WO2010138992A1

WO2010138992A1 - A method and system for advertising

Info

Publication number: WO2010138992A1
Application number: PCT/AU2010/000640
Authority: WO
Inventors: Julie Anne Bennett
Original assignee: I Love Rock And Roll Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2009-06-02
Filing date: 2010-05-26
Publication date: 2010-12-09

Abstract

This disclosure relates to a method of advertising, comprising the following steps: providing a user with one or more advertisements, from which the user can select one or more preferred advertisements for endorsement, and communicating the one or more preferred advertisements in a communication context associated with the user. This disclosure also relates to a system comprising: a server comprising computer readable memory means storing a computer program adapted to execute computer executable code that is adapted to carry out the following steps when executed on a computer: providing a user with one or more selectable advertisements from which the user can select one or more preferred advertisements for endorsement, and displaying the one or more preferred advertisements in a display context associated with the user, and a remote communication means, and two or more remote terminals comprising a user terminal, each terminal having a display means and an input means, wherein the one or more selectable advertisements are displayed to the user on the display means of the user terminal, the user can select the one or more preferred advertisements using the input means of the user terminal, the user terminal being adapted to communicate input data corresponding to the one or more preferred advertisements to the server via the remote communication means, the server being adapted to communicate output advertisement data corresponding to the input data to the remote terminals via the remote communication means and the remote terminals being adapted to cause the one or more preferred advertisements to be displayed on their display means in the display context associated with the user.

Description

A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ADVERTISING

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to advertising and in particular to online advertising.

The invention has been developed primarily for use in social networking and dating websites and will be described hereinafter with reference to these applications. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to these particular fields of use.

Background of the Invention

The extent and profitability of online advertising is increasing rapidly around the world. Online advertising can take many forms, including contextual advertisements on search engine results pages, banner advertisements, Rich Media Advertisements, social network advertising, online classified advertising and email marketing.

In one form of online advertising, users can select an advertising message before accessing the advertising content.

The present invention seeks to provide a:

(i) method of advertising, and/or

(ii) computer executable code, and/or

(iii) a computer program, and/or

(iv) computer readable memory means, and/or

(v) a server, and/or

(vi) a system which will overcome or substantially ameliorate at least some of the deficiencies of the prior art, or to at least provide an alternative.

It is to be understood that, if any prior art information is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the information forms part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country. Summary of the Invention

According to one aspect of the present invention, a method of advertising is provided comprising the following steps:

- providing a user with one or more advertisements, from which the user can select one or more preferred advertisements for endorsement; and

- communicating the one or more preferred advertisements in a communication context associated with the user.

Advantageously:

1. The user can choose the advertisement(s) which are displayed or associated with their communication context (e.g. personal information or profile pages).

2. Advertisers can make their advertisement(s) available in a gallery for selection by the user in a self-serve classified type model.

3. The user effectively endorses the brand, product and/or service of their preferred advertisement(s). This is the online equivalent of a word-of-mouth recommendation to others viewing their communication context (e.g. profile).

Preferably, the communication context is a display context and the one or more preferred advertisements are communicated by displaying the preferred advertisements in the display context.

Preferably, the display context is a user profile.

Preferably, the user profile is accessible on the internet.

Preferably, the user can select the one or more preferred advertisements on a website.

According to another aspect of the present invention, computer executable code is provided that is adapted to carry out the following steps when executed on a computer:

- providing a user with one or more selectable advertisements from which the user can select one or more preferred advertisements for endorsement, and

- displaying the one or more preferred advertisements in a display context associated with the user.

Preferably, the display context is a user profile. Preferably, the user profile is accessible on the internet. Preferably, the user can select the one or more preferred advertisements on a website.

Preferably, the computer executable code is further adapted to carry out the following steps when executed on a computer: carrying out the following steps two or more times:

- displaying the one or more preferred advertisements in a display context associated with the user. wherein on the second or more time these steps are carried out, the one or more advertisements that are made selectable, are chosen based on the user's prior preferred advertisements.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a computer program is provided that is adapted to execute the computer executable code of any one of the above paragraphs when run on a computer.

According to another aspect of the present invention, computer readable memory means is provided for storing the computer program of the above paragraph.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a server is provided comprising the computer readable memory means of the above paragraph.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a system is provided comprising:

- the server of the above paragraph;

- a remote communication means; and

- two or more remote terminals comprising a user terminal, each terminal having a display means and an input means;

- wherein the one or more selectable advertisements are displayed to the user on the display means of the user terminal, the user can select the one or more preferred advertisements using the input means of the user terminal, the user terminal being adapted to communicate input data corresponding to the one or more preferred advertisements to the server via the remote communication means, the server being adapted to communicate output advertisement data corresponding to the input data to the remote terminals via the remote communication means and the remote terminals being adapted to cause the one or more preferred advertisements to be displayed on their display means in the display context associated with the user.

Preferably, the one or more selectable advertisements are stored on the server and communicated to the user terminal via the remote communication means and the one or more preferred advertisements are stored on the server and selectively communicated to any or all of the remote terminals via the remote communication means.

Preferably, an advertiser can upload one or more selectable advertisements to the server by the remote communication means.

Preferably, the remote communication means is the internet.

Preferably, the system is adapted to provide compensation to a user for selecting the one or more preferred advertisements and for allowing the one or more preferred advertisements to be displayed in the display context associated with the user.

Preferably, the compensation is access to the display context.

Advantageously, the user can choose what advertisement(s) are displayed on their communication context (e.g. profile page of a website) in return for membership to the communication context (e.g. the website). This allows a user to choose the advertisement(s) they identify or feel comfortable with or that they wish to recommend and effectively provides the advertiser with a personal endorsement of their brand, product or service.

Preferably, the one or more advertisements that are made selectable are part of a pre-existing advertising campaign.

Preferably, the advertising campaign comprises banner-type advertisements in the display context associated with the user.

Preferably, the input data corresponding to the one or more preferred advertisements is also communicated to a respective one or more advertisers.

Preferably, the one or more advertisements that are selectable by a given user are chosen by the advertiser based on user data.

Preferably, the one or more advertisements that are selectable by the user are sorted by product or service to which the advertisement relates.

Preferably, the user can obtain a list of other users who have selected their one or more preferred advertisements. Preferably, the user can obtain a list of or otherwise view other advertisements of the advertiser of their one or preferred advertisements by making a selection with the input means.

Preferably, the user can obtain a list of or otherwise view other advertisements for the same or similar type of product or service of their one or more preferred advertisements by making a selection with the input means.

Advantageously, advertisers can use the prior preferred advertisements to specify which users can select their advertisement. For example, users can be specified by geographical region, gender, age and/or music tastes.

Advantageously, each user can be served selectable advertisements that are most likely to be of interest to them based on their demographic and/or psychographic data.

Other aspects of the invention are also disclosed.

Detailed Description of Specific Embodiments

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be provided by way of example only. In one embodiment, a method of advertising is provided, comprising the following steps: Step 1

A user is provided with one or more advertisements, from which they can select one or more preferred advertisements for endorsement. In this embodiment, the one or more advertisements are displayed on a website that the user can access, either freely or by membership. The user can use their computer (e.g. by their mouse and keyboard) to select their preferred advertisement(s) from the advertisements that are displayed. The advertisements may link to another webpage comprising further information about the product, service or other category being advertised and/or means to purchase the product, service or other category.

Step 2

The one or more preferred advertisements are communicated to other people in a communication context associated with the user. In this embodiment, the preferred advertisements are communicated to people using the website from which the user selected their preferred advertisement(s). On this website, each user has a personal profile that other people (e.g. another user) can access to view authorised personal information about the user. In this case, the communication context is the user's personal profile.

In one form, the user is incentivised to engage in the above method of advertising one or more times. That is, for selecting preferred advertisement(s) and allowing themselves to be associated with the advertisement(s) either once, on multiple occasions or on a regular basis. This incentivisation may take the form of providing the user with compensation, either financial or otherwise. One example of non-financial compensation is providing the user with access (e.g. membership) to the website either for free or at a reduced cost. One example of financial compensation is providing the user with credits each time their preferred advertisement is viewed or clicked on by another (e.g. when a friend accesses their profile). The credits may then be redeemed, for example, for products, vouchers or cash.

In one form, where a user has selected preferred advertisements at least once before, the advertisements presented to the user for selection are different from those presented previously. In one embodiment, the new selection of advertisements is chosen based on the user's prior preferred advertisements. For example, the new selection of advertisements might be similar to those previously chosen by the user, thereby increasing the chance that the user will want to select and thus endorse the new advertisements. Advantageously, each user can be served selectable advertisements that are most likely to be of interest to them based on their demographic and/or psychographic data.

In another embodiment, the advertisers can use the prior preferred advertisements (which translates into user profile data) to specify which users can select their advertisement. For example, users can be specified by geographical region, gender, age and/or music tastes. Alternatively, the advertisers might only allow 'role model' consumers to be associated with their advertisements (and thus their brand, product and/or services). Role model consumers may, for example, be those consumers the advertiser believes are popular or suit the image they want their brand to convey.

The advertising methods described above provide a number advantages, including:

1. The user can choose the advertisement(s) which are displayed or associated with their personal profile. It should be appreciated that the advertisement(s) need not be displayed on the user's profile page. For example, the advertisement(s) can be: a. Included within or alongside a user blog b. Included within emails or other messages sent by the user c. Listed in connection with the user's name

3. The user effectively endorses the brand, product and/or service of their preferred advertisements. This is the online equivalent of a word-of-mouth recommendation to others viewing their profile and thus provides a very effective means of marketing for the advertiser.

4. A user is able to choose and thereby support/endorse the advertisement(s) they identify or feel comfortable with or that they wish to recommend.

In another embodiment, a system is provided comprising a server, a remote communication means and, one or more remote terminals comprising a user terminal, each terminal having a display means and an input means.

The server is adapted to run an advertising program controlled by computer executable code. The server comprises computer readable memory and the advertising program is stored on this computer readable memory.

In this embodiment, the terminals are personal computers, the displays means are computer monitors and the input means are computer keyboards and mice. In other embodiments, the terminals can be any device or system with a means for displaying an advertisement and a means for receiving an input, for example, a PDA, laptop or mobile phone.

In this embodiment, the remote communication means is the internet. In other embodiments, the remote communication means may be another type of network, for example, an intranet or local area network. The remote communication means can use either or both of a wired or a wireless infrastructure.

In this system, a plurality of selectable advertisements are uploaded onto the server over the internet by the advertiser and subsequently stored in a database on the server. The user can then access a website over the internet. The website is the front end of the advertising program which is hosted by the server. Once the user has registered on the website they are directed by the program to a page on which the plurality of selectable advertisements or a subset thereof is displayed by the program. The advertisements may be categorised at one or more levels. The top level categories can be used for display purposes until volume of advertisements dictates the use of sub-level categories to allow users to browse & select advertisements of interest to them.

The user can then select one or more preferred advertisements by clicking on them with their mouse. In another embodiment, the user must select one, two, three or more preferred advertisements at regular intervals to maintain their membership to the website. For example, ongoing subscription to the site may be dependent on the user choosing a minimum of 2 new advertisements on their profile page each month and the program can prompt the user to do this.

Once the preferred advertisements have been selected, the program instructs the user's computer to transmit input data corresponding to the preferred advertisements to the server over the internet. The program receives the input data, processes it and communicates corresponding output advertisement data to the personal computer of the user and to the personal computers of other people over the internet. These personal computers are adapted to receive the output advertisement data via the program and to cause the one or more preferred advertisements to be displayed on their monitors. The preferred advertisements are displayed in association with the user, for example, on a user's profile page, within or alongside a user blog, within emails or other messages sent by the user or listed in connection with the user's name.

It should be noted that in other embodiments, the user may be a company, organisation or other entity as opposed to an individual.

Furthermore, in one embodiment, users can choose to add a comment to an advertisement if desired, such as, "I am going to this show" or "This product cured my acne" etc. The comments may include the name of the user and a link to the user's profile.

In yet another embodiment, one or more or all of the selectable advertisements are linked to respective URLs of the advertiser's choice.

It should also be noted that the system, server, computer readable memory, program and computer executable code may be specifically adapted to carry out the method of advertising described above.

Another embodiment of a method of advertising is described below: - Advertisers create and maintain their own account (in a similar manner to existing commerce/ transaction sites) and upload their own advertisements, association information and URLs.

- Advertisers use credit / debit card / PayPal to buy credit for advertising on the site.

- Advertisers can use the profile data collected on members to specify who their advertisement will be available to: from a national broadcast down to any combination of gender / geography / age / music tastes.

- Accordingly, each member is served a specific version of the advertisement selection interface with advertisements most likely to be of interest to their demographic/ psychographic data.

- The advertisers account is debited each time the advertisement is downloaded and displayed on a profile.

- When the advertiser's credit limit is reached, the advertisement is no longer available to download, although it will have additional 'shelf life' on the profile pages of those who have chosen it for their profiles.

- Advertisers can also choose to make an advertisement unavailable by a due date if the promotion is time specific (e.g. an event).

- Advertisement sizes on profile pages can be per standard online advertisements, allowing advertisers to use existing graphics or tie in 'conventional' online advertising campaigns.

- An archive of advertisements downloaded by each member can be recorded on their profile (e.g. reached by link rather than displayed on current profile). Users can choose to remove historical advertisements. For example, specific brands can be removed when a company closes operations in the user's country or a member can change their comment on the historical advertisement.

A summary of some other benefits to advertisers associated with implementing the method of advertising and advertising system described above, follow:

- Market research - advertisers can make three versions of an advertisement available and see which is the most effective/attractive.

- Easy entry to online advertising - the 'self-serve' administration of the advertising back-end allows smaller players to advertise easily and control their own campaigns. - Advertisers only pay when someone expressly shows interest by downloading their advertisement - a far more definable & reportable cost than many current online advertising models.

- Broad reach - while downloaded advertisements displayed on individual pages have a specific reach (i.e. people browsing profiles) the advertisements on the selection pages are always on display, and by default, users will be exposed to the advertisements while searching and selecting their preferred advertisements for their individual profile.

- Scaleable - a small business can advertise with only a small amount of credit to a local area and a larger business can advertise with a state-wide or national scope with more credit.

- Peer-to-peer recommendation - the online version of "word-of-mouth" advertising. Trusted recommendations are often the most valuable form of marketing message.

- Targeted & definable reach - advertiser can choose to make their message available to as broad or as specific group of people as they wish.

- Cost effective - the advertiser can set a limit on the number of downloads (either by an end date, a spend limit, or number) but the advertisement will continue to be displayed by members after it is unavailable/sold out.

- Relevance over reach - the member has chosen to display the advertisement, saying, "I endorse this" which is the ultimate in 'relevance' for the advertiser, and unique in the current online marketing environment.

- Real time data aggregation - via their account, advertisers can see a snapshot of people who have downloaded their advertisement (age, gender, location and genre) and get a true picture of the profile of people who are interested in their product or service rather than how many people have been exposed to the advertisement but may have ignored it or had a negative response.

A summary of some other benefits to members (users) engaging the method of advertising and advertising system described above, follow:

- There will be an onus on advertisers to make their advertisements clever, attractive and relevant to the audience.

- Members have control over which products/services are displayed on their profiles, which becomes an extension of 'selling themselves' to other users, a greater picture of their interests. - The targetted audience sees all the advertisements in the gallery while browsing and choosing their advertisements. During this process, the user is actively browsing and 'eyeballing' advertisements, rather than trying to ignore them or paying less attention, as may be the case in other online advertising contexts.

In one embodiment, the one or more advertisements that are made selectable are part of a preexisting advertising campaign. Thus, some or all of the advertisements that are made selectable to users can align with an existing advertising campaign for a synergistic marketing effect.

In one embodiment, the advertising campaign comprises banner-type advertisements in the display context associated with the user.

In one embodiment, the input data corresponding to the one or more preferred advertisements is also communicated to a respective one or more advertisers. This reporting feature allows the advertiser to learn about their customer groups via aggregate information about which users choose their advertisements and what their comments about the advertisements were. Thus, an information feedback loop is provided to the advertiser.

In one embodiment, the one or more advertisements that are selectable by a given user are chosen by the advertiser based on user data. The more the system 'learns' about the users (both users and advertisers), the more it can offer contextual advertising. That is, the placement of advertisements in the right places in front of the right users. Thus, each user gets a 'unique' gallery of selectable advertisements based on the advertiser's preferences. For example, the advertiser might make some advertisements available to men/women only.

In one embodiment, the one or more advertisements that are selectable by the user are sorted by product, service or other category to which the advertisement relates.

In another embodiment, the one or more advertisements may be tagged (e.g. by the advertiser or user) with one or more descriptive tags that serve to categorise the one or more advertisements. In use, a user can categorise or filter the one or more advertisements by a selected tag to obtain a new group or groupings of advertisements, and these can be sorted (e.g. in chronological order in relation to when the advertisements were first uploaded or in alphabetical order).

An example of such a tag is the word "merchandise". By selecting or clicking on the word "merchandise" the user can obtain a filtered list of all advertisements advertising merchandise. In one embodiment, the user can obtain a list of other users who have selected their one or more preferred advertisements. In another embodiment, the user can obtain a list of or otherwise view other advertisements of the advertiser of their one or preferred advertisements by making a selection with the input means. In yet another embodiment, the user can obtain a list of or otherwise view other advertisements for the same or similar type of product or service of their one or more preferred advertisements by making a selection with the input means. These embodiments provide a greater level of contextual advertising.

Interpretation

Wireless:

The invention may be embodied using devices conforming to other network standards and for other applications, including, for example other WLAN standards and other wireless standards. Applications that can be accommodated include IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs and links, and wireless Ethernet.

In the context of this document, the term "wireless" and its derivatives may be used to describe circuits, devices, systems, methods, techniques, communications channels, etc., that may communicate data through the use of modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. The term does not imply that the associated devices do not contain any wires, although in some embodiments they might not. In the context of this document, the term "wired" and its derivatives may be used to describe circuits, devices, systems, methods, techniques, communications channels, etc., that may communicate data through the use of modulated electromagnetic radiation through a solid medium. The term does not imply that the associated devices are coupled by electrically conductive wires.

Processes:

Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the following discussions, it is appreciated that throughout the specification discussions utilizing terms such as "processing", "computing", "calculating", "determining", "analysing" or the like, refer to the action and/or processes of a computer or computing system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transform data represented as physical, such as electronic, quantities into other data similarly represented as physical quantities.

Processor: In a similar manner, the term "processor" may refer to any device or portion of a device that processes electronic data, e.g., from registers and/or memory to transform that electronic data into other electronic data that, e.g., may be stored in registers and/or memory. A "computer" or a "computing device" or a "computing machine" or a "computing platform" may include one or more processors.

The methodologies described herein are, in one embodiment, performable by one or more processors that accept computer-readable (also called machine -readable) code containing a set of instructions that when executed by one or more of the processors carry out at least one of the methods described herein. Any processor capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken are included. Thus, one example is a typical processing system that includes one or more processors. The processing system further may include a memory subsystem including main RAM and/or a static RAM, and/or ROM.

Computer-Readable Medium:

Furthermore, a computer-readable carrier medium may form, or be included in a computer program product. A computer program product can be stored on a computer usable carrier medium, the computer program product comprising a computer readable program means for causing a processor to perform a method as described herein.

Networked or Multiple Processors:

In alternative embodiments, the one or more processors operate as a standalone device or may be connected, e.g., networked to other processor(s), in a networked deployment, the one or more processors may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer or distributed network environment. The one or more processors may form a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine.

Note that while some diagram(s) only show(s) a single processor and a single memory that carries the computer-readable code, those in the art will understand that many of the components described above are included, but not explicitly shown or described in order not to obscure the inventive aspect. For example, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term "machine" shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

Additional Embodiments:

Thus, one embodiment of each of the methods described herein is in the form of a computer- readable carrier medium carrying a set of instructions, e.g., a computer program that are for execution on one or more processors. Thus, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be embodied as a method, an apparatus such as a special purpose apparatus, an apparatus such as a data processing system, or a computer- readable carrier medium. The computer-readable carrier medium carries computer readable code including a set of instructions that when executed on one or more processors cause a processor or processors to implement a method. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a method, an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of carrier medium (e.g., a computer program product on a computer-readable storage medium) carrying computer-readable program code embodied in the medium.

Carrier Medium:

The software may further be transmitted or received over a network via a network interface device. While the carrier medium is shown in an example embodiment to be a single medium, the term "carrier medium" should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term "carrier medium" shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by one or more of the processors and that cause the one or more processors to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present invention. A carrier medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.

Implementation:

It will be understood that the steps of methods discussed are performed in one embodiment by an appropriate processor (or processors) of a processing (i.e., computer) system executing instructions (computer-readable code) stored in storage. It will also be understood that the invention is not limited to any particular implementation or programming technique and that the invention may be implemented using any appropriate techniques for implementing the functionality described herein. The invention is not limited to any particular programming language or operating system.

Means For Carrying out a Method or Function

Furthermore, some of the embodiments are described herein as a method or combination of elements of a method that can be implemented by a processor of a processor device, computer system, or by other means of carrying out the function. Thus, a processor with the necessary instructions for carrying out such a method or element of a method forms a means for carrying out the method or element of a method. Furthermore, an element described herein of an apparatus embodiment is an example of a means for carrying out the function performed by the element for the purpose of carrying out the invention.

Coupled

Similarly, it is to be noticed that the term coupled, when used in the claims, should not be interpreted as being limitative to direct connections only. The terms "coupled" and "connected", along with their derivatives, may be used. It should be understood that these terms are not intended as synonyms for each other. Thus, the scope of the expression a device A coupled to a device B should not be limited to devices or systems wherein an output of device A is directly connected to an input of device B. It means that there exists a path between an output of A and an input of B which may be a path including other devices or means. "Coupled" may mean that two or more elements are either in direct physical or electrical contact, or that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other but yet still co-operate or interact with each other.

Embodiments:

Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, but may. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments. Similarly it should be appreciated that in the above description of example embodiments of the invention, various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the Detailed Description of Specific Embodiments are hereby expressly incorporated into this Detailed Description of Specific Embodiments, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention.

Furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include some but not other features included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention, and form different embodiments, as would be understood by those in the art. For example, in the following claims, any of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination.

Specific Details

In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

Terminology

In describing the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake of clarity. However, the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific terms so selected, and it is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar technical purpose. Terms such as "forward", "rearward", "radially", "peripherally", "upwardly", "downwardly", and the like are used as words of convenience to provide reference points and are not to be construed as limiting terms.

Different Instances of Objects

As used herein, unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinal adjectives "first", "second", "third", etc., to describe a common object, merely indicate that different instances of like objects are being referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any other manner.

Comprising and Including

In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" are used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention.

Any one of the terms: including or which includes or that includes as used herein is also an open term that also means including at least the elements/features that follow the term, but not excluding others. Thus, including is synonymous with and means comprising.

Scope of Invention

Thus, while there has been described what are believed to be the preferred embodiments of the invention, those skilled in the art will recognize that other and further modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is intended to claim all such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the invention. For example, any formulas given above are merely representative of procedures that may be used. Functionality may be added or deleted from the block diagrams and operations may be interchanged among functional blocks. Steps may be added or deleted to methods described within the scope of the present invention.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specific examples, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other forms.

Industrial Applicability

It is apparent from the above, that the arrangements described are applicable to the advertising industry amongst other industries.

Claims

ClaimsThe claims defining the invention are as follows:

1. A method of advertising, comprising the following steps: providing a user with one or more advertisements, from which the user can select one or more preferred advertisements for endorsement; and communicating the one or more preferred advertisements in a communication context associated with the user.

2. A method of advertising as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication context is a display context and the one or more preferred advertisements are communicated by displaying the preferred advertisements in the display context.

3. A method of advertising as claimed in claim 2, wherein the display context is a user profile.

4. A method of advertising as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user profile is accessible on the internet.

5. A method of advertising as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user can select the one or more preferred advertisements on a website.

6. Computer executable code adapted to carry out the following steps when executed on a computer: providing a user with one or more selectable advertisements from which the user can select one or more preferred advertisements for endorsement, and displaying the one or more preferred advertisements in a display context associated with the user.

7. Computer executable code as claimed in claim 6, wherein the display context is a user profile.

8. Computer executable code as claimed in claim 7, wherein the user profile is accessible on the internet.

9. Computer executable code as claimed in claim 6, wherein the user can select the one or more preferred advertisements on a website.

10. Computer executable code as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 9 further adapted to carry out the following steps when executed on a computer: carrying out the steps of claim 6 two or more times; wherein on the second or more time the steps of claim 6 are carried out, the one or more advertisements that are made selectable, are chosen based on the user's prior preferred advertisements.

11. A computer program adapted to execute the computer executable code of any one of claims 6 to 10 when run on a computer.

12. Computer readable memory means storing the computer program of claim 11.

13. A server comprising the computer readable memory means of claim 12.

14. A system comprising: the server of claim 13; a remote communication means; and two or more remote terminals comprising a user terminal, each terminal having a display means and an input means; wherein the one or more selectable advertisements are displayed to the user on the display means of the user terminal, the user can select the one or more preferred advertisements using the input means of the user terminal, the user terminal being adapted to communicate input data corresponding to the one or more preferred advertisements to the server via the remote communication means, the server being adapted to communicate output advertisement data corresponding to the input data to the remote terminals via the remote communication means and the remote terminals being adapted to cause the one or more preferred advertisements to be displayed on their display means in the display context associated with the user.

15. A system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the one or more selectable advertisements are stored on the server and communicated to the user terminal via the remote communication means and the one or more preferred advertisements are stored on the server and selectively communicated to any or all of the remote terminals via the remote communication means.

16. A system as claimed in claim 14, wherein an advertiser can upload one or more selectable advertisements to the server by the remote communication means.

17. A system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the remote communication means is the internet.

18. A system as claimed in claim 14, adapted to provide compensation to a user for selecting the one or more preferred advertisements and for allowing the one or more preferred advertisements to be displayed in the display context associated with the user.

19. A system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the compensation is access to the display context.

20. A system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the one or more advertisements that are made selectable are part of a pre-existing advertising campaign.

21. A system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the advertising campaign comprises banner-type advertisements in the display context associated with the user.

22. A system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the input data corresponding to the one or more preferred advertisements is also communicated to a respective one or more advertisers.

23. A system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the one or more advertisements that are selectable by a given user are chosen by the advertiser based on user data.

24. A system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the one or more advertisements that are selectable by the user are sorted by product or service to which the advertisement relates.

25. A system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the user can obtain a list of other users who have selected their one or more preferred advertisements.

26. A system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the user can obtain a list of or otherwise view other advertisements of the advertiser of their one or preferred advertisements by making a selection with the input means.

27. A system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the user can obtain a list of or otherwise view other advertisements for the same or similar type of product or service of their one or more preferred advertisements by making a selection with the input means.