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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.