Method and apparatus for soft limits for advertisement serving

Abstract

An approach is provided for caching advertisements on a device according to soft limits. Caching of an advertisement is caused, at least in part at the device. It is determined that a soft limit associated with the advertisement has been met. The soft limit specifies when to request one or more other advertisements to be downloaded to the cache. Presentation of the advertisement, the other advertisements, or a combination thereof is caused, at least in part, based on validity information associated with the advertisement.

1 . A method comprising:
 causing, at least in part, caching of an advertisement at a device;   causing, at least in part, determining that a soft limit associated with the advertisement has been met, wherein the soft limit specifies when to request one or more other advertisements to be downloaded to the cache; and   causing, at least in part, the presentation of the advertisement, the other advertisements, or a combination thereof based on validity information associated with the advertisement.   
     
     
         2 . A method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving the soft limit;   causing, at least in part, transmission of a request for one or more of the other advertisements based on the determination that the soft limit has been met;   receiving the one or more other advertisements; and   caching the one or more other advertisements at the device.   
     
     
         3 . A method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 determining contextual information associated with the device, a user of the device, the advertisement, the other advertisements, or a combination thereof,   wherein the determining when the soft limit has been met is based, at least in part, on the context information.   
     
     
         4 . A method of  claim 3 , wherein the contextual information includes advertisement type, advertisement flight, advertisement publisher, roaming status, device radio type, battery status, time, date, location, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         5 . A method of  claim 1 , wherein the soft limit is associated with a number of the advertisement, the other advertisements, or a combination thereof to cache. 
     
     
         6 . An apparatus comprising:
 at least one processor; and   at least one memory including computer program code,   the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following,
 cause, at least in part, caching of an advertisement at a device; 
 cause, at least in part, determining that a soft limit associated with the advertisement has been met, wherein the soft limit specifies when to request one or more other advertisements to be downloaded to the cache; and 
 cause, at least in part, the presentation of the advertisement, the other advertisements, or a combination thereof based on validity information associated with the advertisement. 
   
     
     
         7 . An apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the apparatus is further caused, at least in part, to:
 receive the soft limit;   cause, at least in part, transmission of a request for one or more of the other advertisements based on the determination that the soft limit has been met;   receive the one or more other advertisements; and   cache the one or more other advertisements at the device.   
     
     
         8 . An apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the apparatus is further caused, at least in part, to:
 determine contextual information associated with the device, a user of the device, the advertisement, the other advertisements, or a combination thereof,   wherein the determining when the soft limit has been met is based, at least in part, on the context information.   
     
     
         9 . An apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the contextual information includes advertisement type, advertisement flight, advertisement publisher, roaming status, device radio type, battery status, time, date, location, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         10 . An apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the apparatus is further caused, at least in part, to:
 categorize the advertisement, the other advertisements, or a combination thereof according to predetermined criteria,   wherein the soft limit is determined based, at least in part, on the categorization.   
     
     
         11 . A method comprising:
 determining a soft limit associated with an advertisement; and   causing, at least in part, transmission of the advertisement and associated soft limit to a device, wherein the soft limit specifies when to request one or more other advertisements to be downloaded.   
     
     
         12 . A method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 causing, at least in part, characterization of a device base in which the device operates;   wherein the soft limit is determined based, at least in part, on a distribution algorithm applied to the characterization of the device base.   
     
     
         13 . A method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 categorizing the advertisement, the other advertisements, or a combination thereof according to predetermined criteria,   wherein the soft limit is determined based, at least in part, on the categorization.   
     
     
         14 . A method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 causing, at least in part, characterization of a device base in which the device operates;   wherein the soft limit is determined based, at least in part, on a distribution algorithm applied to the characterization of the device base.   
     
     
         15 . A method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 receiving advertiser criteria associated with the soft limits;   wherein the determining of the soft limit is based, at least in part, on the advertiser criteria.   
     
     
         16 . An apparatus comprising:
 at least one processor; and   at least one memory including computer program code,   the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following,
 determine a soft limit associated with an advertisement; and 
 cause, at least in part, transmission of the advertisement and associated soft limit to a device, wherein the soft limit specifies when to request one or more other advertisements to be downloaded. 
   
     
     
         17 . An apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the apparatus is further caused, at least in part, to:
 cause, at least in part, characterization of a device base in which the device operates;   wherein the soft limit is determined based, at least in part, on a distribution algorithm applied to the characterization of the device base.   
     
     
         18 . An apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the apparatus is further caused, at least in part, to:
 categorize the advertisement, the other advertisements, or a combination thereof according to predetermined criteria,   wherein the soft limit is determined based, at least in part, on the categorization.   
     
     
         19 . An apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the apparatus is further caused, at least in part, to:
 cause, at least in part, characterization of a device base in which the device operates;   wherein the soft limit is determined based, at least in part, on a distribution algorithm applied to the characterization of the device base.   
     
     
         20 . An apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the apparatus is further caused, at least in part, to:
 receive advertiser criteria associated with the soft limits;   wherein the determining of the soft limit is based, at least in part, on the advertiser criteria.   
     
     
         21 .- 62 . (canceled)