System and Method for Adding an Advertisement to a Personal Communication

Abstract

A system and method is provided for adding an advertisement to a digital message and providing additional communication data to a recipient that interacts with the advertisement regardless of the network device the recipient is utilizing. An advertisement generator residing on a network host accepts digital messages from contributors and allows the contributors to select an advertisement to be displayed with their contributed messages. These digital messages may be sent to specified recipients or published on a Web site. Using stored personal data associated with the contributor and with the recipient of a digital message, in addition to the content of the message itself, the advertisement generator suggests advertisements to be included with the digital messages based on their contextual relevance. In exchange for including an advertisement with a digital message, a contributor is compensated. If the contributor-selected advertisement is provided by a third party advertiser, the message, contributor, and advertisement data is utilized to compensate the contributor of that message for sending it to at least one recipient or posting it on a Web site. If the advertisement is interactive, and the advertisement is interacted with, the advertisement generator will provide the recipient with additional communication data in a format that can be understood by the recipient network device.

1 - 36 . (canceled) 
     
     
         37 . An apparatus for managing messages and advertisements comprising:
 a computer system including one or more computers operatively connected to a network and including one or more memory devices, wherein the memory devices are adapted to:
 store a plurality of advertisements; 
 store information relating to a user profile database; and 
 store machine-readable instructions adapted to:
 receive messages from a user interacting with the computer system using a first user device; 
 build the user profile database by collecting and storing information in the memory device relating to activities performed by a user operating the first user device; 
 display at least one advertisement selected from the plurality of advertisements to a user using a second user device, wherein the at least one advertisement has a subject matter relating to information in the user profile database; wherein 
 the first user device is different from the second user device. 
 
   
     
     
         38 . The apparatus of  claim 37 , wherein the first user device is one of a personal computer, television set-top box, cellular telephone, consumer appliance, personal digital assistant, game console, and portable multimedia device. 
     
     
         39 . The apparatus of  claim 37 , wherein the second user device is of a type different from the first user device and comprises one of a personal computer, television set-top box, cellular telephone, consumer appliance, personal digital assistant, game console, and portable multimedia device. 
     
     
         40 . The apparatus of  claim 37 , wherein the second user device and the first user device are of the same type, comprising one of a personal computer, television set-top box, cellular telephone, consumer appliance, personal digital assistant, game console, and portable multimedia device. 
     
     
         41 . The apparatus of  claim 37 , wherein the instructions for building the user profile database further comprise instructions for collecting demographic information. 
     
     
         42 . The apparatus of  claim 37 , wherein the instructions for building the user profile database further comprise instructions for collecting a location of the first user device. 
     
     
         43 . The apparatus of  claim 37 , wherein the instructions for building the user profile database further comprise instructions for collecting a location of the second user device. 
     
     
         44 . The apparatus of  claim 37 , wherein the machine readable instructions are further adapted to store at least two advertisements related to the same product or service, wherein a first of the two advertisements is directed to a first demographic and a second of the two advertisements is directed to a second demographic; and
 wherein the step of displaying at least one advertisement selected from the plurality of advertisements to a user using a second user device further comprises displaying one of the at least two advertisements related to the same product or service to the user using the second user device based at least in part on demographic information regarding the user of the second user device.   
     
     
         45 . The apparatus of  claim 37 , wherein the machine readable instructions are further adapted to store at least two advertisements related to the same product or service, wherein a first of the two advertisements is directed to a first location and a second of the two advertisements is directed to a second location; and
 wherein the step of displaying at least one advertisement selected from the plurality of advertisements to a user using a second user device further comprises displaying one of the at least two advertisements related to the same product or service to the user using the second user device based at least in part on location information regarding the user of the second user device.   
     
     
         46 . A method of managing messages and advertisements comprising:
 storing, in a computer system, a plurality of advertisements;   storing, in the computer system, information relating to a user profile database;   receiving messages, in the computer system, from a first user device;   building the user profile database by collecting and storing information in the computer system relating to activities performed by a user operating the first user device;   displaying at least one advertisement selected from the plurality of advertisements to a user using a second user device, wherein the at least one advertisement has a subject matter relating to information in the user profile database; wherein the first user device is different from the second user device.   
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 46 , wherein the first user device is one of a personal computer, television set-top box, cellular telephone, consumer appliance, personal digital assistant, game console, and portable multimedia device. 
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 46 , wherein the second user device is of a type different from the first user device and comprises one of a personal computer, television set-top box, cellular telephone, consumer appliance, personal digital assistant, game console, and portable multimedia device. 
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 46 , wherein the second user device and the first user device are of the same type, comprising one of a personal computer, television set-top box, cellular telephone, consumer appliance, personal digital assistant, game console, and portable multimedia device. 
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 46 , further comprising the step of building the user profile database by collecting demographic information. 
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 46 , further comprising the step of building the user profile database by collecting a location of the first user device. 
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 46 , further comprising the step of building the user profile database by collecting a location of the second user device. 
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 46 , further comprising the step of storing at least two advertisements related to the same product or service, wherein a first of the two advertisements is directed to a first demographic and a second of the two advertisements is directed to a second demographic; and
 wherein the step of displaying at least one advertisement selected from the plurality of advertisements to a user using a second user device further comprises displaying one of the at least two advertisements related to the same product or service to the user using the second user device based at least in part on demographic information regarding the user of the second user device.   
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 46 , further comprising the step of storing at least two advertisements related to the same product or service, wherein a first of the two advertisements is directed to a first location and a second of the two advertisements is directed to a second location; and
 wherein the step of displaying at least one advertisement selected from the plurality of advertisements to a user using a second user device further comprises displaying one of the at least two advertisements related to the same product or service to the user using the second user device based at least in part on location information regarding the user of the second user device.   
     
     
         55 . The apparatus of  claim 46 , wherein the machine readable instructions are further adapted to store at least two advertisements related to the same product or service, wherein a first of the two advertisements is directed to a first set of customers based on profile data, including at least one of an email address, phone number, or user identification code, and a second of the two advertisements is directed to a second set of customers based on profile data; and
 wherein the step of displaying at least one advertisement selected from the plurality of advertisements to a user using a second user device further comprises displaying one of the at least two advertisements related to the same product or service to the user using the second user device based at least in part on profile information regarding the user of the second user device.   
     
     
         56 . The method of  claim 46 , further including the step of storing at least two advertisements related to the same product or service, wherein a first of the two advertisements is directed to a first set of customers based on profile data, including at least one of an email address, phone number, or user identification code, and a second of the two advertisements is directed to a second set of customers based on profile data; and
 wherein the step of displaying at least one advertisement selected from the plurality of advertisements to a user using a second user device further comprises displaying one of the at least two advertisements related to the same product or service to the user using the second user device based at least in part on profile information regarding the user of the second user device.