Method and system for providing targeted advertising in public places and carriers

Abstract

A method and system for providing targeted advertising in public places and carriers such as trains, buses, train stations, shopping malls, airports, etc. The demographics, purchasing history and/or personal preferences of individuals in the public place are collected from personal digital assistants (PDAs) or other wireless communication devices carried by the individuals in the public place or public carrier. The collected data pertaining to a group of individuals who are present near the display device, is processed and used to select appropriate advertisements that would most likely interest that group of individuals. The selected advertisements are displayed on the display device located in the public place or public carrier so as to provide targeted advertising to the group of individuals.

1 . A method of providing targeted advertising to a group of individuals, the method comprising the steps of: 
 collecting group data from wireless communication devices present in an advertising area;    selecting advertisements based on the collected group data; and    displaying the selected advertisements on an electronic display device located in the advertising area to provide targeted advertising.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication devices are personal digital assistants, mobile telephones, or passive tags.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, in the collecting step, the group data is collected using Bluetooth communications techniques.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, in the collecting step, the group data includes information about a group of individuals present in the advertising area, which can be used to provide targeted advertising.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein said information includes at least one of the following: 
 demographical information on said group of individuals,    purchase history information for said group of individuals,    product preference information for said group of individuals, and    a number of individuals in said group of individuals.    
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the advertising area is a public place or public carrier.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of: 
 pre-storing a plurality of advertisements to be displayed on the electronic display device;    and wherein the selecting step includes the steps of: 
 evaluating the collected group data according to predetermined criteria; and  
 selecting advertisements from the plurality of pre-stored advertisements if said predetermined criteria have been satisfied.  
   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the selecting step further includes the step of: 
 selecting default advertisements if said predetermined criteria have not been satisfied.    
     
     
         9 . A system for providing targeted advertising to a group of individuals, the system comprising: 
 an interface for communicating with a plurality of wireless communication devices present in an advertising area;    a data collector for collecting group data from the wireless communications device through the interface;    an advertisement selector for selecting advertisements based on the collected group data; and    a display device for displaying the selected advertisements in the advertising area to provide targeted advertising.    
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the wireless communication devices are personal digital assistants, mobile telephones, or passive tags.  
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the interface and the plurality of wireless communications device communicate with each other using Bluetooth communications techniques.  
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the group data includes information about a group of individuals present in the advertising area, which can be used to provide targeted advertising.  
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein said information includes at least one of the following: 
 demographical information on said group of individuals,    purchase history information for said group of individuals,    product preference information for said group of individuals, and    a number of individuals in said group of individuals.    
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the advertising area is a public place or public carrier, and the interface and the display device are located in said advertising area.  
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the data collector and the advertisement selector are located remote from the display device.  
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising: 
 a database, coupled with the advertisement selector, for pre-storing a plurality of advertisements to be displayed on the display device.    
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the advertisement selector evaluates the collected group data according to predetermined criteria, selects advertisements from the plurality of pre-stored advertisements if said predetermined criteria have been satisfied, and selects default advertisements if said predetermined criteria have not been satisfied.  
     
     
         18 . A computer program product embodied on computer readable media readable by a computing system in a computing environment, for providing targeted advertising to a group of individuals, the computer program product comprising: 
 computer-readable program code means for collecting group data from wireless communication devices present in an advertising area;    computer-readable program code means for selecting advertisements based on the collected group data; and    computer-readable program code means for displaying the selected advertisements on an electronic display device located in the advertising area to provide targeted advertising.    
     
     
         19 . The computer program product of  claim 18 , wherein the wireless communication devices are personal digital assistants, mobile telephones, or passive tags.  
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 18 , wherein the group data is collected using Bluetooth communications techniques.  
     
     
         21 . The computer program product of  claim 18 , wherein the group data includes information about a group of individuals present in the advertising area, which can be used to provide targeted advertising.  
     
     
         22 . The computer program product of  claim 21 , wherein said information includes at least one of the following: 
 demographical information on said group of individuals,    purchase history information for said group of individuals,    product preference information for said group of individuals, and    a number of individuals in said group of individuals.    
     
     
         23 . The computer program product of  claim 18 , wherein the computer-readable program code means for selecting the advertisements evaluates the collected group data according to predetermined criteria, selects advertisements from a plurality of pre-stored advertisements if said predetermined criteria have been satisfied, and selects default advertisements if said predetermined criteria have not been satisfied.