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WO2014177161A1 - Distribution d'annonces publicitaires dans un réseau publicitaire basé sur wifi - Google Patents

Distribution d'annonces publicitaires dans un réseau publicitaire basé sur wifi Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2014177161A1
WO2014177161A1 PCT/DK2014/050121 DK2014050121W WO2014177161A1 WO 2014177161 A1 WO2014177161 A1 WO 2014177161A1 DK 2014050121 W DK2014050121 W DK 2014050121W WO 2014177161 A1 WO2014177161 A1 WO 2014177161A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
advertising
subscriber
advertising content
content
mobile device
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/DK2014/050121
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Kasper Bloch GEVALDIG
Esben ELMØE
Original Assignee
ALLUNITE ApS
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by ALLUNITE ApS filed Critical ALLUNITE ApS
Publication of WO2014177161A1 publication Critical patent/WO2014177161A1/fr

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • 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
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
    • G06Q30/0241—Advertisements
    • G06Q30/0277—Online advertisement
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • 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
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
    • G06Q30/0241—Advertisements
    • G06Q30/0251—Targeted advertisements
    • G06Q30/0267—Wireless devices
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • 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
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
    • G06Q30/0241—Advertisements
    • G06Q30/0251—Targeted advertisements
    • G06Q30/0269—Targeted advertisements based on user profile or attribute
    • G06Q30/0271—Personalized advertisement

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to selection and distribution of advertising content to a WiFi-connected mobile device in an advertising network.
  • an embodiment relates to a method of distributing advertising content (AC) in an advertising network (AN), the advertising network (AN) comprising
  • AMS advertising management system operated by an advertising network operator (ANO);
  • said advertising management system managing advertising content (AC),
  • the advertising content comprising subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) and advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC);
  • said advertising network further comprising a plurality of wireless access points (WAP), each of said wireless access points (WAP) being associated with a dedicated subscriber (SUB), the wireless access points (WAP) being configured to distribute advertising content (AC) to mobile devices (DEV); wherein the advertising management system (AMS) and the wireless access points (WAP) are communicatively coupled by means of the Internet (I) for distribution of advertising content (AC); the advertising management system (AMS) defining a subscriber rule set (SRS) associating a subset of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) to each subscriber (SUB); the advertising management system (AMS) further defining a compliance rule set (CRS), said compliance rule set (CRS) defining a subset of the advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) as compliant with the individual subscribers (SUB); the method comprising the steps of the advertising management system (AMS) receiving requests for advertising content (AC) from a mobile device (DEV) via the Internet (I); the advertising management system (AMS) determining
  • An advantage of an embodiment of the invention is that it is possible to transmit advertising content from a central advertising management system to a mobile device while avoiding conflict between the interests of the subscriber and the advertising content transmitted through the wireless access point of the subscriber.
  • the present invention may thus provide a advantageous way of providing advertising and/or other information to users of mobile devices, both seen from the subscriber's point of view and the users of mobile devices point of view.
  • the subscriber may by the present invention be assured that their individual advertising content is provided to relevant users within a relevant geographical range.
  • users may experience that the information provided to them by the mobile device by the system is relevant in that it may be adapted/determined by the individual subscriber.
  • the present invention provides a lucrative, efficient and customizable technical solution for providing relevant information such as advertising to relevant users of mobile devices.
  • the transmitted combination of the advertising content comprising subscriber- defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC may be combined and transmitted in several different ways.
  • the different advertising content AC i.e. the subscriber-defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC may e.g. be transmitted in sequence, thereby shifting between subscriber-defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC, preferably in accordance with an agreement with the subscriber about the ratio between subscriber-defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC.
  • the advertising content AC may be transmitted and displayed at the requesting mobile device at the same time.
  • the disclosed method is performed over time, e.g.
  • the combining takes place by alternatingly or by an alternative selection scheme transmitting subscriber-defined and advertising network operator-defined advertising content, respectively, the mobile device requesting advertising content.
  • some of the steps of the method are performed several times iteratively, and for example the statement that the advertising management system AMS receives plural requests from the mobile device is to be understood so that over time, the advertising management system will have received several requests from the mobile device, and have, according to the step of transmitting a combination of advertising content, transmitted several individual or sets of the different kinds of advertising content, thereby over time combining advertising content at the mobile device.
  • the mobile device may at one point in time send several requests or a request that expands to several requests for advertising content.
  • the advertising management server may respond by transmitting a bulk of combined advertising content.
  • the wireless access points WAP being configured to distribute advertising content AC to mobile devices DEV may establish a connection for transmission of advertising content AC from the advertising management system AMS to the device(s), does not necessarily need to provide further intelligence to the system insofar sufficient information is being forwarded to the advertising management system in connection with the request, thereby allowing the advertising management system to identify what to transmit in reply to the request.
  • a subset may comprise an empty subset.
  • a subscriber may have none subscriber-defined advertising content SAC associated with him, e.g. according to this specific subscriber's agreement with the advertising network operator ANO.
  • a plurality of the subscribers are associated with non-empty subsets of subscriber-defined advertising content SAC.
  • one, two or more wireless access points may be associated to the same subscriber, and that a subset of the plurality of wireless access points may form a subset of a system, where further wireless access points may be operated through other principles.
  • Advertising content AC is generally understood as something (such as a short film or a written notice) that is shown or presented to the public to help sell a product or to make an announcement.
  • the advertising content comprises, e.g., text, images, video, audio, flash or other possibly interactive media, etc.
  • the advertising content may in embodiments, together with the information such as text, images, video, audio, flash or the like comprise a link such as a hyperlink and/or other information retrieving triggers such as a command, a script or the like.
  • a user of the mobile device may e.g. activate the area where the advertising content is displayed at the mobile device, e.g. by a finger, a mouse marker and/or the like.
  • the user may initiate/activate the information retrieving trigger and thus be directed by a browser or the like on the mobile device to a home page or other information means such as a pop-up information window may be visualized upon the activation, to visualize further information related to the activated/clicked advertising content.
  • this/these information retrieving trigger(s), and thus the available further information may be shifted together with advertising content provided to the mobile device based on the advertising management system over time.
  • the advertising content may thus in embodiments of the invention refer to a web page or other information not being part of the subscriber facilitated advertisement network as such. Hence, the subscriber may provide updates to the destination of the link, and the user will thus be presented to these updates over time even though the advertising content may remain the same.
  • the data provided when the activation of the advertising content is performed by the user at the mobile device may trigger a request for further information related to the activated/clicked advertising content from the advertising management system, and the advertising management system may upon this request provide the further information/data.
  • Different advertising content may in embodiments of the invention comprise/trigger similar information retrieving triggers upon user activation.
  • a subscriber or another party as disclosed in this document may provide different advertisings to the mobile device, e.g. relating to different products, services or the like, but when the user triggers the information retrieving trigger relating to one of these different products, services or the like, the user may be presented to the same further information which may be common to one or more of the different advertisings.
  • the advertising network AN in a preferred embodiment denotes a virtual network comprising the advertising management system and all wireless access points participating in the same united network.
  • the advertising network may be considering an abstract network further comprising the advertising network operator ANO and the subscribers SUB.
  • the advertising network AN in an embodiment enables location-based control and exposure of advertisements in the coverage area of an associated united network.
  • the advertising network operator ANO comprises a legal or natural person who facilitates the advertising network AN and operates the advertising management system AMS.
  • the advertising network operator may in an embodiment be motivated to enter into arrangements with subscribers as described in order to enlarge his inventory of advertising space, i.e. the wireless access points, and happy, returning mobile device users. Further the advertising network operator in a preferred embodiment offers a part of the advertising space to advertisers ADV in accordance with the agreement entered with subscribers.
  • An advertising management system AMS is generally understood as an integrated or distributed control system for the advertising network operator ANO to control the advertising network and any, some or all of storage, categorization, selection and distribution of advertisements.
  • the advertisement management system AMS may preferably comprise an advertisement content server ACS and is preferably implemented, integrated or distributed, by data processing equipment DPE.
  • a subscriber SUB is in a preferred embodiment a legal or natural person, e.g. a business, a shop, a mall, a cafe, or an owner or manager of such, typically a business with a physical, local, presence, who may be motivated to offer wireless internet access to customers and guests in return of being able to add advertisements to the web content retrieved via his wireless connection.
  • the subscriber may own the wireless access points or the subscriber may e.g. according to a specific agreement have acquired the rights from the owner of the wireless access point(s). The subscriber may thereby ensure that his advertisement, e.g.
  • the subscriber rule set may be broadcasted through his interest zone, i.e. the decentral coverage area DCA covered by the subscriber's wireless access points.
  • the subscriber enters into an agreement with the advertising network operator, preferably in order to subscribe for advertisements to be delivered to his customers or guests, in return for being included in the united network offering automatic internet connection to customers and guests and therewith being able to offer his own subscriber-defined advertisements to the customers and guests.
  • the subscriber may be considered a location provider, i.e. providing a physical, geographical location for a wireless access point being part of the united network.
  • the subscriber is in a preferred embodiment also the subscriber for the local internet connection required in order to make the wireless access point communicatively coupled to the internet.
  • the wireless access points may be geographically distributed in different ways.
  • the wireless access points may be located at parties at different geographically distributed locations such as places of business in the form of e.g. shops, stores, service providers and/or the like in malls, along pedestrian streets or at other stores, shops/service providers or the like.
  • the advertising content may hence at least partly be based on the individual shop, store, and/or service provider so that e.g. at least a part of the advertising content which is to be visualized at a mobile client(s) connected to a wireless access point at a subscriber may be based on an offered product or services of the place of business where the individual wireless access point is located.
  • Advertising content AC which is defined by the subscriber, e.g. for promoting his own business, or advertisements he has sold to a third party, are denoted subscriber- defined advertising content SAC.
  • the subscriber may fully control the substance of his own advertisements, and setup rules for their exposure, cf. the subscriber rule set SRS.
  • the subscriber rule set SRS is understood as comprising rules for managing, e.g. categorizing, selecting, combining and/or avoiding conflict of interest, of subscriber- defined advertising content SAC.
  • a part of the subscriber rule set SRS preferably reflects an agreement with a subscriber SUB, and is in a preferred embodiment primarily controlled by the subscribers, and to a lesser degree by the advertiser network operator ANO.
  • Advertising content AC which is defined by the advertisement network operator ANO, preferably advertisements sold to advertisers ADV or e.g. for promoting the advertising network or making announcements, are denoted advertiser network operator-defined advertising content AAC.
  • the subscriber may fully or partly control the substance of advertising network operator-defined advertisements AAC that are being exposed via his wireless access point by configuring a compliance rule set CRS.
  • the advertiser ADV and/or the advertising network operator ANO may influence the exposure behavior of advertising network operator-defined advertisements AAC by configuring the compliance rule set CRS.
  • a compliance rule set CRS comprises rules for managing, e.g. categorizing, selecting, combining and/or avoiding conflict of interest, of advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC.
  • a part of the compliance rule set CRS preferably reflects agreements with subscriber SUB and possibly also advertisers ADV, and is in a preferred embodiment primarily controlled by the subscribers, the advertiser and the advertiser network operator ANO.
  • the wireless access points WAP are configured to provide wireless internet connectivity by means of radio communication, preferably at least by comprising an arrangement for establishing a wireless local area network (WLAN), also known as a WiFi network, preferably according to one or more of the IEEE 802.11 standards, e.g. 802. l lg, 802.11 ⁇ , 802.1 lac, etc.
  • WLAN wireless local area network
  • a wireless access point WAP is configured to be used in accordance with several of the IEEE 802.11 standards, e.g. 802.1 lb/g/n, as is widely known by a person skilled in the art.
  • a wireless access point WAP in a preferred embodiment associates the WLAN with a network identifier, typically, as known by the skilled person, a so-called service set identifier (SSID).
  • SSID service set identifier
  • Mobile devices are able to recognize a WLAN and differentiate between different WLANs due to the network identifier.
  • the wireless access points may be one or more other access points providing access to the internet, e.g. by means of Bluetooth (e.g. IEEE 802.15.1 standardized wireless technology) or any other suitable wireless technology. This may thereby in embodiments establish a kind of personal area network PAN, for example based on a Bluetooth group ad hoc network device or Bluetooth network access point device.
  • the radio transceiver of the wireless access point WAP is a main contributor to defining a space around the wireless access point WAP within which mobile devices DEV may connect to the wireless access point.
  • the space which is also referred to as a decentral coverage area DCA in the present disclosure, may be limited and defined by, among other things, radio transmission power of the wireless access point and/or the mobile device, antenna configuration, elevation, encoding technology, physical obstructions or reflectors, e.g. walls, concrete constructions, etc., interference or obscuring by other nearby radio transmitters, etc.
  • the covered space, the decentral coverage area DCA forms a three-dimensional radiation pattern around the wireless access point antenna(s).
  • the wireless access point is communicatively coupled to the internet I via a router, which may be a separate hardware unit or integrated with the wireless access point, and any suitable last-mile internet networking technology as widely known by a person skilled in the art, such as, e.g., an optical fiber connection, ADSL or other DSL connection typically utilizing telephone wires, cable modems utilizing cable TV network infrastructure, or wireless technologies such as, e.g. WiMAX or LTE, or even a further WLAN connection with a same or different network identifier to another wireless access point.
  • a router which may be a separate hardware unit or integrated with the wireless access point, and any suitable last-mile internet networking technology as widely known by a person skilled in the art, such as, e.g., an optical fiber connection, ADSL or other DSL connection typically utilizing telephone wires, cable modems utilizing cable TV network infrastructure, or wireless technologies such as, e.g. WiMAX or LTE, or even a further WLAN connection with a same or different network identifier to another
  • the Internet infrastructure i.e. the worldwide network infrastructure that makes web pages and other web content of the World Wide Web accessible together with various other web services and internet distributed services, e.g. video streaming and email communication.
  • the internet may be referring to the internet infrastructure as well as connected web servers and other connected servers.
  • the mobile device DEV is broadly understood as a device that is mobile.
  • the mobile devices are handheld or portable devices such as, e.g., smartphones, tablets, PDAs, laptops, etc.
  • the mobile device may be a fixed system in mobile setup, e.g. a computer, navigation system or smart-TV for automotive use, e.g. mounted in a car, etc.
  • several mobile devices DEV of same and/or different of the mentioned or other types are used simultaneously and/or sequentially, for various, possibly overlapping, periods.
  • a mobile device DEV is according to an embodiment characterized by being battery- powered.
  • the mobile device comprises a user interface, preferably comprising a display and/or other arrangement, e.g. a loudspeaker, for rendering advertising content and other information to a human user, solely or in combination with other content, information and/or input controls.
  • the user interface in a preferred embodiment comprises a touchscreen, e.g. based on capacitive or resistive touchscreen technology, which may therefore provide functionality of both displaying information to the user and receiving input from the user, e.g. as being typically used in smartphones and tablet computers as understood by a person skilled in the art.
  • the mobile device may in an embodiment comprise one or more position detecting or determining arrangements, e.g.
  • the mobile device is in an embodiment preferably configured to be able to communicate the determined position, on request and/or by choice, e.g. directly to a base station or wireless access point, or via the internet to a server or other internet-connected system, e.g. an advertisement management system.
  • the mobile device comprises wireless internet connectivity, preferably at least by comprising an arrangement for connecting via wireless local area network (WLAN) technology, also known as WiFi technology, preferably according to one or more of the IEEE 802.11 standards, e.g. 802. l lg, 802.11 ⁇ , 802.1 lac, etc.
  • WLAN wireless local area network
  • a mobile device DEV is configured to be used in accordance with several of the IEEE 802.11 standards, e.g. 802.1 lb/g/n, as is widely known by a person skilled in the art.
  • the mobile device is configured with WLAN technology as well as other wireless connection technologies, such as e.g. mobile broadband, e.g.
  • the mobile device is capable of connecting to the internet according to WLAN technologies e.g. as described above, but does not comprise a slot or receiver for a SIM card and does not feature mobile broadband or other typically cellphone-specific functionality.
  • the method may be performed without involving a proxy server combined with the wireless access point in a router.
  • the advertising management system AMS may preferably be a central system, and is in an embodiment performing the method of the invention automatically.
  • Data processing equipment may in a preferred embodiment comprise hardware, either integrated or distributed, suitable for implementing advertisement databases, selecting and combinations algorithms and web server functionality of the advertising management system AMS.
  • the data processing equipment preferably comprises one or more processors, processing memory and non-volatile memory for storing data.
  • the data processing equipment may comprise cloud-based services.
  • An advantageous embodiment is obtained when said subscriber rule set (SRS) associating a subset of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) to each subscriber (SUB) thereby facilitates individual transmittal of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) from the advertising management system (AMS) via wireless access points (WAP) associated to the subscriber.
  • SRS subscriber rule set
  • SAC subscriber-defined advertising content
  • WAP wireless access points
  • the individual subscribers may be served by the, preferably, central advertising management system and the individual subscriber may relay dedicated advertisement via the access points to mobile devices connecting to his or her wireless access point.
  • This opportunity may serve several different purposes, such as motivation of the subscribers to join the network but it may also be a very specific solution to a complex desire for local geographically targeted advertisement by a subscriber.
  • An advantageous embodiment is obtained when the subset of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) defined by the subscriber rule set (SRS) is received from the subscriber.
  • SAC subscriber-defined advertising content
  • SRS subscriber rule set
  • the subscriber may thus upload or communicate subscriber-defined advertising content he wishes to be transmitted via his wireless access point to the advertising management system. This may e.g. be done in a primitive upload of an image or it may be uploaded as a more complex structure, whereby the subscriber may define properties related to the uploaded advertising content.
  • SRS subscriber rule set
  • AMS advertising management system
  • Timing definitions in relation to the subscriber-defined advertising content SAC may facilitate that the advertising in question is transmitted according to timing definitions of the subscriber, e.g. certain advertisement is automatically transmitted on certain times of the day, week or year. It may also imply timing during the specific session during which the mobile device is connected to the subscriber wireless access point, and/or comprise sequence rules for causing subscriber-defined advertising content to be received on the mobile device in a certain sequence.
  • An advantageous embodiment is obtained when at least one of the step of providing a set of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) and the step of providing a set of advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) is performed at least partly in dependency with a user profile (UP) associated with the mobile device or a user of the mobile device.
  • SAC subscriber-defined advertising content
  • AAC advertising network operator-defined advertising content
  • User profile UP generally relates to information about the mobile devices or their users. According to an embodiment, the user profile may advantageously be applied for making the advertising more targeted, e.g. by correlation with user habits, user defined preferences, etc.
  • the user profile may in a preferred embodiment be updated by the user, thereby allowing the user actively to affect the types of advertisement transmitted to him by the advertising management system.
  • the user profile may also be updated on the basis of analysis of the web content or the web search results accessed by the mobile device or the user of the mobile device, thereby making it possible automatically to correlate the user's habits or interest without requiring inputs from the user.
  • the user profile may in an embodiment be anonymous in the sense that it only relates to an identifier, e.g.
  • the user profile is related to a named or otherwise identified user, e.g. by social security number, a user ID of a social media network, a digital certificate, etc.
  • part of the user profile is derived from social media network and other public or private sources.
  • the identification of a mobile device sufficient to lookup a corresponding anonymous user profile may be performed as soon as the user's mobile device is moved into a decentral coverage area of one of the wireless access points of the united network UN, at least if the WiFi-functionality is activated on the mobile device, because the mobile device in that case broadcasts its MAC address together with polls for wireless networks, and even connects to the united network automatically if already having been initialized once due to the WLAN account ACC.
  • user identification is desired to lookup a personal user profile, this may be obtained in various ways.
  • the user is required to login to the united network by being redirected to a login page upon moving the mobile device into a coverage area of the united network.
  • the user is asked to create a profile upon the very first connection attempt to the united network, and as part of the profile the mobile device is identified in order to be able to associate the user with the particular mobile device, e.g. by using the MAC-address as key, for further connections thereafter.
  • a login system of a popular social media network is used to ease the login procedure and profile creation for new users of the united network.
  • the subscriber rule set furthermore relates to a user profile (UP) associated with the mobile device or a user of the mobile device, and wherein the set of subscriber-defined advertising content is further selected in accordance with the user profile (UP).
  • the user profile may advantageously be applied for making the advertising even more targeted, e.g. by correlation with user habits, user defined preferences, etc.
  • the user profile may advantageously be updated by the user, thereby allowing the user actively to affect the types of advertisement transmitted to him by the advertising management system.
  • An advantageous embodiment is obtained when the user profile is updated in response to analysis of web content or web search results accessed by the mobile device or the user of the mobile device.
  • the user profile may also be updated on the basis of analysis of the web content or the web search results accessed by the mobile device or the user of the mobile device, thereby making it possible automatically to correlate the user's habits or interest without requiring inputs from the user.
  • An advantageous embodiment is obtained when the subscriber rule set (SRS) associates a subscriber (SUB) with a specified subset of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) stored at a, preferably central, advertising content server (ACS).
  • SRS subscriber rule set
  • SAC subscriber-defined advertising content
  • the subscriber may own the wireless access points or the subscriber may e.g. according to a specific agreement have acquired the rights from the owner of the wireless access point(s).
  • the subscriber may thereby ensure that his advertisement, defined by the subscriber rule set, may be broadcasted through his interest zone, i.e. the decentral coverage area DCA covered by the subscriber's wireless access points.
  • the advertising management system AMS comprises an advertising content server ACS for storing advertising content AC, preferably at least divided into a database or table for subscriber-defined advertising content SAC and a database or table for advertiser network operator-defined advertising content AAC, or a single database with categorizations into these kinds.
  • the advertising content server may preferably comprise further categorization of the advertisement content, and/or further types of data, e.g. tables of subscribers together with associated wireless access points, location thereof, etc.
  • SRS subscriber rule set
  • SAC subscriber-defined advertising content
  • the subscriber-defined advertising content SAC is preferably individually controlled by the individual subscribers SUB, thereby causing the specific advertising content associated with the different subscribers to be different.
  • a compliance rule set may specifically be used to facilitate that only a subset of the complete advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC is transmitted to a mobile device, insofar the mobile device is connected to the advertising network through one or more mobile access points WAP associated to a specified subscriber SUB or a specified group of subscribers SUB. In this way, it is possible to allow individual subscribers control or a least partly control also with respect to advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC.
  • a code e.g. an industrial classification code associated to the individual subscribers
  • This may e.g. be done by associating the advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC stored in the advertising management system AMS with individual codes, e.g. an industrial classification code.
  • the advertising management system may e.g. thereby determine if a network operator-defined advertising content potentially to be transmitted is applicable or not and thereby exclude a subset of the total network operator-defined advertising content with respect to the individual subscriber through which advertising content is distributed.
  • the compliance rule set may of course be more or less sophisticated in dependency of the conventions of the advertising network and the agreements with the individual subscribers.
  • An advantageous embodiment is obtained when the advertising management system (AMS) determining the dedicated subscriber (SUB) related to the request from said mobile device (DEV) on the basis of a unique ID (UID) associated with said requests.
  • AMS advertising management system
  • UID unique ID
  • This may provide an advantageous way of identifying the subscriber so as to be able to identify the proper advertising to provide to the mobile device transmitting the request based on the rule set, preferably the subscriber rule set SRS and/or the compliance rule set CRS.
  • the unique ID UID refers to an identifier serving to identify a wireless access point or its associated subscriber in order to determine through which subscriber a mobile device is connecting to the internet and should receive advertising content AC.
  • the unique ID may preferably be included in the requests for advertising content sent from the mobile device, or the unique ID may be injected in the request during the transmission of the request to the advertising management system. This may e.g. be achieved by having the wireless access point configured to add the unique ID to the request upon forwarding the request to the advertising management system.
  • the unique ID UID identifies the wireless access point WAP through which the requests are transmitted from the mobile device DEV by comprising a hardware identifier, preferably a media access control address (MAC- address), of the wireless access point (WAP).
  • the unique ID may comprise e.g.
  • the advertising management system AMS may thus determine the subscriber SUB related to the request from said mobile device DEV on the basis of a unique ID UID of a wireless access point WAP associated with the dedicated subscriber SUB.
  • the unique ID may preferably be included in the requests from the mobile device, or the unique ID may be injected in the request during the transmission of the request to the advertising management system. This may e.g. be achieved by having the wireless access point configured to add the unique ID to the request upon forwarding the request to the advertising management system.
  • said unique ID identifies the wireless access point (WAP) through which the requests were transmitted from the mobile device (DEV) by comprising a hardware identifier, preferably a media access control address (MAC-address), of said wireless access point (WAP).
  • the unique ID may comprise a serial number of said wireless access point, if available, or, e.g., a subscriber number or other identification of the subscriber.
  • the positioning system is a Global Positioning System (GPS), but it is understood that any suitable positioning system may be used in further aspects of the invention.
  • GPS Global Positioning System
  • the unique ID may when based on position, e.g. comprise latitude and longitude, map coordinates, a street address, etc., possibly together with the elevation.
  • An advantageous embodiment is obtained when said unique ID (UID) is determined based on multilateration, trilateration or triangulation to determine the position of said mobile device performing the request(s) for advertising content (AC).
  • multilateration, trilateration or triangulation evidently may be performed on the basis of as few or a many signal levels needed to obtain the desired position.
  • the point is therefore not the specific number of detected signal levels measured at the mobile device, but rather that the signal levels measured at the mobile device will suffice for determination of the position of the mobile device, preferably at least to a degree sufficient to identify the subscriber.
  • An advantageous embodiment is obtained when said subscriber is identified by a unique ID combined into the requests for advertisement content.
  • the unique ID identifies a subscriber directly or indirectly, e.g. by name or subscriber number, or by MAC-address or serial number of the wireless access point WAP, or by other similar, unique identification, and the unique ID is in this preferred embodiment part of the request for advertisement content, e.g. as a part of an URL or URI, an HTTP GET- or PUT-request, meta- or header-information in e.g. one of the protocols of the TCP/IP system, as part of a SOAP-message or other web service request, an asynchronous HTTP requests, XML HTTP requests, etc.
  • An advantageous embodiment is obtained when the combining of said unique ID into said requests for advertising content is triggered by said mobile device (DEV).
  • the mobile device trigger the combining of the unique ID into the request by means of dedicated software, e.g. an app downloaded and executed at the mobile device from which the request originates.
  • dedicated software e.g. an app downloaded and executed at the mobile device from which the request originates.
  • An advantageous embodiment is obtained when the combining of said unique ID into said requests for advertising content is triggered by said advertising network (AN).
  • the advertising network e.g. a component thereof, triggers the combining of the unique ID into the request.
  • This triggering may e.g. be performed in hardware interfaces along the communication line between the mobile device and a web server from which the mobile device is retrieving web content.
  • a very advantageous embodiment in this context would be a component such as a proxy server related to the wireless access point, e.g. a proxy server forming part of a wireless router also comprising the wireless access point.
  • An advantageous embodiment is obtained when the combining of said unique ID into said requests for advertising content is triggered by the wireless access point through which the requests was transmitted from said mobile device (DEV), said unique ID identifying said wireless access point.
  • the unique ID may, if possible, be added anywhere between the mobile device and the advertising management system so that it is possible to determine the subscriber.
  • the unique ID which is associated to the requests transmitted from the mobile device, is originating from either a code associated with hardware of the wireless access point, or additionally or alternatively another suitable identifier enabling identification of the wireless access point through which the mobile device is communicatively coupled to the advertising network.
  • the requests may be triggered by modified web content MWC generated in response to a user-initiated request for web content WC.
  • WAP wireless access points
  • the wireless access points (WAP) are further configured to communicatively connect said mobile device (DEV) to the internet (I) for retrieval of web content (WC).
  • Web content WC is understood as the content from web servers WS that the mobile device accesses by means of the internet connectivity.
  • the web content is typically HTML-documents together with any associated sub resources.
  • the web content may include web server advertising, e.g. from banner exchange services, which in this context is also referred to as web content, as opposed to advertising content, which in the present context refers to advertising managed by the advertising network operator and advertising management system.
  • AMS advertising management system
  • DEV mobile device
  • WAP wireless access point
  • the mobile device receives advertising content or is triggered to request advertising content each time or some time it requests web content, e.g. a web page from a web server. This may be achieved by modifying the requested web content into modified web content before relaying it to the mobile device. It is noted, that the present method may in a preferred embodiment be carried out iteratively over time, in which case the statement that the steps of requesting web content and receiving modified web content precede the steps of requesting advertising content and transmitting advertising content is to be understood as relating to each or some of the iterations. In other words, the mentioned requests for advertising content may take place at different times, each or some time preceded by steps of requesting web content and receiving modified web content.
  • modified web content MWC refers to web content WC modified by, e.g., a proxy server PS and sent to a mobile device DEV by means of a wireless access point WAP.
  • the modification preferably comprises addition of a reference to an advertising content AC, e.g.
  • modified web content comprises the web content (WC) and further script(s) or instructions.
  • Said script or instructions may comprise the unique ID.
  • the modification may add script or instructions which, when executed, may reserve space on the screen of the device for the advertising content which is received in response to the request for advertising content.
  • the script or instruction may also comprise a software code which, when executed, manipulates the mobile device to transmit the request for advertising content.
  • An example of an instruction may e.g. be an HTML-tag instructing a browser to retrieve an image from an URL, the URL pointing at a web server of the advertising management system and the URL further comprising a query string, preferably comprising the unique ID, possibly together with further parameters for facilitating the advertising management system in selecting targeted advertising content.
  • An example of a script may be a javascript-implemented interval function which may cause a browser to periodically retrieve an image as widely understood by a person skilled in the art, from an URL comprising a query string containing the unique ID as described above.
  • the retrieval of the advertisement may be performed as a normal download of a sub resource in a browser, or it may be carried out by asynchronous requests, e.g. an asynchronous XMLHttpRequest.
  • the script itself may be modified into the web content html document, or the modification may consist in adding an HTML-tag which when processed causes download and execution of a script-file.
  • the reservation of space on the screen of the mobile device may comprise adding, e.g., an IMG, OBJECT or DIV-tag to an HTML-document, manipulating a CSS- document, adding an inline frame (iframe) to a web page, etc.
  • the advertising content may comprise images, text, audio or video, etc.
  • SAC subscriber-defined advertising content
  • SAC subscriber-defined advertising content
  • the categorization of the advertising content may at the step of selecting a set of subscriber-defined advertising content SAC be correlated with the subscriber rule set SRS and/or a user profile, either obtained from the specific user as described above regarding user profiles UP, or obtained by other analysis of the subscriber's customers or guests.
  • the categorization may, e.g., involve age, gender, interests, etc.
  • An advantageous embodiment is obtained when the advertising management system (AMS) facilitates a central uploading of individual advertising content determined by the individual subscribers (SUB) via the Internet (I), the individual advertising content being subscriber defined advertising content (SAC).
  • Subscriber advertising content may be uploaded from the subscriber to a shared central server in a central advertising management system. In this way the subscriber may simply choose from a portal of centrally available templates. In this way, even small stores, libraries, coffee shops, offices, etc., may become a part of an advertising network, without even being required a computer. A simple wireless access point may suffice.
  • An advantageous embodiment is obtained when the advertising network operator- defined advertising content (AAC) is associated to a an industrial classification code.
  • AAC advertising network operator- defined advertising content
  • the network operator-defined advertising content AAC may advantageously be categorized according to an industrial classification code. This may in particular be advantageous insofar there is a wish for transmission of this advertisement via subscribers' wireless access point(s) and if these subscribers do not want to allow transmission of this content unless the content doesn't conflict with the business or intentions of the subscriber. Such categorization is thereby facilitating an automatic transmission by the advertising management system of both advertising network operator-defined advertising content and subscriber-defined content via the same communication channel, i.e. the wireless access point associated to the subscriber.
  • An advantageous embodiment is obtained when the advertising network operator- defined advertising content (AAC) is categorized.
  • AAC advertising network operator- defined advertising content
  • the categorization of the advertising content may at the step of selecting a set of advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC be correlated with the compliance rule set CRS and/or a user profile, either obtained from the specific user as described above regarding user profiles UP, or obtained by other analysis of the subscriber's customers or guests.
  • the categorization may, e.g., involve age, gender, interests, etc.
  • An advantageous embodiment is obtained when said combination of the subscriber- defined advertising content (SAC) and the advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) for transmission to said mobile device (DEV) in response to said requests is performed as a sequential transmission over time of subscriber- defined advertising content (SAC) and advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC).
  • SAC subscriber- defined advertising content
  • AAC advertising network operator-defined advertising content
  • An advantageous embodiment is obtained when the combination of advertising content (AC) is transmitted to the requesting mobile device for a parallel displaying at the mobile device (DEV).
  • subscriber-defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC are presented simultaneously at the display of the mobile device.
  • simultaneous or parallel displaying means that both types of advertising content appear to the user at substantially the same time under appropriate circumstances, i.e. when the network etc. allows for all content to be fetched in a reasonably short time, and when the device's display, or on devices with resizable windows: the window, is sufficiently large to show all content.
  • content are considered displayed in parallel or simultaneously also when different parts appear clearly sequentially e.g. due to slow internet connection, slow servers or slow mobile device, or when different parts cannot actually be seen at the same time because of the screen or window being too small, but can be seen individually by scrolling the content in the window.
  • the mobile devices connect to the subscriber's wireless access point in order to gain access to the internet for retrieving web content.
  • the web content is preferably displayed at the mobile device, and for this purpose, the mobile device preferably comprises a user interface, preferably comprising a display and/or other arrangement, e.g. a loudspeaker, for rendering advertising content and other information to a human user, solely or in combination with other content, information and/or input controls.
  • the user interface in a preferred embodiment comprises a touchscreen, e.g.
  • An advantageous embodiment is obtained when the advertising content (AC) transmitted to the mobile device (DEV) is displayed at the mobile device in addition to web content (WC) requested by the mobile device (DEV).
  • the advertising content is preferably displayed in addition to web content, e.g. in a pop up window, in a banner at the top, bottom and/or side(s) of the display, in suitable whitespace anyway produced by the web content, or in an embodiment by substituting some of the web content with the advertising content, preferably other advertising content received as web content opposed to the advertising content received as such from the advertising management system.
  • an advantageous embodiment is obtained when the advertising content (AC) transmitted to the mobile device (DEV) is displayed at the mobile device simultaneously with web content (WC) requested by the mobile device (DEV).
  • the advertising content is displayed simultaneously with displaying of web content to a user at the mobile device, preferably by a bar at the bottom or top of a web browser window.
  • simultaneous or parallel displaying means that both web content and advertising content appear to the user at substantially the same time under appropriate circumstances, i.e. when the network etc. allows for all content to be fetched in a reasonably short time, and when the device's display, or on devices with resizable windows: the window, is sufficiently large to show all content.
  • content are considered displayed in parallel or simultaneously also when different parts appear clearly sequentially e.g. due to slow internet connection, slow servers or slow mobile device, or when different parts cannot actually be seen at the same time because of the screen or window being too small, but can be seen individually by scrolling the content in the window.
  • the added advertisement content may simply be graphically added to the displayed website, thereby basically expanding the view with the advertisement content of the subscriber or the centrally determined advertisement.
  • the added advertisement content may advantageously be added in the top window, in the bottom part of the window and/or to the left and/or to the right of the user accessed web content.
  • the added advertisement may e.g. be inserted by a relatively simple modification of the Document Object Model DOM established at the mobile device.
  • a wireless router WR is generally understood as a hardware unit comprising the functionality of both a wireless access point and a router, typically comprising an uplink Ethernet port, or ports for other cabling technologies, for connecting the wireless router to a wired broadband internet connection, e.g. a fiber connection.
  • the wireless router may in an embodiment comprise further components such as a firewall, a web server, a configuration interface, etc.
  • An example of a suitable wireless router is e.g. TL-WDR3500 N600 Wireless Dual Band Router from TP- Link, etc.
  • WR wireless routers
  • PS proxy servers
  • a proxy server PS of a wireless router WR or related to a wireless access point WAP is understood as a component, typically implemented in a processor and memory of a wireless access point or wireless router, and acts as an intermediary for requests from and to mobile devices seeking resources from web servers.
  • the proxy server is configured to analyze and manipulate the content of network packages sent through the wireless router or wireless access point.
  • the proxy server is preferably formed by hardware controlled by an operating system, e.g. an embedded linux system, comprising proxy server control software.
  • the hardware may preferably be shared by the router, the proxy server and the wireless access point, and may comprise a CPU, RAM and static / non-volatile memory.
  • Proxy server software may typically be updated, e.g. by firmware upgrade mechanisms, which may preferably be autonomous or controlled from remote connection.
  • An advantageous embodiment is obtained when said proxy servers trigger the association of a unique ID determining a subscriber.
  • the proxy server modifies web content requested by a mobile device connected to the wireless access point so that the modified web content is made to provide the association of the unique ID to the mobile device, which in turn may provide the unique ID with its request for advertising content.
  • the proxy server modifies the requests for advertising content when on their way from the mobile device to the advertising management system in order to associate the request with the unique ID that can be used to determine the subscriber.
  • the advertising network further comprises at least one base station (BS) of a wireless telecommunication network, and wherein the method comprises a step of
  • the advertising management system transmitting advertising content (AC) as a combination of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) and advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) to said mobile device (DEV) when the mobile device is connected to said base station and not connected to said wireless access points; and wherein said advertising content (AC) is selected in accordance with a location of said mobile device.
  • the advertising network also covers a number of telecommunication base stations preferably offering mobile broadband connection, and the advertising management system may thereby provide advertising content to mobile devices that are outside a decentral coverage area of the wireless access points of the system, e.g. when the mobile device is moved into a park, recreational area or a parking lot where no subscribers have put up wireless access points.
  • the advertising management system may even in these circumstance provide advertising content based on the location of the mobile device, and in a preferred embodiment correlate the location with nearby subscribers to provide targeted and relevant local advertising content from the subscriber-defined advertising content.
  • An advantageous embodiment is obtained when the mobile device (DEV) connecting to the wireless access point (WAP) receives advertising content (AC) from the advertising management system (AMS) and web content (WC) from the internet (I), preferably from a web server (WS) connected to the internet.
  • advertising content AC
  • AMS advertising management system
  • WC web content
  • I internet
  • WS web server
  • the mobile device (DEV) connecting to the wireless access point (WAP) receives advertising content (AC) from the advertising management system (AMS) and web content (WC) from the internet (I), preferably from a web server (WS) connected to the internet, wherein the web content (WC) is transmitted from the internet (I) without being relayed via the advertising management system (AMS).
  • AC advertising content
  • AMS advertising management system
  • WC web content
  • web content should preferably be requested directly from the web source instead of being relayed though the advertising management system. It is thereby ensured that the advertising management system does not act as a bottleneck to browsing performed by the user of the mobile device.
  • An advantageous feature in an embodiment is that the processing of web content WC to make modified web content MWC is distributed to decentral, e.g., proxy servers, preferably located in relation to each wireless access point WAP.
  • the modified web content MWC triggers the mobile device to request advertising as disclosed and preferably only this advertising request is handled by the advertising management server AMS.
  • an advertising management system operated by an advertising network operator (ANO); said advertising management system being configured to manage advertising content (AC),
  • the advertising content comprising subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) and advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC);
  • said advertising network further comprising a plurality of wireless access points (WAP), each of said wireless access points (WAP) being associated with a dedicated subscriber (SUB),
  • the wireless access points (WAP) being configured to distribute advertising content (AC) to mobile devices (DEV); wherein the advertising management system (AMS) and the wireless access points (WAP) are communicatively coupled by means of the Internet (I) for distribution of advertising content (AC);
  • the advertising management system (AMS) comprising a subscriber rule set (SRS) associating a subset of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) to each subscriber (SUB);
  • the advertising management system (AMS) further comprising a compliance rule set (CRS), said compliance rule set (CRS) defining a subset of the advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) as compliant with the individual subscribers (SUB);
  • the advertising management system (AMS) being configured to receive requests for advertising content (AC) from a mobile device (DEV) via the Internet (I);
  • the advertising management system (AMS) being configured to determine the dedicated subscriber (SUB) related to the requests from said mobile device (DEV);
  • the advertising management system (AMS) being configured to provide a set
  • the system according to the invention is thereby advantageous by enabling a useful and practical arrangement for distribution of geographically relevant advertising, e.g. commercials or information.
  • the system may provide the advantages and features described above in relation to methods of transmitting advertising content.
  • a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a set of instructions for distributing advertising content (AC) in an advertising network (AN), the advertising network (AN) comprising
  • AMS advertising management system operated by an advertising network operator (ANO);
  • said advertising management system managing advertising content (AC),
  • the advertising content comprising subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) and advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC); said advertising network (AN) further comprising a plurality of wireless access points (WAP), each of said wireless access points (WAP) being associated with a dedicated subscriber (SUB),
  • the wireless access points being configured to distribute advertising content (AC) to mobile devices (DEV);
  • AMS advertising management system
  • WAP wireless access points
  • AMS advertising management system
  • SRS subscriber rule set
  • SAC subscriber-defined advertising content
  • the advertising management system further defining a compliance rule set (CRS), said compliance rule set (CRS) defining a subset of the advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) as compliant with the individual subscribers (SUB); said instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the following steps to be carried out: the advertising management system (AMS) receiving requests for advertising content (AC) from a mobile device (DEV) via the Internet (I); the advertising management system (AMS) determining the dedicated subscriber (SUB) related to the requests from said mobile device (DEV); the advertising management system (AMS) providing a set of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) to be transmitted in response to said requests according to said subscriber rule set (SRS); the advertising management system (AMS) providing a set of advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) to be transmitted in response to said requests according to said compliance rule set (CRS); and the advertising management system (AMS) transmitting said advertising content (AC) as a combination of the provided set of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) and
  • a mobile device may be provided with an app, i.e. software, to be executed at the individual mobile device.
  • the app will be executed as a visual display of a compass.
  • the compass will direct a user of the mobile device to a stronger network by physically showing the direction.
  • the compass function will technically be based on detection of signal levels related to one or preferably the closest wireless access point.
  • the signal detection is performed in the mobile device and a display will illustrate a direction towards a stronger network signal.
  • the app is very attractive to a user, due to the fact that the user does not have to specify a specific local network to search for, but rather just search for a wireless access point providing a stronger wifi connection within the united network established by the wireless access points of the advertising network.
  • a website may also be applied for the purpose of being directed to physical shops or physical providers for the purpose of obtaining or buying advertised goods or information.
  • a subscriber associated to more than one wireless access point e.g. a shop owner having five wireless access points
  • a heap map showing or reflecting where mobile devices have moved within the store at a given time or one or more specified time periods.
  • the subscriber may assign different of the subscriber's wireless access point with different dedicated advertisement. It may therefore be possible for a subscriber, e.g. a shop owner or a library to give specific advertisement to a mobile device in dependency of where the mobile device is in the store. This may e.g. be done advantageously by the subscriber when dedicating advertisement regarding books in one subscriber-defined advertising content to a wireless access point located in the subscriber's book department and dedicating advertisement regarding delicious meat in another subscriber-defined advertising content to a wireless access point located in the subscriber's butcher department.
  • a subscriber may be associated to more than one wireless access point. This may e.g. be defined centrally in the advertisement management system. This application of a multiple numbers or wireless access points associated to one subscriber may be applied throughout the present application.
  • the group may be seen from the advertising management system as one uniform group of wireless access point and the advertising management system may thereby submit the same subscriber-defined advertising content to all wireless access point in the group.
  • the advertising management system may also handle the wireless access points individually and transmit different subscriber-specified advertising content to the different wireless access points of the group. This may e.g. be done by referral to different MAC numbers or other suitable measures.
  • the wireless access point of a subscriber may thus e.g. be grouped with further wireless repeaters.
  • Wireless repeaters are commonly used to improve signal range and strength of a wireless network.
  • a wireless repeater also called wireless range extender
  • a wireless repeater is used to bridge the gap. It can be a specialized stand-alone computer networking device.
  • some wireless network interface controllers optionally support operating in such a mode. Those outside of the primary network will be able to connect through the new "repeated" network. However, as far as the original router or access point is concerned only the repeater's MAC-address is connected.
  • the wireless repeater is configured with wireless network settings, SSID and security credentials identically to the wireless access points participating in a united network UN, thereby simply extending the coverage area CA of the united network.
  • the invention further relates to a method of transmitting conflicting advertising content (AC) in an advertising management system (AMS)
  • AC conflicting advertising content
  • AMS advertising management system
  • AAC advertising content associated with an advertiser (ADV) and storing said advertising content (AC) in a database of advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC);
  • AAC advertising network operator-defined advertising content
  • AAC specific advertising network operator-defined advertising content
  • AC advertising content
  • SAC subscriber-defined advertising content
  • SAC subscriber-defined advertising content
  • SAC subscriber-defined advertising content
  • each subscriber being a wireless broadcaster
  • each wireless broadcaster distributing said advertising content (AC) by means of a wireless access point (WAP);
  • CAAC advertising network operator-defined advertising content
  • the wireless broadcasters are located geographically separately.
  • fig. 1 A is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the invention
  • fig. IB is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of the invention.
  • fig. 2 - 3 are block diagrams illustrating various embodiments of the invention
  • fig. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of the invention
  • fig. 5 - 7 are block diagrams illustrating various embodiments of the invention.
  • Fig. 1 A is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an advertising network AN according to an embodiment of the invention.
  • An advertising management system AMS operated by an advertising network operator ANO is connected to the internet I.
  • the advertising management system AMS comprises advertising content AC, which comprises subscriber-defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC.
  • the advertising management system also comprises a subscriber rule set SRS and a compliance rule set CRS.
  • the advertising network AN comprises a plurality of wireless access points WAP, to which accept connections from mobile devices DEV by means of WiFi-based technology. As the wireless access points WAP are connected to the internet I, the mobile devices DEV may also be offered access the internet I by the wireless connections. Each of the wireless access points WAP is associated, hence the dashed line, with a subscriber SUB.
  • the advertising network AN comprises a plurality of subscribers SUB, and in an embodiment some subscribers are associated with more than one wireless access point WAP, as illustrated.
  • the subscribers preferably represent shops, cafes, malls, businesses, waiting rooms, public areas, sports or concert venues, etc., where customers or guests come and go, and where an offer for wireless internet, preferably for free, will typically be well received and relevant for mobile device users.
  • a subset of the subscriber-defined advertising content SAC is assigned to an individual subscriber SUB, and other subsets are assigned to other individual subscribers SUB.
  • the subscriber rules set SRS controls these relationships, possibly among other things.
  • the system facilitates that when a mobile device user is in a clothing store the system may distribute offers for items on sale in that very store to him. When the mobile device user later sits in front of a cafe, e.g. waiting for public transport, the system may distribute an offer for a cheap coffee to go from the cafe to him.
  • the clothing store and the cafe represent two different subscribers each offering free internet through their separate wireless access points, and the advertising management system AMS is able to distribute relevant and useful subscriber-defined advertising content to the mobile device user when the accepts their offers for internet access.
  • a subset of the advertising network operator- defined advertising content AAC which preferably comprises advertisements sold to third-party advertisers, is defined as compliant with an individual subscriber SUB, and other or the same or combinations of subsets are defined as compliant with other individual subscribers SUB. This is controlled by the compliance rule set CRS.
  • the advertising management system AMS When a mobile device DEV is connected to the internet I through the wireless access point WAP of a specific subscriber SUB it is thereby possible for the advertising management system AMS to select and distribute advertising network operator- defined advertising content AAC which complies with e.g. interests or other constraints set by that subscriber and by the operator and/or third-party advertiser.
  • the advertising management system may further send it advertisements for other local stores or nearby restaurants, etc., which the advertising network operator or third-party advertiser finds relevant to customers in the clothing store, but the clothing store manager may restrict the third-party advertisements delivered in his store to not include, e.g., advertisements for competitors' clothing stores.
  • the advertising management system may further send him third-party advertisements which are found relevant for that location or activity, and some of which may possibly be the same as received in the clothing store, but the cafe manager whose internet access is utilized here may by means of the compliance rule set restrict the third-party advertising to not include, e.g., advertisements from a tea house at the opposite side of the road.
  • the advertising management system is in this example is again facilitated to distribute relevant and useful advertising content to the mobile device user, while at the same time acknowledging and respecting the interests of the subscribers.
  • Fig. IB is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of receiving advertising content to a mobile device DEV in the above described advertising network AN.
  • a first step 1B.1 is illustrated, that the advertising management system AMS receives a request for advertising content AC from a mobile device DEV.
  • the request goes through the wireless access point WAP and the internet I.
  • the advertising management system AMS determines the particular subscriber related to the request for advertising content AC, typically the subscriber associated with the wireless access point through which the request is received.
  • the identification of the particular wireless access point and/or the particular subscriber is in a preferred embodiment provided to the advertising management system AMS together with or as part of the request for advertising content, and may either be added to the request by the mobile device DEV or the subscriber's wireless access point WAP.
  • Other ways of determining the subscriber may be achieved by various methods and embodiments as described and illustrated herein.
  • a third step IB.3 the advertising management system AMS establishes advertising content AC by combining subscriber-defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC in dependency of the determined subscriber SUB.
  • the selecting of subscriber-defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC is made in accordance with the subscriber rule set SRS and the compliance rule set CRS.
  • the fourth step IB.4 illustrates that advertising content AC, comprising subscriber- defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC is distributed to the mobile device DEV via the internet I and the wireless access point WAP.
  • This step of distributing advertising content is also illustrated in Fig. 1A by the indication of advertising content AC being transferred along the illustrated connections from the advertising management system AMS to the internet I, to the wireless access point WAP, and finally to a mobile device DEV.
  • Fig. 2 illustrates various embodiments of the invention based on the illustration of fig. 1A.
  • the various additional features may all be present in a preferred embodiment, but various embodiments comprise different combinations of only some or all of the features of fig. 2.
  • the advertising content AC is stored in an advertising content server ACS.
  • the advertising management system AMS comprises user profiles UP, preferably related to the mobile devices or users of the mobile devices.
  • user profiles UP preferably related to the mobile devices or users of the mobile devices.
  • the advertising management system AMS comprises data processing equipment DPE comprising hardware and software for performing the tasks of the advertising management system AMS.
  • the advertising network operator ANO is further in communication with an advertiser ADV, preferably in order to sell exposure of advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC or to receive the advertiser's preferences regarding the compliance rule set CRS.
  • a unique ID UID is used to determine the subscriber through which a request for advertising content has been sent.
  • Fig. 2 illustrates various embodiments of implementing and using the unique ID, which may be used alone or in combination(s) in various embodiments.
  • an individual unique ID UID is a property of each wireless access point WAP, e.g. a MAC-address.
  • the advertising management system AMS may identify the relevant subscriber SUB as the subscriber associated with the wireless access point identified by the unique ID.
  • an individual unique ID UID is a property of each subscriber SUB, e.g. a customer number. By adding this kind of unique ID to the request for advertising content the advertising management system AMS may explicitly get the identity of the relevant subscriber SUB.
  • an individual unique ID UID represents a position, relative or absolute, in terms of coordinates, street address or any other suitable representation as further elaborated above, of the wireless access point, the subscriber or the mobile device, etc., and when the advertising management system AMS in an embodiment receives this kind of unique ID it may identify the relevant subscriber by comparing the represented position with known positions of the subscribers or wireless access points and, preferably, determine the nearest one to be the relevant subscriber.
  • Fig. 3 illustrates various embodiments of the invention based on the illustration of fig. 1 A and/or fig. 2. The various additional features may all be present in a preferred embodiment, but various embodiments comprise different combinations of only some or all of the features of fig. 1A, 2 and/or 3. In an embodiment derivable from fig.
  • a web server WS as further discussed above is also connected to the internet I, and the mobile device requests web content WC from the web server WS.
  • the retrieval and transmission of web content WC does in a preferred embodiment not involve the advertising management system AMS.
  • the web content may in a preferred embodiment comprise a web page, typically based on an HTML-document, but any web content may be retrieved in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.
  • proxy servers PS are located in relation to the wireless access points WAP.
  • the proxy servers are located close to the wireless access points in terms of connection length or routing hops, preferably at the same geographical location as the wireless access point WAP and even more preferably integrated together with the wireless access point WAP, e.g. in a wireless router WR as illustrated and further described above, in order to distribute the required proxy processing power as much as possible.
  • one or more proxy servers are located upstream from a number of wireless access points WAP in order to process all traffic collectively for those wireless access points, thereby requiring less proxy servers but with higher processing power demands on each.
  • the proxy servers PS are in a preferred embodiment configured to manipulate the web content WC into modified web content MWC before it is transmitted to the mobile device.
  • the manipulation preferably comprises adding code, e.g. text, graphical items, a script or other instructions, that makes the mobile device request advertising content AC when processing the received modified web content MWC. Any modification of web content suitable for making the mobile device request advertising content is within the scope of the invention, and various embodiments thereof are disclosed above.
  • the proxy server modifies all or some HTML-documents transmitted in accordance with the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP).
  • HTTP hypertext transfer protocol
  • Fig. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of distributing advertising content to a mobile device DEV in reaction to the mobile device's request for web content WC.
  • a request from a mobile device DEV for web content WC is received by a wireless access point WAP and relayed to a web server WS via the internet access provided by the wireless access point WAP.
  • the web content WC sent through the internet I from the web server WS is intercepted somewhere around the wireless access point WAP and manipulated into modified web content MWC before it is passed on to the mobile device DEV.
  • the manipulation of the web content into modified web content is preferably performed in relation to the wireless access point, e.g.
  • the mobile device DEV processes the received modified web content MWC.
  • the modified web content preferably comprises an HTML- or XHTML document which can be processed in order to prepare a web page for viewing by a user, but other kinds of web content is within the scope of the invention.
  • the mobile device obtains the unique ID UID which may be used to determine the relevant subscriber SUB.
  • the unique ID UID is included in the modified web content MWC and is thereby readily available.
  • the unique ID UID represents a position of, e.g., the mobile device, as this in turn represents an approximate position of the wireless access point and thereby the subscriber. In that case, the mobile device DEV needs to measure, calculate, inquire, or otherwise determine its position with some predefined or available precision in order to obtain the unique ID UID.
  • the advertising management system AMS receives a request for advertising content AC from a mobile device DEV via the wireless access point WAP and the internet I.
  • the request for advertising content AC preferably comprises or is received together with the unique ID, as illustrated.
  • the advertising management system AMS determines the particular subscriber related to the request for advertising content AC on the basis of the unique ID UID.
  • the advertising management system AMS establishes advertising content AC by combining subscriber-defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC in dependency of the determined subscriber SUB. The selecting of subscriber-defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC is made in accordance with the subscriber rule set SRS and the compliance rule set CRS.
  • the eighth step 4.8 illustrates that advertising content AC, comprising subscriber- defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC is distributed to the mobile device DEV via the internet I and the wireless access point WAP.
  • the distributed advertising content AC is displayed on the mobile device DEV, and thereby rendered to the user by means of a user interface of the mobile device.
  • the part of the modified web content MWC which originates from the web content WC is preferably also displayed. This may happen before or during the request for advertising content, or it may first be displayed together with the advertising content.
  • the web page is shown as soon as it is processed, and the advertising content AC is added as a bar above or below the web page view as soon as it is received.
  • Fig. 5 illustrates various embodiments of the invention based on the illustration of fig. 1A, 2 and/or fig. 3.
  • the various additional features may all be present in a preferred embodiment, but various embodiments comprise different combinations of only some or all of the features of fig. 1 A, 2, 3 and/or 4.
  • each wireless access point WAP defines a decentral coverage area DC A as described above, basically representing the geographical area or three-dimensional space within which a mobile device may establish a connection with it. Though illustrated by circles in fig. 5 for simplicity the decentral coverage areas DCA are in practice shaped by walls and other obstacles reducing the range differently in different directions.
  • each mobile device DEV comprises a WLAN account ACC which records WiFi-network to which is has been connected or is allowed to connect.
  • each wireless access point WAP associates its wireless network with a common network identifier CNID.
  • CNID common network identifier
  • the mobile devices DEV are enabled to use the same WLAN account ACC to connect to any of the wireless access points WAP.
  • the combination of common network identifiers and WLAN accounts ACC in practice makes the mobile devices DEV experience the different wireless access points as belonging to one united network UN, to which the mobile device can connect automatically, typically without requiring individual user accept, at any of the wireless access points, if it has just one time been connect to any of the participating wireless access points before.
  • the different decentral coverage areas DCA may collectively be considered a coverage area CA of the united network UN.
  • a mobile device comprises a WLAN account ACC for the relevant common network identifier CNID, it can automatically connect any time it enters the coverage area CA anywhere, and it may stay connected and seamlessly switch from wireless access point to wireless access point as it is being moved around within the coverage area CA.
  • Fig. 6 illustrates that in an embodiment the decentral coverage areas DCA in practice adapt to neighbors also participating in the united network UN, as a mobile device DEV located somewhere between two wireless access points WAP with the same common network identifier CNID typically connects to the one with strongest or best quality signal. Due to this preferred automatic selection of wireless access point by the mobile devices, a wireless access point may not be reachable within its entire theoretical range, if the range of a nearby wireless access point overlaps this theoretical range.
  • the united network automatically adapts to the interests of the nearest wireless access point, which preferably coincides with the interests of the subscriber associated with that wireless access point, in particular when taking into account that the decentral coverage areas DC A will often match the walls or other boundaries between, e.g., buildings, due to their obstacle effect on radio communication.
  • Fig. 7 illustrates an embodiment where a base station BS of a wireless telecommunication network is also connected to the internet I and participating in the distribution of advertising content AC to a mobile device DEV that is outside reach of any of the wireless access points WAP of the advertising network AN. Further base stations BS may be used for the mobile device or the telecommunication network to determine the location of the mobile device in order to select relevant advertising content, e.g. based on the subscriber(s) nearest to the mobile device.

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Abstract

La présente invention concerne un procédé et un système permettant de distribuer un contenu publicitaire dans un réseau publicitaire qui comprend un système de gestion d'annonces publicitaires exploité par un opérateur de réseau publicitaire. Ledit système de gestion d'annonces publicitaires gère un contenu publicitaire qui comprend un contenu publicitaire défini par un abonné et un contenu publicitaire défini par l'opérateur du réseau publicitaire; ledit réseau publicitaire comprend en outre une pluralité de points d'accès sans fil, chacun desdits points d'accès sans fil étant associé à un abonné dédié, les points d'accès sans fil étant configurés pour distribuer un contenu publicitaire à des dispositifs mobiles; le système de gestion d'annonces publicitaires et les points d'accès sans fil sont couplés de manière communicative au moyen de l'Internet en vue de la distribution du contenu publicitaire; le système de gestion d'annonces publicitaires définit un ensemble de règles d'abonné associant à chaque abonné un sous-ensemble de contenus publicitaires définis par un abonné; le système de gestion d'annonces publicitaires définit en outre un ensemble de règles de conformité, ledit ensemble de règles de conformité définissant un sous-ensemble de contenus publicitaires définis par l'opérateur du réseau publicitaire comme étant conforme aux abonnés individuels. Ledit procédé comprend les étapes suivantes : le système de gestion d'annonces publicitaires reçoit des demandes de contenu publicitaire en provenance d'un dispositif mobile via l'Internet; le système de gestion d'annonces publicitaires détermine l'abonné dédié associé aux demandes reçues en provenance dudit dispositif mobile; le système de gestion d'annonces publicitaires fournit un ensemble de contenus publicitaires définis par un abonné à transmettre en réponse auxdites demandes selon ledit ensemble de règles d'abonné; le système de gestion d'annonces publicitaires fournit un ensemble de contenus publicitaires définis par l'opérateur du réseau publicitaire à transmettre en réponse auxdites demandes selon ledit ensemble de règles de conformité; et le système de gestion d'annonces publicitaires transmet ledit contenu publicitaire en tant que combinaison de l'ensemble fourni de contenus publicitaires définis par un abonné et de l'ensemble fourni de contenus publicitaires définis par l'opérateur du réseau publicitaire audit dispositif mobile en réponse auxdites demandes.
PCT/DK2014/050121 2013-05-03 2014-05-05 Distribution d'annonces publicitaires dans un réseau publicitaire basé sur wifi WO2014177161A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DKPA201370250 2013-05-03
DKPA201370250 2013-05-03
DKPA201370701 2013-11-18
DKPA201370701 2013-11-18

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WO2014177161A1 true WO2014177161A1 (fr) 2014-11-06

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Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20060036517A1 (en) * 2004-08-10 2006-02-16 Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.P. System and method for advertising to a Wi-Fi device
WO2007027930A2 (fr) * 2005-08-30 2007-03-08 Feeva, Inc. Appareil, systemes et procedes permettant la distribution ciblee de contenu

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20060036517A1 (en) * 2004-08-10 2006-02-16 Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.P. System and method for advertising to a Wi-Fi device
WO2007027930A2 (fr) * 2005-08-30 2007-03-08 Feeva, Inc. Appareil, systemes et procedes permettant la distribution ciblee de contenu

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