Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US9721255B2/en
Timestamp: 2019-05-22 07:52:25
Document Index: 96385841

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 61', 'Application No. 2008249235', 'Application No. 2008249235', 'Application No. 2008249235', 'application No. 2', 'application No. 2', 'application No. 2', 'application No. 2', 'application No. 2', 'application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'application No. 09747527', 'application No. 2', 'application No. 2', 'application No. 2009246344', 'Application No. 2008249235', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 08170408', 'Application No. 08705982', 'Application No. 08170408', 'Application No. 08705982', 'application No. 09747527', 'application No. 2009246344']

US9721255B2 - Distributing coupon content and transactional advertisements - Google Patents
Distributing coupon content and transactional advertisements Download PDF
US9721255B2
US9721255B2 US13/043,238 US201113043238A US9721255B2 US 9721255 B2 US9721255 B2 US 9721255B2 US 201113043238 A US201113043238 A US 201113043238A US 9721255 B2 US9721255 B2 US 9721255B2
US13/043,238
US20110153410A1 (en
2009-05-13 Priority to US12/465,634 priority patent/US20090307076A1/en
2011-03-08 Application filed by Quotient Technology Inc filed Critical Quotient Technology Inc
2011-03-08 Priority to US13/043,238 priority patent/US9721255B2/en
2011-06-23 Publication of US20110153410A1 publication Critical patent/US20110153410A1/en
2017-08-01 Publication of US9721255B2 publication Critical patent/US9721255B2/en
A system, method, and computer-readable storage medium having processor-executable instructions recorded thereon is provided for distributing transactional advertisements from a distribution site over a network to online publishers. Transactional data items are rendered by the online publishers, with control elements provided from the distribution site, to control use of the transactional data items on the user terminal.
This application claims the benefit as a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/465,634, filed May 13, 2009, entitled “System and Method for Distributing Coupon Content and Transactional Advertisements”, which claims benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/052,996, filed May 13, 2008; the entire contents of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. The applicant(s) hereby rescind any disclaimer of claim scope in the parent applications or the prosecution history thereof and advise the USPTO that the claims in this application may be broader than any claim in the parent applications.
One or more embodiments described herein provide that methods, techniques and actions performed by a computing device are performed programmatically, or as a computer-implemented method. Programmatically means through the use of code, or computerexecutable instructions. A programmatically performed step may or may not be automatic.
FIG. 1 illustrates a system for distributing coupon content and/or other transactional advertisements, according to an embodiment. In an embodiment, a system 100 includes one or more modules, including a publisher interface 110 and a distribution module 120. System 100 may be associated with a distribution site 101 having a corresponding domain or web address. The components of system 100 may be implemented using a combination of hardware that includes one or more processors 121, memory resources 123, and a network interface 125. For example, system 100 may be implemented on a server (or combination of servers) that operate to provide modules that correspond to publisher interface 110 and distribution module 120. System 100 may be operated on a network so that the publisher interface 110 is accessible over a network (such as the Internet) to publishers 102. Publishers 102 may include website operators, bloggers, or other content publishers that use websites or network addresses. System 100 is linked to the publishers 102 by the Internet (or other network), and the publishers 102 may operate independently of system 100. For example, each publisher 102 may operate on a domain that is different from that of system 100, under control of an operator that is separate and independent than an operator of system 100. The system 100 may maintain transactional advertisement items 127, for use as part of its distribution network. The transactional advertisement items 127 may be maintained with one or more database(s) or other data structure(s) that can be accessed and retrieved by one or more components of the system 100. As an alternative, the transactional advertisement items 127 may originate from a source outside of system 100, such as from a third party.
According to one or more embodiments, transactional advertisement items correspond to coupon content which can be printed by the user as a coupon and redeemed or used at a point-of sale. Coupon content may be distributed using elements such as described with FIG. 2. A system such as described with FIG. 1 may distribute coupon content (or other transactional advertisement items) such that print-form coupons can be printed by individual users performing print operations. According to some embodiments, the print form coupons may comply with formatting standards, and represent issued coupon offers from a manufacturer (or retailer). As described with some embodiments, such coupons may be created in the online medium under many of the restrictions as conventional offline coupons, even though the online distribution site of the coupon content is separate from the web property at which the coupon content is presented. Specifically, coupon content may be printed into coupons that include product images and information, bar codes, and water marks (or other security features) that authenticate the coupon. As provided by embodiments described herein, an advertiser can make a coupon offer accessible to the public over an online medium, while maintaining control of the print form coupons that can be created or printed from the published coupon content. Such controls manage overuse and fraud. In an online environment, overuse can occur if individual users generate too many coupons (e.g., exceed the issuer's generation limits) from one coupon data item.
Although illustrative embodiments of the invention have been described in detail herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments. As such, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in this area. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents. Furthermore, it is contemplated that a particular feature described either individually or as part of an embodiment can be combined with other individually described features, or parts of other embodiments, even if the other features and embodiments make no mentioned of the particular feature. Thus, the absence of describing combinations should not preclude the inventor from claiming rights to such combinations.
1. A system for distributing a transactional advertisement to a user terminal over a network, the system comprising:
one or more storage media storing a plurality of transactional advertisements, wherein each transactional advertisement of the plurality of transactional advertisements comprises coupon content that is redeemable for value when printed in hard-copy form;
a publisher interface module operable to generate a script to embed in a web page that is to include transactional advertisements, wherein said publisher interface module is operable to generate the script in response to a request specifying an identifier of the web page from a publisher of the web page;
wherein the publisher interface module comprises a validation component that is operable to dispatch a web crawler to retrieve scanned data from the web page, and the validation component is operable to use the scanned data to validate that the web page is appropriate for display of one or more of the plurality of transactional advertisements;
a distribution module operatively coupled to the user terminal over the network;
said distribution module operable to deliver a transactional advertisement data item corresponding to a selected transactional advertisement of the plurality of transactional advertisements to the user terminal over the network in a manner that causes the coupon content of the selected transactional advertisement to be displayed to a user at the user terminal as part of the web page, wherein the coupon content displayed to the user as part of the web page is redeemable for value when printed as displayed in hard-copy form;
said distribution model operable to select the selected transactional advertisement based on one or more of: keywords from the web page, determination of popular transactional advertisements as measured by one or more metrics, historical information regarding past downloads of the web page by the user or user terminal, and identification of demographics information about the web page;
said distribution module operable to deliver a print control component to the user terminal over the network for restricting a manner in which the coupon content displayed as part of the web page may be printed at the user terminal.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein said distribution module is operable to deliver the print control component to the user terminal in response to receiving a request from the user terminal over the network caused by a request by the user to print the coupon content displayed as part of the web page.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the print control component delivered to the user terminal restricts printing of the coupon content displayed as part of the web page to a particular number of instances of the coupon content.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the print control component delivered to the user terminal restricts printing of the coupon content displayed as part of the web page to a default printer connected to the user terminal.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the print control component delivered to the user terminal restricts printing of the coupon content displayed as part of the web page to a particular class of printers.
6. A method for distributing a transactional advertisement to a user terminal over a network, the method comprising:
storing a plurality of transactional advertisements on one or more storage media, wherein each transactional advertisement of the plurality of transactional advertisements comprises coupon content that is redeemable for value when printed in hard-copy form;
generating a script to embed in a web page that is to include transactional advertisements in response to a request specifying an identifier of the web page from a publisher of the web page;
dispatching a web crawler to retrieve scanned data from the web page, and using the scanned data to validate that the web page is appropriate for display of one or more of the plurality of transactional advertisements;
delivering a transactional advertisement data item corresponding to a selected transactional advertisement of the plurality of transactional advertisements to a user terminal over a network in a manner that causes the coupon content of the selected transactional advertisement to be displayed to a user at the user terminal as part of the web page, wherein the coupon content displayed to the user as part of the web page is redeemable for value when printed as displayed in hard-copy form;
selecting the selected transactional advertisement based on one or more of: keywords from the web page, determination of popular transactional advertisements as measured by one or more metrics, historical information regarding past downloads of the web page by the user or user terminal, and identification of demographics information about the web page; and
delivering a print control component to the user terminal over the network for restricting a manner in which the coupon content displayed as part of the web page may be printed at the user terminal;
7. The method of claim 6, further comprising delivering the print control component to the user terminal in response to receiving a request from the user terminal over the network caused by a request by the user to print the coupon content displayed as part of the web page.
8. The method of claim 6, wherein the print control component delivered to the user terminal restricts printing of the coupon content displayed as part of the web page to a particular number of instances of the coupon content.
9. The method of claim 6, wherein the print control component delivered to the user terminal restricts printing of the coupon content displayed as part of the web page to a default printer connected to the user terminal.
10. The method of claim 6, wherein the print control component delivered to the user terminal restricts printing of the coupon content displayed as part of the web page to a particular class of printers.
11. A computer-readable storage medium storing processor-executable instructions for distributing a transactional advertisement to a user terminal over a network, which instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause:
delivering a print control component to the user terminal over the network for restricting a manner in which the coupon content displayed as part of the web page may be printed at the user terminal.
12. The medium of claim 11, further comprising instructions which when executed cause delivering the print control component to the user terminal in response to receiving a request from the user terminal over the network caused by a request by the user to print the coupon content displayed as part of the web page.
13. The medium of claim 11, wherein the print control component delivered to the user terminal restricts printing of the coupon content displayed as part of the web page to a particular number of instances of the coupon content.
14. The medium of claim 11, wherein the print control component delivered to the user terminal restricts printing of the coupon content displayed as part of the web page to a default printer connected to the user terminal.
15. The medium of claim 11, wherein the print control component delivered to the user terminal restricts printing of the coupon content displayed as part of the web page to a particular class of printers.
US13/043,238 2008-05-13 2011-03-08 Distributing coupon content and transactional advertisements Active 2033-01-06 US9721255B2 (en)
US12/465,634 US20090307076A1 (en) 2008-05-13 2009-05-13 System and method for distributing coupon content and transactional advertisements
US13/043,238 US9721255B2 (en) 2008-05-13 2011-03-08 Distributing coupon content and transactional advertisements
US15/662,109 US20170323303A1 (en) 2008-05-13 2017-07-27 Distributing coupon content and transactional advertisements
US12/465,634 Continuation US20090307076A1 (en) 2008-05-13 2009-05-13 System and method for distributing coupon content and transactional advertisements
US15/662,109 Continuation US20170323303A1 (en) 2008-05-13 2017-07-27 Distributing coupon content and transactional advertisements
US20110153410A1 US20110153410A1 (en) 2011-06-23
US9721255B2 true US9721255B2 (en) 2017-08-01
US12/465,634 Abandoned US20090307076A1 (en) 2008-05-13 2009-05-13 System and method for distributing coupon content and transactional advertisements
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