Case 1:24-cv-00376-MN Document 16-3 Filed 07/11/24 Page 1 of 14 PageID #: 382
`
`
`
`
`Exhibit 3
`
`
`
`
`

`

`
`
`US00858 921 OB2
`
`(12) United States Patent
`Shkedi
`
`(10) Patent No.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 8,589,210 B2
`*Nov. 19, 2013
`
`(54)
`
`(71)
`(72)
`(73)
`(*)
`
`(21)
`(22)
`(65)
`
`(63)
`
`(60)
`
`(51)
`
`(52)
`
`(58)
`
`(56)
`
`PROVIDING COLLECTED PROFILESTO
`MEDIA PROPERTIES HAVING SPECIFIED
`INTERESTS
`
`Applicant: Roy Shkedi, Forest Hills, NY (US)
`Inventor: Roy Shkedi, Forest Hills, NY (US)
`Assignee: Datonics, LLC, New York, NY (US)
`Notice:
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
`This patent is Subject to a terminal dis
`claimer.
`
`3, 1998 Dedrick
`5,724,521 A
`5/1998 Dedrick
`5,752,238 A
`8, 1998 Goldhaber et al.
`5,794.210 A
`5,855,008 A 12/1998 Goldhaber et al.
`5,918,014 A
`6/1999 Robinson
`5.948,061 A
`9, 1999 Merriman et al.
`6,026,368 A
`2/2000 Brown et al.
`(Continued)
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`KR
`KR
`
`11, 2001
`20010096343
`3, 2004
`2004.0026167
`(Continued)
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`Appl. No.: 13/631,244
`Filed:
`Sep. 28, 2012
`
`Prior Publication Data
`US 2013/OO24295-A1
`Jan. 24, 2013
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`Continuation of application No. 1 1/765,433, filed on
`Jun. 19, 2007, now Pat. No. 8,280,758.
`Provisional application No. 60/805,114, filed on Jun.
`19, 2006.
`
`(2012.01)
`
`Int. C.
`G06O 30/00
`U.S. C.
`USPC ....................................... 705/7.33; 705/14.53
`Field of Classification Search
`USPC .............................................. 705/7.33, 14.53
`See application file for complete search history.
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`Kerwin; “NY Times Web Site Lets Advertisers Get Personal: Profile
`Info From Users Allows Ads to be Highly Targeted.” Advertising
`Age; Jul 14, 1997.
`
`(Continued)
`
`Primary Examiner — Donald L. Champagne
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — Louis J. Hoffman; David S.
`Alavi
`
`ABSTRACT
`(57)
`To improve monetization of electronic advertisement place
`ment, a profile owner company operates an automatic system
`for identifying media properties that have interests in specific
`profiles or profiles of a specified category or kind. The profile
`owner recognizes a collected visitor profile as one that a
`media property has previously requested or one that is within
`a category that a media property has previously requested and
`arranges for the visitor to be tagged with a tag readable by the
`media property that requested Such a profile. The media prop
`erty can use the tag in displaying customized advertising to
`the visitor. Using information received from the media prop
`erty, the profile owner company then records usage of the
`profile by the media property.
`
`5,710,884 A
`5,717.923 A
`
`1/1998 Dedrick
`2f1998 Dedrick
`
`23 Claims, 2 Drawing Sheets
`
`3)
`
`25
`44.
`Wilsitor
`
`PS
`
`PO 1o
`COMPANY
`SERVER
`
`&
`t
`3.
`as
`e
`
`ves
`
`13
`
`MPAB)
`MP2(Ag)
`:
`MPn(X,Y
`
`12
`
`Prix), Pr(Y)
`
`p
`
`Mp2
`
`MP
`
`40
`
`Case 1:24-cv-00376-MN Document 16-3 Filed 07/11/24 Page 2 of 14 PageID #: 383
`
`/2 o
`
`20
`-
`
`2
`Wisitor 1
`
`Ps1
`
`Wisitor 2
`
`PS2
`
`Visitor n
`
`PSn
`
`

`

`US 8,589.210 B2
`Page 2
`
`(56)
`
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`downloaded Apr. 7, 2010.
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 19, 2013
`
`Sheet 1 of 2
`
`US 8,589,210 B2
`
`Record profiles, or the kind of profiles,
`media properties are looking for
`
`1000
`
`Receive redirected Visitor and Visitor's
`profile from profile supplier
`
`2000
`
`Recognize profile information from visitor profile 3000
`
`Categorize visitor profile information (optional)
`
`4000
`
`Identify media properties that have
`expressed interest in that kind of profile
`
`5000
`
`Arrange for visitor tag readable by
`identified media properties
`
`6000
`
`Case 1:24-cv-00376-MN Document 16-3 Filed 07/11/24 Page 4 of 14 PageID #: 385
`
`Based on information from the media property,
`record usage of profile
`
`7000
`
`FIG. 1
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`, 2013
`19
`NOV.
`
`Sheet 2 of 2
`
`US 8,589,210 B2
`
`
`
`0£
`
`
`
`JO??SIA
`
`Case 1:24-cv-00376-MN Document 16-3 Filed 07/11/24 Page 5 of 14 PageID #: 386
`
`

`

`US 8,589,210 B2
`
`1.
`PROVIDING COLLECTED PROFILESTO
`MEDIA PROPERTIES HAVING SPECIFIED
`INTERESTS
`
`CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED
`APPLICATIONS
`
`This application is a continuation of application Ser. No.
`11/765,433, filled Jun. 19, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,280,
`758, which claims the benefit of provisional application Ser.
`No. 60/805,114, filed Jun. 19, 2006, which is incorporated
`herein by reference.
`
`10
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention generally relates to profile-based
`behavioral targeting advertisement placement services. More
`specifically, the present invention relates to improving mon
`etization of electronic advertisement placement.
`
`15
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`2
`The placement of cookies allows those publishers or the
`BT company itself to sell ads to advertisers. Those ads will be
`presented to the profiled visitors when they are found later on
`the same site or on other sites. Such sites can be either a site
`where the BT company’s software is used or a site where the
`BT company has bought media. The BT company may buy
`the media on behalf of itselforon behalf of the publisher, who
`is interested in delivering ads to its audience outside the
`publisher's site.
`Although a BT company (AlmondNet, Tacoda, Revenue
`Science, etc.) acts as an agent that places cookies on the
`computers of publisher's visitors for the purpose of delivering
`targeted ads to the publisher's visitors on other sites, the
`publisher can work without an agent and place cookies or tags
`on the computers of the publisher's own visitors for the pur
`pose of delivering ads to those visitors on other sites where the
`publisher buys ad space. Such a publisher, acting without an
`agent, is also included in the definition of a BT company.
`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 com
`pany. 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 informa
`tion or user-provided information, and target ads to those
`visitors wherever found based on the collected profile infor
`mation.
`Another kind of a BT company is a company that has
`software installed on a person’s computer, such as toolbar
`Software, desktop search Software, weather Software, or any
`kind of software that is used by the computers user. Such
`software also monitors the computer user's visits to different
`publishers sites and media properties and collects profile
`information about the computer user for the purpose of deliv
`ering ads to the user within ad space of sites and media
`properties that the user visits based on the collected profiles.
`A BT company using software installed on a user's com
`puter does not need the cooperation of a visited media prop
`erty to collect information about the visitor's visit because
`that software monitors whatever the user is doing on his or her
`computer. A BT company that has software installed on a
`user's computer is therefore its own profile supplier. Such
`Software can place a cookie or another kind of tag on the
`user's computer. Because the software is installed on the
`user's computer, it can write cookies readable by any domain.
`That means that the BT company can place a tag or cookie of
`a second media property, if the BT company would like the
`second media property to recognize the visitor when the
`visitor visits that second media property site, by simply hav
`ing the Software place a cookie operating under the domain of
`the second property on the visitor's computer. The software
`may also report the collected profiles to a central server of the
`BT company.
`The central server may also tag the visitor or arrange for the
`visitor to be tagged by operators of other media properties. A
`BT company can place a cookie on a site's section when a
`visitor's computer visits that section, ifa code of the company
`was integrated into the page of that section by the site that
`owns the page. The code (e.g., HTML or Java) redirects to the
`BT company's serverall visitors to the page. Also, in the case
`that the BT company is the publisher itself, the publisher will
`simply “cookie' (by itself) all visitors that either read a spe
`cific content, search, click, ask for information, make a phone
`call, etc.
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`45
`
`DoubleClick’s “Boomerang' is a service for advertisers
`that places a cookie on computers of visitors to an advertisers
`site for the purpose of finding those visitors on other sites
`where DoubleClick is the ad server (“ad' is short for adver
`tisement). When the same visitors are found on those other
`sites, additional advertiser's ads are served to them by the
`DoubleClickad sever or by the advertiser's ad server follow
`ing a redirect from the DoubleClick ad server.
`The only server that can read a cookie on a user's computer
`is a server operating under the same domain as the server that
`placed the cookie on a user's computer to begin with. In other
`words, a cookie placed by a server operating under one
`domain cannot be read by another server working under a
`separate domain. That is why the advertiser cannot expect to
`place a cookie of its own (e.g., ford.com cookie) on a visitor
`to its site and then later expect the DoubleClick ad server
`(doubleclick.com) to be able to recognize the visitor when
`that visitor is visiting sites where DoubleClick serves ads by
`40
`reading the ford.com cookies. Only a server operating under
`the DoubleClick domain can read a cookie placed by a server
`operating under the DoubleClick domain. So, DoubleClick
`needs to place a doubleclick.com cookie on visitors to the
`ford.com site for DoubleClick to later find those visitors
`within other sites, i.e., where the DoubleClick ad server is
`used to serve ads.
`For a site to have its ad served by an ASP-hosted ad server,
`such as the one operated by DoubleClick, the site needs to
`redirect visitors from the site to the DoubleClickad server, to
`fetch the ad from the server. Following the redirect from the
`site, the visitor accesses the DoubleClick ad server. Because
`the DoubleClick server is operating under the DoubleClick
`domain, it can read the DoubleClick cookie or cookies and
`then recognize that it encountered the same visitor in the past.
`In this example, the DoubleClick ad server recognizes the
`visitor as someone who visited the ford.com site.
`AlmondNet, Tacoda, RevenueScience, and other compa
`nies (herein “BT companies”: “BT stands for behavioral
`targeting) specialize in targeting ads based on observed
`behavior of sites visitors. To record a visitor's observed
`behavior, a BT company places a cookie (or cookies) on the
`computers of visitors to specific sections of a publisher's
`website or on the computers of visitors of the publisher who
`conducted a specific action Such as search, click content, click
`an ad, make a phone call, request information, acquire a
`product, etc.
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
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`Case 1:24-cv-00376-MN Document 16-3 Filed 07/11/24 Page 6 of 14 PageID #: 387
`
`

`

`3
`The BT company’s server, which either gave the site a
`unique code for a page, received from the page its URL, or
`received access to the page's content that could be analyzed
`by the BT company’s server, etc., identifies the content read
`by the page's visitor, the keyword searched for by the user, an
`ad clicked on the page, a content item clicked on the page, a
`phone call that was made that was initiated from the page,
`information that was requested, or a product was acquired,
`etc. The content read by the page visitor could be identified by
`the BT company’s server whether the content was reported by
`the site or whether the content was identified following the
`analysis of the page. The server then places a cookie on the
`user's computer indicating what content was read by the
`visitor on the page, what keyword was searched for by the
`user, or what ad was clicked on the page, etc. The placed
`cookie indicates that information (1) in the cookie perse, (2)
`in a central database operated by the server where the cookie
`ID is used as a record finder, or (3) both in the cookie and in
`the database.
`Although the above description relates to cookies, a cookie
`is only one example of a possible tag. A tag generally is a
`unique identifier used to marka person electronically visiting
`a media property, Such as a web site, TV channel, radio show,
`or the like, using a computer, a mobile device, a TV set, a TV
`set top box, or any other device.
`25
`The tag is used for the purpose of delivering additional ads
`to a visitor to one media property when that visitor is found
`later on other media properties, based on the visitor's profile
`collected on the first media property. The profile could be the
`observed behavior of the visitor on the media property, demo
`30
`graphic information collected on the media property, profile
`information provided by the visitor to the media property, etc.
`The profile could be made available to the other media prop
`erties.
`Because the purpose of the tag is to enable the delivery of
`35
`additional ads on other media properties visited by the visitor,
`and because the delivery of an ad requires only control of the
`ad space and not necessarily control of the entire media prop
`erty visited by the visitor, a media property (in the present
`context) can also be defined as any equipment that controls an
`ad space viewed by a visitor, including a web site, an ad
`network's site (where the ad network represents the ad space
`of different sites), a TV program, some of the adspace within
`TV programs or TV channels (represented by a cable com
`pany), a TV network, or any ad space for which an entity is
`45
`allowed to sell an advertisement and deliver it within the ad
`space; whether the ad space is owned by that entity, or
`whether the entity pays the owner of the ad space when using
`its ad space to deliver an ad sold by the entity. Ad space can be
`on a web site, in a TV program, in a text message, in a radio
`show, in any broadcasted material, in any streaming video or
`audio, etc. An ad space can be a fixed position on a page, or the
`ad space can be made available by a web site to an ad network
`(for example) only when the web site did not sell all of the
`site's ad inventory and therefore wishes to make some of the
`inventory available to the ad network.
`In the case of a media property controlling an ad space
`viewed by a visitor, a specific ad space on a page might be
`controlled only temporarily. For example, in the case of the
`web site that did not sell all the ad impressions available to be
`delivered within an ad space on a page and therefore makes
`the unsold ad space available to the ad network to fill, the ad
`network will have temporary control of the ad space, i.e.,
`when that ad space is given to it by the web site. Once the site
`redirects the ad space on the page to the ad network (so the ad
`network could fill the ad space with an ad sold by the ad
`network), the ad network controls the ad space and has access
`
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`US 8,589,210 B2
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`5
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`10
`
`15
`
`40
`
`4
`to the visitor viewing the adspace that was redirected to the ad
`network by the site, and therefore the ad network's equipment
`is considered a media property, as it controls an ad space
`viewed by a visitor.
`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 con
`tent, 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 readby
`any second media property visited by the visitor, or (3) could
`be encrypted and, while accessed by any second media prop
`erty visited by the visitor, the tag could be deciphered only by
`second media property computers that received the decipher
`ing code from the first media property. In case of a tag placed
`by Software installed on a user's computer, the tag could be
`whatever the Software wants it to be, including a cookie of any
`domain.
`A tag does not have to be placed on the user's device. A tag
`can also be used in a central database of a BT company or a
`central database of any second media property visited by the
`visitor, where the tag could be a unique identifier either of the
`device or of the user. In the case where the tag identifies the
`device, the tag might denote an IP address, a phone number,
`a device's manufacturer serial number, etc. A cookie placed
`on the device can also uniquely identify the device and the
`cookie therefore can be used as a tag in a central database. In
`the case where the tag identifies the user, the tag might denote
`the username and password used to access a media property,
`a user's name and address, a user's e-mail, a user's Social
`security number, or any other personal identifiable informa
`tion.
`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 prop
`erties.
`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. For example, the
`profile can be stored within a cookie (tag) on a visitors
`device, or the profile can be stored in a central database where
`the tag connected to the profile is used as a unique identifier of
`the visitor's device or of the visitorpersonally. The profile can
`also be saved on both the device and a central database.
`Some 50% to 80% of the ad space on the Internet is con
`sidered difficult to monetize, as it is located next to content
`that tends to be more generalized. Such as general news, web
`based e-mails, instant messages, music or files downloading
`sites, and Software. Advertisers are not willing to pay a high
`price for delivering an ad to visitors of Such sites, as they do
`not know how many of those sites’ visitors are potential
`clients for their products and services. By contrast, advertis
`ers prefer the placement of ads on dedicated content sites,
`Such as a travel site. For example, an airline is willing to pay
`a high price per ad on a travel site, as it knows that the ad will
`be delivered to people who are currently searching for flying
`tickets. The same is true for TV, where a significant propor
`tion of thead space is within TV programs where the audience
`is heterogeneous. It is also true for radio shows and other kind
`of media.
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`Case 1:24-cv-00376-MN Document 16-3 Filed 07/11/24 Page 8 of 14 PageID #: 389
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`US 8,589,210 B2
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`5
`Using profiles for the delivery of targeted ads within the
`above-described low-valuead space can turn the low-valuead
`space into high-value ad space by delivering ads to users that
`are based on previously collected profiles of the users, rather
`than ads that are related to the content on the page they are 5
`viewing. For example, a “car insurance' related ad, delivered
`to a person who yesterday searched for “car insurance' within
`the ad space of a general news page the person is currently
`reading, will be much more relevant to the person than an ad
`related to the general news he or she is reading.
`The BT companies are described above as collecting pro
`files and later delivering ads to the profiled visitors when
`found on other sites. The ads delivered by the BT company to
`the profiled visitors are either sold by the BT company, which
`pays royalties to the profile suppliers that provided it with 15
`profiles whenever ads presented to their audience generate
`revenues, or paid for by a publisher that is interested in deliv
`ering ads to its own audience outside its site and is paying the
`BT company to find its audience on other sites. As described,
`the publisher might be the BT company itself.
`In addition, where the collected profiles are mainly used to
`deliver targeted ads within low-value ad space that is acquired
`from low-value ad space owners, and the ads are delivered by
`the BT company, there is also the opportunity to make the
`collected profiles available to low-value ad space owners, 25
`because, instead of selling their low-value ad space to the
`profile owners, such ad space owners would prefer to mon
`etize their low-value ad space better by themselves, by using
`the collected profiles to sell targeted ads, delivered to the
`profiled visitors when found within such low-value ad space. 30
`A low-value ad space owner could be any media property
`owner, whether it owns a web site, a TV program, a radio
`show, or any other media property. Also, “low-value' ad
`space is a relative term. Because ad space prices are usually a
`function of the content next to the ad space, if a profile-based 35
`ad garners a higher price for the ad space owner than an ad
`based on the adjacent content, then the ad space value is
`considered “low value” (i.e., in relative terms, relative to the
`price the ad space will garner ifused for delivery of a profile
`based ad).
`As described, for example, in commonly owned U.S. Pat.
`No. 6,925,440. (A) profile owners (i.e., who either own the
`profiles or have the right to resell the profiles on behalf of
`another profile owner) can provide a databank with access to
`visitors and their profiles, and (B) either (i) the databank 45
`enhances its existing profile on a visitor with a profile owners
`profile information about the visitor or (ii) a profile owner
`enhances the profile it has on a visitor with the databank’s
`profile information about the visitor, where the profile infor
`mation is given in return for royalties paid for every later 50
`usage of the profile information for the delivery of targeted
`ads to the visitor based on the profile (for example).
`Although the invention of the 440 Patent provides a media
`property with additional information about its visitors, sev
`eral possible challenges arise:
`1. If a media property (ifacting as a profile owner) wants to
`enhance the profiles available to it about its visitors and thus
`contacts a databank and provides it with access to the profiles,
`the media property might be wasting resources: First, the
`databank might have no profiles about the media property's 60
`visitors. For example, if the databank has no profile about a
`visitor, the media property would have provided the databank
`access to the visitor merely to learn that fact. Second, the
`profiles that the databank does have might be of no use to the
`media property because its sales force does not sell ads in the 65
`category in which the profiles belong. For example, if the
`databank has a profile about the visitor and it is a health
`
`6
`related profile, but the media property's sales force does not
`sell ads in the health category, the profile available from the
`databank about that visitor is of no use to the media property.
`2. The media property (if acting as a databank) may be
`given access by a profile owner to many visitors to that profile
`owner's site for whose profiles the media property has no
`need, because the media property has no way of monetizing
`profiles of those kinds. For example, if a media property's
`sales force specializes in selling ads in the travel and financial
`services categories, there is no use in providing them with
`health, auto, and shopping-related profiles. In cases where a
`large profile owner makes profiles available to a media prop
`erty, unless the media property has a very large sales force that
`specializes in selling ads in many different advertising cat
`egories, there is a significant probability that the media prop
`erty will have no use for most of the profiles received.
`3. A media property that receives profiles under the system
`of the 440 Patent described here is committing itself to pay
`for every usage of a received profile. Because many of the ads
`(or, depending on the way the profile is transferred, all of the
`ads) are delivered by the media property after receipt of the
`profile, it is a challenge for the media property to track usage
`of the profiles. First, it is not clear which of the visitors (for
`whom the media owner received profiles) actually visited the
`media property later on their own accord as opposed to vis
`iting via a redirect, for example from a databank or a profile
`owner to the media property without the visitor asking for
`such visit or being aware of it. In the case of a redirect from a
`databank’s server or a profile owner's server, a visitors
`browser would simply fetch a 1x1 transparent pixel from the
`media property's server following the redirect. Second,
`because it is not clear how many of the profiled visitors will
`appear later within the ad space of the media property, some
`tracking of the usage of the profiles by the media property
`must be established. The problem becomes even more com
`plex when the media property receives the profiles from a
`databank, because the databank itself aggregates profiles
`from other profile owners and makes those profiles available
`to media properties, and it is not clear which of the delivered
`profiled visitors will visit the media property on their own
`accord (whetherfor the first time or not). In that circumstance,
`it is not clear how the databank will know which profile
`Suppliers to compensate for usage of their profiles. The prob
`lem is especially complex when the databank has several
`profile Suppliers providing it with profiles in the same cat
`egory (for example, the databank may have 20 different travel
`sites, all allowing the databank to tag their visitors as “travel
`visitors) and the databank gives to a media property all of the
`profiles from those profile Suppliers within that category.
`Although BT companies can collect profiles and deliver
`ads to the profiled visitors within low-valuead space that they
`buy from media properties, there remains the need, therefore,
`to provide collected profiles to media properties that will
`better monetize their low-value ad space by selling ads based
`on the profiles and delivering the ads within their ad space to
`the profiled visitors when those visitors visit the media prop
`erties and making a payment for the profiles to the profile
`owners who provided the profiles.
`What is needed generally is a more efficient method of
`profile-based behavioral targeting advertisement placement