Targeted online advertisements based on viewing or interacting with television advertisements

What is this patent about?

’164 is related to the field of targeted digital advertising and cross-platform user tracking. Specifically, it addresses the technical challenge of linking a user’s television viewing habits with their internet browsing activity to deliver synchronized marketing content. In modern home networks, devices often use dynamic addresses or operate behind different service provider infrastructures, making it difficult for advertisers to know that a person browsing on a laptop is the same person who just viewed a specific commercial on their television.

The underlying idea behind ’164 is to bridge the gap between the television set-top box and online devices by identifying when they share a common local area network connection. By recognizing that these two distinct pieces of hardware are communicating through the same gateway or modem, the system can link a set-top box identifier to an online access identifier. This allows the system to build a unified behavioral profile that spans both media without necessarily relying on the collection of sensitive personal data.

The claims of ’164 focus on a computer-implemented method and system that automatically directs targeted online advertisements to a user interface device based on prior television viewing behavior. The core mechanism involves associating a set-top box identifier with an online access identifier by detecting that both devices are connected independently to the same local network. This association is then used to retrieve a user profile containing data collected from television advertisement interactions to inform the selection of subsequent online ads.

In practice, the invention works by monitoring how a viewer interacts with commercials—such as whether they watched the full ad, muted it, or engaged with interactive prompts. When that same user later accesses the internet from a computer or smartphone on the same home network, the system recognizes the associated online access identifier. It then serves a follow-up digital ad that is contextually relevant to the television content previously consumed, creating a continuous brand experience across different screens.

This approach differentiates itself from prior solutions by eliminating the strict requirement for personally identifiable information (PII) to perform cross-device matching. Instead of needing a user's name or email to link accounts, the invention leverages the technical architecture of the home network itself. By using the shared network gateway as the link, the system can maintain targeting accuracy even as dynamic IP addresses change, ensuring that the relationship between the set-top box and the online device remains intact for the advertiser.