Advertisement funded telephone calls

Abstract

A method for rendering a document is disclosed. The method includes identifying a phone number in the document. The sponsorship configuration of the phone number is then determined. A caller account configuration is also determined. The caller account configuration is associated with a user of a device and the device is configured to display the document. The document is amended to format the phone number according to the sponsorship configuration and the caller account configuration.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method of rendering a document, comprising:
 identifying a phone number in the document;   determining sponsorship configuration of the phone number;   determining a caller account configuration, wherein the caller account configuration is associated with a user of a device, the device is configured to display the document; and   amending the document to format the phone number according to the sponsorship configuration and the caller account configuration.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, the device is configured to play a selected advertisement according to the sponsorship configuration when the user initiates a sponsored call to the phone number from the document. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the sponsorship configuration includes formatting information of the phone number on a display of the device. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the sponsorship configuration includes sponsorship conditions for the phone number. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the sponsorship configuration includes logo of a sponsor of a call to the phone number. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the caller account configuration includes the user's choice to make a sponsored call to the phone number. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein, prior to initiating the sponsored call, the device is configured to check that the phone number is not included in an exception list. 
     
     
         8 . An Internet based communication system, comprising:
 a plurality of end user terminals configured to be connected to the Internet;   a gateway coupled to the Internet and a PSTN or mobile network for routing phone calls initiated from one of the plurality of end user terminals to a phone number in the PSTN or mobile network; and   a page formatter for formatting a document to be displayed on the one of the plurality of end user terminals.   
     
     
         9 . The Internet based communication system of  claim 8 , wherein the document includes a numeric word. 
     
     
         10 . The Internet based communication system of  claim 9 , wherein at least one of the page formatter and the device is configured to determine whether the numeric word represents a phone number. 
     
     
         11 . The Internet based communication system of  claim 8 , further including an advertising server. 
     
     
         12 . The Internet based communication system of  claim 10 , wherein the page formatter is configured to amend the document based on a sponsorship status and a caller account configuration of a user of the one of the plurality of end user terminals. 
     
     
         13 . The Internet based communication system of  claim 12 , further including a rule database, the rule database includes formatting configurations of the phone number on the document based on the sponsorship status of the phone number. 
     
     
         14 . The Internet based communication system of  claim 12 , wherein the sponsorship configuration includes at least one of sponsorship conditions for the phone number and a logo of a sponsor of a call to the phone number. 
     
     
         15 . A computer readable storage medium containing a program which, when executed, performs an operation of rendering a document, the operation comprising:
 identifying a phone number in the document;   determining sponsorship configuration of the phone number;   determining a caller account configuration, wherein the caller account configuration is associated with a user of a device, the device is configured to display the document; and   amending the document to format the phone number according to the sponsorship configuration and the caller account configuration.   
     
     
         16 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein, the device is configured to play a selected advertisement according to the sponsorship configuration when the user initiates a sponsored call to the phone number from the document. 
     
     
         17 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the sponsorship configuration includes formatting information of the phone number on a display of the device. 
     
     
         18 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the sponsorship configuration includes at least one of sponsorship conditions for the phone number and a logo of a sponsor of a call to the phone number. 
     
     
         19 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the caller account configuration includes the user's choice to make a sponsored call to the phone number. 
     
     
         20 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein, prior to initiating the sponsored call, the device is configured to check that the phone number is not included in an exception list.