WO2011161667A1

WO2011161667A1 - A method for displaying advertisements on mobile display systems

Info

Publication number: WO2011161667A1
Application number: PCT/IL2011/000401
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tomer Y. Morad; Shalom Crown; Michael Steinberger
Original assignee: Transspot Ltd
Priority date: 2010-06-24
Filing date: 2011-05-23
Publication date: 2011-12-29
Also published as: CN102483832A; IL206593A0

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for selecting advertisements for display on a mobile display system comprising the steps of: (a) receiving at least one of said advertisements intended for display; (b) receiving at least one criteria for each of said advertisements; (c) receiving at least one budget for at least one time interval, related to said criteria, for display for each of said advertisements; (d) approximating the number of possible occurrences, based on said criteria, for display for each of said advertisements during said interval; (e) calculating the probability for each of said advertisements based on each advertisement's said budget and said possible occurrences; (f) calculating the local budget of said advertisement based at least on said probability and number of actual possible occurrences of said advertisement on said mobile display system; and (g) selecting one of said advertisements based at least on their said local budgets and said criteria for display.

Description

A METHOD FOR DISPLAYING ADVERTISEMENTS ON MOBILE DISPLAY SYSTEMS

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of mobile advertisement systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for displaying advertisements on mobile display systems based on the advertisers' constraints.

Background of the Invention

Advertisers today are always looking for ways to reach out to large audiences. One of the methods favored by advertisers is advertising on mobile display systems such as cellular phones, mobile displays, etc. since advertising on these systems may be more focused and may have a higher impact.

One such mobile display system may be found on public transportation vehicles, as today, many public transportation vehicles often include a mobile display system which presents viewing contents such as news, information, entertainment, or any other video and/or audio contents while traveling. These mobile systems also display advertisements to the captive audiences of the public transportation vehicles.

Nevertheless, it would be preferable if advertisers had a chance to influence the display of their advertisements on these mobile display systems. Furthermore, advertisers are willing to pay more for exposures of their advertisements that suit their needs, such as exposures related to location and time.

US 2006/0217110 discloses a system and method that enables wireless advertisers to purchase media space on a group of mobile communication devices, where the advertiser is able to select the recipients of the ad based on the user preferences, demographics, location and/or device actions; stipulate the events or parameters that will in effect "trigger" the advertisement to be presented, and; actively influence the priority of the advertisement's placement when presented on the device according to the conditions previously defined by participating in the open-market competition of a online auction.

It would be desired to provide a method which allows advertisers to advertise on mobile display systems according to advertisers' criteria.

Summary of the Invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a mobile advertising system which advertises in relations to advertisers' bidding.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a mobile advertising system which is capable of displaying time and location related advertisements.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a mobile advertising system which is capable of managing advertisements without a permanent communication connection. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method to distribute advertisements' budgets among public transportation vehicles.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

Preferably, a bid for displaying the advertisement is received.

Preferably, a server receives the advertisements, their criteria, and budget from the advertisers.

Preferably, the mobile display system updates the server on the displayed advertisements. Preferably, the server sends commands to mobile display systems based on the update.

Preferably, the selecting comprises of the following steps: (a) calculating the cost for display of said selected advertisement; and (b) deducting said cost from said local budget of said selected advertisement.

Preferably, the selecting of one of the advertisements for display is done by selecting the advertisement with the highest value of the minimum between its bid and its local budget.

Preferably, the cost of display is second to highest minimum value between an advertisement's local budget and its bid, plus an additional quantum.

Preferably, the cost for display is at least a predefined minimum value.

Preferably, the criteria includes at least one of the following: dates, days of week, coordinates, radius from coordinates, stations in a public transportation route, number of passengers in the public transportation vehicle, or any combination thereof.

Preferably, the bid is a function of at least one of the following: the number of passengers in a public transportation vehicle, the time of day, location, demographics, number of passengers that are viewing the mobile display system in the public transportation vehicle, or any combination thereof. Brief Description of the Drawings

In the drawings:

- Fig. 1 is a block diagram depicting a mobile system for displaying advertisements according to one embodiment.

Fig. 2 depicts a block diagram depicting the system for managing advertisements on mobile display systems, according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a flow chart depicting the bidding method for advertising on mobile display systems, according to an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 4 is a flow chart depicting the method for displaying advertisements on mobile display systems, according to an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments

Fig. 1 is a block diagram depicting a mobile system for displaying advertisements according to one embodiment. For the sake of brevity a non limiting description is brought forth for describing the mobile display system 300 according to an embodiment, although a mobile display system may be implemented in numerous ways. In this embodiment the mobile display system 300 comprises a controller 100 which is connected to a repository 110 and to communication means 120. By the term communication means it is meant to include any known method of communication data such as: cellular data communication, Wi-Fi, WiMax, USB, cable connection, or any other wireless or wired communication or data transfer method. By the term repository it is meant to include Hard-Drive, Flash Disk, or any other known device for storing non-volatile digital information. Advertisement Manager 200 can receive advertisements using communication means 120 and can store them in repository 110. The term advertisement is meant to include, hereinafter, any content, commercial or non-commercial, such as video, audio, pictures, text, visual content, etc. which may require updating, selecting, managing, tracking, or billing for displaying to the passengers of the vehicle. Controller 100 can display advertisements on display 130 to the passengers of the public transportation vehicle. The controller 100 may also be connected to a GPS receiver 140, or any other location indicator, for receiving the coordinates of the present location. Controller 100 may also be connected to a clock 150 for receiving the current time. The advertisement manager 200 may be implemented in hardware and/or software for managing the advertisements. In one of the embodiments the advertisement manager 200 is stored as a program in repository 110 and run by controller 100. The advertisement manager 200 function is to receive, store, and manage the display of advertisements on the mobile display system. The advertisement manager 200 is also responsible for deciding which of the advertisements is displayed. The advertisement manager 200 may also use data from other elements of the mobile display systems such as GPS receiver 140 or clock 150 for deciding which advertisement to display. In one embodiment, the advertising manager 200 can request such data, as time and location, from the controller 100. For example, advertisement manager 200 may be programmed to display advertisements of a certain grocery store only in the vicinity of that grocery store. In this example, advertisement manager 200 receives the GPS coordinates from GPS receiver 140, and if the received coordinates are within the predetermined vicinity of the store the advertisements relating to that store are displayed. In one of the embodiments the mobile display system 300 is used for displaying advertisements on a public transportation vehicle. In this embodiment, the route of the public transportation vehicle may also be stored and the advertisements may be selected to be shown on the way to a specific station or waypoint on the predetermined route of the public transportation vehicle. In one of the embodiments, when the controller 100 decides to display an advertisement it requests the advertisement manager 200 to provide a link to an advertisement. At this point advertisement manager 200 selects a suitable advertisement from repository 110 and sends its link to controller 100. In another embodiment, the controller 100 is programmed to allow advertisements to overlay the display of information.

Fig. 2 depicts a block diagram depicting the system for managing advertisements on mobile display systems, according to an embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment the mobile display systems, such as described in relations to Fig. 1, may be installed on public transportation vehicles such as buses 430, 431, and 432. At first, the advertisers 410 can load their advertisements to server 400 and bid for display on the mobile display systems of vehicles 430-432. The advertisers may also choose to limit their advertising expenses by specifying a maximum advertising budget per hour, day, week, or any other time interval. The bidding method is described in detail in relations to Fig. 3. The term advertisement server may refer, hereinafter, to a server, computer, Internet site, repository, or any other device that may be used for loading and saving advertisements. The server 400 may also store data related to the mobile display systems and data related to the transportation vehicles carrying the mobile display system, such as the expected route of each vehicle and its operating time. The server 400 task is to receive the advertisements and their bidding information, to manage the advertisements and to send the advertisements and the significant information to the mobile display systems. Nevertheless, since the mobile display systems are mobile, the server cannot rely on a permanent communication connection with the mobile display systems. For example, the mobile display system may be equipped with Wi-Fi communication means that can access the network only in the locations where there are Wi-Fi access points. Therefore, each mobile display system is expected to be able to manage the advertisements independently, especially when it is outside communication range or under communications bandwidth constraints. Moreover, the server may not be able to predict exactly at all times which route will be travelled by which vehicle, since these may change. Furthermore, these changes may happen at locations where there is no reliable communications. Nevertheless, in order for each mobile display system to manage its advertisements, the advertisements server 400 is required not only to transmit the advertisements in advance to each mobile display system but also to transmit the advertisements' related data. Thus each mobile display system is provided with the necessary information for deciding which of the advertisements should be displayed, when and where. The mobile display systems are also programmed to track which, when and where of the advertisements have been displayed and communicate that information back to advertisements server 400.

Fig. 3 is a flow chart depicting the bidding method for advertising on mobile display systems, according to an embodiment of the invention. In step 1 each advertiser wishing to advertise in public transportation vehicles or on other mobile display systems may load his advertisement to the server 400, as described in relations to Fig. 2. In one embodiment the server 400 is connected to the Internet to allow users, i.e. advertisers, to load advertisements easily. In one embodiment, the server may provide a platform for the advertisers to design their own advertisement or select a template from a number of predesigned templates and add their text or pictures. In one embodiment the server may also provide tools for salesmen that allow them to upload the advertisements for the advertisers. In step 2, once the advertiser loads his advertisement, he is required to bid for display. The term display is meant to include any exposure of content or advertisement to an audience. The bidding may be related to a certain time, location, audience, duration, medium, vehicle, etc. For example, the owner of a fast food stand may bid for a display in the vicinity of his location, e.g. a radius of lKm from his fast food stand. In another example, the same advertiser may bid for a display only in the vicinity of his location and only during lunch time, e.g. between 12:00-14:00. In step 3, the advertiser is required to enter the total budget for displaying his advertisement. For example, an advertiser may wish to bid $2 for every display of his advertisement and spend a total budget of no more than $100, which may effectively buy him 50 displays. In one embodiment, the advertiser may also specify maximum budgets for specific time intervals, such as maximum budget per day. In the previous example, if the advertiser chooses a maximum budget per day of $10, the advertisement will be shown for at least 10 days. In one embodiment step 3 may be applied prior to step 2. In step 4 the server 400 approximates the number of possible displays for the advertisement, based on the bidding criteria and budget restrictions of the advertiser, referred to hereinafter as possible occurrences. For example, if the advertiser requested displays in the vicinity of his location and during lunch time, the server may approximate how many of the participating public transportation vehicles are expected to travel in that vicinity during lunch time. In one embodiment, the server 400 may approximate a different occurrence for different criteria. In step 5 the probability of each advertisement is calculated by dividing the total budget by the possible occurrences and a constant such as in the equation: probability = budget / (occurrences * constant) where the constant may be any number, and it may be selected by trial and error. In one embodiment, there is a minimum display cost for an advertisement on the mobile display system. In one embodiment, the said constant can be equal to the preset minimum display bid.

It is expected that the distribution function of the total distributed budgets among the public transportation vehicle can be approximated by the normal distribution. The distributed budget at each occurrence is given by the random variable X:

a = E[x²]- E[x]² = C²p{l -p)

According to the central limit theorem, the mean sum of the distributed budgets will be as follows:

Y = Mx = PC Therefore, the total distributed budget on all of the mobile display systems is given by:

Z = nY

μ_ζ = ημ_χ = npC

σ_ζ 2 = ησ_χ 2 =

n p

The choice of p and the constant C affect the variance of the total distributed budget on all the mobile display systems. Preferably, the constant C is chosen to be the minimum bid allowed on the mobile display systems. After C is chosen, the probability is derived directly from:

If p turns out to be larger than 1, then p is chosen to be 1 and C is chosen accordingly to satisfy the above equation. In step 6 the server sends the advertisement, its bid, the related bid criteria, and the calculated probability to the mobile display systems that are expected, or may be expected, to fit the criteria for display.

Fig. 4 is a flow chart depicting the method for displaying advertisements on mobile display systems, according to an embodiment of the invention. In step 11 the mobile advertisement system receives the advertisements, their bids and their related criteria, and their calculated probability from the server as described in relation to Fig. 3. Since the mobile display system may be carried from place to place it is assumed that the communication may not be reliable at all locations and at all times, therefore, when communications is established between the server and the mobile display system, typically, the aforementioned data is transferred in order to provide the mobile display system with all the necessary information for managing and displaying the advertisements. The necessary information may include the advertisement itself, its bid and the related bid criteria, and the calculated probability. After receiving the advertisements and their related information, the mobile display system adds another parameter, referred to hereinafter as local budget, in relations to each advertisement. In one embodiment the initial starting value of each local budget is zero. The local budget may be reset at the end of the interval of the budget. For example, if the advertiser specifies a "daily budget", the local budget may be reset at the end of the day, or the beginning of the next day. Other intervals are also possible. The following 12- 14 steps are applied when the mobile display system fulfils the criteria related to at least one of the advertisements. If more than one advertisement is eligible, i.e. their related criteria are fulfilled, then steps 12-14 are applied for each of the advertisements separately. In step 12 the mobile advertisement system produces a random number between 0 and 1. In step 13 the produced random number is compared with the probability of the advertisement. Only if the probability of the advertisement is greater than the random number then in step 14 the mobile display system adds a constant to the local budget. In one embodiment this constant has the same value as the constant described in relations to Fig. 3. Once the advertisements' local budget had been processed then in step 15 the mobile advertisement system can choose, among the eligible advertisements, the advertisement with the highest effective bid, where the effective bid is the minimum of the bid of that advertisement and the local budget of that advertisement. Once an advertisement is selected and displayed then in step 16 the mobile display system subtracts the effective bid from the local budget of that advertisement.

In one embodiment overlapping intervals are allowed, such as a daily budget and a weekly budget. In this case there is a local budget for every interval. In one embodiment steps 12-15, as described in relations to Fig.4, are applied for each interval separately, where in step 16 the mobile display system subtracts the bid from the local budgets of all the overlapping intervals. In step 15, the highest bidder is the advertisement with the highest value of the minimum between the advertisement's bid, and all of the local budgets of the overlapping intervals. In another embodiment, the same generated random number in step 12 is used for all local budgets of the overlapping intervals.

In one embodiment, all bids of all advertisements are set to the same minimum constant, transforming the process to distribute budgets for exposures instead of budgets for bidding for exposures. For example, an advertiser may set a daily budget for 10 exposures for a fixed price.

For the sake of brevity an example is set forth. In this example two advertisers have each loaded their advertisements to the server, as described above in relations to Fig. 3 and 4. Advertiser A selected a bid of $1 and a total budget of $100 for displaying his advertisement in the vicinity of the local mall. Advertiser B selected a bid of $2 and a total budget of $200 for displaying his advertisement in the vicinity of the compound of the local mall. In this example the constant's value is 2. The occurrences for displaying the advertisement in the vicinity of the local mall are approximated to be 100, where the occurrences for displaying the advertisement at the vicinity of the compound of the local mall are approximated to be 200. At first, the probability of each advertisement is calculated by the server. For advertiser A: P(a) = 100/(100*2) = 0.5, for advertiser B: P(b) = 200/(200*2) = 0.5. The server then sends the advertisements, the bids, the related bid criteria and their probabilities to each of the mobile display system in the public transportation vehicles which are expected to travel in the vicinity of the local mall and its compound respectively. When the vehicle receives the advertisements and their related data it relates to each of them a local budget of 0. When the vehicle reaches the vicinity of the local mall, the mobile display system is required to select one of the advertisements, either belonging to advertiser A or belonging to advertiser B. The mobile display system then produces a first random number 0.4 which is lower than the probability P(a) and therefore the constant 2 is added to the local budget of TB (a) = 0+2 = 2. The mobile display system then produces a second random number 0.2 which is lower than the probability P(b) and therefore the constant 2 is added to the local budget of TB (b) = 0+2 = 2. At this stage the mobile display is required to choose between the two advertisements. Therefore, since the bid of advertiser B is greater than the bid of advertiser A and since the bid of advertiser B is within its local budget, the mobile display system will display the advertisement of advertiser B. After displaying the advertisement of advertiser B the bid is subtracted from the local budget TB(b) = 2-2 =0.

In one of the embodiments the mobile display system updates the server about the displayed advertisements when communication is possible. In an embodiment the mobile display system also updates the server about where and when the advertisements have been displayed. In one embodiment, the server may conclude from the communicated update that an advertisement may have been displayed more than necessary and therefore the server may communicate to the mobile display systems, when communication is possible, to stop displaying a certain advertisement. On the other hand the server may communicate to the mobile display systems to increase the P of a certain advertisement in order to increase the number of exposures for the advertisement due to under-exposure.

In one embodiment step 11 as described in relations to Fig. 4 may be applied at the beginning of the day when there is communication between the server and the mobile display system. The rest of the steps, steps 12-16, may be applied many times during the day each time the mobile display system reaches a location, place or other criteria matching the criteria of at least one advertisement.

In one embodiment, at the beginning of a time interval the mobile system applies steps 12-14 a number of times for each advertisement after step 11. For example, the number of times steps 12-14 are applied is equal to 10% of the number of expected occurrences, or a function of the number of occurrences and the number of relevant mobile display systems. In another embodiment the mobile system applies steps 12-14 a number of times for each advertisement at the first encounter of matching criteria of the advertisement in the time interval. The time interval may be any one of hour, day, week, month, or any other interval as specified by the advertiser or predetermined by the system operator for all the mobile display systems. In embodiment where the steps 12-14 are applied numerous times on the first encounter of a possible occurrence of the advertisement in a specific time interval, steps 12-14 are not applied in the next said numerous times of subsequent possible occurrences. In one embodiment, the probability is increased to be greater than the budget divided by occurrences multiplied by the constant, in order increase the probability that the sum of total local budgets will exceed the desired budget.

In one embodiment, the highest bid is calculated as the second highest bid with an additional quantum such as one cent. For example, if for a certain location advertiser A bids $1 and advertiser B bids $2, then advertiser B is selected with a winning bid of $1.01.

In one of the embodiments certain locations and/or certain times, and/or other criteria, may have a minimal bid where advertisements are not displayed for less than the minimum bid.

In one of the embodiments, the bid is a function of at least one of: the number of passengers in a public transportation vehicle, the time of day, location, demographics, number of passengers that are viewing the mobile display system in the public transportation vehicle, or any combination thereof. For example, an advertiser may choose to bid 2 cents for each passenger that will be in the public transportation vehicle when the said advertisement will be shown.

While some embodiments of the invention have been described by way of illustration, it will be apparent that the invention can be carried into practice with many modifications, variations and adaptations, and with the use of numerous equivalents or alternative solutions that are within the scope of persons skilled in the art, without departing from the invention or exceeding the scope of claims.

Claims

1. A method for selecting advertisements for display on a mobile display system comprising the steps of:

a. receiving at least one of said advertisements intended for display;

b. receiving at least one criteria for each of said advertisements; c. receiving at least one budget for at least one time interval, related to said criteria, for display for each of said advertisements;

d. approximating the number of possible occurrences, based on said criteria, for display for each of said advertisements during said interval;

e. calculating the probability for each of said advertisements based on each advertisement's said budget and said possible occurrences;

f. calculating the local budget of said advertisement based at least on said probability and number of actual possible occurrences of said advertisement on said mobile display system; and

g. selecting one of said advertisements based at least on their said local budgets and said criteria for display.

2. A method according to claim 1, where a bid for displaying the advertisement is received.

3. A method according to claim 1, where a server receives the advertisements, their criteria, and budget from the advertisers.

4. A method according to claim 3, where the mobile display system updates the server on the displayed advertisements.

5. A method according to claim 4, where the server sends commands to mobile display systems based on the update.

6. A method according to claim 1, where the selecting comprises of the following steps:

a. calculating the cost for display of said selected advertisement; and

b. deducting said cost from said local budget of said selected advertisement.

7. A method according to claim 6 where selecting one of the advertisements for display is done by selecting the advertisement with the highest value of the minimum between its bid and its local budget.

8. A method according to claim 6 where the cost of display is second to highest minimum value between an advertisement's local budget and its bid, plus an additional quantum.

9. A method according to claim 6 where the cost for display is at least a predefined minimum value.

10. A method according to claim 1 where the criteria includes at least one of the following: dates, days of week, coordinates, radius from coordinates, stations in a public transportation route, number of passengers in the public transportation vehicle, or any combination thereof.

11. A method according to claim 2 where the bid is a function of at least one of the following: the number of passengers in a public transportation vehicle, the time of day, location, demographics, number of passengers that are viewing the mobile display system in the public transportation vehicle, or any combination thereof.