System and method for expiring advertisement spaces in syndicated feeds

Abstract

A system and method for managing advertisements in a syndicated feed is described. One embodiment includes a method for expiring an advertisement space in a feed. This method includes the following actions: receiving a data item associated with a feed from a publisher; determining whether an advertisement space should be associated with the data item; inserting a markup of the advertisement space into the data item; providing the data item for a user; receiving a request from the user to view the advertisement corresponding to the advertisement space and the data item; determining whether the data item is older than a threshold age; providing an advertisement to the user if the data item is not older than a threshold age, wherein the advertisement is viewable in the advertisement space; and providing a blank advertisement to the user if the data item is older than a threshold age.

1 . A method for expiring an advertisement space in a feed, the method comprising: 
 receiving a data item associated with a feed from a publisher;    determining whether an advertisement space should be associated with the data item;    inserting a markup of the advertisement space into the data item;    providing the data item for a user;    receiving a request from the user to view the advertisement corresponding to the advertisement space and the data item;    determining whether the data item is older than a threshold age;    providing an advertisement to the user if the data item is not older than a threshold age, wherein the advertisement is viewable in the advertisement space; and    providing a blank advertisement to the user if the data item is older than a threshold age.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the feed is an original feed and wherein providing a blank advertisement comprises: 
 determining whether the data item is included in a current feed from the publisher; and    providing the blank advertisement to the user when both the data item is older than a threshold age and the data item is not included in the current feed from the publisher.    
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user comprises an electronic reader.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein inserting a markup of the advertisement space into the data item comprises: 
 inserting a pointer to a system that can select the advertisement from a plurality of advertisements to render in the advertisement space.    
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining whether an advertisement space should be associated with the data item comprises: 
 determining the publisher of the data item;    retrieving advertising rules associated with the publisher, wherein the advertising rules are established by the publisher.    
   
   
       6 . A method for expiring advertisement spaces in a feed, the method comprising: 
 receiving a request from a user to view an advertisement corresponding to a markup inserted into a data item, the data item being associated with a publisher and a feed;    determining if the data item is included in a current feed from the publisher; and    providing a blank advertisement to the user if the data item is not included in a current feed from the publisher.    
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising: 
 determining if the data item is older than a threshold age.    
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the feed is an original feed and wherein providing a blank advertisement comprises: 
 determining whether the data item is older than a threshold age; and    providing the blank advertisement to the user when both the data item is older than a threshold age and the data item is not included in the current feed from the publisher.    
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein providing a blank advertisement to the user if the data item is not included in a current feed from the publisher comprises: 
 providing a single pixel to the user.    
   
   
       10 . A computerized system for expiring advertisement spaces, the computerized system comprising: 
 an expiration analyzer module configured to determine whether an advertisement space associated with a data item included in a feed has expired;    an ad selector module in communication with the expiration analyzer module; and    an ad insertion module in communication with the expiration module.    
   
   
       11 . A method of rendering advertisements in a data feed, the method comprising: 
 receiving a data item corresponding to an original feed, the data item including an advertisement space markup;    requesting an advertisement, wherein the advertisement is associated with the advertisement space markup;    receiving a blank advertisement rather than the requested advertisement;    wherein the blank advertisement is provided because the data item is not included in a current feed from the publisher.    
   
   
       12 . A method of rendering advertisements in a data feed, the method comprising: 
 receiving a data item corresponding to a feed, the data item including an advertisement space markup;    requesting an advertisement, wherein the advertisement is associated with the advertisement space markup;    receiving a blank advertisement rather than the requested advertisement;    wherein the blank advertisement is provided because the data item is older than a threshold age.    
   
   
       13 . A computerized system for expiring advertisement spaces in a feed, the system comprising: 
 a receiving module configured to receive a request from a user to view an advertisement corresponding to a markup inserted into a data item, the data item being associated with a publisher and a feed;    an expiration analyzer module configured to determine if the data item is included in a current feed from the publisher; and    an advertisement insertion module configured to provide a blank advertisement to the user if the data item is not included in a current feed from the publisher.    
   
   
       14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the expiration analyzer module is further configured to determine if the data item is older than a threshold age.  
   
   
       15 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the feed is an original feed and wherein the advertisement insertion module is configured to provide the blank advertisement to the user when both the data item is older than a threshold age and the data item is not included in the current feed from the publisher.