Method and apparatus for providing specifically targeted advertising and preventing various forms of advertising fraud in electronic books

Abstract

A method and apparatus for providing specifically targeted advertisements and preventing various forms of advertising fraud in electronic documents. In one embodiment, the method includes; receiving or having access to the contents of documents; receiving or having access to subscriber target criteria; receiving, creating, or having access to advertisements; receiving or having access to information from subscribers; receiving or having access to requests for electronic documents; determining or having access to whether subscriber target criteria for the advertisements is satisfied by the information from the subscriber requesting the electronic documents; selecting a set of advertisements for electronic documents by choosing advertisements having associated subscriber target criteria that are satisfied by the information from the subscriber requesting the electronic documents; inserting the selected advertisements for electronic documents into the electronic documents; and providing access to the electronic documents to the subscribers who requested electronic documents.

1 . A method for providing individuals with a plurality of electronic documents containing targeted advertising comprising:
 a. receiving on a computer or electronic storage device a computer containing at least the contents of two or more documents;   b. receiving one or more subscriber target criteria for one or more advertisements;   c. receiving or creating one or more advertisements that are associated with the one or more subscriber target criteria;   d. receiving on a computer or electronic storage device information from a subscriber interested in receiving one or more electronic documents;   e. receiving on a computer or electronic storage device a first request from the subscriber for a first electronic document;   f. determining if the information from the subscriber requesting the electronic document satisfies the one or more subscriber target criteria for the one or more advertisements;   g. selecting a first set of advertisements for the first electronic document by choosing at least one of the one or more advertisements having one or more associated subscriber target criteria that are satisfied by the information from the subscriber requesting the first electronic document;   h. inserting the selected first set of advertisements for the first electronic document into the first electronic document; and   i. providing at least the content of the first electronic document to the subscriber making a first request for a first electronic document at a price that is at least partially subsidized by the provider of at least the content of the first electronic document.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein selecting the first set of advertisements for the first electronic document further requires choosing at least one of the one or more advertisements having one or more associated subscriber target criteria that are most closely satisfied by the information from the first subscriber requesting the first electronic document. 
     
     
         3 . A method of  claim 1 , wherein choosing at least one of the one or more advertisements having one or more associated subscriber target criteria that are satisfied by the information from the first subscriber requesting the first electronic document is done randomly. 
     
     
         4 . A method of  claim 2 , wherein selecting a first set of advertisements for the first electronic document and inserting the selected first set of advertisements for the first electronic document into the first electronic document are performed in such a way that the first electronic document provided or given access to does not contain the same advertising in the same location of the electronic document as any other electronic document previously provided to or gained access by a subscriber. 
     
     
         5 . A method of  claim 1 , wherein the first set of selected advertising and their relative locations in the first electronic document can be used to identify which subscriber or subscribers were provided or given access to the first electronic document. 
     
     
         6 . A method of  claim 1 , wherein the information from the first subscriber making a first request on a computer for electronic documents includes one or more of the following:
 i. the subscriber's name and address;   ii. the subscriber's email address;   iii. the subscriber's age and gender;   iv. credit card information for the subscriber;   v. information that can be used to verify the identity of the subscriber;   vi. the subscriber's race;   vii. the subscriber's educational status;   viii. the subscriber's educational history;   ix. the subscriber's employment status;   x. the subscriber's employment history;   xi. the subscriber's past and present employment duties;   xii. the subscriber's activities;   xiii. the subscriber's viewing preferences;   xiv. the subscriber's listening preferences;   xv. the subscriber's reading preferences;   xvi. the subscriber's hobbies;   xvii. the subscriber's food preferences;   xviii. the subscriber's beverage preferences;   xix. the subscriber's email preferences; and   xx. the subscriber's agreement to or acceptance of a licensing agreement regarding the electronic documents.   
     
     
         7 . A method of  claim 1 , wherein the contents of the two or more documents are from textbooks and the electronic documents are electronic textbooks. 
     
     
         8 . A method of  claim 1 , wherein the information from a first subscriber interested in receiving one or more electronic documents includes at least the subscriber's name, address, email address, age and gender. 
     
     
         9 . A method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the advertisements in the electronic document provided or given access to contains a notification that the subscriber who requested the first electronic document has won an incentive. 
     
     
         10 . A method of  claim 9 , wherein, in order for the subscriber to receive the incentive, the subscriber must provide or verify certain information or perform certain acts. 
     
     
         11 . A method of  claim 1 , wherein the set of advertising for the first electronic document contains additional advertising that is not visible to the subscriber in the electronic document and when the subscriber interacts with one or more advertising that is visible to the subscriber in the electronic document, the remaining advertising not viewed by the subscriber are updated or replaced with one or more of the additional advertising not visible to the subscriber that more closely matches the advertising that the subscriber interacted with. 
     
     
         12 . A method of  claim 1 , wherein the first electronic document contains one or more unique serial numbers, bar codes, images or other identifying information that may or may not be visible to the first subscriber that can be used to identify the first subscriber. 
     
     
         13 . A method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 j. receiving on a computer or electronic storage device information from a different subscriber interested in receiving one or more electronic documents;   k. receiving on a computer or electronic storage device a first request from the different subscriber for a second electronic document;   l. determining if the information from the different subscriber requesting the electronic document satisfies the one or more subscriber target criteria for the one or more advertisements;   m. selecting a second set of advertisements for the second electronic document by choosing at least one of the one or more advertisements having one or more associated subscriber target criteria that are satisfied by the information from the different subscriber requesting the second electronic document;   n. inserting the selected second set of advertisements for the second electronic document into the second electronic document; and   o. providing for free the second electronic document to the different subscriber making a first request for a second electronic document.   
     
     
         14 . A method of  claim 13 , wherein selecting a first set of advertisements for the first electronic document and inserting the selected first set of advertisements for the first electronic document into the first electronic document are performed in such a way that the first electronic document provided or given access to does not contain the same advertising in the same location of the electronic document as any other electronic document previously provided to or gained access by a subscriber and selecting a second set of advertisements for the second electronic document and inserting the selected second set of advertisements for the second electronic document into the second electronic document are performed in such a way that the second electronic document provided or given access to does not contain the same advertising in the same location of the electronic document as any other electronic document previously provided to or gained access by a subscriber. 
     
     
         15 . A method of  claim 13  wherein the contents of the two or more documents are from magazines and the first and second electronic documents are electronic magazines. 
     
     
         16 . A method of  claim 13 , wherein the selected first and second set of selected advertisements contain one or more additional advertisements that cannot be viewed by the first or second subscriber respectively until a predefined event occurs and the first and second set of selected advertisements have the ability to display or link to a additional or related information about the advertisement. 
     
     
         17 . An apparatus for providing one or more subscribers with a plurality of electronic documents containing specifically targeted advertising comprising:
 one or more computers or electronic storage devices containing or having access to the contents of two or more documents, subscriber target criteria for one or more associated advertisements to be placed in one or more electronic documents, information from one or more subscribers interested in receiving or having access to one or more electronic documents, and advertising information from one or more advertisers;   wherein upon receiving a request for an electronic document from the one or more subscribers, the one or more computers or electronic storage devices determine or obtain information regarding which of the subscribers' target criteria for one or more associated advertisements are satisfied by the information from the one or more subscribers that requested the electronic document and select and insert or have inserted the one or more associated advertisements having satisfied subscriber target criteria into an electronic document and providing or giving access to the requested electronic document containing the associated advertising to the one or more subscribers that requested the electronic document for free.   
     
     
         18 . An apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein information from one or more subscribers contained on the one or more computers or electronic storage devices includes at least the subscriber's name, address, email address, age and gender. 
     
     
         19 . An apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein at least one of the advertisements in the one or more electronic documents provided or given access to by the one or more computers or electronic storage devices contains a notification that the one or more subscribers who requested the one or more electronic documents have won an incentive. 
     
     
         20 . A method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a. providing one or more electronic documents containing one or more electronic advertisements having the ability to display or link to additional or related information about the advertisement to the subscriber;   b. limiting the number of times the subscriber can receive any one advertisement in one or more electronic documents to a particular number; and   c. limiting the number of times any one subscriber can click on the advertisement in one or more electronic documents to access the additional or related information about the advertisement.