# US 8,151,295 B1 · Queue based advertisement scheduling and sales > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,151,295 B1 - Document ID: US8151295B1 - Status: Granted - Kind: B1 - Application number: 09/712,790 - Filed: 2000-11-14 - Granted: 2012-04-03 - Earliest claimed: 2000-08-31 - Assignees: Prime Research Alliance E., Inc. - Inventors: Charles A. Eldering; Gregory C. Flickinger; John A. Schlack; John P. Blasko - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8151295B1 ## CPC - H04N 21/812: {involving advertisement data (advertising per se G06Q30/02)} - H04N 21/23424: {involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for inserting or substituting an advertisement} - H04N 21/25883: {being end-user demographical data, e.g. age, family status or address (arrangements for identifying locations of users in broadcast systems H04H60/52)} - H04N 21/26233: {involving content or additional data duration or size, e.g. length of a movie, size of an executable file} - H04N 21/4331: {Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback} - H04N 21/44016: {involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip} - H04N 21/458: Scheduling content for creating a personalised stream, e.g. by combining a locally stored advertisement with an incoming stream; Updating operations, e.g. for OS modules {; time-related management operations (arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast or during the distribution H04H20/10)} - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION ## Abstract In accordance with the invention, advertisement identifiers are stored in a queue in memory in the set top box or elsewhere corresponding to individual subscribers of a television service delivery network. The advertisements are retrieved and displayed in the order dictated by the queue as advertisement avails are detected in the particular channel information stream being watched by that subscriber. Accordingly, the subscriber sees the advertisements regardless of what channel or television program is being watched and sees them in the order dictated by the queue. The invention also is applicable to other information streams including Internet advertising, audio/radio advertising and advertising in electronic program guides. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of selectively inserting advertisements into a programming stream at different receiving nodes of a communications network, said method comprising: (a) transmitting the programming stream from a central location to one or more receiving nodes; (b) storing advertisements at a node of said network, each advertisement being previously matched to one or more subscribers associated with one of said receiving nodes; (c) storing one or more queues, each of said queues corresponding to a subset of said receiving nodes, said queues comprising an ordered list of advertisement resource locators (ARLs) and a plurality of queue slots, each of said ARLs comprising data disclosing a location of a corresponding advertisement; (d) selling specific queue slots, wherein the sold specific queue slots at least partially determine the order of the ARLs in said ordered list; (e) determining, at each of said receiving nodes, one or more intervals in said programming stream within which advertisements may be inserted; (f) responsive to said determination, retrieving from said queue corresponding to said receiving node one of said ARLs in accordance with said ordered list; and (g) inserting said advertisement corresponding to said retrieved ARL into said programming stream at said receiving node within said determined one or more intervals. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein said programming stream includes indicators that identify the start of an avail in said programming stream for insertion of an advertisement, wherein step (e) includes detecting said indicators and wherein step (g) includes inserting said advertisement into said avail. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2 wherein said indicators further identify a duration of said avail and said ARLs further identify a duration of said corresponding advertisements. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2 wherein step (a) includes receiving a plurality of channels of television programming and selecting one of said channels, wherein step (e) includes detecting said avails in said selected channel and wherein step (g) includes inserting said advertisements into said avails in said selected channel. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3 wherein said order of said ARLs in said queue is based at least partially on said duration of said advertisements relative to said duration of avails detected in said stream. ### Claim 6 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3 further comprising: (h) receiving at said receiving node instructions dictating how to order said ARLs in said queue, wherein step (c) includes ordering said queue in accordance with said instructions. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5 further comprising: (h) determining at least one characteristic of a viewer of said television programming; and (i) ordering said queue based at least partially on said at least one characteristic. ### Claim 8 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, wherein the order of the ARLs in said ordered list is independent of the timing of the determined one or more intervals. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7 wherein said at least one characteristic of the viewer is based on the content of the programming stream prior to said interval. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein said queues are stored locally at said receiving nodes to which they correspond. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein step (b) includes storing said advertisements at said receiving node. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein step (d) includes selling the specific queue slots to advertisers. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein step (d) includes selling the specific queue slots based at least partially on a repetition rate within said queue of said sold slots. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13 wherein said repetition rate is non-linear. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further comprising: (h) recording a portion of said stream for subsequent playback. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15 wherein step (g) includes inserting said advertisements into said stream as the stream is being recorded. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15 wherein step (g) includes inserting said advertisements into said stream when the stream is played back. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15 wherein step (g) includes inserting said advertisements into said stream between the time the stream is recorded and the time the stream is played back. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the retrieved ARL is not dependent on a selection of a corresponding advertisement. ### Claim 20 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the ARLs are not linked to the determined interval until the ARL is retrieved from the queue. ### Claim 21 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the order of the ARLs in the ordered list is independent of the substance of the advertisements corresponding to the ARLs in the queue. ### Claim 22 A method of inserting advertisements into a programming stream in a communications network, the method comprising: (a) transmitting said programming stream from a central location to one or more receiving nodes; (b) storing one or more queues at a node of the network, each queue associated with one or more subscribers, each of the queues comprising an ordered list of advertisements and a plurality of queue slots, each advertisement being previously matched to one or more of the subscribers; (c) identifying a repetition rate specified by an advertiser, wherein the repetition rate represents spacing between queue slots relative to previous queue slots in the queue, and selling specific queue slots to the advertiser based at least partially on the specified repetition rate, wherein the sold specific queue slots at least partially determine the ordered list of the advertisements within the queues; (d) detecting one or more intervals in said programming stream within which advertisements may be inserted; and (e) inserting advertisements from the queues into said programming stream within said detected one or more intervals, the advertisements being inserted in accordance with the ordered list. ### Claim 23 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22 wherein the order of the advertisements in the queues is independent of the substance of the programming stream. ### Claim 24 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22 wherein each of the one or more queues is associated with a channel in the programming stream. ### Claim 25 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22 wherein step (a) includes transmitting a plurality of channels within the programming stream and selecting one of said channels, and wherein step (e) includes inserting the advertisements from a queue associated with the selected channel into the detected intervals in the selected channel. ### Claim 26 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22 wherein the queues are stored at the subscriber node. ### Claim 27 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22 wherein the repetition rate is non-linear. ### Claim 28 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22 further comprising: (f) recording a portion of said programming stream for subsequent playback. ### Claim 29 (depends on 28) The method of claim 28 wherein the advertisements are inserted into said programming stream as the stream is being recorded. ### Claim 30 (depends on 28) The method of claim 28 wherein the advertisements are inserted into said programming stream when the stream is played back. ### Claim 31 (depends on 28) The method of claim 28 wherein the advertisements are inserted into said programming stream between the time the stream is recorded and the time the stream is played back. ### Claim 32 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22 wherein the inserted advertisement is not dependent on a selection of that advertisement. ### Claim 33 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22 wherein the advertisements are not linked to the detected one or more intervals until the advertisement is inserted into the detected intervals. ### Claim 34 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22 wherein the order of the advertisements in the ordered list is independent of the substance of the advertisements in the queue. ### Claim 35 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, wherein the order of the advertisements in said ordered list is independent of the timing of the detected intervals. ### Claim 36 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, wherein a purchaser of the sold specific queue slots places his advertisement in a particular one of the sold queue slots. ### Claim 37 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, wherein the each of the sold specific queue slots has a position within the queue known to the purchaser of the slot at the time of purchase. ### Claim 38 A method of inserting advertisements into a programming stream in a communications network, the method comprising: (a) transmitting said programming stream from a central location to one or more receiving nodes; (b) storing said programming stream at the one or more receiving nodes; (c) storing one or more queues at a node of the network, each queue associated with one or more subscribers, each of the queues comprising an ordered list of advertisements and a plurality of queue slots, each advertisement being previously matched to one or more of the subscribers; (d) selling specific queue slots, wherein the sold specific queue slots at least partially determine the ordered list of the advertisements within the queues; (e) retrieving the stored programming stream from the one or more receiving nodes to create a retrieved programming stream; (f) detecting one or more intervals in said retrieved programming stream within which advertisements may be inserted; and (g) inserting advertisements from the queues into said retrieved programming stream within said detected one or more intervals, the advertisements being inserted in accordance with the ordered list. ### Claim 39 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38 wherein the order of the advertisements in the queues is independent of the substance of the programming stream. ### Claim 40 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38 wherein each of the one or more queues is associated with a channel in the programming stream. ### Claim 41 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38 wherein step (a) includes transmitting a plurality of channels within the programming stream and selecting one of said channels, and wherein step (g) includes inserting the advertisements from a queue associated with the selected channel into the detected intervals in the selected channel. ### Claim 42 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38 wherein the queues are stored at the subscriber node. ### Claim 43 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38 wherein the specific queue slots are sold to advertisers. ### Claim 44 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38 wherein the specific queue slots are sold based at least partially on a repetition rate within the queue of the sold specific queue slots. ### Claim 45 (depends on 44) The method of claim 44 wherein the repetition rate is non-linear. ### Claim 46 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38 further comprising: (h) recording a portion of said programming stream for subsequent playback. ### Claim 47 (depends on 46) The method of claim 46 wherein the advertisements are inserted into said programming stream as the stream is being recorded. ### Claim 48 (depends on 46) The method of claim 46 wherein the advertisements are inserted into said programming stream when the stream is played back. ### Claim 49 (depends on 46) The method of claim 46 wherein the advertisements are inserted into said programming stream between the time the stream is recorded and the time the stream is played back. ### Claim 50 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38 wherein the inserted advertisement is not dependent on a selection of that advertisement. ### Claim 51 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38 wherein the advertisements are not linked to the detected one or more intervals until the advertisement is inserted into the detected intervals. ### Claim 52 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38 wherein the order of the advertisements in the ordered list is independent of the substance of the advertisements in the queue. ### Claim 53 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, wherein the order of the advertisements in said ordered list is independent of the timing of the detected intervals. ### Claim 54 A method of inserting advertisements into a programming stream in a communications network, the method comprising: (a) transmitting said programming stream from a central location to one or more receiving nodes; (b) storing one or more queues at a node of the network, each queue associated with one or more subscribers and comprising a plurality of queue locations forming an ordered list of advertisements, each advertisement being previously matched to one or more of the subscribers; (c) selling one or more specific individual queue locations, wherein the sold specific individual queue locations at least partially determine the ordered list of the advertisements within the queues; (d) detecting one or more intervals in said programming stream within which advertisements may be inserted; and (e) inserting advertisements from the queues into said programming stream within said detected one or more intervals, the advertisements being inserted in accordance with the ordered list. ### Claim 55 (depends on 54) The method of claim 54, wherein the order of the advertisements in the queues is independent of the substance of the programming stream. ### Claim 56 (depends on 54) The method of claim 54, wherein each of the one or more queues is associated with a specific channel in the programming stream. ### Claim 57 (depends on 54) The method of claim 54, wherein step (a) includes transmitting a plurality of channels within the programming stream and selecting one of said channels, and wherein step (e) includes inserting the advertisements from a queue associated with the selected channel into the detected intervals in the selected channel. ### Claim 58 (depends on 54) The method of claim 54, wherein the specific individual queue locations are sold to advertisers. ### Claim 59 (depends on 54) The method of claim 54, wherein the specific individual queue locations are sold based at least partially on a repetition rate within the queue of the sold individual queue locations. ### Claim 60 (depends on 54) The method of claim 54, wherein the order of the advertisements in the ordered list is independent of the substance of the advertisements in the queue.