Invention for System, apparatus and method of disambiguating the request for media enhancements

Invented by Chad Steelberg, Ryan Steelberg, Brand Affinity Technologies Inc

The Brand Affinity Technologies Inc invention works as follows

The present invention is a device, method and system for providing an image enhancer widget. The device, method and system include a Javascript component which, when executed, obtains an image enhancement widget, at least one primary subject on a networked webpage, at least one enhancement permission, and a plurality content that is produced remotely by the javascript element and according to it. The enhancement widget can be a Flash widget.

Background for System, apparatus and method of disambiguating the request for media enhancements

1. “1.

The present invention relates to media enhancement, and more specifically to an apparatus system and method that enhances media.

2. “2.

In typical advertising forms, although sponsorships and promotional media are an 80 billion-dollar industry in the United States today, only a small amount of sponsorships and promotional ads is done ‘online,’? This is in the networked telecommunications environment, such as Internet (extranet), intranet (wired), satellite, wireless (including ad-hoc wireless), and similar communication networks that use computers, personal digital assistances, conference telephones, cellular phones and other devices. It is estimated that in the United States only 250 million dollars of online advertising utilizing sponsorship and promotional materials are made available, or just 0.31%, of the 80 billion dollar industry.

Further the inefficiency of obtaining sponsorships and promotional spots for advertising dramatically limits the universe of sponsors and promoters. At least, in that, when the procurement of a particular brand can take months, advertisers will only seek out sponsors who they can be sure will have a good public image and will be liked over the course many months. This limits the number of sponsors available. In the multi-billion dollar industry of athletic sponsorship advertising, for example, it’s estimated that 95% of the sponsorship dollars go to hiring the top 5% athletes as sponsors. The prior art offers very few sponsorships to athletes who are less desirable, even though they may be less desirable due to a variety of factors, some of which are not related to their likeability or image. A baseball player, for example, may be an all-star who plays in a “small market.” As such, they may not be considered to fall in the top 5% for athlete-sponsors. The exemplary athlete may be popular with certain groups or demographics but in the prior art, it’s unlikely that this particular exemplary individual will receive much sponsorship.

As discussed above, the lengthy mechanisms that prevent sponsorships from taking place online, limit the universe of available sponsors. Moreover, these current mechanisms do not take into consideration that some sponsors are willing to sponsor certain products at certain times or certain geographical locations, or even in certain social or editorial contexts. Others may only be interested in sponsorship at certain times or certain geographic areas, or with certain products or within certain social or editorial contexts.

In the sponsorship industry it is a well-known fact that actors from the United States can market products abroad that they would not sponsor in the United States. In addition, since news about United States actors or athletes may spread more quickly in the United States than in other countries, these athletes or actors could have a longer time to be available for sponsorship. A baseball player, for example, may be accused of using steroids in the United States. This may limit his ability to sponsor products in America, but he may still be popular in Japan, until the steroid usage is proven. In this way, if a baseball player is not able to sponsor a product in Japan because he does not allow his likeness to appear in advertising, it could seriously limit the sponsorship opportunities of that player as well as advertising opportunities for Japanese advertisers.

The need for a system, apparatus and method that allows for the assessment of optimal sponsors in certain markets, geographies and contexts and provides more sponsorship and advertising options.

The present invention is a device, method and system for providing an image enhancer widget. The device, method, and system include a Javascript component which, when executed, obtains the subject of primary contents on a networked webpage, as well as at least one enhancement permission, a plurality content that is produced remotely by the javascript element and in accordance with the javascript element, and an image enhancement widget. The enhancement widget can be a Flash widget and include one of the plurality content that is overlaid on the primary content in order to allow an enhancement of the content. The enhancement widget can preferably enhance the content without obscuring anything other than the main content on the networked pages.

The present invention is an apparatus, system, and method that allows for the assessment of optimal sponsors in certain markets, geographies and contexts and provides increased advertising and sponsorship opportunities.

It should be understood that figures and descriptions have been simplified in order to show elements relevant to a clear understanding the present invention. Many other elements, found in typical computing devices, systems, and methods, were eliminated for clarity. Other elements may be desirable or required to implement the invention. Those with ordinary skill in this art will understand that. “However, since such elements are known to those skilled in the art and do not help to better understand the present invention, they will not be discussed here.

Further the elements and actions described herein can be preferably embodied in computer hardware and may be operable on one or multiple computing networks, for example at one or several nodes of a network.” The present invention can be a part of one or several computer storage mechanisms and be implemented by one or multiple computing processors.

It is widely accepted that advertising or creative (hereinafter called ‘advertising,’? ?creative,? Or?content?) The endorsements, sponsorships or affiliations of those who are able to influence the consumer base most include persons, organizations, or similar entities that the consumers want to hear from for guidance or news. The desire to provide content (such as an advertisement or content enhancement) associated with a certain talent can be based on a variety of factors, including the endorser’s expertise in particular goods or industries, their fame, how they are usually treated, whether or not the endorser is used in conjunction with news or gossip, and many other similar factors. This content can be used in conjunction with a specific product or service, an athlete, an actress, a celebrity, an artist, an audio, visual and/or audiovisual piece, or an endorsement of a certain product.

The present need is for a platform that allows for the searching, requesting and/or retrieving of content related to a brand or talent, as well as the automatic or manual return of content in response to a query. Also, the delivery or fulfillment of the content can be done with or without other primary content. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the content delivery may take the form of a widget, which provides additional content to enhance the primary content.

As shown in FIG. The system 5 may include a query engine 10 that allows a user to search for talent in certain categories and/or content related to a particular talent. The present invention can also provide a recommendation server 12, which could be or include a server 13 such as a talents server. This recommendation engine would return results in response to the query entered by the query engine 10. The fulfillment engine 14 can enable content delivery by preparing content returned from the recommendation engine into a template, widget or other format.

Thus query engine 10 can be a search or list interface, an array of drop-downs that you can select, a request to enhance a site from a third-party, etc. The recommendation engine 12 can include and/or make accessible a content vault 20 that contains a variety of content associated categorically with talent or brands, or on a one to one basis. Content in the vault can include audio, video clips, images, quotes or other content. The content is categorized according to time, place, context, product or service. The recommendation engine can also generate and/or collect metrics such as those associated with talent in vaults, and may therefore issue scores, ranking, or the similar.

The fulfillment engine 14 can provide one or multiple templates for creating sponsored advertisements or associating content with primary content. It may also provide content to be delivered, for example from the content vault. Content can be delivered by the fulfillment engine based on direct delivery or redirection. The fulfillment engine can formulate or direct the formulation of the content at a third-party site into a widget enhancement to third-party content as discussed in the remainder.

As mentioned above, the recommendation engine can provide metrics to sponsoring brands and talents. These metrics can be measured in a variety of ways. Those skilled in the field will understand this in light of our disclosure. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. You can track positive 110 and negative 112 mentions of brands 114 by comparing them with predetermined sets or subsets of?good? Keywords 120 associated with sponsoring brands. The present invention allows for the valuation of keywords and tracking the value associated with sponsoring brands based on their association over time in specific geographies, certain markets, certain contexts and/or certain products and services. Keywords can be “good” or “bad”. Keywords can be ‘good’ to be associated with. This means that they are indicative of positive associations. To be associated with, indicating that such keywords are indicative negative associations with sponsoring brands, or “neutral.

In an exemplary embodiment, a footballer is associated with a specific keyword. The keyword association can be rated from a +10 to a +10 for positive keyword associations, or from a 1 to 10 for negative keyword associations. If the keyword associated with the sponsored brand is flagged, but does not actually apply due to any number of factors, such as a non-reliable source, or a reference made by a third party, then the association can be marked with an N/A. These keyword ratings and associations can be done automatically or manually, depending on whether a sponsoring brand is flagged. It is not necessary to mention that manual searchers can be trained to consistently rate associative references with numerical ratings. Manual searchers can also be retrained, as an example where 100 searchers rate a certain mention or series as a +5. Such mentions, or similar mentions, may be repeatedly sent to a searcher-in trainer until they begin to rate these mentions within an acceptable variation of +5.

Thereby a brand or talent could have a “heat index” associated with it. The greater the total rating of all tracked keywords in all tracked markets may be a measure of how “hot” a brand or talent is. The greater the total positive rating for all keywords tracked in all markets tracked may constitute how “hot” A sponsoring brand may have been rated as ‘cold’. This heat index could, for instance, be or become a widget enhancement. This is only an example. Tracking could also be done on the basis of a geographical, product, service or context. As an example, the aforementioned “hot” The aforementioned?hot? A?heat map? can be drawn using a?cold? The rating of a sponsoring company in certain geographic markets can be displayed on a map that illustrates the hotness or the coldness of each market.

More precisely, a talent or brand may be associated with a threshold rating. This is to provide a base of different levels for different talents who have had varied achievements over long periods. As an example, a talent’s achievement score may be part of the “heat” score. The achievement score can be an awards score. A baseball player can be scored on a scale of 100 for “heat”. The player may receive a point for each All-Star appearance, 3 points for each Most Valuable Player Award, 1 point per year played, and 10 points if they are elected to the Hall of Fame. Players may be awarded 1 point per All-Star, 3 points for a Most Valuable Player Award and 1 point each for 3 years of playing. They may also receive 1 point each for a playoff, and 10 for Hall of Fame. These points can be permanent or have a decaying factor which lowers them over time. This score can be added to the track score at any time for all mentions of the player, using the 100-point scale.

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