SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF RECOMMENDING THE DELIVERY OF ADVERTISEMENTS
Systems and methods for recommending that a business deliver an advertising message to an individual make use of information about the individual's activity on a telephony system. The information about the individual's activity on the telephony system can indicate that the individual is in communication with certain types of businesses. The information can also indicate the timing of those communications. This information is used to recommend that similar businesses send advertising messages to the individual. The information can also be used to recommend that the advertising messages be delivered at certain times.
1 . A method of recommending the delivery of an advertising message, comprising:
analyzing a user's communications activity on a telephony system to identify at least one communications activity pattern; and
recommending to a business that an advertising message be delivered to the user based on the identified communications activity pattern.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the analyzing step comprises determining a first type of businesses to which the user has sent communications or from which the user has received communications, and wherein the recommending step comprises recommending that an advertising message be delivered to the user from a business that is the same or similar to the first type of business.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the analyzing step further comprises determining a timing of when the user has received incoming communications from the first type of business or when the user has sent outgoing communications to the first type of business, and wherein the recommending step comprises recommending that an advertising message be delivered to the user based on the determined timing.
4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising obtaining information about the user's movements from a mobile telephony device associated with the user, and wherein the recommending step comprises recommending that an advertising message be delivered to the user based on the obtained information about the user's movements.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the analyzing step comprises determining a timing of when the user has received incoming communications or when the user has sent outgoing communications, and wherein the recommending step comprises recommending that an advertising message be delivered to the user based on the determined timing.
6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising obtaining information about the user's movements from a mobile telephony device associated with the user, and wherein the recommending step comprises recommending that an advertising message be delivered to the user based on the obtained information about the user's movements.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the step of obtaining information about the user's movements comprises identifying at least one of the user's common movement paths, and wherein the recommending step comprises recommending that an advertising message be delivered to the user from a businesses located along at least one of the user's common movement paths.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of recommending to a business that an advertising message be delivered to the user does not divulge to the business the identity of the user.
9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising delivering an advertising message to the user in response to instructions received from a business.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of analyzing a user's communications activity comprises:
determining identifiers associated with the user's communications activity; and
determining at least one type of businesses to which the user has sent a communication or from which the user has received a communication based on the determined identifiers.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the identifiers are telephone numbers.
12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the step of determining identifiers comprises extracting identifiers from transcriptions of voicemail messages left for the user.
13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the step of determining identifiers comprises extracting identifiers from transcriptions of telephone conversations that the user has conducted over the telephony system.
14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the step of determining identifiers comprises extracting identifiers from incoming e-mail messages that the user has received or outgoing e-mail messages that the user has sent.
15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the step of determining identifiers comprises extracting identifiers from incoming text messages that the user has received or outgoing text messages that the user has sent.
16 . A system for recommending the delivery of an advertising message, comprising:
means for analyzing a user's communications activity on a telephony system to identify at least one communications activity pattern; and
means for recommending to a business that an advertising message be delivered to the user based on the identified communications activity pattern.
17 . A system for recommending the delivery of an advertising message, comprising:
an analyzing unit that analyzes a user's communications activity on a telephony system to identify at least one communications activity pattern; and
an advertising recommendation unit that recommends to a business that an advertising message be delivered to the user based on the identified communications activity pattern.
18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the analyzing unit determines a first type of businesses to which the user has sent communications or from which the user has received communications, and wherein the advertising recommendation unit recommends that an advertising message be delivered to the user from a business that is the same or similar to the first type of business.
19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the analyzing unit also determines a timing of when the user has received incoming communications from the first type of business or when the user has sent outgoing communications to the first type of business, and wherein the advertising recommendation unit recommends that an advertising message be delivered to the user based on the determined timing.
20 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the analyzing unit obtains information about the user's movements from a mobile telephony device associated with the user, and wherein the advertising recommendation unit recommends that an advertising message be delivered to the user based on the obtained information about the user's movements.
21 . The system of claim 20 , wherein analyzing unit identifies at least one of the user's common movement paths, and wherein the advertising recommendation unit recommends that an advertising message be delivered to the user from a businesses located along at least one of the user's common movement paths.
22 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the advertising recommendation unit does not divulge to the business the identity of the user.
23 . The system of claim 22 , further comprising an advertising delivery unit that delivers an advertising message to the user in response to instructions received from the business.
24 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the analyzing unit determines identifiers associated with the user's communications activity, and determines at least one type of businesses to which the user has sent a communication or from which the user has received a communication based on the determined identifiers.
25 . The system of claim 24 , wherein the analyzing unit determines the identifiers by extracting the identifiers from transcriptions of voicemail messages left for the user.
26 . The system of claim 24 , wherein the analyzing unit determines the identifiers by extracting the identifiers from transcriptions of telephone conversations that the user has conducted over the telephony system.
27 . The system of claim 24 , wherein the analyzing unit determines the identifiers by extracting the identifiers from incoming e-mail messages that the user has received or outgoing e-mail messages that the user has sent.
28 . The system of claim 24 , wherein the analyzing unit determines the identifiers by extracting the identifiers from incoming text messages that the user has received or outgoing text messages that the user has sent.