Abstract:
Advertising referral methods and systems allow a first user to refer advertisements of interest to other users, taking advantage of pre-existing social networks. A referral server may coordinate a referral by either receiving a referral message from the first user for forwarding to another user, or by receiving notification of the referral message. Information about the referral may be stored in a database. If another user accesses the referred advertisement, additional information may be received by the referral server and stored in the database. The first user may be credited with inducements based on the referred advertisement and whether or not another user accessed it.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to referring advertisements. More particularly, advertisements are forwarded by one consumer to another. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In today&#39;s information age, the concept of broadcast marketing via television and other mass media is being supplanted to some extent by newer forms of marketing. Perhaps most notable among these new advertising methods is the concept of viral marketing, which seeks to exploit existing social networks among individuals. If one individual receives an advertising message or advertisement that she feels is particularly clever or funny, or would be of interest to a friend, she may tell one or more members of her social network where to find it. At that point, the advertisement has gone “viral” and may be passed on to other individuals in an ever-expanding extended social network. Such marketing methods may be enabled in part by today&#39;s Internet, as well as by other public and proprietary electronic networks. 
     Ads broadcast using current technologies do not easily lend themselves to being virally marketed. If a viewer watching a television program sees an advertisement which he feels may be useful to a friend (e.g., car commercial for a friend who is car shopping), he can tell the friend directly about the advertisement, but the full impact of the ad&#39;s message may be lost. The viewer may be able to record the advertisement with a digital video recorder (DVR), computer, or even with a video or audio cassette recorder, but forwarding the recording may prove cumbersome. More than likely, the chance to forward the advertisement to the person who could have benefited will likely be lost. This may especially be true in a situation where the original viewer is not motivated to forward the advertisement other than the desire to help or amuse a friend. 
     SUMMARY 
     It should be appreciated that this Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. 
     Exemplary methods according to embodiments of the invention are for referring an advertisement from a first user to at least a second user. A first notification is received that an advertisement is to be forwarded to the second user. Information associated with the referral is stored, and may include identifiers of the advertisement, the users, and possible inducements credited to the first user. If the second user accesses the advertisement, then a second notification may be received, and information associated with the second notification is stored. 
     Exemplary systems are for referring an advertisement from a first user device to at least a second user device. An advertising serving device is capable of serving the advertisement to the first user device. A database serving device is capable of storing information associated with the referral, and a referral serving device is capable of receiving notification of the referral from the first user device, storing information associated with the referral in the database serving device, and if the second user device accesses the advertisement, receiving and storing information associated with the access. 
     According to other exemplary embodiments, methods are for referring an advertisement to a remote user. The advertisement is received via a packet-based network. A referring user inputs an instruction to refer the advertisement to the remote user and selects the remote user. A message including a reference to the advertisement is forwarded to the remote user. 
     Other apparatuses, systems, methods, and/or computer program products according to embodiments will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art upon review of the following drawings and Detailed Description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, and/or computer program products be included within this description, be within the scope of the present invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an example of a suitable computing environment in which advertisement referral module may execute; 
         FIG. 2  depicts an example of a system incorporating advertisement referral module; 
         FIGS. 3 through 5  depict examples of processes for referring an advertisement from a first user device to a second user device; and 
         FIG. 6  is a flow chart illustrating an example of a process for referring an advertisement from a first user device to a second user device. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following detailed description is directed to methods and systems for referring advertisements between users. In the following detailed description, references are made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and which are shown, by way of illustration, using specific embodiments or examples. Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals represent like elements through the several figures, aspects of the methods and systems provided herein will be described. 
       FIG. 1  and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment in which the invention may be implemented. While the invention will be described in the general context of program modules that execute in conjunction with an application program that runs on an operating system on a computer system, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention may also be implemented in combination with other program modules. 
     Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, and other types of structures that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices. 
     With reference to  FIG. 1 , embodiments of the invention may include a computing device, such as computing device  100 . In a basic configuration shown in  FIG. 1 , computing device  100  includes at least one processing unit  102  and memory  104 . Depending on the configuration of the computing device  100 , memory  104  may be volatile (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM)), non-volatile (e.g., Read-Only Memory (ROM), Flash, etc.), or some combination thereof. Memory  104  serves as a storage location for operating system  105 , one or more applications  106 , and may include program data  107 , as well as other programs. In one embodiment, applications  106  includes an advertisement referral module  120 , an application including similar logic, or any other set of instructions comprising such logic. It should be noted that the logic of advertisement referral module  120  may be distributed and/or shared across multiple computing devices. 
     Computing device  100  may include additional features and functionality other than the features shown within dashed-line box  108 . For example, computing device  100  may include additional data storage components, including both removable storage  109  (e.g., floppy disks, memory cards, compact disc (CD) ROMs, digital video discs (DVDs), external hard drives, universal serial bus (USB) key drives, etc.) and non-removable storage  110  (e.g., magnetic hard drives). 
     Computer storage media may include media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information, including computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Memory  104 , removable storage  109 , and non-removable storage  110  are all examples of computer storage media. Further examples of such media include RAM, ROM, electrically-erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, CD-ROM, DVD, cassettes, magnetic tape, and magnetic disks. Any such computer storage media may be accessed by components which are a part of computing device  100 , or which are external to computing device  100  and connected via a communications link (e.g., Bluetooth, USB, parallel, serial, infrared, etc.). Computing device  100  may also include input devices  112 , for example, a keyboard, mouse, digitizing pen, microphone, touchpad, touch-display, or any combination thereof. Output devices  114  may include, for example, displays, speakers, and printers. Additional forms of storage, input, and output devices may be utilized. 
     Computing device  100  may also include one or more communication connections  116  which allow the computing device  100  to communicate with other computing devices  118 , such as over a network (e.g., a local area network (LAN), the Internet, etc.). Communication media, in the form of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal, may be shared with and by device  100  via communication connection  116 . Modulated data signal may mean a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal, and may include a modulated carrier wave or other transport mechanism. Communication connection  116  may be comprised of hardware and/or software enabling either a wired (e.g., Ethernet, USB, Token Ring, modem, etc.) or wireless (e.g., WiFi, WiMax, cellular, acoustic, infrared, radio frequency (RF), etc.) communication conduit (or some combination thereof) with other computing devices  118 . 
     Turning now to  FIG. 2 , depicted is an example of a system incorporating advertisement referral module  120 , including several examples of embodiments of computing device  100 . Viewer  211  is watching his television  213 , which receives content via set top box  214 . Set top box  214  may be an embodiment of computing device  100 , including advertisement referral module  120 . Viewer  211  controls content using remote  212 . Content is received by set top box  214  via network  202 , and may be delivered to set top box  214  using a packet-based protocol such as Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). Content may additionally or alternatively be delivered via cable television, satellite, high-speed Internet, WiFi or WiMax wireless networks, and other content-delivery mediums. Regardless of delivery protocol or medium, advertisement referral module  120  executing on set top box  214  may distinguish between programs and advertisements being displayed on television  213 . Information accompanying advertisements may include an advertisement ID which can identify the information as an advertisement and uniquely identify the particular advertisement being displayed. 
     Viewer  211 , interacting with set top box  214  via remote  212 , may refer or forward an advertisement to one or more recipients  221 ,  231 . Viewer  211  may depress a button on remote  212 , causing set top box  214  to save information about the currently displayed advertisement. Set top box  214  may store the advertisement itself, or store an advertisement ID. Viewer  211  may either immediately, or at some later point, indicate his desire to forward or refer the advertisement to recipients  221 ,  231 . Viewer  211  may indicate his desire by pressing a button on remote  212 , touching the screen of television  213 , speaking a voice command, or otherwise indicating his desire to refer the advertisement. In response to receiving an indication to forward the advertisement, advertisement referral module  120  may present viewer  211  with options for referring the advertisement. Options may include, but are not limited to, selecting recipients from an address book, entering contact information for a new recipient, and adding an accompanying text, voice, or video message. Options may be input utilizing remote  212 , or any other input device, including, for example, a keyboard, a microphone, a camera, and so forth. 
     It should be noted that although viewer  211  is interacting with a network-connected set top box  214  attached to a television  213  using remote  212 , other computing devices  100  and configurations may be utilized for accessing and referring advertisements. Computing devices  100  may include a personal computer, a personal data assistant (PDA), a portable video or audio player, and any other similarly capable device. Devices do not need to be directly connected to network  202 , such as in the case of a portable video player. Instead, these devices must be capable of connecting at some future time to network  202 , either directly or through another connected device. In this fashion, referring devices that are disconnected when an advertisement referral is made can later connect and forward any referred advertisements. 
     Computing device  100  may forward referred advertisements directly to devices associated with recipients  221  and  231 , either as an attachment to a message, or as a forwarded reference (e.g., uniform resource locator (URL)) pointing to the advertisement content somewhere on network  202 . Network  202  may include one or more open or closed networks, including the Internet or an IPTV network provided by a service provider, such as a cable or telephone company. Network  202  may also include one or more wireless communications networks such as, but not limited to, a cellular network, an IEEE 802.11 network, and a Bluetooth® network. Network  202  may further include one or more wireline communications networks including, such as a telecommunications network, an Ethernet network, or a cable television network. Network  202  may include server  201 , represented here by a single machine, but which may be comprised of multiple server machines. Server  201  may stream IPTV content to viewer  211 . Network  202  may also include additional transmission, reception, and/or concentration points, including satellite receivers, modulators, routers, concentrators, multiplexers, and gateways. Network  202  may include facilities such as a telecommunications central office or a cable head end. 
     Server  201  may also handle referred advertisements, either receiving and forwarding messages including referrals, or merely receiving information about referred advertisements. When recipients  221 ,  231  receive a referred advertisement and access the advertisement by opening or playing it, server  201  may receive information about the access. Recipients  221 ,  231  may receive a notification that an advertisement has been referred by viewer  211 . Notification may come in the form of an email message, an instant message, a short message service (SMS) message, a multimedia message service (MMS) message, or any other messaging service or system. For recipient  221  using wireless device  222 , an email message or SMS message may include a URL providing a link to a location where the advertisement content may be stored on network  202 . Recipient  231  using display  232  may receive some form of on-screen notification, such as might be provided by an instant message. Recipient  231  may receive the advertisement content as an attachment to the message, an attachment which can be opened and accessed. 
     To encourage forwarding or referring of advertisements, viewer  211  may receive inducements to refer. Inducements may include, but are not limited to, discounts on IPTV service, discounts on products or services from the advertiser, loyalty program points for later redemption (e.g., frequent flyer miles), and other items of value. Server  201  may track information about referred advertisements and the viewers that forward them. Such tracking information may be stored and utilized to tally inducements for a viewer. Tracking information may also be available for use by advertisers and system providers for customer analysis and for the enhancement of future advertisement, products, and services. Such information may first be anonymized and/or aggregated to prevent private viewer information from being inappropriately shared with advertisers (unless a viewer has perhaps requested that the information be shared). 
     Turning now to  FIG. 3 , a process  300  for referring advertisements will now be described. Although shown as distinct functional blocks, advertisement content server  302 , referral server  301 , and tracking database  303  may reside on a single server machine, or components of each may reside on disparate server machines. Initially here, advertisement content server  302  serves an advertisement  304  to user  1  device  311 . Advertisement  304  may include a video commercial shown during the course of an IPTV program. Likewise, advertisement  304  may include an interstitial advertisement shown while a first user of device  311  fast forwards through a program, for example. Advertisement  304  may also include an audio advertisement played during an audio program on a digital audio device such as an MP3 player. Advertisement content server  302  may serve additional advertisement formats. 
     When the first user decides that an advertisement is worthy of referring to one or more friends, the user may so indicate and select a second user of user  2  device  321  to receive the referred advertisement. Device  311  may create a message  305 , for example an email, and attach advertisement  304  to the message. Message  305  may be forwarded to referral server  301  for tracking and forwarding. Upon receiving message  305 , referral server  301  may validate the message and store tracking information  307  in database  303 . Validation may include ensuring that the second user of user  2  device  321  has not opted out of receiving referred advertisements, either from the first user or from the associated advertiser. Validation may further include ensuring that the first user has not “spammed” the second user with too many advertisement referrals, either to harass the second user or to improperly inflate inducements. Tracking information  307  may include identifiers of the advertisement, and of the first and second users. User identifiers may include a unique identifier such as an account number or an email address. Tracking information  307  may also include date and time, originating program, as well as a record of any inducements to be provided to either user as a result of the referral. 
     Referral server  301  may forward message  305 , including advertisement  304 , to user  2  device  321 . The second user may, upon receiving message  305 , delete or open the message and/or play or otherwise access the attached advertisement  304 . If the second user decides to access advertisement  304 , confirmation information  306  may be sent back to referral server  301  in order to track the effectiveness of the referral. Confirmation information  306  stored in database  303  may again include identifiers of the advertisement  304  and of the first and second users. Confirmation information  306  may also include any additional inducements received by either user as a result of the second user opening or playing advertisement  304 . Optionally, the second user may decide to refer the advertisement  304  to a third user, at which point, a similar process begins again, including forwarding the advertisement  304  and tracking information about the advertisement  304 . 
       FIG. 4  depicts an additional embodiment of a process  400  for referring an advertisement. Here, advertisement content server  302  forwards advertisement  304  for use on user  1  device  311 . When the first user opts to refer advertisement  304 , message  305  is again generated and advertisement  304  is attached. Message  305 , however, is directly transmitted to user  2  device  321 . Referral information  405  may be sent to referral server  301  for eventual storage in tracking database  303 . Referral server  301  may also use referral information  405  to validate the referral as discussed above prior to allowing device  311  to send message  305 . Again, if the second user accesses advertisement  304 , confirmation information  306  is sent to referral server  301  for storage in tracking database  303 . Process  400  may be used as an alternative to process  300  in a situation where a connection between device  311  and device  321  is of a higher bandwidth than connections to referral server  301 . This may be the situation if both devices reside in the same local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN). Device  311  and/or referral server  301  may make a determination as to which process (e.g., process  300  or  400 ) to use on a case-by-case basis. For example, device  311  may perform bandwidth testing for each recipient prior to forwarding a message. 
       FIG. 5  depicts another embodiment of a process  500  for referring an advertisement. Advertisement content server  302  forwards advertisement  304  for use on user  1  device  311 . When device  311  receives input to forward the advertisement to user  2  device  321 , message  505  is sent to referral server  301 . Message  505  does not include the attached advertisement  304  as before. Rather, message  505  may include a URL pointing to the advertisement  304  on advertisement content server  302 . As above, referral server  301  may validate the referral and store tracking information  307  about the referral. Referral server  301  forwards message  505  to device  321 . If the user of device  321  decides to access the advertisement  304 , the user may click on a link in message  505 , or otherwise indicate his or her assent. Advertisement content server  302  may then serve a version of advertisement  304  to device  321 . In a situation where device  321  uses different hardware, software, or has a different resolution or bandwidth than device  311 , advertisement content server  302  may detect these settings and send a different version of an advertisement, such as content  504 . For example, if device  311  is a set top box attached to a High Definition (HD) television with a high bandwidth network connection, content  304  may comprise a high-resolution video with stereo sound. If device  321  is a wireless device (e.g., a PDA), then content  504  may be the same advertisement, but down-sized to fit on a smaller resolution display and be transmitted over a slower wireless connection with mono audio. If device  321  is merely an audio player, advertisement content server  302  may send an audio-only version of advertisement  304 . As advertisement  304  “goes viral” and is forwarded among multiple user devices, different delivery methods may be selected, and different versions of advertisement  304  may be selected depending on device and bandwidth considerations. 
       FIG. 6  depicts an example of a process  600  for referring an advertisement. Such a process may be implemented on one or more computing devices  100  including the functionality of referral server  301 . The logical operations of the various implementations presented, including those of  FIG. 6 , may be (1) a sequence of computer implemented acts or program modules running on one or more computers  100  and/or (2) interconnected machine logic circuits or circuit modules within computing device  100 . The implementation is a matter of choice dependent on the performance requirements of the computer on which the embodiments are implemented. Accordingly, the functional operations making up the implementations are referred to variously as operations, structural devices, acts, or modules. It will be recognized by one skilled in the art that these operations, structure devices, acts, and modules may be implemented in software, in firmware, in special purpose digital logic, and/or any combination thereof without deviating from the spirit and scope of the attached claims. Moreover, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the operations described may be combined, divided, reordered, skipped, and otherwise modified, also without deviating from the spirit and scope of the attached claims. 
     At operation  601 , a notification is received that an advertisement is being referred by user  1  to user  2 . This notification may include an actual message for referral, with or without the attached advertisement, or it may include just essential information about the referral. The notification may be processed and possibly validated. If validated, information about the referral is stored at operation  602 . Stored information may include identifiers of the advertisement, user  1 , user  2 , date and time, originating program, and inducements received. If at decision  603 , user  2  opens or plays the referred advertisement, then at  604 , a notification is received that the advertisement was accessed. At operation  605 , additional information may be stored about user  2  accessing the advertisement. This information may include advertisement identifier, user  1 , user  2 , and additional inducements received. 
     Although the subject matter presented herein has been described in conjunction with one or more particular embodiments and implementations, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific structure, configuration, or functionality described herein. Rather, the specific structure, configuration, and functionality are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims. 
     The subject matter described above is provided by way of illustration only and should not be construed as limiting. Various modifications and changes may be made to the subject matter described herein without following the example embodiments and applications illustrated and described, and without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention, which is set forth in the following claims.