Systems and methods for providing event-triggered advertising to portable devices

Abstract

A portable communication device including a communication module, a processor and a memory storing instructions which the cause the processor to receive, via the communication module, configuration parameters and store the configuration parameters in the memory, the configuration parameters defining one or more trigger events. The instructions further cause the processor to monitor an operating system of the portable device to detect an event signal, the event signal being indicative of occurrence of a first event; determine the first event corresponds to one of the one or more trigger events; send, via the communication module, an advertisement request message; and receive, via the communication module, an advertisement to be rendered by the portable device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A host system for facilitating delivery of information to a portable device, the host system comprising:
 a database;   a network interface; and   a computer server in communication with the network interface and the database, the computer server being configured to:
 send, to a portable device via the network interface, configuration parameters defining at least one trigger event wherein an advertising application of the portable device is configured to send, upon detection of an occurrence of the at least one trigger event at the portable device, an advertising request message; 
 receive, via the network interface, an indication generated by the advertising application that an advertisement provided to the portable device by a remote system was displayed on the portable device. 
   
     
     
         2 . The host system of  claim 1  wherein the at least one trigger event comprises a termination or temporary pausing of user interaction with the portable device. 
     
     
         3 . The host system of  claim 1 , wherein the computer server is further configured to communicate the advertising application to the portable device via the network interface. 
     
     
         4 . The host system of  claim 1  wherein the computer server is further configured to:
 receive a registration message from the portable device via the network interface, the registration message registering the portable device with the host system; and 
 store information associated with the registration message in the database. 
 
     
     
         5 . The host system of  claim 1  wherein the database stores a plurality of advertisements, the host system comprises the remote system, and the server computer is further configured to receive the advertisement request message and send the advertisement via the network interface. 
     
     
         6 . The host system of  claim 1 , wherein the computer server is further configured to store information relating to the indication within the database. 
     
     
         7 . A portable communication device comprising:
 a communication module;   a processor; and   a memory storing instructions thereon for causing the processor to:
 receive, via the communication module, configuration parameters and store the configuration parameters in the memory, the configuration parameters defining one or more trigger events 
 monitor an operating system of the portable device to detect an event signal, the event signal being indicative of occurrence of a first event; 
 determine the first event corresponds to one of the one or more trigger events; 
 send, via the communication module, an advertisement request message; and 
 receive, via the communication module, an advertisement to be rendered by the portable device. 
   
     
     
         8 . The portable communication device of  claim 7  wherein at least one of the one or more trigger events comprises a termination or temporary pausing of user interaction with the portable device. 
     
     
         9 . The portable communication device of  claim 8  wherein the instructions further cause the processor to install the advertising application to run on the portable device. 
     
     
         10 . The portable communication device of  claim 7  wherein the instructions further cause the processor to register the advertising application as a system service with the operating system of the portable device prior to the monitoring. 
     
     
         11 . The portable communication device of  claim 7  wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
 determine an update status of the configuration parameters associated with the advertising application; and 
 determine, based on the update status, if the set of configuration parameters are not current. 
 
     
     
         12 . The portable communication device of  claim 11  wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
 in response to determining that the configuration parameters are not current, receive current configuration parameters via the communication module, the current configuration parameters defining a new trigger event that cause the advertising application to request an advertisement for display on the portable device, the new trigger event being different than the one or more trigger events defined by the stored configuration parameters; and 
 store the current configuration parameters in the memory. 
 
     
     
         13 . The portable communication device of  claim 7  wherein the instructions further cause the processor to communicate a registration message to at least one of the host system and the advertising source system via the communication module, the registration message registering the portable device for receiving advertisements. 
     
     
         14 . The portable communication device of  claim 7  wherein the configuration parameters further define an Internet address of the remote system. 
     
     
         15 . The portable communication device of  claim 7  wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
 subsequent to receiving the selected advertisement, determine if the selected advertisement is suitable for display on the portable device based on the current configuration parameters; and 
 if the selected advertisement is determined to be suitable for display, cause the selected advertisement to be rendered on a display of the portable device. 
 
     
     
         16 . The portable communication device of  claim 15  wherein the instructions further cause the processor to determine if the selected advertisement is suitable for display based on a counter stored in the memory. 
     
     
         17 . The portable communication device of  claim 16  wherein the instructions further cause the processor to determine if the selected advertisement is suitable for display based at least in part on the counter stored in the memory; and
 upon determining that the selected advertisement is suitable for display, increment the counter stored in the memory. 
 
     
     
         18 . The portable communication device of  claim 15  wherein the instructions further cause the processor to, upon causing the selected advertisement to be rendered, communicate an indication that the selected advertisement was rendered on the portable device to the host system.