Methods and systems for confirmation of delivery of sponsored or advertisement content to an automotive client

Abstract

A method and system for confirmation of delivery of sponsored or advertisement content to an automotive client are provided. The method comprises: providing sponsored or advertisement content at a computing server together with a tracking feature which, when activated, confirms to a tracking system that the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with; storing the tracking feature in a data storage; generating, retrieving or identifying a unique identifier identifying the sponsored or advertisement content; sending the sponsored or advertisement content together with the unique identifier to an automotive client; sending the unique identifier or information deducted from the unique identifier from the automotive client to the computing server in case the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with; and, upon receipt of the unique identifier or the deducted information at the computing server, activating the stored tracking feature to trigger sending a confirmation to the tracking system that the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with at the automotive client.

Description

METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR CONFIRMATION OF DELIVERY OF SPONSORED OR ADVERTISEMENT CONTENT TO AN AUTOMOTIVE CLIENTCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The present application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 619,562, filed January 10, 2024, entitled METHOD FOR DELIVERY AND DELEGATED CONFIRMATION OF DELIVERY AND USER INTERACTION OF ADVERTISEMENTS TO AUTOMOTIVE CLIENTS”, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The described methods and systems generally relate to the confirmation of delivering sponsored or advertisement content at an automotive client, wherein the sponsored or advertisement content is delivered at the automotive client through an Internet network.BACKGROUND

[0003] Over-the-air radio broadcast signals are used to deliver a variety of programming content (e.g., audio, advertising, etc.) to radio receiver systems. Such over-the-air radio broadcast signals can include conventional AM (amplitude modulation) and FM (frequency modulation) analog broadcast signals, digital radio broadcast signals, or other broadcast signals. Digital radio broadcasting technology delivers digital audio and data services to mobile, portable, and fixed receivers. One type of digital radio broadcasting, referred to as in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital audio broadcasting (DAB), uses terrestrial transmitters in the existing Medium Frequency (MF) and Very High Frequency (VHF) radio bands. HD Radio™ by iBiquity Digital Corporation is based on IBOC digital radio broadcasting.

[0004] There is a desire for a global in-car entertainment platform which provides an immersive and unified media experience and integrates radio such as HD Radio™, audio, video, and gaming content into a single interface, making it easier for users to access their favorite entertainment while driving or at other time spent in a vehicle. Such in-car entertainment platform is the DTS AutoStage™ platform. An in-car entertainment platform provides Internet connectivity that allows to provide the automotive client with metadata, other data and services. One service of interest is to deliver over the Internet sponsored or advertisement content such as sponsored songs or ads to the automotive client. As is well known to the skilled person, the display or selection of such content needs to be confirmed to a tracking service to ensure accurate tracking, billing and performance measurement for advertisers.

[0005] The traditional method of delivering and confirming display or selection of advertisements or sponsored content on Internet-enabled devices is through the use of tracking beacons or pixels that are directly triggered by the software displaying the advertisement and detecting a user selection. In these cases, a client makes contact with an advertiser, an ad platform or other third-party servers and confirms that the advertisement or other content was displayed or selected. Such method, however, is not generally feasible in automotive client software running in vehicles, such as an in-car entertainment platform, as serious security and privacy standards are employed by the automotive manufacturers and industry that disallow an automotive user to make such direct contacts. Accordingly, there is a desire for an alternative method to confirm the delivery of sponsored or advertisement content at an automotive client.SUMMARY

[0006] This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0007] An aspect of the present invention provides for a method for confirmation of delivery of sponsored or advertisement content to an automotive client. The method comprises providing sponsored or advertisement content at a computing server together with a tracking feature which, when activated, confirms to a tracking system that the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with, and storing the tracking feature in a data storage. The method further comprises generating, retrieving or identifying a unique identifier identifying the sponsored or advertisement content. The sponsored or advertisement content is sent together with the unique identifier from the computing server to an automotive client through an Internet network. Further, the unique identifier or information deducted from the unique identifier is sent from the automotive client back to the computing server through the Internet network in case the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with at the automotive client. Upon receipt of the unique identifier or the deducted information at the computing server, the stored tracking feature is activated to trigger sending a confirmation to the tracking system that the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with at the automotive client.

[0008] Aspects of the invention are thus based on the idea of providing for an intermediary in the form of a computing server between a tracking service and an automotive client, wherein the intermediary receives and stores a tracking feature provided by the tracking service, and sends the sponsored or advertisement content to the automotive client together with a unique identifier (which is different from the tracking feature). The automotive client uses the unique identifier or information deducted from the unique identifier to communicate back to the computing server to indicate that the content has been displayed, selected or otherwise beeninteracted with. The intermediary receives the respective response of the automotive client that includes the unique identifier or the information deducted from the unique identifier. Upon receipt of the unique identifier or the deducted information, the associated tracking feature is looked up at the intermediary and triggered on behalf of the automotive client, thereby providing the completion of the cycle of the tracking service and confirming to the tracking service / an advertiser that the content was displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with.

[0009] Accordingly, aspects of the invention replace a single cycle between a tracking service and a user by two connected cycles, a first cycle between the tracking service and the intermediary / computing server and a second cycle between the intermediary / computing server and the automotive client, wherein the automotive client interacts with the intermediary / computing server only. The intermediary may comprise a single approved API service that has been vetted and approved by the automotive manufacturer and not a third party. Such method removes the need for the automotive client to communicate with random unknown third-party services in order to perform the confirmation steps. It thus provides the automotive client with significantly enhanced security posture.

[0010] In an embodiment, providing the sponsored or advertisement content comprises receiving sponsored or advertisement content from a local ad platform of the computing server. In such embodiment, the sponsored or advertisement content is located at the computing server. In another embodiment, providing the sponsored or advertisement content comprises receiving the sponsored or advertisement content from a third-party ad platform. In such embodiment, the content is received from a remote source through an Internet connection. These two embodiments may be combined, wherein some sponsored or advertisement content is provided through a local ad platform and other sponsored or advertisement content is provided through a third-party ad platform.

[0011] The tracking feature may be any feature that allows tracking of display, selection or other user interaction of content. Such tracking features are well known to the skilled person. In an embodiment, the tracking feature is a tracking beacon. An example of a tracking beacon is a 1x1 transparent tracker, also known as a tracking pixel, which is a tiny, invisible image that is embedded in an advertisement. Other examples of tracking beacons are VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) beacons and embedded executable scripts.

[0012] Activating and triggering the tracking feature may include that the content associated with the tracking feature is loaded from the tracking system. For example, the tracking feature may be a tracking pixel that is embedded as an HTML image tag. This tag includes the URL of the pixel image hosted on a server of the tracking system. Upon triggering an HTTP request is sent to the server specified in the image tag’ s URL to fetch the pixel image. Such HTTP request represents the confirmation. The server may respond by sending the pixel image to the computing server.

[0013] The tracking system which receives the confirmation from the computing server is typically associated with an advertiser. It may comprise an advertisement platform or a third-party server.

[0014] In an embodiment, the sponsored or advertisement content is displayed on a screen of the automotive client, wherein the unique identifier or the deducted information is sent to the computing server if the sponsored or advertisement content is acted upon on the screen by an automotive user. For example, the sponsored or advertisement content is displayed on a screen of an in-car entertainment platform such as the DTS AutoStage™ platform. The sponsored or advertisement content may be displayed on the screen of the automotive client using one or several tiles. Upon displaying, selecting and / or otherwise interacting with the content by the user, the unique identifier or the deducted information is sent back into the computing server. In embodiments, the unique identifier or the deducted information is sent back if the sponsored or advertisement content is chosen by the automotive user for playback.

[0015] The computing server may comprise an application programming interface (API) service which is configured to send the unique identifier to the automotive client, receive the unique identifier or the deducted information from the automotive client, and trigger sending a confirmation to the tracking system. The API service may be a single API service that has been vetted and approved by at least one automotive manufacturer, thereby enhancing security for the automotive client.

[0016] Generally, aspects of the present invention may require that the single approved API service tracks each singular advertisement delivery event at the automotive client, associates and caches the proper tracking features / beacons, and then triggers those beacons when the automotive client confirms display, selection or other interaction of the content (which may be through reporting events that include the unique identifier or the deducted information).

[0017] In an embodiment, activating the stored tracking feature to trigger sending a confirmation to the tracking system comprises that the API service looks up the tracking feature in the data storage and triggers the tracking feature on behalf of the automotive client. In this respect, it may be further provided that the tracking feature is stored in the data storage together with the unique identifier, a link to the unique identifier or value identifying the unique identifier. This allows to associate the tracking feature that is to be activated upon receipt of the unique identifier at the computing server with the unique identifier and thus the pertinent content. Accordingly, when the unique identifier or the deducted information is returned from the automotive client (this indicating that the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with), the appropriate tracking feature can be identified and pulled from the data storage for activation.

[0018] In embodiments, the API service may comprise: an advertisement delivery API service which is configured to send the sponsored or advertisement content to the automotive client; an event reporting API service which is configured to receive the unique identifier from the automotive client; and an event responder API service which is configured to associate the received unique identifier or the deducted information with the associated stored tracking feature and activate the stored tracking feature to trigger sending a confirmation to the tracking system that the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with at the automotive client.

[0019] The unique identifier may be implemented in a plurality of manners. In an embodiment, the unique identifier is a fingerprint of the sponsored or advertisement content. A fingerprint is a unique representation of a file such as an audio file or video file as known to the skilled person. In another embodiment, the unique identifier is a watermark. A watermark is a signal or pattern embedded directly into a digital content such as an audio file or video file. In still another embodiment, the unique identifier may be metadata of the sponsored or advertisement content. For example, the unique identifier may be a file ID that identifies the sponsored or advertisement content, wherein the file ID is returned from the automotive client to the computing server if the sponsored or advertisement content is played at the automotive client. The above are examples only of unique identifiers. Any means to identify a sponsored or advertisement content that are suitable to be sent from the computing server to the automotive client and to be returned by themselves or as deducted information from the automotive client to the computing server are suitable to serve as unique identifier.

[0020] In an embodiment, the tracking feature is stored in a cache of the computing server to improve performance and reduce latency. However, alternatively, other data storage means may be used to store the tracking feature.

[0021] In an embodiment, the sponsored or advertisement content may be sent to the automotive client following a request of the automotive client for such content. The request may be triggered by a user or a software module of the automotive client.

[0022] The sponsored or advertisement content may include visual content such as a photo, video, or Graphics Interchange Format (GIF). The sponsored or advertisement content may also include audio content such as an audio file. The sponsored or advertisement content may further include audiovisual content, i.e., content comprising both visual and audio contents. For example, the sponsored content may be a sponsored song. In another example, the advertisement content may be an audio advertisement, a video advertisement (played at the automotive client when the vehicle is parked and / or played at a back seat of the vehicle), or an advertisement photo.

[0023] In a further aspect of the invention, a system for confirmation of delivery of sponsored or advertisement content to an automotive client is provided. The system comprises a computing server that includes processing circuitry and a service application for execution by the processing circuitry, wherein the service application is configured to: provide sponsored or advertisement content together with a tracking feature which, when activated, confirms to a tracking system that the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with; store the tracking feature; generate, retrieve or identify a unique identifier identifying the sponsored or advertisement content; send the sponsored or advertisement content together with the unique identifier from the computing server to an automotive client through an Internet network; receive the unique identifier or information deducted from the unique identifier from the automotive client in case the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with at the automotive client; upon receipt of the unique identifier or the deducted information, activate the stored tracking feature to trigger sending a confirmation to the fracking system that the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with at the automotive client.

[0024] Embodiments of the system for confirmation of delivery of sponsored or advertisement content to an automotive client are identified in the appended claims.

[0025] A further aspect of the invention regards a computer program product embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon to cause one or more processors to carry out the method of the present invention.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Throughout the drawings, reference numbers are re-used to indicate correspondence between referenced elements. The drawings are provided to illustrate embodiments of the inventions described herein and not to limit the scope thereof.

[0027] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a system for confirmation of delivery of sponsored or advertisement content to an automotive client, wherein the system comprises a computing server interacting with an automotive client through an Internet network;

[0028] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a computing server in accordance with an embodiment;

[0029] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a computing server to provide an Internet Protocol stream to radio receivers in accordance with an embodiment;

[0030] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a radio receiver implemented at an automotive client;

[0031] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary implementation of an in-car entertainment platform;

[0032] FIG. 6 illustrates an example screen content of the in-car entertainment platform of FIG. 5;

[0033] FIG. 7 indicates the steps of a method for confirmation of delivery of sponsored or advertisement content to an automotive client; and

[0034] FIG. 8 illustrates a more detailed embodiment of the method of FIG. 7.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] The following description describes embodiments of methods and systems that relate to the confirmation of delivery of sponsored or advertisement content to an automotive client.

[0036] Initially, a communication structure against the background of which aspects of the present invention may be implemented is discussed with reference to FIGs. 1 to 4. In this respect, reference is also made to documents US 2024 / 0419728 Al, US 2024 / 0421928 Al, and WO 2019 / 213477 Al, the content of which is fully incorporated herewith by reference.

[0037] FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram illustrating an example system 100 for confirmation of delivery of sponsored or advertisement content to an automotive client. The system 100 comprises one or several radio stations 102, at least one computing server 104, an Internet network 106, and radio receivers 110 implemented in vehicles 112. The radio receiver 110 may be part of an in-car entertainment platform such as DTS AutoStage™ and are connected with computing server 104 through the Internet network 106. The radio receivers 110 are also referred to as automotive clients in this disclosure. The following description refers to one radio receiver 110 but similarly applies to any of a plurality of radio receivers.

[0038] Radio station 102 may transmit an OTA audio signal to radio receiver 110. Radio station 102 may send radio program data to computing server 104. Radio station 102 may include traditional broadcast radio stations or any type of radio transmitter system that can transmit an OTA audio signal. The OTA audio signal may include an analog audio signal, a digital audio signal, or a hybrid audio signal such as an IBOC digital audio signal.

[0039] Radio receiver 110 may include a tuner that can tune into a radio station. Radio receiver 110 may receive the OTA audio signal from radio station 102. Radio receiver 110 may further receive IP-delivered content from computing server 104 through Internet network 106.

[0040] Radio receiver 110 may be included in vehicle 112 or may include a smartphone that can receive the IP-delivered content. The smartphone may be physically, or wirelessly linked to the vehicle 112. Radio receiver 110 may transmit confirmation data regarding a sponsored or advertisement content having been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with by a user to computing server 104 via network 106.

[0041] Computing server 104 may transmit an IP stream to receiver 110. The IP stream may include the IP- delivered content such as dynamic metadata such as artistic information, song titles, on-air radio program information, station content information associated with radio station 102 or static metadata such as slogan, logo, and name of radio station 102. IP stream may also include sponsored or advertisement content to be played / displayed at automotive client 110.

[0042] The system 100 may further comprise a third-party ad platform 107 on which a plurality of sponsored or advertisement content is stored. Such content may be sent to the computing server 104 as an IP stream. Further, the computing server 104 may comprise a local ad platform 108 which stores sponsored or advertisement content. The local ad platform 108 may be part of other storage media of the computing server 104.

[0043] Computing server 104 may provide a list of radio stations receivable by radio receiver 110. For example, the computing server 104 may provide information to the receiver indicating which radio stations are broadcasting signals at a given time in range of receiver 110. As another example, computing server 104 may receive radio receiver 110 's latitude and longitude information using an API. The latitude or longitude information may include city, state, ZIP code, or other means of geographic identification that may be used by computer server 104 to identify radio stations receivable by radio receiver 110.

[0044] FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram illustrating example components of the computing server 104 of FIG. 1. Computing server 104 may comprise station data collection module 205, station information distribution module 220, and advertisement module 250. Computing server 104 may communicate with radio receiver 110 to send metadata and sponsored content and advertisement content. Station data collection module 205 may include station admin or engineer data 210, station data, portal app and database 215 and station client 240. Station information distribution module 220 may comprise station data API service 225 and station data messaging service 230. Advertisement module 250 may comprise advertisement delivery API service 255, event reporting API service 260 and event responder API service 265.

[0045] Station data collection module 205 may be configured to keep track of what is being played by each of multiple radio stations via an API. Station data collection module 205 may collect various identification information that can describe a particular radio station from station admin or engineer data 210. Station admin or engineer data 210 may include various information about the radio station such as logo, slogan, themes or genres of music that the radio station broadcasts. The above identification may be stored in station data, portal app database 215. Station client 240 may include detailed information about music, associated artists, schedules of each radio program, etc.

[0046] Station information distribution module 220 may be configured to transmit radio station data to radio receiver 110 via station data API service 225. Station data API service 25 may provide the radio station data, and associated metadata, music, and program information of each radio station stored in station data, portal app, database 215 to radio receiver 110. Station data messaging service 230 may provide information as to whether the radio station has a new radio program or has changed the genre of the music that the respective radio station routinely broadcasts, etc., such that the user can be notified of such changes on a display screen of radio receiver 110.

[0047] Advertisement module 250 may be configured to provide sponsored or advertisement content, send it to the automotive client 110, determine that the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with at the automotive client 110, and in such case confirm such display, selection or other interaction to a tracking system. More particularly, the advertisement delivery API service 255 may be configured to send the sponsored or advertisement content together with a unique identifier to the automotive client. The event reporting API service 260 may be configured to receive the unique identifier or information deducted from the unique identified from the automotive client. The event responder API service 265 may be configured to associate the received unique identifier with an associated stored tracking feature of a tracking system and activate the stored tracking feature to trigger sending a confirmation to the tracking system that the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with at the automotive client 110. The function of the advertisement delivery API service 255, the event reporting API service 260 and the event responder API service 265 will be apparent with respect to FIG. 8.

[0048] FIG. 3 is another block diagram of the computing server 104 of FIG. 1 , wherein the hardware / software structure is considered. The server 104 includes a processor 272, a memory 274, and a service application 276 for execution by the processor 272. The service application 276 can comprise software that implements an API service for an automotive client such as radio receiver / automotive client 110 of FIG. 1 , wherein the API service may include the advertisement delivery API service 255, the event reporting API service 260 and the event responder API service 265 of FIG. 2. The server 220 includes a first port 270 operatively coupled to an Internet network interface for sending and receiving IP data over an Internet network to radio receiver / automotive client 110 of FIG. 1. The server 104 may include a second port 260 operatively coupled to another Internet network interface for other IP data communications such as with a third-party ad platform.

[0049] FIG. 4 depicts a block diagram illustrating an example radio receiver 110 such as radio receiver 110 of the system of FIG 1. In some examples, radio receiver 110 may be an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio receiver. An IBOC implementation of digital radio broadcasting and reception is described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,676,114, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. To implement the approaches of the instant disclosure, radio receiver 110 includes a wireless IP interface 340 and other components for receivingover-the-air radio broadcast signals. The wireless IP interface 340 and host controller 330 may be collectively referred to as a wireless internet protocol hardware communication module.

[0050] The exemplary radio receiver 110 includes a tuner 356 that has an input 352 connected to an antenna 354. Antenna 354, tuner 356, and baseband processor 351 may be collectively referred to as an over-the-air radio broadcast hardware communication module. Within the baseband processor 351, the intermediate frequency signal 357 from the tuner 356 is provided to an analog-to-digital converter and digital down converter 358 to produce a baseband signal at output 360 comprising a series of complex signal samples. An analog demodulator 362 demodulates the analog modulated portion of the baseband signal to produce an analog audio signal on line 364. The digitally modulated portion of the sampled baseband signal is next filtered by sideband isolation filter 366, which has a passband frequency response comprising the collective set of subcarriers fl-fn present in the received orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) signal. First adjacent canceller (FAC) 368 suppresses the effects of a first-adjacent interfere!’. Complex signal 369 is routed to the input of acquisition module 370, which acquires or recovers OFDM symbol timing offset / error and earner frequency offset / error from the received OFDM symbols as represented in received complex signal 369. Acquisition module 370 develops a symbol timing offset At and earner frequency offset Af, as well as status and control information. The signal is then demodulated (block 372) to demodulate the digitally modulated portion of the baseband signal.

[0051] Then the digital signal is de-interleaved by a de-interleaver 374 and decoded by a Viterbi decoder 376. Viterbi decoder 376 may include any decoder that uses the Viterbi algorithm for decoding a bitstream that includes convolution codes. A service de-multiplexer 378 separates main and supplemental program signals from data signals.

[0052] The example radio receiver 110 of FIG. 4 also includes a wireless IP interface 340 for receiving data via wireless Internet. The wireless IP interface 340 is managed by the host controller 330. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the wireless IP interface 340 and the host controller 330 are coupled via line 342, and data transmitted between the wireless IP interface 340 and the host controller 330 is sent over line 342. A component may select data received via the wireless IP interface 340 for rendering. For example, selector 320 may connect to host controller 330 via line 336 to select specific data received from the wireless IP interface 340.

[0053] The data for rendering may include metadata as well as sponsored content or advertisement content. In some examples, a component (e.g., the selector 320) of the receiver 300 may make a request to a computing server such as computing server 104 of FIG. 1 for receiving sponsored or advertisement content that shall be displayed at a display, as will be discussed with respect to FIG. 5. Such request may be made via the wireless IP interface 340, which communicates with the host controller 330, to send such request. An audio processor 380 processes received signals to produce an audio signal on line 382 and MPSD / SPSD 381. In some examples, analog and main digital audio signals are blended as shown in block 384, or the supplemental program signalis passed through, to produce an audio output on line 386. A data processor 388 processes received data signals and produces data output signals on lines 390, 392, and 394. The data lines 390, 392, and 394 may be multiplexed together onto a suitable bus such as an I2c, SPI, UART, or USB. The data signals can include, for example, sponsored or advertisement content.

[0054] The host controller 330 receives and processes the data signals. The host controller 330 comprises a microcontroller that is coupled to the display control unit (DCU) 332 and memory module 334. Any suitable microcontroller could be used such as an 8-bit RISC microcontroller, an advanced RISC machine 32-bit microcontroller, or any other suitable microcontroller. Additionally, a portion or all of the functions of the host controller 330 could be performed in a baseband processor (e.g., the processor 380 and / or data processor 388). The DCU 332 comprises any suitable input / output (I / O) processor that controls the display, which may be any suitable visual display such as an LCD or LED display. In certain examples, the DCU 332 may also control user input components via a touch-screen display. The memory module 334 may include any suitable data storage medium.

[0055] Referring again to FIG. 1, the radio receiver 110 can be configured to display at least a portion of the received data on a display which may be part of an in-car entertainment platform. This is illustrated in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 depicts a display 501 of an in-car entertainment platform receiving both OTA broadcast signals and IP- delivered content. The display 501 may display various options such as Discover, Favorites, Stations, Podcasts, Streams and Searching. Further, the user may have a choice to select the radio to listen to, a streaming service, an artist, or a phone application.

[0056] If choosing the radio option, the screen 501 may change its display as shown in FIG. 6, wherein a plurality of radio stations together with station information and information about what is currently playing is indicated by means of tiles 502 which are arranged in a vertical (or alternatively horizontal) carousel. Such in- car entertainment platform may be configured to provide a variety of services to users, through various user interfaces and / or APIs exposing the platform services.

[0057] n the context of the present invention, there is an interest to deliver to an automotive client such as a radio receiver and an in-car entertainment platform sponsored or advertisement content. For example, in the display of FIG. 6 one of the radio tiles 502 may be a sponsored tile which has been placed next to a “now playing” radio station. If the user chooses a sponsored tile and the respective song is played, such selection needs to be confirmed to a tracking service to ensure accurate tracking and billing for a sponsor or advertiser. In a similar manner, screen 501 may comprise a tile or other icon indicating an advertisement such as an audio advertisement / audio clip or a video advertisement / video clip. The screen 501 may be a touchscreen which allows a user to interact with the screen by touching the screen with a finger or a stylus, thereby choosing and activating a desired tile or icon.

[0058] Figure 7 illustrates a method that allows delivering and confirming display, selection or other interaction of sponsored or advertisement content at an automotive client without the automotive client making contact with an advertiser, ad platform or a third-party server. In step 701 , a sponsored or advertisement content is provided at a computing server such as computing server 4 of FIG. 1. The provision of the content may be effected through a local ad platform or through a third-party ad platform from which the content is received.

[0059] The sponsored or advertisement content is provided at the computing server together with a tracking feature. The tracking feature may be a tracking beacon such as a 1x1 transparent tracker. The purpose of the tracking feature is to confirm to a tracking system that the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with (with any number of actions) at a client. The provision of a tracking feature is standard practice with tracking systems.

[0060] However, in step 702, the tracking feature is stored in a data storage. The data storage may be a storage space of the computing server such as a cache of the computing server. At the same time, the tracking feature is separated from the sponsored or advertisement content and thus not provided to an automotive client. Accordingly, the tracking feature remains at the computing device which acts as an intermediary.

[0061] In step 703, a unique identifier which identifies the sponsored or advertisement content is generated, retrieved or identify at the computing server, wherein the unique identifier is different from the tracking feature. The unique identifier serves to provide confirmation to the computing server that a sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with at an automotive client. The tracking feature serves to provide such confirmation to a tracking system.

[0062] The unique identifier may be generated at the computing server. For example, a fingerprint of the sponsored or advertisement content may be generated, wherein the computing server may interact with another server for the fingerprinting service. In another embodiment, the unique identifier may be retrieved or identified at the computing server which implies that the unique identifier is already present with the sponsored or advertisement content. An example for this embodiment, again, is fingerprinting in case the fingerprint is already present with the sponsored or advertisement content. Another example for this embodiment is a watermark which is an imperceptible signal or pattern embedded directly into the content. In still another example the unique identifier is metadata that is associated with the sponsored or advertisement content. For example, the unique identifier may be a file ID of the sponsored or advertisement content.

[0063] In step 704, the sponsored or advertisement content is sent together with the unique identifier from the computing server to an automotive client such as to automotive client 110 of FIG. 1 through Internet network 106. The content is provided as IP data.

[0064] After the automotive client has received the sponsored or advertisement content, it is determined if the sponsored or advertisement content is displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with at the automotive client. For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 6 it may be determined if a user activates a sponsored tile. In such case, the unique identifier or information deducted from the unique identifier is sent from the automotive client back to the computing server through the Internet network. The unique identifier thus represents a means for the computing server to verify if specific content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with at the automotive client.

[0065] The detection if a sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with can be implemented in a plurality of manners and depends on the nature of the unique identifier. For example, if the unique identifier is a watermark, the radio receiver or an in-car entertainment platform may comprise a specialized software or algorithms designed to detect and extract embedded information. The extracted information is then returned to the computing server. It represents information deducted from the unique identifier. In another example, if the unique identifier is metadata such as a file ID, the metadata and thus the unique identifier itself is returned to the computing server in case the respective file has been opened or otherwise been acted upon.

[0066] According to step 706, the stored tracking feature is activated when the unique identifier or the deducted information is received at the computing server. To this end, the stored tracking feature may be pulled from the data storage. Activating the stored tracking feature triggers the sending of a confirmation to the tracking system that the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with at the automotive client.

[0067] For such activation and triggering, the tracking feature gets associated with the unique identifier or the deducted information received back from the automotive client. In an embodiment, this may be implemented in that the tracking feature is stored in the data storage together with the unique identifier, a link to the unique identifier or value identifying the unique identifier (such as a hash value). Accordingly, when the unique identifier or the deducted information is received back from the automotive client, the stored association allows to retrieve the proper tracking feature / beacon from the storage and then to trigger that tracking feature / beacon.

[0068] All steps earned out by the computing server may be carried out by an API service implemented at the computing server. The API service may be a single vetted API service approved by at least one audio manufacturer. Accordingly, the intermediary function carried out by the computing server is most trustworthy and associated with significantly enhanced security. API services are also implemented at the radio receiver respectively the in-car entertainment platform which integrates the radio receiver.

[0069] FIG. 8 is a more detailed embodiment of the method of FIG 7, wherein the underlying services which cany out the respective steps at the computing server are shown in more detail. These services comprise an advertisement delivery API service 255, an event reporting API service 260 and an event responder API service 265, in accordance with FIG. 2. A third party ad platform 107 may be connected to the advertisement delivery API service 255. The advertisement delivery API service 255 receives a sponsored or advertisement content either from third-party ad platform 107 or form an internal ad platform (not shown) similar to local ad platform 108 of FIG. 8. The sponsored or advertisement content is associated with a tracking feature such as a tracking beacon as discussed before.

[0070] The sponsored or advertisement content is delivered to the automotive client in step 801. Such delivery may be in response to a client advertisement request 802. The sponsored or advertisement content is delivered together with a unique identifier as discussed before. However, a tracking feature associated with the sponsored or advertisement content is not sent to the automotive client, but stored in step 803 in a local storage 2740 which may be a cache. The tracking feature may be a beacon. The local storage / cache 2740 may be or may be part of the memory 274 of server 104 of FIG. 3.

[0071] fter receipt at the automotive client, the sponsored or advertisement content is displayed and / or selected at the automotive client, step 804. For example, it is displayed on a screen of an in-car entertainment platform as discussed with respect to FIGs. 5 and 6. If the sponsored or advertisement content is displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with at the automotive client, the automotive client sends a display / selection event message back to the computing server, step 805. For example, a display / selection event message is sent to the computing server if a sponsored audio file (e.g., a song or an audio advertisement) is played at the automotive client. The display / selection event message includes the unique identifier sent from the advertisement delivery API service 255 together with the sponsored or advertisement content to the automotive client, or information deducted from the unique identifier. The deducted information may take a plurality of forms, examples of which include a hash value of the unique identifier, information extracted from a watermark, or parts of metadata.

[0072] At the computing server, the display / selection event message is received at event reporting API service 260 of the computing server. All received event messages are provided in an event stream 806 to event responder API service 265. Event responder API service 265 retrieves in step 807 the unique identifier or the deducted information from the event stream and, based on this information, retrieves the associated beacon from cache 274. Subsequently, the beacon is fired in step 808, i.e., a message is sent from the beacon through event responder API service 265 to a third party beacon server 810 which may be part of a tracking system, wherein the message confirms from the computing server to the third party beacon server 810 that the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with at the automotive client.Alternate Embodiments and Exemplary Operating Environment

[0073] Many other variations than those described herein will be apparent from this document. For example, depending on the embodiment, certain acts, events, or functions of any of the methods and algorithms described herein can be performed in a different sequence, can be added, merged, or left out altogether (such that not all described acts or events are necessary for the practice of the methods and algorithms). Moreover, in certain embodiments, acts or events can be performed concurrently, such as through multi-threaded processing, interrupt processing, or multiple processors or processor cores or on other parallel architectures, rather than sequentially. In addition, different tasks or processes can be performed by different machines and computing systems that can function together.

[0074] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, methods, and algorithm processes and sequences described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, and process actions have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. The described functionality can be implemented in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of this document.

[0075] The various illustrative logical blocks and modules described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented or performed by a machine, such as a general purpose processor, a processing device, a computing device having one or more processing devices, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor and processing device can be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor can be a controller, microcontroller, or state machine, combinations of the same, or the like. A processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0076] Embodiments of the system and method described herein are operational within numerous types of general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations. In general, a computing environment can include any type of computer system, including, but not limited to, a computer system based on one or more microprocessors, a mainframe computer, a digital signal processor, a portable computing device, a personal organizer, a device controller, a computational engine within an appliance, a mobile phone,a desktop computer, a mobile computer, a tablet computer, a smartphone, and appliances with an embedded computer, to name a few.

[0077] uch computing devices can typically be found in devices having at least some minimum computational capability, including, but not limited to, personal computers, server computers, hand-held computing devices, laptop or mobile computers, communications devices such as cell phones and PDA’s, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, audio or video media players, and so forth. In some embodiments the computing devices will include one or more processors. Each processor may be a specialized microprocessor, such as a digital signal processor (DSP), a very long instruction word (VLIW), or other micro-controller, or can be conventional central processing units (CPUs) having one or more processing cores, including specialized graphics processing unit (GPU)-based cores in a multi-core CPU.

[0078] The process actions or operations of a method, process, or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in any combination of the two. The software module can be contained in computer-readable media that can be accessed by a computing device. The computer-readable media includes both volatile and nonvolatile media that is either removable, non-removable, or some combination thereof. The computer- readable media is used to store information such as computer-readable or computer-executable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media.

[0079] Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, computer or machine readable media or storage devices such as Bluray discs (BD), digital versatile discs (DVDs), compact discs (CDs), floppy disks, tape drives, hard drives, optical drives, solid state memory devices, RAM memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, flash memory or other memory technology, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tapes, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices, or any other device which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by one or more computing devices.

[0080] A software module can reside in the RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, media, or physical computer storage known in the art. An exemplary storage medium can be coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium can be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium can reside in an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The ASIC can reside in a user terminal. Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium can reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

[0081] The phrase “non-transitory” as used in this document means “enduring or long-lived”. The phrase “non-transitory computer-readable media” includes any and all computer-readable media, with the sole exception of a transitory, propagating signal. This includes, by way of example and not limitation, non- transitory computer-readable media such as register memory, processor cache and random-access memory (RAM).

[0082] The phrase “audio signal” is a signal that is representative of a physical sound.

[0083] Retention of information such as computer-readable or computer-executable instructions, data structures, program modules, and so forth, can also be accomplished by using a variety of the communication media to encode one or more modulated data signals, electromagnetic waves (such as carrier waves), or other transport mechanisms or communications protocols, and includes any wired or wireless information delivery mechanism. In general, these communication media refer to a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information or instructions in the signal. For example, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection carrying one or more modulated data signals, and wireless media such as acoustic, radio frequency (RF), infrared, laser, and other wireless media for transmitting, receiving, or both, one or more modulated data signals or electromagnetic waves. Combinations of the any of the above should also be included within the scope of communication media.

[0084] Further, one or any combination of software, programs, computer program products that embody some or all of the various embodiments of the system and method described herein, or portions thereof, may be stored, received, transmitted, or read from any desired combination of computer or machine readable media or storage devices and communication media in the form of computer executable instructions or other data structures.

[0085] Embodiments of the system and method described herein may be further described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computing device. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and so forth, which perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The embodiments described herein may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by one or more remote processing devices, or within a cloud of one or more devices, that are linked through one or more communications networks. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer storage media including media storage devices. Still further, the aforementioned instructions may be implemented, in part or in whole, as hardware logic circuits, which may or may not include a processor.

[0086] Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, "can," "might," "may," “e.g.,” and the like, unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and / or states. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and / or states are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without author input or prompting, whether these features, elements and / or states are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment. The terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and the like are synonymous and are used inclusively, in an open-ended fashion, and do not exclude additional elements, features, acts, operations, and so forth. Also, the term “or” is used in its inclusive sense (and not in its exclusive sense) so that when used, for example, to connect a list of elements, the term “or” means one, some, or all of the elements in the list.

[0087] While the above detailed description has shown, described, and pointed out novel features as applied to various embodiments, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form and details of the devices or algorithms illustrated can be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure. As will be recognized, certain embodiments of the inventions described herein can be embodied within a form that does not provide all of the features and benefits set forth herein, as some features can be used or practiced separately from others.

Claims

CLAIMSWHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method for confirmation of delivery of sponsored or advertisement content to an automotive client, the method comprising: providing sponsored or advertisement content at a computing server together with a tracking feature which, when activated, confirms to a tracking system that the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with; storing the tracking feature in a data storage; generating, retrieving or identifying a unique identifier identifying the sponsored or advertisement content; sending the sponsored or advertisement content together with the unique identifier from the computing server to an automotive client through an Internet network; sending the unique identifier or information deducted from the unique identifier from the automotive client to the computing server through the Internet network in case the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with at the automotive client; upon receipt of the unique identifier or the deducted information at the computing server, activating the stored tracking feature to trigger sending a confirmation to the tracking system that the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with at the automotive client.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein providing sponsored or advertisement content comprises receiving sponsored or advertisement content from a local ad platform of the computing server.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein providing sponsored or advertisement content comprises receiving sponsored or advertisement content from a third-party ad platform.

4. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the tracking feature is a tracking beacon.

5. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the sponsored or advertisement content is displayed on a screen of the automotive client, wherein the unique identifier or the deducted information is sent to the computing server if the sponsored or advertisement content is acted upon on the screen by an automotive user.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the sponsored or advertisement content is displayed on the screen of the automotive client using one or several tiles.

7. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the computing server comprises an application programming interface (API) service which is configured to send the unique identifier to the automotive client, receive the unique identifier or the deducted information from the automotive client, and trigger sending a confirmation to the tracking system.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the API service is a single API service that has been vetted and approved by at least one automotive manufacturer.

9. The method of claim 7 or 8, wherein activating the stored tracking feature to trigger sending a confirmation to the tracking system comprises that the API service looks up the tracking feature in the data storage and triggers the tracking feature on behalf of the automotive client.

10. The method of any of claims 7 to 9, wherein the API service comprises: an advertisement delivery API service which is configured to send the sponsored or advertisement content to the automotive client; an event reporting API service which is configured to receive the unique identifier from the automotive client; and an event responder API service which is configured to associate the received unique identifier or the deducted information with the associated stored tracking feature and activate the stored tracking feature to trigger sending a confirmation to the tracking system that the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with at the automotive client.

11. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein storing the tracking feature comprises storing the tracking feature together with the unique identifier, a link to the unique identifier or value identifying the unique identifier.

12. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the unique identifier comprises a fingerprint or a watermark.

13. The method of any of claims 1 to 11, wherein the unique identifier comprises metadata of the sponsored or advertisement content.

14. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the tracking feature is stored in a cache of the computing server.

15. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the sponsored or advertisement content is sent to the automotive client following a request of the automotive client for such content.

16. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the sponsored or advertisement content comprises visual content, audio content or audiovisual content.

17. A system for confirmation of delivery of sponsored or advertisement content to an automotive client, the system comprising: a computing server comprising: processing circuitry and a service application for execution by the processing circuitry, wherein the service application is configured to: provide sponsored or advertisement content together with a tracking feature which, when activated, confirms to a tracking system that the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with; store the tracking feature; generate, retrieve or identify a unique identifier identifying the sponsored or advertisement content; send the sponsored or advertisement content together with the unique identifier from the computing server to an automotive client through an Internet network; receive the unique identifier or information deducted from the unique identifier from the automotive client in case the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with at the automotive client;upon receipt of the unique identifier or the deducted information, activate the stored tracking feature to trigger sending a confirmation to the tracking system that the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with at the automotive client.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the service application is further configured to receive the sponsored or advertisement content from a local ad platform of the computing server.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the service application is further configured to receive the sponsored or advertisement content from a third-party ad platform.

20. The system of any of claims 17 to 19, wherein the tracking feature is a tracking beacon.

21. The system of any of claims 17 to 20, wherein the service application comprises an application programming interface (API) service.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the API service is a single API service that has been vetted and approved by at least one automotive manufacturer.

23. The system of claim 21 or 22, wherein the API service comprises: an advertisement delivery API service which is configured to send the sponsored or advertisement content to the automotive client; an event reporting API service which is configured to receive the unique identifier from the automotive client; and an event responder API service which is configured to associate the received unique identifier or the deducted information with the associated stored tracking feature and activate the stored tracking feature to trigger sending a confirmation to the tracking system that the sponsored or advertisement content has been displayed, selected or otherwise interacted with at the automotive client.

24. The system of any of claims 17 to 23, wherein the service application is further configured to activate the stored tracking feature in that it looks up the tracking feature in the data storage and triggers the tracking feature on behalf of the automotive client.

25. The system of any of claims 17 to 24, wherein the service application is further configured to store the tracking feature together with the unique identifier, a link to the unique identifier or value identifying the unique identifier.

26. The system of any of claims 17 to 25, wherein the unique identifier comprises a fingerprint or a watermark.

27. The system of any of claims 17 to 25, wherein the unique identifier comprises metadata of the sponsored or advertisement content.

28. The system of any of claims 17 to 27, wherein the service application is further configured to store the tracking feature in a cache of the computing server.

29. The system of any of claims 17 to 28, wherein the service application is further configured to send the sponsored or advertisement content to the automotive client following a request of the automotive client for such content.

30. The system of any of claims 17 to 29, wherein the sponsored or advertisement content comprises visual content, audio content or audiovisual content.

31. A computer program product embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon to cause one or more processors to carry out the method of any of claims 1 to 16.

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