;

(i) work address of the user;

(j) billing address of the user;

(k) type of credit card the user uses to pay for service for the mobile communication facility;

(l) birthplace of the user;

(m) employer of the user;

(n) employment position of the user; and

(o) income bracket of the user.

19. A system for targeted delivery of a sponsored content item of a first or second sponsor to a plurality of mobile communication facilities whose respective users have a common usage history characteristic statistically modeled as a profile associated with the respective users, wherein the profile has associated therewith one or more keywords, wherein advertising of the sponsored content item relates to the one or more keywords, the system comprising one or more computers having computer readable mediums having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of the one or more computers, causes the system to perform the steps of:

(a) presenting one or more keywords to the first sponsor and the second sponsor;

(b) receiving a bid from the first sponsor, wherein the bid includes:

(i) a selection of the one or more keywords; and

(ii) a financial consideration offered for delivery of the sponsored content item of the first sponsor to the users associated with the selected one or more keywords;

(c) receiving a bid from the second sponsor, wherein the bid includes:

(i) a selection of the same one or more keywords as the first sponsor; and

(ii) a financial consideration offered for delivery of the sponsored content item of the second sponsor to the users associated with the selected one or more keywords;

(d) attributing a priority to the delivery of the sponsored content item of the first sponsor over the delivery of the sponsored content item of the second sponsor to the users associated with the selected one or more keywords based upon a determination that a yield derived from the financial consideration of the first sponsor is greater than a yield derived from the financial consideration of the second sponsor; and

(e) delivering the sponsored content item of the first sponsor instead of the sponsored content item of the second sponsor to the plurality of mobile communication facilities whose respective users have the profile associated with them that has the selected one or more keywords associated therewith.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the instructions cause the system to further perform the step of presenting a mobile subscriber characteristic to the first and second sponsor.

21. The system of claim 20 , wherein the at least one other mobile subscriber characteristic includes a device type.

22. The system of claim 20 , wherein the at least one other mobile subscriber characteristic includes a geographic region.

23. The system of claim 19 , wherein the usage history characteristic is selected from the list consisting of:

(a) streaming media history;

(b) stored cookies;

(c) RSS feeds;

(d) summaries of automated email subscriptions;

(e) site visit history;

(f) call history;

(g) clickthrough histories; and

(h) phone call histories.

24. The system of claim 20 , wherein the usage history characteristic is selected from the list consisting of:

(a) shopping habits of the user as recorded through use of the mobile communication facility;

(b) payment and billing history associated with the user of the mobile communication facility;

(c) duration of on-line interactions by the user from using the mobile communication facility;

(d) number of on-line interactions of the user via the mobile communication facility;

(e) usage patterns of the mobile communication facility dependent on location or time of day of use thereof;

(f) content accessed by the user via the mobile communication facility; and

(g) previous search queries entered by the user via the mobile communication facility.

25. The system of claim 24 , wherein the shopping habits are one or more of:

(a) products viewed or purchased;

(b) purchase amounts;

(c) purchase dates; and

(d) elapsed time between a product viewing and a product purchase.

26. The system of claim 19 , wherein the step of presenting includes presenting through one of a web interface, a client program, and an application programming interface.

27. The system of claim 19 , wherein the sponsored content item is selected from the list consisting of:

(a) a sponsored link;

(b) a sponsored call;

(c) a ringtone;

(d) an audio file;

(e) a video file;

(f) an image file; and

(g) text.

28. The system of claim 20 , wherein the mobile subscriber characteristic is a demographic selected from the list consisting of:

(a) age, age-range, or birthdate of the user;

(b) gender of the user;

(c) race of the user;

(d) religion of the user;

(e) marital status of the user;

(f) area code of the phone number assigned to the mobile communication facility;

(g) zip code of the user;

(h) home address of the user;

(i) work address of the user;

(j) billing address of the user;

(k) type of credit card the user uses to pay for service for the mobile communication facility;

(l) birthplace of the user;

(m) employer of the user;

(n) employment position of the user; and

(o) income bracket of the user.

29. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by a processor of a computer, causes the processor to target delivery of a sponsored content item of a first or second sponsor to a plurality of mobile communication facilities whose respective users have a common usage history characteristic statistically modeled as a profile associated with the respective users, wherein the profile has associated therewith one or more keywords, wherein advertising of the sponsored content item relates to the one or more keywords, by performing the steps of:

(a) presenting one or more keywords to the first sponsor and the second sponsor;

(b) receiving a bid from the first sponsor, wherein the bid includes:

(i) a selection of the one or more keywords; and

(ii) a financial consideration offered for delivery of the sponsored content item of the first sponsor to the users associated with the selected one or more keywords;

(c) receiving a bid from the second sponsor, wherein the bid includes:

(i) a selection of the same one or more keywords as the first sponsor; and

(ii) a financial consideration offered for delivery of the sponsored content item of the second sponsor to the users associated with the selected one or more keywords;

(d) attributing a priority to the delivery of the sponsored content item of the first sponsor over the delivery of the sponsored content item of the second sponsor to the users associated with the selected one or more keywords based upon a determination that a yield derived from the financial consideration of the first sponsor is greater than a yield derived from the financial consideration of the second sponsor; and

(e) delivering the sponsored content item of the first sponsor instead of the sponsored content item of the second sponsor to the plurality of mobile communication facilities whose respective users have the profile associated with them that has the selected one or more keywords associated therewith.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 29 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to perform the step of presenting a mobile subscriber characteristic to the first and second sponsor.

31. The computer-readable medium of claim 30 , wherein the at least one other mobile subscriber characteristic includes a device type.

32. The computer-readable medium of claim 30 , wherein the at least one other mobile subscriber characteristic includes a geographic region.

33. The computer-readable medium of claim 29 , wherein the usage history characteristic is selected from the list consisting of:

(a) streaming media history;

(b) stored cookies;

(c) RSS feeds;

(d) summaries of automated email subscriptions;

(e) site visit history;

(f) call history;

(g) clickthrough histories; and

(h) phone call histories.

34. The computer-readable medium of claim 30 , wherein the usage history characteristic is selected from the list consisting of:

(a) shopping habits of the user as recorded through use of the mobile communication facility;

(b) payment and billing history associated with the user of the mobile communication facility;

(c) duration of on-line interactions by the user from using the mobile communication facility;

(d) number of on-line interactions of the user via the mobile communication facility;

(e) usage patterns of the mobile communication facility dependent on location or time of day of use thereof;

(f) content accessed by the user via the mobile communication facility; and

(g) previous search queries entered by the user via the mobile communication facility.

35. The computer-readable medium of claim 34 , wherein the shopping habits are one or more of:

(a) products viewed or purchased;

(b) purchase amounts;

(c) purchase dates; and

(d) elapsed time between a product viewing and a product purchase.

36. The computer-readable medium of claim 29 , wherein the step of presenting includes presenting through one of a web interface, a client program, and an application programming interface.

37. The computer-readable medium of claim 29 , wherein the sponsored content item is selected from the list consisting of:

(a) a sponsored link;

(b) a sponsored call;

(c) a ringtone;

(d) an audio file;

(e) a video file;

(f) an image file; and

(g) text.

38. The computer-readable medium of claim 30 , wherein the mobile subscriber characteristic is a demographic selected from the list consisting of:

(a) age, age-range, or birthdate of the user;

(b) gender of the user;

(c) race of the user;

(d) religion of the user;

(e) marital status of the user;

(f) area code of the phone number assigned to the mobile communication facility;

(g) zip code of the user;

(h) home address of the user;

(i) work address of the user;

(j) billing address of the user;

(k) type of credit card the user uses to pay for service for the mobile communication facility;

(l) birthplace of the user;

(m) employer of the user;

(n) employment position of the user; and

(o) income bracket of the user.

Assignments (10)