US 9,071,859 B2Granted

Methods and apparatus for user-based targeted content delivery

AssigneeTime Warner Cable Enterprises LLC

InventorMichael L. Lajoie

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Abstract

Methods and apparatus for selecting and delivering advertising or promotional content based on, e.g., the attributes of a desired demographic. In one embodiment, the invention enhances advertising or promotional penetration into a particular demographic of a network subscriber pool by correlating the advertising/promotion (and even the contextual program content) with specific users or groups of users within the pool. This approach decouples the advertising or promotion from any given program or lineup, and gives the network operator flexibility in deciding where, when, and how often to insert advertisements or promotions in order to achieve the desired result. Dynamic network architectures such as broadcast switched architectures can also be leveraged to further enhance flexibility and targeting precision. In effect, the network advertising or promotion model is made results-driven (versus program-centric). Subscriber privacy is also optionally maintained, thus ensuring that stored data is not traceable to a specific user.

Claims22

Dependent claims

For use in a content delivery network having a plurality of users associated therewith, a method of delivering targeted advertising or promotional content to a selected one or more of said users, said method comprising:

identifying said one or more users from said plurality using descriptive information relating to said one or more users, said descriptive information being selected so as to correlate to at least one of a demographic or psychographic;
identifying one or more advertising or promotional content elements based at least in part on said descriptive information, said act of identifying one or more advertising or promotional content elements comprising:
accessing first metadata in a primary content stream, said primary content stream having said one or more advertising or promotional content elements placed therein and said first metadata comprising at least timing reference information of descriptive codes associated with said primary content stream;
accessing second metadata configured to describe at least one of said advertising or promotional content elements;
and
evaluating a correlation of said first metadata with said second metadata to determine which of said one or more advertising or promotional content elements are most contextually relevant within said primary content stream at a particular point in time;
selectively delivering said one or more advertising or promotional content elements to said one or more users via said network based at least in part on said correlation of said first metadata with said second metadata;
and
receiving information indicating that at least one of said one or more users has tuned away from said advertising or promotional content elements, said information being used to identify one or more second advertising or promotional content elements for subsequent delivery to said one or more users.

6 more elements

A method of delivering targeted advertising or promotional content to a selected one or more of a plurality of users in a content delivery network, said method comprising:

receiving a request from a third party for delivery of advertising or promotional content over said network, said advertising or promotional content having at least one target demographic or psychographic associated therewith as represented in associated metadata;
identifying one or more of said plurality of users meeting said at least one target demographic or psychographic using descriptive information relating to said one or more users and said associated metadata;
providing to said third party a guarantee prior to said act of delivering said advertising or promotional content elements thereof, that said advertising or promotional content will be delivered to at least a predetermined number of said users within said target demographic or psychographic;
and
selectively delivering said advertising or promotional content elements to said identified one or more users via said network, said selective delivery comprising dynamically determining whether to instantiate a new stream comprising targeted advertising or promotional content, or to utilize an existing stream based at least in part on data relating to said identified one or more users.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 12/284,757Filed 24 Sep 2008 · us provisional application
Priority: 26 Sep 2007
Published: US 2009/0187939 A123 Jul 2009
Granted: 30 Jun 2015
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification14 codes

G06Q 30/0269
Targeted advertisements: based on user profile or attribute
G06Q 30/02
Commerce: marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
G06Q 30/0264
Targeted advertisements: based upon schedule
H04N 7/17318
Transmission or handling of upstream communications: direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests