Enhancing a message by providing supplemental content in the message

Abstract

The present technology relates to enhancing a message with supplemental content. The system may enhance a message based on topics identified in past correspondence messages or topics anticipated based on an intended recipient of a correspondence message being drafted. The system can operate in combination or conjunction with a language prediction system, an optimizing language model, and a text input method. The systems and methods provide users with supplemental content at a time and in a specific situation, which allows for effective targeting of content.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method of displaying advertising content in a conversation thread between multiple users based on two or more topics identified in the conversation thread, the method comprising:
 accessing a conversation thread between two users that is displayed in an interface, the conversation thread comprised of a series of messages containing text that are exchanged between two or more users;   analyzing words or phrases in the conversation thread to identify two or more topics in the conversation thread, the two or more topics being identified when a keyword-analysis threshold associated with each topic is exceeded;   using the two or more identified topics in the conversation thread to select advertising content to display to the users,
 wherein the advertising content is associated with the two or more topics in the conversation thread; and 
   providing the selected advertising content in the conversation thread to the users.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first party is a user of a portable device operating a language prediction application, wherein the messages were sent or received by the user, and wherein identifying the two or more topics in the messages includes identifying keywords associated with the topics in the messages. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a threshold associated with one topic is different than a threshold associated with another topic. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the advertising content includes a link, a video, GPS coordinates, a menu, advertiser contact information, an audio clip, a photo, or a phone number. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the series of messages includes messages that are being drafted by a user, but are not yet transmitted to another user. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the two or more topics in the messages further comprises using information about users sending or receiving the messages. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
 determining when a topic is no longer active in the conversation thread; and   in response thereto, ceasing to provide the selected advertising content in the conversation thread.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 gathering metrics associated with topics identified in the conversation thread; and   generating a report based on the metrics.   
     
     
         9 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing machine-implementable instructions for performing a method of displaying advertising content in a conversation window, the method comprising:
 receiving a first message from at least one participant in the conversation window, the first message including textual content;   receiving a draft message entered by the recipient of the first message, the draft message including textual content;   determining whether the first message and the draft message relate to two topics based on an analysis for the textual content of each message;   when the first message and draft message relate to two topics, accessing a data structure containing advertising content associated with topics;   identifying advertising content associated with the combination of the two topics;   displaying within the conversation window an option to include the identified advertising content with the draft message;   receiving a selection to include the advertising content with the draft message; and   after the draft message is transmitted to another participant, at least partially displaying the identified advertising content within the conversation window.   
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the advertising content includes a link, a video, GPS coordinates, a menu, advertiser contact information, an audio clip, a photo, or a phone number. 
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , further comprising receiving an indication that an object or finger is hovering over the advertising content, and in response to receiving the indication, enlarging the advertising content in the conversation window. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein determining whether the first message and the draft message relate to two topics comprises determining that a keyword analysis of the messages exceeds thresholds associated with the two topics. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the threshold associated with one topic is different than the threshold associated with the other topic. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 after transmitting the draft message, but before transmitting a third message, automatically inserting advertising content such that the advertising content is at least partially visible in the conversation window.   
     
     
         15 . A system for entering advertising content in a message contained in a conversation thread of a messaging application, the system comprising:
 memory containing a data structure and computer-executable instructions;
 wherein the data structure includes multiple topics and advertising content for enhancing a text-based message, the advertising content being associated with each of the multiple topics; 
 wherein the computer-executable instructions include instructions to:
 analyze transmitted or received text-based messages to identify two or more topics,
 wherein the text-based messages are exchanged between a user and another party, and 
 wherein the two or more topics are associated with specific advertising content; 
 
 determine a time to provide to the user an indication of an availability of the specific advertising content; 
 provide to the user an option to add the specific advertising content to a draft text-based message; and 
 insert the specific advertising content into the draft text-based message after the user selects the option; and 
 
   at least one processor for executing the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the system includes a touch-screen display, a portable power source, a wireless transceiver, and a hand-held housing for carrying the memory, processor, display, power source and transceiver. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the text-based message is an SMS or MMS message, and wherein the advertising content includes a link, GPS coordinates, a portion of formatted content obtained from a website, a hover button, or contact information. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein analyzing text-based messages to identify two or more topics includes comparing, to a threshold value, a frequency that a specific word or phrase associated with each topic is used within a predetermined period of time. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the data structure further stores weights associated with the topics, and wherein determining the time to provide the indication includes analyzing the weights in relation to text in the text-based messages. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein a weight associated with one topic is different than a weight associated with another topic.