# US 2006/0282328 A1 · Computer method and apparatus for targeting advertising

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- Number: US 2006/0282328 A1
- Document ID: US20060282328A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 11/451,995
- Filed: 2006-06-12
- Published: 2006-12-14
- Earliest claimed: 2005-06-13
- Assignees: Gather Inc.
- Inventors: Thomas Gerace; Russell Barbour
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20060282328A1

## CPC

- G06Q 10/10: Office automation; Time management
- G06F 16/245: Query processing
- G06F 16/248: Presentation of query results
- G06F 16/9535: Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
- G06Q 30/02: Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
- G06Q 30/0204: Market segmentation
- G06Q 30/0269: {based on user profile or attribute}
- G06Q 30/0273: Determination of fees for advertising
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)

## Abstract

In a global network of computers, a method ad system of profiling a user for targeting advertisements is disclosed. The method and system obtains and/or infers demographic information from end-users using on-line means. The invention next monitors end user activity and determines keywords therefrom. The system and method profiles an end user as a function of the determined end-user activity keywords and obtained/inferred end-user demographic information. Profiles of end-users are matched against targeted profiles of advertisements which are defined by the respective advertisers. This results in targeting advertisements to end-users based on end user profiles. Advertisers bid for advertisement placement with the system. In some embodiments, the system employs Vickrey auction type bidding. Using observed user behavior and the auction results, ads are prioritized for selection and viewing placement in a manner that provides the greatest potential value to the system.

## Claims

### Claim 1

In a global network of computers, a method of profiling a user for targeting advertisements, comprising the computer implemented steps of:
obtaining demographic information from end-users using on-line means;
monitoring end user activity and determining keywords therefrom; and
profiling an end user as a function of determined end-user activity keywords and obtained end-user demographic information so as to enable a matching of profiles of end-users to advertisements and thus targeting advertisements to end-users based on end user profiles.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the step of obtaining demographic information includes providing an on-line form completed by end-users.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the step of obtaining demographic information includes inferring demographics of an end-user.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein inferring demographics includes:
assuming a Zip Code for the end-user based on Zip Codes detected in end-user activity,
assuming age of the end-user based on ages of others detected in end-user activity,
assuming gender of end-user based on gender of others detected in end-user activity.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the step of obtaining demographic information includes soliciting from one end-user demographic data of another end-user.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the step of determining keywords includes any combination of:
determining keywords read by an end-user,
determining keywords written by an end-user,
determining keywords searched on by an end-user,
determining keywords browsed by an end-user,
determining keywords forwarded by an end-user,
determining keywords bookmarked by an end-user,
determining keywords in comments of an end-user,
determining keywords received or sent in email messages of the end-user,
recency of a keyword being read or written by an end user, and
frequency of a keyword being read or written by an end user.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the step of determining keywords includes any combination of:
determining keywords of categories of content browsed by an end-user;
determining keywords of categories of content read by an end-user;
determining keywords of categories of content written by an end-user;
recency of keyword of category read or written by an end-user;
frequency of keyword of category read or written by an end-user;
determining keywords of tags of content browsed, read or written by an end-user;
frequence of keywords of tags read or written by an end-user; and
recency of keywords of tags read or written by an end-user.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

A method as claimed in claim 7 further comprising any combination of the steps of: expiring category keywords based on respective recency or frequency; and expiring tag keywords based on respective recency or frequency.

### Claim 9

In a global network of computers, a method of targeting advertisements, comprising the computer implemented steps of:
obtaining demographic information from end-users using on-line means;
monitoring end user activity and determining keywords therefrom;
receiving a subject advertisement having keywords associated therewith; and
determining end user to target the subject advertisement to based on a comparison of (i) a combination of determined end user activity keywords and obtained end-user demographic information to (ii) the subject advertisement keywords.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

A method as claimed in claim 9 wherein the combination is advertiser defined.

### Claim 11 (depends on 9)

A method as claimed in claim 9 further comprising the step of
obtaining bid amounts for projected audience reach where audience reach is estimated number of end-users the subject advertisement is determined to be targeted for.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

A method as claimed in claim 11 wherein the step of obtaining bid amounts includes utilizing a graphical user interface having a user-controlled sliding view of estimated number of end-users viewing or selecting per day as graphed against cost per view.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

A method as claimed in claim 11 wherein the step of obtaining bid amounts includes:
receiving input dollar amount per number of views, and
in response, indicating likely number of impressions resulting and average placement of the subject advertisement for the input dollar amount.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

A method as claimed in claim 13 wherein the step of receiving input dollar amount is per number of sales completed or per registration completed.

### Claim 15 (depends on 11)

A method as claimed in claim 11 wherein the step of obtaining bid amounts includes:
receiving input dollar amount per click-through, and
in response, indicating likely number of click-throughs resulting, average placement of the subject advertisement and total cost of the subject advertisement.

### Claim 16 (depends on 11)

A method as claimed in claim 11 further comprising the step of prioritizing the subject advertisement relative to other advertisements in a manner based on financial reward to a hosting web site or ad serving network that makes determination of end-users to target advertisements to.

### Claim 17 (depends on 11)

A method as claimed in claim 11 wherein the step of obtaining bid amounts employs a Vickrey style auction.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

A method as claimed in claim 17 wherein the bid amounts are one of cost per click, cost per view or cost per acquisition made of item being advertised.

### Claim 19 (depends on 11)

A method as claimed in claim 11 wherein the step of obtaining bid amounts includes focusing on a certain author or specific story for higher bid amounts.

### Claim 20

In a global network of computers, a method of targeting and displaying advertisements to end-users comprising the computer implemented steps of:
obtaining demographic information from end-users;
monitoring end-user activity and determining keywords therefrom;
providing one or more advertisements having respective keywords associated therewith; and
displaying to a given end-user a subset of the advertisements as a function of advertisement keywords compared to any of the demographic information of the given end-user and/or given end-user activity keywords.

### Claim 21 (depends on 20)

A method as claimed in claim 20 wherein the step of displaying includes selecting and ordering advertisements of the subset based on respective bid amounts of said advertisements.

### Claim 22 (depends on 20)

A method as claimed in claim 20 further comprising the step of projecting respective likelihood of the given end-user selecting the advertisements in the subset, and
the step of displaying includes displaying said advertisements as a function of respective projected likelihood.

### Claim 23 (depends on 22)

A method as claimed in claim 22 wherein the step of displaying includes ranking said advertisements as a function of respective projected likelihood multiplied by respective bid amount, and displaying to the given end user the advertisements in the subset according to said ranking.

### Claim 24 (depends on 23)

A method as claimed in claim 23 wherein said ranking further includes degrading the respective projected likelihood of the given end-user selecting the advertisements in the subset every N times one of the advertisements is viewed by the given end-user and not selected by the end-user, N being greater than zero.

### Claim 25 (depends on 20)

A method as claimed in claim 20 further comprising the step of reporting to advertisers indications of the advertisements displayed and selected by end-users.

### Claim 26 (depends on 25)

A method as claimed in claim 25 wherein the step of reporting includes reporting to advertisers any combination of number of sales, number of subscriptions, number of registrations made by end-users through respective advertisements.

### Claim 27 (depends on 25)

A method as claimed in claim 25 wherein the step of reporting includes filtering reports by demographics, keywords, category, context and/or end-user behavior.

### Claim 28 (depends on 25)

A method as claimed in claim 25 wherein the step of reporting includes showing a breakdown on reports by demographics, keywords/phrase, category, context and/or end-user behavior.

### Claim 29 (depends on 20)

A method as claimed in claim 20 further comprising the step of obtaining end-user ratings of the displayed advertisements.

### Claim 30 (depends on 29)

A method as claimed in claim 29 wherein the step of obtaining is only from end-users who selected the displayed advertisement or end-users who made a purchase through the displayed advertisement.

### Claim 31 (depends on 20)

A method as claimed in claim 20 wherein the advertisements are categorized by any of: advertiser type, product type, geographic region, product cost range, language and keywords.

### Claim 32 (depends on 31)

A method as claimed in claim 31 wherein the step of displaying includes displaying to the given end-user an option to view other similar advertisements based on categorization of the advertisements in the subset.

### Claim 33 (depends on 32)

A method as claimed in claim 32 wherein upon end-user selection of the option, one or more similar advertisements are displayed and at least one advertisement of the subset of advertisements remains visible.

### Claim 34 (depends on 32)

A method as claimed in claim 32 wherein said displaying an option includes
(i) enabling the end-user to respond to the other similar advertisements, or
(ii) for each similar advertisement, providing a respective option to display more advertisements similarly categorized.

### Claim 35 (depends on 32)

A method as claimed in claim 32 further comprising the step of enabling advertisers to (i) bid additional money to prevent display of the option or (ii) pay a fee to remove display of the option.

### Claim 36 (depends on 20)

A method as claimed in claim 20 wherein the subset of advertisements include advertisements that the given end-user has previously seen, advertisements that the given end user has responded to in the past being identified and having indications thereof recorded.

### Claim 37 (depends on 36)

A method as claimed in claim 36 wherein the step of displaying includes providing to the given end user an option to see advertisements previously viewed or responded to by the him.

### Claim 38 (depends on 36)

A method as claimed in claim 36 wherein the step of displaying advertisements that the given end-user has previously seen includes displaying indications of those advertisements that he has previously responded to.

### Claim 39 (depends on 36)

A method as claimed in claim 36 further comprising enabling other users to see the advertisements that the given end-user has responded to in the past.

### Claim 40 (depends on 36)

A method as claimed in claim 36 further comprising the step of enabling the given end-user to see advertisements that his friends, colleagues or other connections have responded to in the past.

### Claim 41 (depends on 36)

A method as claimed in claim 36 further comprising enabling a user to see, aggregated in a single place, advertisements recently viewed by those linking to the user.

### Claim 42 (depends on 36)

A method as claimed in claim 36 further comprising the step of sorting advertisements by popularity.

### Claim 43 (depends on 36)

A method as claimed in claim 36 further comprising the step of enabling a user to sort advertisements previously viewed by another user or group, said sorting being by advertiser, product type, recency or frequency of viewing, or advertiser ranking or rating.

### Claim 44 (depends on 43)

A method as claimed in claim 43 wherein a default sorting for the user is applied.

### Claim 45 (depends on 36)

A method as claimed in claim 36 further comprising the step of enabling the given end-user to determine whether other users can see what advertisements he has viewed.

### Claim 46 (depends on 36)

A method as claimed in claim 36 wherein the identified advertisements omit advertisements of a certain type.