Patent No. 7027801 Method delivering location-base targeted advertisements to mobile subscribers

 

Patent No. 7027801

Method delivering location-base targeted advertisements to mobile subscribers (Hall, et al., Apr 11, 2006) 

Abstract

An inventive method and apparatus includes a network of servers for providing information on a push basis to a user or consumer that desires to receive event driven information according to specified conditions. The types of push information include event driven information services as well as very targeted advertisements. An information server receives location information that identifies the specific location or Picocell within which the consumer mobile terminal has traveled. Then, a consumer profile is transmitted to vendors proximate to the mobile terminal location as a part of determining whether to transmit information or advertisements to the consumer. If the consumer profile specifies solicited advertisements only, advertisements may only be sent if they include products or services as identified in the consumer profile information.

Notes:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention is generally related to systems for performing commercial activities over a general access computer network and, in particular, to a system and method of conveniently and efficiently displaying advertising and product selection to effectuate a purchase transaction over the Internet utilizing the World Wide Web. 

2. Description of the Related Art

As the Internet is developed, it is creating substantial growth in the quantity and diversity of information and services that are readily accessible from the home or office. As the number of users of the Internet grows exponentially, the number of entities that use the Internet to market their products or services is also growing exponentially. For example, many Internet-based services are being offered that relate to providing query-based information, including sales information, financial information and news.

As a part of attracting consumers to effectuate a transaction, a typical organization also provides the electronic equivalent of glossy brochures that define the company, its products, its philosophies and any other information that may help a consumer decide to purchase from that particular entity. Accordingly, the information that is made available through the Internet further encourages individuals to acquire the technology and skills to access the Internet.

A hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), and more recently extensible markup language ("XML"), serve as foundation technologies for the World Wide Web and has been widely adopted and implemented in web browsers and web servers. Web browsers provide a convenient user application for receiving generally high quality text and graphical information in a scrollable display page format. Such web pages are related by embedded hypertext links that reference other web pages. Thus, selection of a hypertext link, either by direct reference or implied reference through an image map causes a hypertext jump to the selection referenced web page. More specifically, the selection of a hypertext link prompts a browser of a computer to electronically couple to a website whose address is specified by the hypertext link.

From the computer terminal user's perspective, however, selection is generally made through a simple, single mouse click on a displayed portion of the text or graphics. This system of simply selecting contextual relations makes browsing successive web pages served from potentially quite diverse and distance web servers convenient and intuitive. This user-friendliness accounts, in large part, to the rapid and wide acceptance of the World Wide Web as an information resource.

As suggested already, one common use of the World Wide Web is to facilitate commercial transactions for products and for information delivery. The very nature of the World Wide Web, however, de-emphasizes geography because a customer may receive the search results for a product of a store within his or her immediate vicinity just as conveniently as the products of a store that is across the country or even across the world. In general, search results for a particular product, by way of example, are listed in an order specified by the server performing the search whose geographic location is transparent to the customer.

Typically, search results produced by a search engine for a particular term or product name not only include hypertext links to locations that sell the particular product, but also hypertext links to publications, e-mail messages, web sites and other resources that include the particular search term. Thus, it is not uncommon for a particular search to yield hundreds or even thousands of search results containing a specified search term. To the consumer or user that must browse the search results to attempt to find a sales/vendor organization that actually has the desired product or service for sale can be a time-consuming task.

Worse yet, if the consumer prefers to patronize a service or goods provider within a local area, then, potentially, the consumer must review all of the search results to find those search results that meet his or her specific requirements. Even if a consumer has no particular loyalty to local vendors, he or she may prefer to view, sample or try the particular product prior to deciding to purchase it. A consumer that plans to visit a local vendor, however, may still perform an Internet search to determine a reasonable price for the product and even to shop around for the best price provided by local vendors. Even in those cases where search results are ordered according to a home zip code, as is possible for automotive searches, however, the consumer must still review the results.

Moreover, it would be convenient if a consumer could specify certain events that prompt the automatic delivery of advertisements or information. The World Wide Web and the methods of use therefor do not enable or facilitate the ability of local vendors to provide their goods or services to the local population that are in the immediate vicinity and that have a documented need for the product or information. Accordingly, a need exists for such vendors to compete effectively for the local market with national and international service and goods providers. There is also a need for consumers to receive information according to his or her location. As Internet servers become significant marketing pipelines, there exists an ever-increasing need for local vendors to compete with national vendors in the particular markets and to provide localized information and advertisements to users.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,963,915 to Steven T. Kirsch discloses a secure, convenient and efficient system and method of performing trans-Internet purchase transactions. Kirsch particularly discloses a method of using "cookies" to facilitate security and to enable one website to facilitate sales transactions for multiple vendors in only one connection or search. Kirsch does not facilitate using the Internet as a source for finding the best prices and closest locations, nor does Kirsch facilitate a sale transaction between a user and a local and proximate vendor. Moreover, Kirsch, like other references, does not provide for automatic delivery of specific information on an event driven basis. Kirsch, like other references, focuses on query-based information and advertisement delivery. What is needed, therefore, is a system for providing event driven information and advertisements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One advantage a local vendor has over nationally directed and location transparent sales/vendor organizations is proximity to an information customer. An information customer is a user or consumer that desires to receive event driven information according to specified conditions. Thus, to overcome the shortcomings of the prior systems and their operations, the embodiments of the present invention contemplate an apparatus and a method that enable vendors to compete more effectively for information customers in its local area. More specifically, the invention facilitates the ability of a sales/vendor organization to have its products or services advertised on the Internet or World Wide Web displayed to a local information customer on a computer monitor or even on a mobile terminal in a manner that facilitates their identification by the information customer in the local area. Additionally, advertised products are delivered by a push server, along with selectable "hold" and "buy" options, in a manner that enables the information customer to examine a particular product and also encourages him or her to purchase the goods or service from the vendor within the local area.

The push data further increases the information customer's convenience of shopping in that hypertext links enable the information customer to create a voice call either by way of the Internet or the wireless and/or public switched telephone networks provided with the search results. The search results also include graphical user interface (GUI) options that include hypertext links formed to enable the information customer to request that a particular product be placed on hold to enable the information customer to test the particular product for suitability or to purchase the product outright. Upon selection of the "hold" GUI, a server receiving the hold request generates a message to the specified store to hold the particular product for the information customer. The "hold" or "buy" message may be generated automatically in the form of an e-mail message, a computer generated fax message, a short message service message to a cellular communication device, an HTTP message over the web or even a general packet radio service message to a wireless communication device.

The inventive system and method include the capability for pushing advertisements that relate to a specific customer profile or pushing information that relates to a customer profile according to a very specific customer information location. More specifically, a customer initially logs in to a customer server and enters profile information. Similarly, a vendor also enters its' vendor information through the same, or a different server. Finally, the user enters device capability information into a database wherein the combination of vendor information, customer profile information and device capability information are all used in conjunction with an application server and a location server to determine what data, information or advertisements are to be pushed to the information customer. In general, as a mobile terminal registers its presence or is handed off to a Picocell having a cell radius that is approximately equal to 60 ft., the mobile terminal ID and location are transmitted by the cellular network, e.g., the base station, to a location server. As used herein, "Picocell" refers to a small cell area. Specifically, it may include any type of known technology including wireless local area networks such as, for example, an 802.11b Standards based wireless local area network as well as other wireless network technologies including code division multiple access networks, time division multiple access networks, general packet radio services networks and universal mobile telephony system networks. The location server then transmits the location information (in a translated form, if necessary) and mobile terminal ID to an application server. The application server examines a customer profile to determine whether the registration on the mobile terminal within the specific location prompts the operation of a custom application by the custom application server or whether there are any vendors within the registered location.

In the event that there is a vendor within the location, a customer profile is transmitted from the application server to the vendor server. The vendor server then examines the contents of the customer profile to determine whether it has any products or services for sale that match a described item within the customer profile. If so, the vendor server generates a customer-specific advertisement to the base station serving the mobile terminal within the specified location. Thus, as may be seen, customer-specific advertisements are being pushed to the information customer's mobile terminal upon the occurrence of a specified event (e.g., the mobile terminal has transitioned into a specific cell location). The advertisements are formatted according to device characteristics.

In the case of a custom application, the mobile terminal ID and location are used to trigger the operation of the custom application to provide custom information to the mobile terminal of the information customer. In general, therefore, it may be seen that the invention contemplates event-driven push data in the form of custom information from a custom application server or customer-specific advertisement information from a vendor server. Moreover, the invention uniquely includes the transmission of customer profile information to vendors within a very specific geographic region being characterized by a small area. The vendors then, according to user profile, generate advertisements that are returned to the information server which then distributes the advertisement(s) to one or more access devices. The form of the advertisements are tailored to match the capability of the device to which the advertisement is being sent. As is described herein, the format of the advertisements or push data are tailored by a server that includes a data base that defines capabilities of the various terminal types to which the advertisements are being delivered.