Advertisement selection system supporting discretionary target market characteristics

Abstract

An advertisement selection system is presented in which vectors describing an actual or hypothetical market for a product or desired viewing audience can be determined. An ad characterization vector is transmitted along with a consumer ID. The consumer ID is used to retrieve a consumer characterization vector which is correlated with the ad characterization vector to determine the suitability of the advertisement to the consumer. The consumer characterization vector describes statistical information regarding the demographics and product purchase preferences of a consumer, and is developed from previous purchases or viewing habits. A price for displaying the advertisement can be determined based on the results of the correlation of the ad characterization vector with the consumer characterization vector.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for selecting a targeted advertisement to be presented to a consumer, the method comprising: 
 receiving a consumer profile that includes discretionary traits about the consumer, wherein the discretionary traits were generated based on transactions made by the consumer but are not directly associated with the transactions;    receiving an advertisement profile for an advertisement, wherein the advertisement profile includes at least discretionary traits of an intended target market of the advertisement;    comparing the advertisement profile with the consumer profile to determine similarities between the advertisement and the consumer; and    selecting the advertisement to be presented to the consumer if said comparing determines they are similar enough.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the discretionary traits associated with the consumer were generated by applying heuristic rules associated with the transactions made by the consumer to the transactions.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the discretionary traits include demographic traits.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the discretionary traits are probabilistic.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the discretionary traits include product preference traits.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the discretionary traits include consumer interests.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein 
 the discretionary traits included in the consumer profile are generated based on transactions in a first field; and    the advertisement associated with the advertisement profile is for a second field.    
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the first field and the second field differ based on at least some subset of product, service, or industry.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the discretionary traits are used to target advertisements to the consumer that typically would not be directly linked with the transactions.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said receiving a consumer profile includes receiving consumer transactions; 
 retrieving heuristic rules associated with at least some subset of the consumer transactions, wherein the heuristic rules predict discretionary traits about the consumer making the transaction;    applying the heuristic rules to the consumer transactions to generate the discretionary traits; and    including the discretionary traits in the consumer profile.    
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the heuristic rules assign probabilities for the consumer making the transaction having particular traits.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the heuristic rules are associated with particular transactions.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the heuristic rules are associated with an aggregation of transactions.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the consumer profile further includes deterministic information about the consumer.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the consumer profile further includes transaction related traits.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the transactions include consumer purchases.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the transactions include consumer television interactions.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the transactions include consumer Internet usage.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the transaction related traits include purchasing habits.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the transaction related traits include television viewing habits.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the transaction related traits include Internet usage habits.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein 
 said receiving an advertisement profile includes receiving a plurality of advertisement profiles, each of the advertisement profiles including discretionary traits of an intended target market of an associated advertisement; and    said comparing includes comparing the consumer profile with each of the plurality of advertisement profiles.    
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein said selecting includes selecting the advertisement that is most similar to the consumer.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein said selecting the advertisement that is most similar to the consumer includes selecting the advertisement that meets a threshold and is the most similar to the consumer.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein said selecting includes selecting all of the plurality of advertisements that meet a threshold.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising presenting the targeted advertisement to the consumer.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein said presenting includes presenting the advertisement to the consumer via a television.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein said presenting includes presenting the advertisement to the consumer via Internet.  
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein said presenting includes presenting the advertisement to the consumer via mail.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein said presenting includes presenting the advertisement to the consumer via a point-of-sale checkout.  
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein said presenting includes presenting the advertisement to the consumer via a kiosk.  
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the targeted advertisement is a television commercial.  
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the targeted advertisement is an Internet advertisement.  
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the targeted advertisement is an in store advertisement.  
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the targeted advertisement is a coupon.  
     
     
         36 . A system for selecting a targeted advertisement to be presented to a consumer, the system comprising: 
 means for receiving a consumer profile that includes discretionary traits about the consumer, wherein the discretionary traits were generated based on transactions made by the consumer but are not directly associated with the transactions;    means for receiving an advertisement profile for an advertisement, wherein the advertisement profile includes at least discretionary traits of an intended target market of the advertisement;    means for comparing the advertisement profile with the consumer profile to determine similarities between the advertisement and the consumer; and    means for selecting the advertisement to be presented to the consumer if said comparing determines they are similar enough.    
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 36 , wherein said means for receiving a consumer profile includes 
 means for receiving consumer transactions;    means for retrieving heuristic rules associated with at least some subset of the consumer transactions, wherein the heuristic rules predict traits about the consumer making the transaction; and    means for generating the discretionary traits included in the consumer profile by applying the heuristic rules to the consumer transactions.    
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 36 , wherein said means for receiving an advertisement profile receives a plurality of advertisement profiles, each of the advertisement profiles including discretionary traits of an intended target market of an associated advertisement; and 
 said means for comparing compares the consumer profile with each of the plurality of advertisement profiles.    
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 38 , wherein said means for selecting selects the advertisement that is most similar to the consumer.  
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 38 , wherein said means for selecting selects the advertisement that meets a threshold and is the most similar to the consumer.  
     
     
         41 . The system of  claim 38 , wherein said means for selecting selects all of the plurality of advertisements that meet a threshold.  
     
     
         42 . The system of  claim 36 , further comprising means for presenting the targeted advertisement to the consumer.  
     
     
         43 . The system of  claim 42 , wherein said means for presenting includes a television.  
     
     
         44 . The system of  claim 42 , wherein said means for presenting includes Internet.  
     
     
         45 . The system of  claim 42 , wherein said means for presenting includes mail.  
     
     
         46 . The system of  claim 42 , wherein said means for presenting includes a point-of-sale checkout.  
     
     
         47 . The system of  claim 42 , wherein said means for presenting includes a kiosk.  
     
     
         48 . A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for selecting a targeted advertisement to be presented to a consumer, the computer program comprising: 
 a source code segment for receiving a consumer profile that includes discretionary traits about the consumer, wherein the discretionary traits were generated based on transactions made by the consumer but are not directly associated with the transactions;    a source code segment for receiving an advertisement profile for an advertisement, wherein the advertisement profile includes at least discretionary traits of an intended target market of the advertisement;    a source code segment for comparing the advertisement profile with the consumer profile to determine similarities between the advertisement and the consumer; and    a source code segment for selecting the advertisement to be presented to the consumer if said comparing determines they are similar enough.    
     
     
         49 . The computer program of  claim 48 , wherein said source code segment for receiving a consumer profile includes 
 a source code segment for receiving consumer transactions;    a source code segment for retrieving heuristic rules associated with at least some subset of the consumer transactions, wherein the heuristic rules predict traits about the consumer making the transaction; and    a source code segment for generating the discretionary traits included in the consumer profile by applying the heuristic rules to the consumer transactions.    
     
     
         50 . The computer program of  claim 48 , wherein said source code segment for receiving an advertisement profile receives a plurality of advertisement profiles, each of the advertisement profiles including discretionary traits of an intended target market of an associated advertisement; and 
 said source code segment for comparing compares the consumer profile with each of the plurality of advertisement profiles.    
     
     
         51 . The computer program of  claim 50 , wherein said source code segment for selecting selects the advertisement that is most similar to the consumer.  
     
     
         52 . The computer program of  claim 50 , wherein said source code segment for selecting selects the advertisement that meets a threshold and is the most similar to the consumer.  
     
     
         53 . The computer program of  claim 54 , wherein said source code segment for selecting selects all of the plurality of advertisements that meet a threshold.  
     
     
         54 . The computer program of  claim 48 , further comprising a source code segment for presenting the targeted advertisement to the consumer.  
     
     
         55 . A method for identifying consumers to be targeted with an advertisement, the method comprising: 
 retrieving a plurality of consumer profiles, wherein each consumer profile is based at least in part on recorded transactions associated with the consumer and identifies at least one discretionary trait of the consumer that is not directly associated with the recorded transactions;    retrieving an advertisement profile associated with the advertisement, wherein the advertisement profile identifies at least one discretionary trait of an intended market for the advertisement; and    identifying a set of consumers to receive the advertisement by correlating the advertisement profile with at least a subset of the consumer profiles.    
     
     
         56 . The method of  claim 55 , wherein the discretionary traits associated with the consumer were generated by applying heuristic rules associated with the transactions made by the consumer to the transactions.  
     
     
         57 . The method of  claim 55 , wherein the discretionary traits associated with the consumer are used to target advertisements to the consumer that typically would not be directly linked with the transactions.  
     
     
         58 . The method of  claim 55 , wherein said retrieving a plurality of consumer profiles includes 
 receiving consumer transactions for a plurality of consumers;    retrieving heuristic rules associated with at least some subset of the consumer transactions, wherein the heuristic rules predict discretionary traits about the consumer making the transaction; and    applying the heuristic rules to the consumer transactions to generate the discretionary traits.    
     
     
         59 . The method of  claim 56 , wherein the heuristic rules are associated with particular transactions.  
     
     
         60 . The method of  claim 56 , wherein the heuristic rules are associated with an aggregation of transactions.  
     
     
         61 . The method of  claim 55 , wherein the discretionary traits include demographic traits.  
     
     
         62 . The method of  claim 55 , wherein the discretionary traits are probabilistic.  
     
     
         63 . The method of  claim 55 , wherein the discretionary traits include at least some subset of product preference traits and consumer interests.  
     
     
         64 . The method of  claim 55 , further comprising presenting the advertisement to the set of consumers.  
     
     
         65 . A system for identifying consumers to be targeted with an advertisement, the system comprising: 
 means for retrieving a plurality of consumer profiles, wherein each consumer profile is based at least in part on recorded transactions associated with the consumer and identifies at least one probabilistic discretionary trait of the consumer that is not directly associated with the recorded transactions;    means for retrieving an advertisement profile associated with the advertisement, wherein the advertisement profile identifies at least one discretionary trait of an intended market for the advertisement; and    means for identifying a set of consumers to receive the advertisement by correlating the advertisement profile with at least a subset of the consumer profiles.    
     
     
         66 . The system of  claim 65 , wherein said means for retrieving a plurality of consumer profiles includes 
 means for receiving consumer transactions for a plurality of consumers;    means for retrieving heuristic rules associated with at least some subset of the consumer transactions, wherein the heuristic rules predict discretionary traits about the consumer making the transaction; and    means for applying the heuristic rules to the consumer transactions to generate the discretionary traits.    
     
     
         67 . A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for identifying consumers to be targeted with an advertisement, the computer program comprising: 
 a source code segment for retrieving a plurality of consumer profiles, wherein each consumer profile is based at least in part on recorded transactions associated with the consumer and identifies at least one probabilistic discretionary trait of the consumer that is not directly associated with the recorded transactions;    a source code segment for retrieving an advertisement profile associated with the advertisement, wherein the advertisement profile identifies at least one discretionary trait of an intended market for the advertisement; and    a source code segment for identifying a set of consumers to receive the advertisement by correlating the advertisement profile with at least a subset of the consumer profiles.    
     
     
         68 . The computer program of  claim 67 , wherein said source code segment for retrieving a plurality of consumer profiles includes 
 a source code segment for receiving consumer transactions for a plurality of consumers;    a source code segment for retrieving heuristic rules associated with at least some subset of the consumer transactions, wherein the heuristic rules predict discretionary traits about the consumer making the transaction; and    a source code segment for applying the heuristic rules to the consumer transactions to generate the discretionary traits.