IP Verse

Providing Collected Profiles To Media Properties Having Specified Interests

Patent No. US10984445 (titled "Providing Collected Profiles To Media Properties Having Specified Interests") was filed by Almondnet Inc on Feb 9, 2018.

What is this patent about?

’445 is related to the field of online advertising, specifically behavioral targeting and the monetization of ad space. The background involves challenges in delivering relevant ads to users on general content sites, where advertisers are often unwilling to pay high prices due to the heterogeneous audience. Existing behavioral targeting companies collect user profiles and deliver targeted ads, but there's a need to efficiently provide these profiles to media properties to improve their ad space monetization.

The underlying idea behind ’445 is to create an automated system where a profile owner company (PO company) identifies media properties that are interested in specific user profiles or profile categories. The system then tags the user with a tag readable by the interested media property, allowing the media property to recognize the user's profile and serve relevant ads. This enables media properties to better monetize their ad space by delivering targeted ads based on user profiles.

The claims of ’445 focus on a method of delivering electronic advertisements based on provided profiles. The method involves automatically storing profile information associated with a visitor in a central database, where a tag associated with the visitor's device serves as a link to the profile information. The profile owner computer automatically selects a media property entity based on a comparison of profile information about a visitor with stored requests from media property entities. When the media property entity is the entity controlling the computer system, the system automatically arranges for electronic storage of a requested profile linked to the tag that is associated with the visitor device. Later, when the visitor device is available to receive an advertisement, the computer system uses the tag to access the profile information stored in the central database and uses the profile information to automatically cause delivery of an electronic advertisement to the visitor device, where the electronic advertisement is dependent on the profile information associated with the visitor.

In practice, the PO company maintains a database of media properties and their desired profiles. When a user visits a site that shares profile data with the PO company, the PO company identifies matching media properties and arranges for the user to be tagged. This tagging can be achieved through various methods, such as redirecting the user to the media property with a request to place a cookie, placing a tag readable by the media property, or using software installed on the user's computer. The media property then uses this tag to recognize the user and serve targeted ads.

This approach differs from prior solutions by providing a more efficient way to connect profile owners with media properties. Instead of media properties blindly receiving profiles, the PO company acts as an intermediary, ensuring that only relevant profiles are shared. Furthermore, the system automatically records usage of the profiles by the media properties, allowing for accurate tracking and compensation of profile suppliers. This closed-loop system improves the overall efficiency and effectiveness of behavioral targeting, leading to better monetization of ad space for media properties and more relevant ads for users.

How does this patent fit in bigger picture?

Technical landscape at the time

In the mid-2000s when ’445 was filed, at a time when behavioral targeting was typically implemented using cookies or tags to track user activity across different websites. Systems commonly relied on redirecting users to ad servers for ad delivery, and hardware or software constraints made efficient profile management and ad targeting non-trivial.

Novelty and Inventive Step

The examiner allowed the claims because the closest prior art references, Kublickis, Jaschke, and Horowitz, either alone or in combination, do not teach all the features of independent claim 34 as amended. Specifically, while Jaschke teaches various features of the claim, it does not explicitly teach that the "consumer information broker" (entity controlling the computer system) is also one of the "advertisers" (entity requesting a type of profile). Furthermore, Jaschke does not teach that when the media property entity is the entity controlling the computer system, to automatically arrange for electronic storage of a requested profile linked to the tag that is associated with the visitor device, the tag being readable by equipment that is part of the computer system.

Claims

This patent contains 14 claims, with claim 1 being the only independent claim. Independent claim 1 is directed to a method of delivering electronic advertisements based on user profiles. The dependent claims generally elaborate on and refine the method described in the independent claim, adding details related to devices, reporting, profile information, and implementation specifics.

Key Claim Terms New

Definitions of key terms used in the patent claims.

Term (Source)Support for SpecificationInterpretation
Profile information
(Claim 1)		“As already mentioned, the observed behavior of a visitor to a first media property is referred to as profile information about a specific visitor. A visitor's profile might be enhanced by the visitors' observed behavior on other media properties or by other profile information collected on other media properties. A visitor's profile can be represented by a unique tag, or the profile can be stored with the tag, whether the tag is placed on the device, on a central database, or both.”Data associated with a visitor, stored in a central database, that matches a profile or kind of profiles requested by an entity controlling the computer system. This information is linked to a tag associated with a visitor device.
Profile owner computer
(Claim 1)		“Generally, various aspects of the disclosed embodiments relate to systems and methods for providing collected profiles to media properties, for improved monetization of electronic advertisement placement. The methods have particular importance to media properties that have interests in specific profiles or profiles of a specified category or kind. The disclosure more specifically relates to an automatic system operated by a profile owner company (“PO company”) for identifying media properties interested in having a collected profile made available to them.”A computer programmed to select a media property entity based on a comparison of profile information about a visitor with stored requests from media property entities for requested profiles or kinds of profiles, and to arrange for electronic storage of a requested profile linked to a tag associated with the visitor device when the media property entity is the entity controlling the computer system.
Profile supplier
(Claim 1)		“A publisher may also be referred to as a “profile supplier” when it transfers profile information, such as behavioral information, demographic information, etc., to a BT company. Therefore, a publisher that is a BT company may also be its own profile supplier. Furthermore, although the name “BT company” implies the targeting of ads is based on collected behavioral profiles, a BT company may also collect other kinds of profile information, such as demographic information or user-provided information, and target ads to those visitors wherever found based on the collected profile information.”An entity whose electronic apparatus is accessed by a visitor, and whose profile information about the visitor is used to select a media property entity.
Requested profiles
(Claim 1)		“Generally, various aspects of the disclosed embodiments relate to systems and methods for providing collected profiles to media properties, for improved monetization of electronic advertisement placement. The methods have particular importance to media properties that have interests in specific profiles or profiles of a specified category or kind. The disclosure more specifically relates to an automatic system operated by a profile owner company (“PO company”) for identifying media properties interested in having a collected profile made available to them.”Profiles or kinds of profiles that a media property entity has previously requested, stored as a plurality of stored requests.
Visitor device
(Claim 1)		“The tag can be placed on the device used by the user to access the first media property where the user's profile was collected (in case of observed behavior, that behavior can be reading a specific content, searching, clicking an ad or content, making a phone call, asking for product information, acquiring a product, or taking any other kind of action). A tag placed on the device (1) could be read only by a server operating under the same domain as the server that placed the tag on the device to begin with as in the case of a cookie for example, (2) could be placed on the device when the user visited the first media property, and then the tag can be read by any second media property visited by the visitor, or (3) could be encrypted and, while accessed by any second media property visited by the visitor, the tag could be deciphered only by second media property computers that received the deciphering code from the first media property.”Electronic apparatus used by a visitor to access a media property and to receive an advertisement, where the device has a tag associated with it that serves as a link to profile information.

Litigation Cases New

US Latest litigation cases involving this patent.

Case NumberFiling DateTitle
1:25-cv-00579May 9, 2025Almondnet, Inc. V. Zeta Global Corp.
7:25-cv-00180Apr 18, 2025Almondnet, Inc. And Datonics Llc V. Adobe Inc.
7:25-cv-00059Feb 7, 2025Datonics LLC v. Oracle Corporation

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US10984445

ALMONDNET INC
Application Number
US15893354
Filing Date
Feb 9, 2018
Status
Granted
Expiry Date
Feb 10, 2028
External Links
Slate, USPTO, Google Patents