Computer program product for providing selective advertising to a television viewer using an interactive display

Abstract

A method of providing advertising from a central database server connected to a global computer network to distributed sites via interactive television. A representative icon is presented to a subscriber on a television screen indicating an advertisement. When the icon is selected, an advertisement information detail is retrieved from storage in a local memory, or from the central database server and presented to the subscriber on the television screen.

Claims

1. A computer program product stored in a non-transitory tangible computer readable medium and executable by a set top box connected to a cable TV provider and an Internet, comprising: a first code segment stored on the non-transitory tangible computer readable medium and being executable by the set top box to receive a plurality of advertising icons from a local memory or a server connected to the Internet; wherein each of the plurality of advertising icons is representative of a company or product; a second code segment stored on the non-transitory tangible computer readable medium and being executable by the set top box to receive one or more advertisements from the local memory or the server and wherein each of the one or more advertisements is associated with at least one of the plurality of advertising icons; a third code segment stored on the non-transitory tangible computer readable medium and being executable by the set top box to cause one or more of the plurality of advertising icons to be displayed on a display connected to the set top box overlaying video content supplied by the cable TV provider to the set top box, wherein the set top box is configured to receive the video content from the cable TV provider and display the video content on the display, and the set top box is connected to the internet through the cable TV provider, and wherein the displayed advertising icon is not integrated with an electronic program guide; a fourth code segment stored on the non-transitory tangible computer readable medium and being executable by the set top box to receive a user input from a set top controller connected to the set top box indicating that a displayed advertising icon has been selected; and a fifth code segment stored on the non-transitory tangible computer readable medium and being executable by the set top box to display an advertisement associated with the selected advertising icon on the display in response to receiving the user input from the set top controller.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein said fifth code segment executable to display an advertisement associated with the selected advertising icon is executable to display the advertisement by resizing the video content and to display the advertisement in a distinct frame on the display.

3. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the advertisement displayed is targeted based on location information of the user.

4. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein said fifth code segment executable to display an advertisement associated with the selected advertising icon is executable to display the advertisement in place of the video content.

5. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising a sixth code segment stored on the non-transitory tangible computer readable medium and being executable by the set top box to transmit a request for one or more advertisements to the local memory or the server in response to receipt of the user input.

6. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising a seventh code segment stored on the non-transitory tangible computer readable medium and being executable by the set top box to retrieve the associated advertisement from a local memory or the server in response to receipt of the user input.

7. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein said third code segment executable by the set top box to cause one or more of the plurality of advertising icons to be displayed on the display is executable to cause one or more of the plurality of advertising icons to be sequentially displayed on the display so that only one advertising icon is visible at a time.

8. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising an eighth code segment stored on the non-transitory tangible computer readable medium and being executable by the set top box to initiate a financial incentive to a user for viewing an advertisement.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the financial incentive comprises a reduction in a price for an item of commerce for which the user agreed to pay prior to viewing the advertisement; and wherein the item of commerce is not advertised in the advertisement.

10. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the video content comprises television programming.

11. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising a ninth code segment stored on the non-transitory tangible computer readable medium and being executable by the set top box to automatically update the advertisements or icons.

12. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising a tenth code segment stored on the non-transitory tangible computer readable medium and being executable by the set top box to provide location based advertisements based on the location of the set top box.

13. A computer program product stored in a non-transitory tangible computer readable medium and executable by a set top box connected to an Internet, comprising: a first code segment stored on the non-transitory tangible computer readable medium and being executable by the set top box to receive a plurality of advertising icons from a local memory or a server connected to the Internet; wherein each of the plurality of advertising icons is representative of a company or product; a second code segment stored on the non-transitory tangible computer readable medium and being executable by the set top box to receive one or more advertisements from the local memory or the server and wherein each of the one or more advertisements is associated with at least one of the plurality of advertising icons; a third code segment stored on the non-transitory tangible computer readable medium and being executable by the set top box to cause one or more of the plurality of advertising icons to be displayed on a display connected to the set top box overlaying video content and wherein the displayed advertising icon is not integrated with an electronic program guide; a fourth code segment stored on the non-transitory tangible computer readable medium and being executable by the set top box to receive a user input from a set top controller connected to the set top box indicating that a displayed advertising icon has been selected; and a fifth code segment stored on the non-transitory tangible computer readable medium and being executable by the set top box to display an advertisement associated with the selected advertising icon on the display in response to receiving the user input from the set top controller, wherein said third code segment executable by the set top box to cause one or more of the plurality of advertising icons to be displayed is executable by the set top box to display on the display the one or more of the plurality of advertising icons by superimposing each of the advertising icons as a semi-transparent icon over the video content.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein said third code segment executable by the set top box to cause one or more of the plurality of advertising icons to be displayed on the display is executable to cause one or more of the plurality of advertising icons to be sequentially displayed on the display so that only one advertising icon is visible at a time.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) In the drawings:

(2) FIG. 1 is a drawing showing the interconnection of components at a subscriber's location;

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing showing the interconnection of the components of a system used to practice the invention; and

(4) FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the steps of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(5) The method of the invention delivers advertising from an Internet-based server to multiple subscribers at different, distributed locations through a conventional television using a set top box.

(6) Referring to the drawings, in which like reference numerals are used to refer to the same or similar elements, FIG. 1 shows the equipment used to practice the method at a subscriber's location. A television set 10 is connected to a cable box 20 channel selector and to a set top controller or communications box 30 by standard coaxial cables or other known connections. The set top communications box 30 has a cable connection 34 to the cable TV provider company and a phone connection 36 to the local telephone company. A keyboard 40 or other input device is connected to the set top communications box 30.

(7) Some televisions do not require a cable box 20, and so this component may not be present in some installations.

(8) The set top communications box 30 includes a CPU for controlling and processing instructions, a memory and a modem. The memory is used for both long term storage and short term CPU operations, and may include RAM and ROM memory and storage devices such as a magnetic or optical drive. The modem may be a telephone modem or a cable modem. When a cable modem is used, the phone connection 36 is not needed. Signals may be received using the cable connection 34, such as through the vertical blanking index (VBI) portion of channels or other sideband frequencies on stations like PBS. The CPU receives instructions from the keyboard 40 and produces a TV-compatible output to the cable box 20 for display on the television 10.

(9) Television 10 has a screen 12 which displays an image depending on the channel selected using the cable box 20. Recently, many broadcast and cable television stations have begun displaying a semi-transparent logo 14 identifying the station being watched in the lower right corner of the image presented on the screen 12. The logos 14 typically appear as a white logo with the background determined by the image being displayed, so that the full television image is still displayed.

(10) An advertising icon 50 generated by the set top box 30 is presented to the subscriber in the lower left corner of the screen 12. The advertising icon 50 indicates an interactive link which can be selected by the subscriber using the input device 40 to retrieve advertising information, as described below.

(11) The subscriber's equipment is connected to a central advertising server 70 through the Internet 60 as shown in FIG. 2. The set top communications box 30 uses either a dial-up or other phone line connection through the local telephone company 37, or where available, a cable modem connection through the local cable provider 35 to connect to the Internet 60. As used herein, the term Internet is intended to encompass any large grouping of distributed computers which can share data, as is presently known, or as may be done in the future under a different name.

(12) The method for providing advertising to multiple subscribers shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3 may be practiced using the equipment described above.

(13) As seen in FIG. 3, with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, first the television is turned on 100. The set top communications box 30 begins displaying semi-transparent icons 50 one at a time on the television screen. The icons 50 are preferably recognizable logos or trademarks of advertisers. The icons 50 each represent the availability of an advertisement or advertiser information. Following an icon 50 being displayed, the set top box 30 waits for an input from the subscriber through the input device 40. The input is whether the subscriber using the television has selected the icon or not 130 using the input device 40. If no input is detected after a fixed period, the icon 50 is changed 120 to a different icon and the new icon is displayed 110 on the TV screen 12. In a preferred embodiment, the icon 50 changes about every 2 minutes, or 120 seconds.

(14) If an icon 50 is selected by a subscriber, then advertising information is retrieved 140 and displayed 150, 160 on the TV screen 12. The set top box 30 contains link information for each icon, matching the displayed icon 50 to related advertising information. The advertising information may be stored in a local memory device of the set top box 30 and retrieved on request 142. Alternatively, the advertising information may be requested and retrieved 146 from the central advertising server 70.

(15) In order to maintain a current selection of advertisements in the memory of the set top box 30, advertising information and associated display icons 50 may be automatically downloaded 144 to the set top box 30 memory devices on a regular basis. For example, the information can be downloaded 144 during the early morning of each day, or once per week or less frequently, depending on the nature of the advertising. The automatic download 144 can occur in a number of different ways, including by having the set top box 30 assigned an Internet address to which the central advertising server 70 transmits when the box 30 has a permanent connection, or by having the set top box 30 make the connection to the server 70, followed by the server downloading 144 the advertising information after it detects the connection.

(16) In a further embodiment, the icons may be transmitted to and stored in the set top communications box 30 separately from the associated advertising information. In such case, the icons are displayed on the screen, and when an icon is selected, the associated advertising information is requested from the central advertising server 70 and transmitted to the set top box 30 for displaying on the television screen 150, 160.

(17) Once the set top box 30 has the advertising information retrieved, the display on the TV can either be changed or reframed 150 to fit the format of the advertising information. If the display will be reframed, the displayed program can be reduced in size and framed in the upper portion of the screen, while the lower portion of the screen is used to display the advertising information 160. Or, the entire TV screen can be used to display the advertising information 160 in place of the regular programming.

(18) Using the method of the invention, a subscriber can view advertising which he/she would like to see on a selective basis. If particular information is known about the subscriber, such as when the set top box 30 is installed in a resort hotel, targeted advertisements can be provided. For example, at a resort in Florida, icons and advertisements for local restaurants and entertainment facilities may dominate the advertising. At a hotel in New York, the advertisements may focus on Broadway shows, restaurants and transportation services.

(19) The method is particularly well suited for providing targeted advertising to persons staying in hotels, resorts and other rental properties, where the owner of the property subscribes to the advertising method and installs the set top communications boxes 30. The tenants using the TV's in the rooms then receive the advertising. Discounts can be provided to the tenants who view the advertising, in the form of increased savings at the advertiser's business, or a discount off their rental rate for each advertisement viewed.

(20) While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.