Abstract:
The system enables an advertiser to target a message to a specific user based on a target profile. User profiles stored in the system are compared to the target profile in order to obtain a list of users to whom the targeted message should be served. The system then serves out the appropriate advertisements to those users when those users access the system or a branch of the system. A branch of the system may be a computer display or a cell phone or a computer kiosk.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application claims priority of U.S. provisional applications Ser. No. 60/192,968 entitled, “System and Method for Targeting and Serving Messages Based on Complex User Profiles” filed Mar. 29, 2000 by the present applicant. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    This invention relates generally to information delivery and more particularly to targeting messages to users based on user profiles.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    Present advertisement targeting technology is limited to targeting to the media the advertisement will be placed in rather than to the actual viewer of the advertisement. Some present systems use passive profile information gathered by tracking a user&#39;s habits without their knowledge. This information is naturally limited by the pre-conceived habits tracked. The imperfect information leads to imperfect targeting.  
           [0004]    It remains desirable to direct messages at users rather than at media.  
           [0005]    It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus to target messages at a selected audience rather than broadcast messages to a general audience.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    The problems of directing messages toward users most likely to respond to (and, a fortiori, to read) the messages are solved by the present invention of a system and method for targeting and serving messages based on personalized user profiles.  
           [0007]    The system enables an advertiser to target a message to a specific user based on a target profile. User profiles stored in the system are compared to the target profile in order to obtain a list of users to whom the targeted message should be served. The system then serves out the appropriate targeted messages to those users when those users access the system or a branch of the system. A branch of the system may be a computer display or a cell phone or a computer kiosk.  
           [0008]    In the system, messages can be targeted on profiles with any level of specificity, from “all males” to “pizza lovers who live in 02143 and drive a BMW.” Flexible and open-ended message targeting allows targeted message sponsors, such as advertisers, to focus on only those people they are interested in reaching.  
           [0009]    The present invention together with the above and other advantages may best be understood from the following detailed description of the embodiments of the invention illustrated in the drawings, wherein:  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a message targeting system according to principles of the invention;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a portion of a profile tree of the system of FIG. 1;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the targeted message repository of the system of FIG. 1; and,  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the operation of the message targeting system of FIG. 1. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a message targeting system according to principles of the present invention.  
         [0015]    The message targeting system  10  is connected to the Internet  15  where it is accessible to users  20 , publishers  25  and sponsors of targeted messages  30 . The system  10  has a processor  35 , a target profile builder  40  and a central repository  45 . The target profile builder  40  has a search system  50  and a target profile tree  55 . The central repository  45  has a user profile repository  60  and a targeted message repository  65 .  
         [0016]    In operation, the sponsor of targeted messages  30  provides a targeted message that is stored in the targeted message repository  65 . The sponsor of targeted messages also builds a target profile to be associated with the targeted message using the tools provided on the system  10 . The target profile is a profile of characteristics of the intended receiver of the targeted message. The target profile tree  55  is a database of characteristics with which to build the target profile. The target profile is stored in the targeted message repository  65  with the targeted message. The search system  50  searches user profiles in the user profile repository  60  for matches between user profiles and the target profile. All the users who meet the target profile characteristics are listed in the targeted message repository  65  in association with the targeted message. When a registered user, that is, a user  20  having a user profile, accesses the system through a publisher  25 , the user is identified and the search system  50  searches the targeted message repository  65  for any targeted messages to be shown to that user. The system  10  selects a targeted message from the messages found in the targeted message repository  65  and displays it to the user  20  through the publisher.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a portion of the target profile tree  55 . When a sponsor of targeted messages, such as an advertiser, is interested in sending a targeted message, such as an advertisement, to users, the advertiser must construct an advertisement campaign. One component of that campaign is the target profile. The target profile determines who sees the advertisement.  
         [0018]    In order to construct the target profile, the advertiser browses through the target profile tree, checking off all attributes that the target user should match. These profile points determine who is shown the advertisement.  
         [0019]    The profile tree works by successively dividing all things into categories. For example, “vacations” might be subdivided into Caribbean and European, etc. There is no requirement that profiles draw from only one part of the tree so “pizza lovers who drive BMW&#39;s” is a valid target profile.  
         [0020]    Referring now to FIG. 2, the portion  100  of the target profile tree  55  is given a “local root”  105  for illustration purposes. From the local root  105  extend the categories of sports  110 , vehicle  115  and computer  120 . From the vehicle category  115  extend the categories of motorcycle  125 , car  130  and bicycle  135 . From the category of car  140  extend the category of main car  140  and second car  145 . From the category of main car  140  extends the category of Jaguar XK8  150 . The advertiser steps through the target profile tree and in this portion of the target profile tree, selects bicycle  135 , the Jaguar XK8  150  under main car. The selected categories become the target profile which will be associated with the targeted message and will be used to search the user profiles for matching users.  
         [0021]    Once a target profile is constructed, the system  10  can tell the advertiser how many people presently in the system match the profile so that the advertiser receives an estimate of the size of the target audience. The system updates the lists of users associated with particular targeted messages to keep the lists up-to-date. When new users join, or when a current user updates his or her profile, the lists of users associated with the various targeted messages are updated accordingly. In alternative embodiments of the system, the target profiles are periodically reviewed and compared to the user profiles.  
         [0022]    Using the target profile, the advertiser can target a more specific set of people than is presently possible. Also, this targeting method can grow more and more specific as the system grows and the user profiles become richer.  
         [0023]    The preferred implementation is a web site with a tree of web pages to allow profile construction. This is backed up by Java servlets accessing the relational database that holds the profiles and the advertisement information.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 3 shows the targeted message repository  65  with a generic record  200 . The generic record  200  has a targeted message field  205  with a target profile field  210  and an associated list of users  215  created when the target profile is matched to the stored user profiles.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the operation of the system. The system receives a targeted message, block  300 , from for example an advertiser. The system enables the advertiser to create a target profile by providing the target profile tree, block  305 . Once the advertiser has created the target profile, the user profiles stored in the system are compared to the target profile, block  310 . The resulting list of users is stored in the targeted message repository along with the targeted message, block  315 . Whenever a registered user visits a publisher of targeted messages, the system first recognizes the user, block  320 , that is, the system confirms that a user profile is stored in the user profile repository. Then the system searches for the user in the lists stored in the targeted message repository, block  325 . The system may find no appropriate targeted message or a plurality of targeted messages to display to the user, block  330 . One of the found targeted messages is then served to the user.  
         [0026]    In a first alternative embodiment of the invention, the system creates links from the user profiles to targeted messages in the targeted message repository when the user profiles are compared to the target profile. In this embodiment, when a user is recognized at a publisher, a list of targeted messages already exists. One of the targeted messages is then served to the user at the publisher.  
         [0027]    In a second alternative embodiment of the invention, the system recognizes a user at a publisher and compares that user&#39;s profile to the target profiles stored in the central repository. If a matching target profile is found, the associated targeted message is served to the user.  
         [0028]    It is to be understood that the above-described embodiments are simply illustrative of the principles of the invention. Various and other modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.