Ad Placement in Mobile Applications and Websites

Abstract

A method of placing advertisements involves sending, from a device, a request for at least one ad position, receiving, in response to the request, ad positioning information specifying an ad position in a stream and a related content position in the stream, determining, by the device, that a related content item is present in the stream, and overriding, by the device, the ad positioning information by placing an advertisement associated with the related content in the related content position within the stream.

1 . A method comprising:
 receiving, from a device, a request for positioning information for placing a set of targeted content items in a message stream, the message stream including one or more other content items that include content related or unrelated to the set of targeted content items;   in response to receiving the request:
 determining a first repeating position and a first repeating content format for insertion of a first targeted content item of the set of targeted content items, and a second repeating position and a second repeating content format for insertion of a second targeted content item of the set of targeted content items, in the message stream; and 
 sending the first repeating position, the first repeating content format, the second repeating position, and the second repeating content format to the device, such that the device inserts the first targeted content item based on the first repeating position and the first repeating content format, and further inserts the second targeted content item based on the second repeating position information and the second repeating content format, in the message stream displayed to a user of the device. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the first repeating position and the second repeating position further includes determining the first repeating position and the second repeating position based on at least one of a content provider preference, an application developer preference for an application executing on the device, the device user's usage of the application, or the device user's usage of the device. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 collecting usage information of the application after at least one of the first targeted content item and the second targeted content item is placed in the message stream; and   sending the usage information to a content server.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving an updated request for the positioning information, wherein the updated request is in response to refreshing the message stream.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first repeating content format and the second repeating content format are selected from a video format, a text format, an image format, an audio format, or a combination format including two or more of text, video, image, and audio. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each content item in the message stream has the same display format, wherein the display format includes a specification of location and size of elements of that content item. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least two of the targeted content items of the set of targeted content items that are placed in the message stream are identical. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each targeted content item of the set of targeted content items placed in the message stream is different from each other targeted content item of the set of targeted content items that are placed in the message stream. 
     
     
         9 . A system comprising:
 one or more processors; and   a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:
 receive, from a device, a request for positioning information for placing a set of targeted content items in a message stream, the message stream including one or more other content items that include content related or unrelated to the set of targeted content items; 
 in response to receiving the request:
 determine a first repeating position and a first repeating content format for insertion of a first targeted content item of the set of targeted content items, and a second repeating position and a second repeating content format for insertion of a second targeted content item of the set of targeted content items, in the message stream; and 
 send the first repeating position, the first repeating content format, the second repeating position, and the second repeating content format to the device, such that the device inserts the first targeted content item based on the first repeating position and the first repeating content format, and further inserts the second targeted content item based on the second repeating position information and the second repeating content format, in the message stream displayed to a user of the device. 
 
   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions that cause the one or more processors to determine the first repeating position and the second repeating position include instructions that cause the one or more processors to determine the first repeating position and the second repeating position based on at least one of a content provider preference, an application developer preference for an application executing on the device, the device user's usage of the application, or the device user's usage of the device. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions further include instructions that cause the one or more processors to:
 receive an updated request for the positioning information, wherein the updated request is in response to refreshing the message stream.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the first repeating content format and the second repeating content format are selected from a video format, a text format, an image format, an audio format, or a combination format including two or more of text, video, image, and audio. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein each content item in the message stream has the same display format, wherein the display format includes a specification of location and size of elements of that content item. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein at least two of the targeted content items of the set of targeted content items that are placed in the message stream are identical. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein each targeted content item of the set of targeted content items placed in the message stream is different from each other targeted content item of the set of targeted content items that are placed in the message stream. 
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer processor, cause the computer processor to:
 receive, from a device, a request for positioning information for placing a set of targeted content items in a message stream, the message stream including one or more other content items that include content related or unrelated to the set of targeted content items;   in response to receiving the request:
 determine a first repeating position and a first repeating content format for insertion of a first targeted content item of the set of targeted content items, and a second repeating position and a second repeating content format for insertion of a second targeted content item of the set of targeted content items, in the message stream; and 
 send the first repeating position, the first repeating content format, the second repeating position, and the second repeating content format to the device, such that the device inserts the first targeted content item based on the first repeating position and the first repeating content format, and further inserts the second targeted content item based on the second repeating position information and the second repeating content format, in the message stream displayed to a user of the device. 
   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the instructions that cause the computer processor to determine the first repeating position and the second repeating position include instructions that cause the computer processor to determine the first positioning information and the second positioning information based on at least one of a content provider preference, an application developer preference for an application executing on the mobile device, the mobile device user's usage of the application, or the mobile device user's usage of the mobile device. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the instructions further include instructions that cause the computer processor to:
 collect usage information of the application after at least one of the first targeted content item and the second targeted content item is placed in the message stream; and   send the usage information to a content server.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the first repeating content format and the second repeating content format are selected from a video format, a text format, an image format, an audio format, or a combination format including two or more of text, video, image, and audio. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein each content item in the message stream has the same display format, wherein the display format includes a specification of location and size of elements of that content item. 
     
     
         21 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein at least two of the targeted content items of the set of targeted content items that are placed in the message stream are identical. 
     
     
         22 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein each targeted content item of the set of targeted content items placed in the message stream is different from each other targeted content item of the set of targeted content items that are placed in the message stream.