Method and System for Presenting Targeted Advertisements

Abstract

A method and system for presenting targeted advertisements to a subscriber includes extracting probabilistic information about subscriber activities from one or more source and processing the probabilistic information about subscriber activities to generate a subscriber characterization vector.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 591,577, filed Jun. 9, 2000, and entitled Privacy Protected Advertising System, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60 / 183,409, filed Feb. 18, 2000, entitled Ad Matching Service; 60 / 190,341, filed Mar. 16, 2000, entitled Privacy Protected Filtering and Profiling System; and 60 / 196,375, filed Apr. 12, 2000, entitled Ad Matching Service. U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 591,577 is a Continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 204,888, filed Dec. 3, 1998, and entitled Subscriber Characterization System, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,150,030. The entire disclosures of all of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.[0002]This application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 205,653, filed Dec. 3, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,010; Ser. No. 09 / 205,119, filed Dec. 3, 1998, now Abandoned; Ser. No. 09 / 268,519, filed Mar. 12, 1999, now ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention is a system and method for providing advertisements to subscribers that are more directed to their lifestyles while maintaining their privacy. The system uses a secure correlation server that allows advertisements to be correlated to subscriber profiles without revealing any private information. The subscriber profiles are created by collecting information from distributed databases and measuring certain parameters in a probabilistic or deterministic sense. The system can target advertisements in video and internet platforms, including cable networks, and can be used for delivering advertisements over printed media, radio broadcasting, and store coupons. Overall, the system ensures privacy while effectively utilizing advertising dollars across various media platforms."

Problems solved by technology

Even with linked sponsorship, advertising, and in particular broadcast television advertising, is mostly ineffective.

In addition to this fact, many advertisements are not even seen / heard by the subscriber who may mute the sound, change channels, or simply leave the room during a commercial break.

The reasons for such ineffectiveness are due to the fact that the displayed advertisements are not targeted to the subscribers' needs, likes or preferences.

Even though cookies and other profiling means assist in targeting advertising, they have recently come under fire as these means are known to invade the privacy of the subscribers without their authorization.

Images