Targeted advertisements using time-dependent key search terms

Abstract

An advertisement generation system presents a time-dependent advertisement to a user via a communication network, the advertisement based upon a search term of a search query during a period of time. The system includes a search engine coupled to a web server for receiving the search query and for presenting a search results page. The search results page is accompanied with an immediate advertisement. In one embodiment, the system includes an advertisement repository to store data representing a plurality of advertisements and includes the immediate advertisement and the time-dependent advertisement. Also, the system includes a user profiler configured to communicate a plurality of search characteristics and includes a data structure to store the search characteristics. Lastly, an advertisement server is included to provide to the web server the immediate advertisement with an associated search results page and the time-dependent advertisement with a web page presented after the display of the search results page, until a period of time expires.

1 . A method for operating a computer system to generate and send hypertext pages comprising at least a reference to an advertisement, or representations thereof, to a user device, the method comprising: 
 receiving at least one search term, the search term originating from the user device;    determining a search result based upon the at least one search term;    storing a representation of at least one of the at least one search term;    sending a first search result page resulting from the search result to the user device, the first search result page comprising an immediate advertisement selected from a plurality of advertisements selected based on at least the at least one search term;    selecting a future advertisement from the plurality of advertisements based on at least the representation of at least one of the at least one search term and on an approximation of time difference between a time of sending the first search result page to the user device and a time of sending a later web page to the user device; and    sending the future advertisement to the user device as part of the later web page, wherein the later web page is sent to the user device subsequent to sending the first search result page to the user device.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein storing a representation of at least one of the at least one search term comprises: 
 storing a representation of at least one of the at least one search term in a user profiler.    
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein storing a representation of at least one of the at least one search term comprises: 
 storing a representation of at least one of the at least one search term in a cookie.    
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein storing a representation of at least one of the at least one search term further comprises: 
 associating at least one search term data element number to the stored representation of at least one of the at least one search term.    
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein selecting the future advertisement comprises: 
 assigning an advertisement ID data element number to each of the plurality of advertisements, wherein the advertisement ID data element number is associated with an advertising type in an advertisement data structure;    comparing the search term data element number with the advertisement ID data element number; and    matching the data element number to the advertisement ID data element number when the data element number is equivalent to the advertisement ID data element number;    wherein the matched advertisement ID data element number associated with the advertising type is used to select the future advertisement to send to the user.    
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 receiving a second at least one search term, the second at least one search term originating from the user device;    determining a second search result based upon the second at least one search term;    storing a representation of at least one of the second at least one search term;    sending the later web page comprising at least a part of the second search result list and the future advertisement;    selecting a second future advertisement based on at least the stored representations of the at least one of the at least one search term and the at least one of the second at least one search term; and    sending the second future advertisement as part of a second later web page, the second later web page sent subsequent to the later web page.    
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the second future advertisement is available for selection during a second period of time after receiving the at least one search term and the second at least one search term.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the later web page is a search result page.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the future advertisement is shown only if the later web page is requested within a time frame.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the selecting step occurs following receiving a request from the user for the later web page.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the selecting step further comprises: 
 filtering advertisements from which the future advertisement is selected, the filtering based on at least time of search values, indicative of when search terms were used, and a time of filtering.    
     
     
         12 . A method of sending a future advertisement of a plurality of advertisements to a user device, the method comprising: 
 receiving a search query, the search query comprising at least one search term;    generating a search result web page based on the search query;    determining at least one advertisement type based on the at least one search term;    matching the advertisement type with an advertisement type of at least one advertisement of the plurality of advertisements, wherein the advertisement type is associated with a second plurality of advertisements;    setting an expiration period of time based on a time that the search query was received;    receiving a selection to view a portion of the search result web page;    selecting the future advertisement from the second plurality of advertisements; and    sending the future advertisement to the user device during the set expiration time.    
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein determining the at least one advertisement type further comprises: 
 setting a cookie to include data representing the at least one advertisement type upon a match.    
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein setting the expiration time includes setting the expiration time for the cookie.  
     
     
         15 . An advertisement generation system for sending a future advertisement to a user based upon a search query comprising at least one search term, comprising: 
 a web server operative to receive the search query originating from the user and to send a search results page to the user, the search results page comprising an immediate advertisement;    a user profiler operative to communicate a representation of at least one characteristic associated with the search query to the web server, the user profiler comprising a data structure to store the at least one characteristic associated with the search query, the at least one characteristic associated with the search query comprising the at least one search term; and    an advertisement server operative to select the future advertisement based upon the at least one characteristic associated with the search query and at least one characteristic of a page viewed subsequent to the search result page, wherein the subsequent page comprises the future advertisement.    
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the future advertisement is available to send to the user until a period of time expires.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising: 
 an advertisement repository having logic and a repository data structure to store data representing a plurality of advertisements, the plurality of advertisements comprising the advertisement.    
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the search characteristic further comprises a user identifier and a time stamp, wherein the time stamp indicates the time at which the user sends the search query.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the advertisement server further comprises: 
 storage for time of search values, the time of search values comprising at least a time of search value for the search query.    logic operative to determine when a difference between the time of sending the future advertisement and the time of search value exceeds a threshold difference and selecting the future advertisement based on the threshold difference.    
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one characteristic of the page viewed subsequent to the search results page is a time of viewing the page viewed subsequent to the search results page.  
     
     
         21 . An advertisement generation system for sending a future advertisement to a user based upon user input associated with a first web page, comprising: 
 a web server operative to receive the user input originating from the user and to send a first web page to the user, wherein the first web page is responsive to the user input and the first web page comprises an immediate advertisement;    a user profiler operative to communicate a representation of at least one characteristic associated with the user input, the user profiler comprising a data structure to store the at least one characteristic associated with the user input; and    an advertisement server operative to select a future advertisement based upon the at least one characteristic associated with the user input and at least one characteristic of the first web page, wherein a second web page viewed subsequent to the first web page comprises the future advertisement.    
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , further comprising: 
 an advertisement repository having logic and a repository data structure to store data representing a plurality of advertisements, the plurality of advertisements comprising the future advertisement.    
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the future advertisement is available to send to the user device within the second web page until a period of time expires.  
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the at least one characteristic associated with the user input comprises text entered in a chat room.  
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the at least one characteristic associated with the user input comprises an item purchased.  
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the advertisement server further comprises: 
 storage for time input values, the time input values comprising at least a time of input value for the user input; and    logic operative to determine when a difference between a time of sending the future advertisement to the user device and a time of receiving the user input exceeds a threshold difference and selecting a future advertisement based on the threshold difference.    
     
     
         27 . The advertisement generation system of  claim 21 , wherein that at least one characteristic of the second web page is a time of sending the second web page to the user device.