Patent Publication Number: US-2009222343-A1

Title: Incentive mechanism for developing activity-based triggers of advertisement presentation

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. section 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/032,421, filed on Feb. 28, 2008, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference. 
     This application is related to pending US Patent Application “Receptive Opportunity Presentation of Activity-Based Advertising,” Attorney Docket Number PARC-20071055-US-NP, filed 4 Apr. 2008; US Patent Application “Managing Auction Size for Activity-Based Advertising,” Attorney Docket Number PARC-20071056, filed 4 Apr. 2008; US Patent Application “Identifying Indeterminacy for Activity-Based Advertising,” Attorney Docket Number PARC-20071058, filed 4 Apr. 2008; and US Patent Application “Advertising Payment Based on Confirmed Activity Prediction,” Attorney Docket Number PARC-20071059, filed 4 Apr. 2008. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     This disclosure generally relates to advertising systems. In particular, this disclosure relates to incentive mechanism for developing activity-based triggers of advertisement presentation. 
     The ubiquitous Internet connectivity coupled with wide deployment of wireless devices is drastically changing the advertising industry. Of the $385 billion spent globally on advertising in 2005, online and wireless spending accounted for $19 billion. Internet advertising was the fastest-growing form of advertisement, with a cumulative annual growth rate of 18.1 percent. However, Internet advertising has its limitations, and new opportunities remain to be discovered to sustain the dramatic rate of growth in new media advertising. 
     Existing Internet advertisements only work when a user is online and watching a computer screen. Traditional advertising, in contrast, comes in many forms. For example, signs can advertise products inside retail stores. Radio programs can advertise products when the listener engages in a wide variety of activities. Printed advertisements can appear anywhere paper is used, from newspapers, to flyers, receipts, and ticket stubs. Although Internet advertising surpasses traditional advertising in its ability to better target consumer interest, it still cannot be closely tailored to human activities. 
     Delivering activity-based advertisements to a customer&#39;s mobile device is a new technique that compliments the conventional advertising methods. Activity-based advertising can better target a customer&#39;s needs and dynamically adjust to a customer&#39;s activity. In such systems, it is important to implement an activity-based trigger mechanism, so that the system can identify valuable advertising opportunities and present advertisements effectively. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary architecture for a receptive-opportunity-based advertising system with an incentive mechanism for trigger development, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  presents a block diagram illustrating an exemplary mode of operation of a receptive-opportunity-based advertising system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  presents a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process of receiving triggers and advertiser&#39;s bids, identifying a receptive opportunity, and presenting advertisements, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates an exemplary computer system that facilitates an advertising system based on receptive opportunities and equipped with an incentive mechanism for trigger development, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     In the drawings, the same reference numbers identify identical or substantially similar elements or acts. The most significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to the figure number in which that element is first introduced. For example, element  102  is first introduced in and discussed in conjunction with  FIG. 1 . 
     SUMMARY 
     One embodiment of the present invention provides an activity-based advertisement system. During operation, the system identifies at an advertising service provider a set of features that characterize a customer&#39;s activity. The system then receives at least one trigger from the trigger author, wherein the trigger is based on the features and specifies conditions for an advertising opportunity. The system then identifies an advertising opportunity for a customer when the conditions specified by the trigger are met. The system further presents one or more advertisements to the customer during the opportunity period. 
     In a variation of this embodiment, the system allows a number of advertisers to bid for the advertising opportunity. 
     In a variation of this embodiment, the trigger author is an advertiser. 
     In a variation of this embodiment, the system provides a reward to the trigger author subsequent to a successful advertisement presentation. 
     In a variation of this embodiment, the system identifies one or more triggers which produce the most advertising opportunities. 
     In a variation of this embodiment, the system identifies one or more triggers which result in advertisement presentations that are not bothersome to the customer. 
     In a variation of this embodiment, the system publishes the trigger and allows one or more advertisers to modify the published trigger and submit the modified trigger. 
     In a variation of this embodiment, the features can include one or more of: time of day, day of week, weather condition, the customer&#39;s location, speed of the customer&#39;s motion, content of the customer&#39;s calendar, messages, and emails, history of the customer&#39;s activities, and the customer&#39;s previous response to advertisements. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements. Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein. 
     Embodiments of the present invention provide an advertising system that presents advertisements based on receptive opportunities with respect to a customer&#39;s activities. In particular, this system facilitates an incentive mechanism that allows a third party to author activity-based triggers that the system can use to identify advertising opportunities. In one embodiment, the system targets advertising to mobile customers (e.g., via cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and in some cases nearby electronic billboards). The system determines the current activity of the customer and identifies advertising opportunities based on one or more triggers. The system then delivers activity-targeted advertising that can influence the customer&#39;s future purchase behavior. 
     For example, the system assesses the customer&#39;s current contexts, predicts that the customer usually visits a restaurant after leaving the train on the way back from work, identifies that a good opportunity arises while the customer is waiting for the train, and presents the customer with relevant and useful advertising. 
     In conventional search-based Internet advertising, the provider typically creates markets for keyword combinations, and the advertisers bid in on-line auctions for those keyword combinations. In short, the provider defines the opportunities and the advertisers compete for those opportunities. In activity-based advertising, however, it is more difficult to define the opportunities, because an activity-based advertising opportunity can involve many variables in multiple semantic dimensions, such as time, space, weather, contexts, etc. In general, certain behavior characteristics of the customers can define an opportunity. For example, a customer, whose activity has the characteristics of (1) traveling on foot, (2) toward a shopping center, and (3) the time is late morning, may represent a good opportunity for restaurant advertising. While a provider might define opportunities, it is more likely that advertisers or a third party, with their specific market knowledge, would be better able to define their best advertising opportunities. Embodiments of the present invention provide an incentive mechanism that allows third parties to develop trigger procedures which can help the provider better identify advertiser opportunities. 
     This disclosure uses the following terminologies: 
     Advertiser. This term typically refers to a company wishing to advertise its service or products. The typical advertiser would like to maximize profit, where advertising is one of the costs. For this reason, well-targeted advertising is more effective for advertisers. This disclosure uses the terms “advertiser” and “advertisement broadly to refer to content provider and content, where, for example, the content provider is willing to pay to have targeted content delivered to customers, even if that content does not advertise a specific service or product. 
     Customer. This term refers to a recipient of the advertising—a potential customer of the advertisers. Customers typically welcome some advertisements but prefer not to receive other kinds of advertisements. For this reason, well-targeted advertising is more acceptable for customers. This disclosure uses the term “customer” broadly to include people who receive content, even if that content is not meant to include to the person as a customer of the advertiser. 
     Provider. This term refers to the provider of the service that delivers advertisements to customers. The provider is responsible for delivering well-targeted advertising. Embodiments of the present invention provide the technology that a provider can use to deliver advertisements based on a customer&#39;s activity and context. In some embodiments, there can be a separate publisher who provides the channels for presentation to the customer. The provider can choose the advertisements and the publisher&#39;s channel, and, depending on the payment mechanism, charges the advertiser and rewards the publisher. 
     Presentation. This term refers to the showing of an advertisement to a customer. Note that embodiments of the present invention are independent from the form of the presentation. Presentation might include adding a banner or pop-up to a PDA or cell phone, playing an audio message by phone, music player, or car stereo, modifying a map on a GPS navigation device, or changing a billboard near the customer. 
     Payment. This term refers to the amount an advertiser pays the provider after a “successful” presentation. Successful presentations can be defined in many different ways. Correspondingly, the payment can also be structured differently. It could be pay-per-presentation, pay-per-click, or pay-per-action (a form of commission defined by the advertiser). In one embodiment, a new pay-per-confirmed-prediction payment structure is used for activity-based advertising. 
     Activity. This term refers to the activity of the customer. For example, a customer&#39;s activity might be “walking toward a train station.” The activity can be described at different semantic levels. For example, “walking toward a train station” might also be described as “commuting home after work.” In the advertising system in accordance with some embodiments, the activity may be partially described with objectives, such as “to obtain exercise,” tools, such as “with a bicycle,” skill levels, such as “expert,” and other modifiers/qualifiers of the activity. Activity-targeting or activity-based advertising may rely on complete or partial descriptions on different semantic levels to facilitate reaching large numbers of relevant activities. 
     Context. This term refers to additional information surrounding the customer&#39;s activity. For example, the activity might be occurring on a rainy day. In some embodiments, both the activity description and the context description are used for activity-based presentation of advertisements. Note that the term “context” if often used in conjunction with terms related to activities. The terms “activity,” “activity targeting,” and “activity-based advertising” are typically used in a way that involves features of the activity as well as possible additional context for targeting the advertising. 
     Opportunity. Also referred to as “advertising opportunity” or “receptive opportunity,” this term refers to a time window identified by the adverting system during which selected advertisements can be presented to a customer. 
     Trigger. A trigger, or trigger procedure, is a set of conditions associated with a customer&#39;s activity and contextual information. When these conditions are met, the advertising system identifies an advertising opportunity. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary architecture for a receptive-opportunity-based advertising system with an incentive mechanism for trigger development, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, an advertising system  100  includes an advertising-opportunity-identification module  102  and an auction and placement module  110 . Advertising-opportunity-identification module  102  includes a trigger management module  103 , which is in communication with a trigger author  105 . Advertising-opportunity-identification module  102  is also in communication with available presentation mechanisms  104  and receives context data  106 , which indicates the current context of the customer. In addition, advertising-opportunity-identification module  102  is in communication with an activity-modeling/prediction module  108 , which predicts or derives the customer&#39;s activities based on customer context data  106 . 
     During operation, auction and placement module  110  receives a bid  114  from an advertiser for a particular advertising opportunity. Together with bid  114 , an advertiser can also send an advertisement  112  and a placement specification  116  to auction and placement module  110 . Placement specification  116  specifies the advertiser&#39;s preferences for presentation, and can include specifications for one or more of: the targeted activity, customer indeterminacy, and/or the presentation opportunity. After an advertiser&#39;s bid is selected, advertising system  110  then provides the corresponding advertisement presentation  118  during a receptive opportunity to a customer&#39;s mobile device. 
     In one embodiment, trigger management module  103  identifies a set of primitive features associated with a customer&#39;s behavior, such as time of day, location, direction of travel, weather, novelty of behavior, etc. Trigger management module  103  then communicates these features to trigger author  105 , which can be an advertiser or a third party (such as a market research firm). Based on the received features, trigger author  105  authors trigger procedures which define higher semantic level behaviors. The trigger procedures use the provider&#39;s primitive features as input, and can be used to compute higher level features as output. For example, a “needs lunch” feature can be the result of combining the primitive features of time-of-day and location to identify an advertising opportunity. 
     The trigger procedures created by trigger author  105  are submitted to trigger management module  103 . Advertising-opportunity identification module  102  then uses these triggers to define opportunities, for which the advertisers can bid to present their advertisements. In one embodiment, trigger author  105  is also an advertiser. This advertiser can subsequently compete against other advertisers for the opportunity identified based on the submitted trigger. When a trigger is successfully used for presentation, the winning bidder is charged, and the author of the trigger can receive a reward. In one embodiment, the reward is in the form of royalty, such as a percentage of the payment received by the provider. 
     In some embodiments, advertising system  100  can experiment with the received trigger procedures to find those triggers that work best for advertisers. It can also experiment to ensure that a trigger is not bothersome to customers. In this way, the provider in its role as a broker can optimize the trigger use for both advertisers and customers. In one embodiment, the system can derive the level of success of a trigger by monitoring the customer&#39;s behavior after the presentation of advertisements. In other embodiments, advertising system  100  can also collect customer feedback by conducting surveys through the customer&#39;s mobile device. In these embodiments, trigger author  105  has incentive to construct the most useful triggers for providers, because those triggers will survive the provider&#39;s experiments and deliver the largest royalties. 
     In some embodiments, trigger management module  103  allows other advertisers to bid and use triggers submitted by trigger author  105 . When a trigger authored by trigger author  105  is used by other advertisers, trigger author  105  can be compensated accordingly, via royalties, for the shared use of trigger. The competition for the shared use of triggers can improve the quality of advertisements for the customers and in turn increase the revenues for the provider. 
     In some embodiments, trigger management module  103  may seed the trigger-authoring process with one or more initial triggers. It is then expected that eventually the advertisers, who are experts in their markets, will author the best triggers. This process may evolve some triggers that are derivative improvements of existing triggers. In some embodiments, the system may split the royalties among authors. In a further embodiment, trigger management module  103  can keep the internal definition of triggers private. One trigger can use the results of another trigger by explicit invocation. In this way, the trigger management module  103  can document the trigger dependency and determine the royalty splitting accordingly. In another embodiment, trigger management module can publish all the triggers, which can inspire the trigger authors to create more, better triggers. Trigger management module  103  can further provide some form of arbitration when trigger authors do not explicitly acknowledge the derivative relation between triggers. 
     In the example illustrated in  FIG. 1 , auction and placement module  110  receives an advertisement  112 , a corresponding bid  114 , and corresponding placement specification  116  from a bidding advertiser. The bidding advertiser can use the placement specification  116  to request certain conditions for placing advertisement  112 , such as time window, customer location, activity type, target audience, etc. Auction and placement module  110  then ranks the bids for each topic, and selects a number of highest bids. In one embodiment, trigger management module  103  can automatically and implicitly define a trigger based on placement specification  116 . These trigger procedures could be used to make suggestions to new advertisers for new bids. Optionally, trigger procedures derived from placement specification  116  can be implicit, which precludes other advertisers from creating new triggers with only small differences from these implicit triggers to split the auction market. These implicit triggers can also reduce the amount of work required of the provider to police the trigger procedures and to determine which triggers survive and which do not, and reduces the advertiser dissatisfaction when one of such triggers is removed from the available set. 
     The architecture illustrated in  FIG. 1  is only one possible embodiment of the advertising system. In one embodiment, presentation mechanisms  104  can include a variety of devices that can present an advertisement. Such devices can include a mobile phone, PDA, computer, public display, radio, TV, in-vehicle navigation system, etc. 
     Context data  106  can include different types of information that can be used to determine the customer&#39;s past, current, or future activities. Such information can include physical information such as time of day, day of week, weather condition, the customer&#39;s location, speed of motion, etc. Context data  106  can also include logical contents pertaining to the customer, such as the content of the customer&#39;s calendar, instant messages, and emails, history of the customer&#39;s past activities, and the customer&#39;s previous response to advertisements. In one embodiment, context data  106  can be collected by a mobile device, such as a cell phone, carried by the customer. 
     In one embodiment, activity-modeling/prediction module  108  uses context data  106  to derive past, current, and/or future activities associated with a customer. For example, the customer&#39;s cell phone can be equipped with a GPS. Based on pre-stored venue information and the traces of the customer&#39;s locations at different times, activity-modeling/prediction module  108  can determine that at a certain time of day the customer typically engages in a particular activity. 
     In a further embodiment, activity-modeling/prediction module  108  analyzes context data  106  to determine the customer&#39;s current activity and predict the customer&#39;s future activity. Based on this activity information, context data  106 , and information about available presentation mechanisms  104  which are in the vicinity of the customer (e.g., the customer&#39;s cell phone or a dynamic billboard close to the customer), advertising-opportunity-identification module  102  identifies suitable receptive opportunities using triggers stored in trigger management module  103 . For example, the system might identify an activity of “eat” when a customer is waiting on a platform for a commuter train, and has not yet had dinner. When this situation matches a trigger, advertising-opportunity-identification module  102  produces an opportunity description, which can include the time, presentation mechanism, and topic for advertisements. Note that in some embodiments, the activity analysis can be performed by advertising-opportunity-identification module  102 . In further embodiments, the activity analysis can be performed based on the authored triggers. In addition, the amount of activity analysis performed based on triggers can vary. For example, an activity can be identified according to a trigger that identifies the “eat” activity, based on context such as time of day and location. 
     Note that activity-modeling/prediction module  108  can reside on the customer&#39;s mobile device or on a remote server. Similarly, advertising-opportunity-identification module  102  can reside on a customer&#39;s mobile device or on a remote server. 
     Once good advertising opportunities are identified, the system then determines a relevant advertisement to present. In one embodiment, after receiving an opportunity description from advertising-opportunity-identification module  102 , auction and placement module  110  selects one or more pending presentations  118  to be placed during the receptive opportunity. In one embodiment, the selection of presentations to be placed during the opportunity is based on an optimization algorithm which takes into account a number of factors. For example, auction and placement module  110  chooses from the pending presentations according to one or more of: 
     1. Size of the advertiser&#39;s bid. This will increase the revenue to the provider, and will tend to select the more relevant advertisements for the customer. 
     2. Time of the opportunity relative to the topic activity. This allows the provider to lower the weighting of activities further ahead or further behind the present activity. 
     3. The mix of topics being presented to the customer. 
     4. Past experience with the customer. (This may already be included in the topic. For example, the advertisers may bid for customers whose activity indicates that they have previously accepted recommendations.) 
     5. Experimentation. 
     In general, any criteria that will help predict the success of the presentation can be used by the provider to select pending presentations. In one embodiment, the provider can also adjust the charge to an advertiser according to the quality of the receptive opportunity. For example, the advertiser bids on topic, assuming an “ideal” quality presentation, but the provider may give the advertiser a discount according to some of the criteria listed above. 
       FIG. 2  presents a block diagram illustrating an exemplary mode of operation of a receptive-opportunity-based advertising system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, a customer  200  uses a mobile device  206 , which can be a smart phone. Mobile device  206  is in communication with a provider&#39;s server  212  via a wireless tower  208 , a wireless service provider&#39;s network  204 , and the Internet  202 . During operation, provider&#39;s server  212  receives triggers created by a trigger author  214 , and stores the received trigger in a database  210 . Mobile device  206  collects a set of context data, such as customer  200 &#39;s calendar content, the GPS trace of the places he has been to, the current time, etc., and determines the current or future activity for customer  200 . For example, mobile device  206  can detect that it is now 6 pm, customer  200  has just left the office, and that he is currently at a train station. From previously collected data, mobile device  206  also learns that customer  200  typically visits a restaurant after a train ride. Mobile device  206  then communicates this information to provider&#39;s server  212 . 
     Based on the context information received from mobile device  206  and one of the triggers stored in database  210 , provider&#39;s server  212  determines that the next 15 minutes would be a good receptive opportunity to present advertisements for restaurants and bars. Correspondingly, provider&#39;s server  212  retrieves the advertisements stored in database  210 , and selects the advertisement presentations that match the opportunity description. Note that this selection process can be configured to meet the provider&#39;s needs. For example, the provider can select presentations with the highest bid for the topics associated with the opportunity description, or the presentations that are the closest match to the customer needs. In one embodiment, server  212  can also compute a discount to the advertiser based on the predicted quality of the opportunity with respect to the presentation. 
     Server  212  then communicates the advertisements and instructions on how to present these advertisements to mobile device  206 . In one embodiment, the advertisements can be streamed video, audio, graphics, text, or a combination of above. After receiving the advertisements, mobile device  206  presents these advertisements based on the instructions. Note that other presentation mechanism can also be used. For example, the presentation mechanism can be a nearby LCD display installed in the train. The LCD display can be equipped with some communication mechanism, such as Bluetooth, to communicate with mobile device  206 . During the presentation, mobile device  206  can stream the advertisements to the LCD display, so that customer  200  can view the advertisements more easily on a bigger screen. 
       FIG. 3  presents a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process of receiving triggers and advertiser&#39;s bids, identifying a receptive opportunity, and presenting advertisements, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. During operation, the system first identifies a set of features which represent contextual information about a customer&#39;s activities (operation  302 ). The system then communicates these features to one or more advertisers, thereby allowing them to author corresponding triggers (operation  304 ). Subsequently, the system receives at least one trigger authored by an advertiser (operation  306 ). The system then publishes the trigger (operation  307 ). Note that, optionally, the system can receive additional triggers derived from the published trigger. 
     Next, the system receives a number of bids submitted by advertisers in response to the published trigger (operation  308 ). From these bids, the system selects one or more advertisements to be pending presentations (operation  310 ). The system further receives activity-related information for a customer (operation  312 ). Based on this information, the system identifies an advertising opportunity according to the trigger (operation  314 ). The system then determines the advertisements to present during the identified receptive opportunity (operation  316 ). After the system presents advertisements during the receptive opportunity (operation  318 ), the system provides a reward to the trigger author (operation  320 ). 
       FIG. 4  illustrates an exemplary computer system that facilitates an advertising system based on receptive opportunities and equipped with an incentive mechanism for trigger development, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, computer system  402  performs the functions for a provider. Via Internet  403 , computer system  402  is in communication with a trigger author  428  and a client  426 , which in one embodiment can be a PDA or cell phone. 
     Computer system  402  can include a processor  404 , a memory  406 , and a storage device  408 . In one embodiment, computer system  402  is coupled to a display  413 . Storage device  408  stores an advertiser-bidding application  416 , a trigger management application  420 , and an advertisement-selection application  422 . During operation, advertiser-bidding application  416 , trigger management application  420 , and an advertisement-selection application  422  are loaded from storage device  408  into memory  406 , and executed by processor  404 . Accordingly, processor  404  performs the aforementioned functions to facilitate a receptive-opportunity-based advertising system with an incentive mechanism to induce trigger author  428  to create triggers. 
     The methods and processes described in the detailed description section can be embodied as code and/or data, which can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium as described above. When a computer system reads and executes the code and/or data stored on the computer-readable storage medium, the computer system perform the methods and processes embodied as data structures and code and stored within the computer-readable storage medium. 
     Furthermore, the methods and processes described below can be included in hardware modules. For example, the hardware modules can include, but are not limited to, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and other programmable-logic devices now known or later developed. When the hardware modules are activated, the hardware modules perform the methods and processes included within the hardware modules. 
     The foregoing descriptions of embodiments described herein have been presented only for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the embodiments to the forms disclosed. Accordingly, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art. Additionally, the above disclosure is not intended to limit the present invention. The scope of the present invention is defined in the appended claims.