Abstract:
The subject matter described herein includes methods, systems, and computer readable media for providing mobile network operator controlled content to mobile subscribers using social networking messages. According to one aspect, a method for providing mobile network operator controlled content to mobile subscribers using social networking messages is provided. The method includes receiving, at a mobile network operator node, a message for delivery to a mobile subscriber of the mobile network operator&#39;s network. The method further includes determining whether the message is a social networking message. The method further includes, in response to determining that the message is a social networking message, providing mobile network operator controlled content to the subscriber.

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM 
     This application claims the priority benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/228,964, filed on Jul. 27, 2009, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The subject matter described herein relates to providing mobile network operator controlled content to mobile subscribers. More particularly, the subject matter described herein relates to methods, systems, and computer readable media for providing mobile network operator controlled content to mobile subscribers using social networking messages. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Social networking has become a popular way for people to follow what other people are doing. For example, Twitter is a service available at http://twitter.com that allows people, called followers, to receive updates any time the followed individual posts updates to a Twitter data center. When a followed person makes a post to the Twitter data center, the post is delivered via a method chosen by the followers for delivery of the posts. Using the Twitter service, the posts are typically short, because the service limits the size of the post to 140 characters. 
     One method for delivering Twitter updates to followers is short message service (SMS). As Twitter and similar social networking services are becoming more popular, the volume of SMS traffic due to such social networking has increased. One problem associated with this increased volume of traffic due to social networking is that the traffic utilizes network resources associated with the delivery of SMS messages and issues can arise as to who should pay for the utilization of those resources. For example, in some countries, subscribers do not pay for receiving SMS messages. When a mobile subscriber is roaming outside of his or her home network and receives a large volume of social networking messages transmitted via SMS, the mobile network operator of the network in which the party is roaming may look to the mobile subscriber&#39;s home network provider to pay for the delivery of the social networking messages. Because the home network provider does not charge for delivery of SMS messages to its subscribers, the home network provider may look to the social networking message provider to pay for the delivery of messages. Social networking providers, such as Twitter, do not charge followers for delivery of such messages. Accordingly, the social networking provider must pay the home network provider for delivery of its traffic so that the home network provider can reimburse the roaming network provider. Such charges may result in the social networking message provider eliminating or reducing the flow of messages to some mobile networks. 
     In light of these difficulties, there exists a need for methods, systems, and computer readable media for providing mobile network operator controlled content using social networking messages. 
     SUMMARY 
     The subject matter described herein includes methods, systems, and computer readable media for providing mobile network operator controlled content to mobile subscribers using social networking messages. According to one aspect, a method for providing mobile network operator controlled content to mobile subscribers using social networking messages is provided. The method includes receiving, at a mobile network operator node, a message for delivery to a mobile subscriber of the mobile network operator&#39;s network. The method further includes determining whether the message is a social networking message. The method further includes, in response to determining that the message is a social networking message, providing mobile network operator controlled content to the subscriber. 
     As used herein, the term “social networking message” refers to a message originated by a social networking server in response to receiving social networking content from a subscriber of a social networking service for distribution to the one or more subscribers or a message containing the content and generated by equipment downstream from the social networking server in response to the message generated by the social networking server for delivering the content to the one or more subscribers. For example, a social networking message can be a message generated by a short message service center downstream from a social networking server and used for delivering the social networking content to a subscriber or group of subscribers. 
     The subject matter described herein for providing mobile network operator controlled content to mobile subscribers using social networking messages may be implemented using a non-transitory computer readable media to having stored thereon executable instructions that when executed by the processor of a computer control the processor to perform steps. Exemplary non-transitory computer readable media suitable for implementing the subject matter described herein includes disk memory devices, programmable logic devices, and application specific integrated circuits. In one implementation, the computer readable medium may include a memory accessible by a processor. The memory may include instructions executable by the processor for implementing any of the methods for handset providing mobile network operator controlled content to mobile subscribers using social networking messages described herein. In addition, a computer readable medium that implements the subject matter described herein may be distributed across multiple physical devices and/or computing platforms. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a network diagram illustrating an exemplary system for delivering mobile network operator controlled content to subscribers using social networking messages according to an embodiment of the subject matter described herein; and 
         FIG. 2  is a network diagram illustrating an exemplary system for delivering mobile network operator controlled content to subscribers using social networking messages according to an alternate embodiment of the subject matter described herein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The subject matter described herein includes methods, systems, and computer readable media for providing mobile network operator controlled content to mobile subscribers using social networking messages.  FIG. 1  is a network diagram illustrating an exemplary system for delivering mobile network operator controlled content to subscribers using social networking messages. Referring to  FIG. 1 , a social networking data center  100 , such as the Twitter data center  100 , generates social networking messages to be delivered to followers. In the example illustrated in  FIG. 1 , social networking data center  100  generates application originated Internet protocol messages containing social networking content to be delivered to mobile subscribers. The application originated Internet protocol messages may be short message peer-to-peer (SMPP) messages that are delivered to message service node  102 . Message service node  102  may be an SMSC, an SMS router, or any other node capable of generating messages to be sent to subscriber terminals. Message service  102  may generate mobile terminated SMS messages for delivering the social networking messages to the mobile subscriber. An ad insertion center  104  may trigger ad server  106  to obtain mobile network operator controlled ad content from an ad list  108  and return the ad content to message service node  102  for insertion in the social networking message. The social networking message is then converted into a mobile terminated SMS message and delivered to the mobile subscriber  108  via the SMS network. The ad content inserted in the message may be used by the mobile network operator to offset costs for the resources used for delivering the message. The first  20  characters of the message content in the social networking message contains the Twitter user name, which identifies the followed user, and these characters may be used by ad server  106  to determine the ad content. 
     In the example illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the ad content is inserted in the mobile terminated SMS message. In an alternate embodiment, the ad content may be inserted by the SMSC into the social networking message before sending the mobile terminated SMS message.  FIG. 2  illustrates this option. In  FIG. 2 , Twitter data center  100  sends an application originated IP message containing social networking content to message service node  102 . Message service node  102  determines that the message is a social networking message and sends a request to ad insertion center  104 . Ad insertion center  104  triggers ad server  106  with 20 characters of the message content that identifies the Twitter originator user name. The ad server sends back mobile network operator controlled content to be inserted in the social networking message. The ad insertion center  104  inserts the content in the message and sends the message back to message service node  102 . Message service node  102  attempts to deliver the mobile terminated SMS message to the recipient. In an alternate embodiment, message service node  102  or ad insertion center  104  may generate a message separate from the social networking message that includes the ad content and may send the separate message to the intended recipients of the social networking message. For example, if the social networking message is multicast to a group of followers of a Twitter subscriber, then the separate message with the ad (or other mobile network operator controlled) content may be sent to the same group of subscribers by obtaining the address information from the social networking message, from the Twitter data center, or from a separate database using information obtained from the social networking message or the Twitter data center. 
     In the examples illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , an ad insertion center  104  and ad server  106  separate from message service node  102  determine the mobile network operator controlled content to be inserted in a message. It is understood that the functionality of ad insertion center  104  and ad server  106  can be combined into a single content insertion module that determines any type of mobile network operator controlled content to be delivered to a mobile subscriber that receives a social networking message. It is also understood that the content insertion module may be integrated with or separate from message service node  102 . 
     In one example, the content that is inserted in the social networking message can be content that is related to the originator, i.e., the followed individual. For example, if the followed individual is Tiger Woods, the ad content inserted in the message may be a Nike golf ad. In an alternate example, the ad content may be tailored to the SMS recipient. For example, ad insertion center  104  may use advertisement profiling and may have access to recipient-related information (e.g., interests, location, sex, age, ethnicity, etc.). If the SMS recipient is a car enthusiast, the ad content inserted in the message may be a car-related ad. In yet another example, the ad content may be selected based on a combination of the followed person and the SMS recipient. For example, if the followed individual is Tiger Woods, and if the SMS recipient is a car enthusiast, the ad content inserted in the message may be a Buick automobile ad. 
     In the examples illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the mobile network operator controlled content is inserted in the social networking message, and the combined message is delivered via SMS. However, the subject matter described herein is not limited to such an implementation. In an alternate example, the ad content may be delivered to the mobile subscriber using a separate social networking message from social networking messages that are used to deliver the content. For example, in  FIG. 2 , the mobile network operator that operates message service node  102  may establish an account with Twitter data center  100 . When Twitter data center  100  generates a social networking message, message service node  102  converts the message to a mobile terminated SMS message without ad insertion and sends the message to mobile subscriber  110 . Message service node  102  may then generate a separate SMS message that includes the ad content and send the separate SMS message to mobile subscriber  110 . 
     In one embodiment, message service node  102  may request the ad content to be inserted in the message based on the previously sent social networking message. The separate SMS message may be generated after the mobile terminated SMS message that carried the social networking content. In a second embodiment, separate SMS messages that includes ad content may be sent based on a ratio of received or sent social networking messages or other criteria. In such an embodiment, message service node  102  may request ad content to be inserted in a separate SMS message after the ratio or other criteria has been met. For example, a separate SMS message that includes ad content may be generated and sent to mobile subscriber  110  for every 5 social networking messages sent to a mobile subscriber  110 . In yet another alternate implementation, Twitter data center  100  may send a blank message before or after the first social networking message. The blank message may identify the followed individual so that message service node  102  can determine the appropriate content to insert in the message and forward the message to mobile subscriber  110 . 
     Although the examples illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2  show implementations where social networking and ad content is delivered to mobile subscribers via SMS, the subject matter described herein is not limited to using SMS to deliver such content. Any type of message service message used to deliver viewable content to subscribers can be used without parting from the scope of the subject matter described herein. Examples of other types of message service messages other than SMS that may be used include multimedia message service (MMS) messages and instant messages (IM). 
     It will be understood that various details of the presently disclosed subject matter may be changed without departing from the scope of the presently disclosed subject matter. Furthermore, the foregoing description is for the purpose of illustration only, and not for the purpose of limitation.