Systems and methods for advertising on virtual keyboards

Abstract

Methods and systems are disclosed for interacting with advertisements on a virtual keyboard. An advertisement appears in a position that is proximate to a virtual key of the virtual keyboard. A user can manipulate the advertisement based on performing one or more types of gestures or key presses on or near the virtual keys. One type of gesture triggers an interaction with the advertisement and another type of gesture or key press performs a standard keyboard function.

I/We claim: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for displaying advertisements, comprising:
 receiving one or more advertisements at a device including a display screen;   displaying a virtual keyboard on the display screen;   determining one or more virtual keys of the virtual keyboard for associating with a specific advertisement of the one or more advertisements;   displaying a portion of the specific advertisement at a position proximate to the determined one or more virtual keys of the virtual keyboard;   identifying one or more actions to associate with the one or more virtual keys proximate to the one or more advertisements;   associating the one or more actions with the one or more virtual keys proximate to the one or more advertisements;   detecting a selection of one or more of the virtual keys, wherein the selection is associated with a selection type; and   initiating the one or more actions associated with the selected one or more virtual keys proximate to the one or more advertisements, based on at least the selection type.   
     
     
         2 . A computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein a first selection type causes an initiation of a first action and a second selection type causes an initiation of a second action,
 wherein the first selection type is a gesture and the second selection type is a key press,   wherein the first action is associated with interacting with the one or more advertisements corresponding to the selected one or more virtual keys, and   wherein the second action is associated with initiating display of a representation of a symbol, character, or alphanumeric value associated with the selected one or more virtual keys.   
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein a first action is initiated based on a first gesture type and a second action is initiated based on a second gesture type. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 3 , wherein the first and the second gestures are made proximate to the same advertisement. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the determination of the one or more virtual keys of the virtual keyboard is based on a shape of the one or more virtual keys, a size of the advertisement, an advertisement type, user data, or advertiser preference. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising, displaying at the virtual keyboard a next advertisement of the one or more advertisements, based on receiving substantially similar gestures. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the virtual keyboard is a 2D or pseudo 3D image projected on a surface. 
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying a targeted advertisement based on data aggregated from navigating one or more online sources via the virtual keyboard. 
     
     
         9 . A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, if executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to perform operations for displaying advertisements on a virtual keyboard, comprising:
 receiving an indication of a selection of one or more advertisements displayed at a position proximate to one or more keys of a virtual keyboard;   in response to receiving the indication, identifying information associated with the   selected one or more advertisements, wherein the information is targeted   at a user of the virtual keyboard; and   sending the information for display at the virtual keyboard.   
     
     
         10 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , further comprising refining the information based on at least one other indication received via the virtual keyboard. 
     
     
         11 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , further comprising refining the information based on at least one other indication received via a different virtual keyboard. 
     
     
         12 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , further comprising refining the information based on target data from an advertiser. 
     
     
         13 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , further comprising refining the information based on one or more user preferences, user history, or tracking data. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , further comprising receiving a next indication of a selection of a next advertisement of the one or more advertisements, wherein the information is refined based on each indication to increase the likelihood that the information sent for display at the virtual keyboard targets the user. 
     
     
         15 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , further comprising sending for delivery to a first device information based on the selection of the one or more advertisements at a virtual keyboard of a second device. 
     
     
         16 . A virtual keyboard advertisement device for displaying advertisements, comprising:
 a display;   a virtual keyboard having a plurality of virtual keys;   means for storing one or more advertisements and instructions; and   a CPU to receive instructions for sending the one or more advertisements to a position of the display proximate to at least one of the plurality of keys, wherein the CPU:
 initiates a first action based on a gesture-based selection of the at least one of the plurality of keys proximate to the one or more advertisements, and 
 initiates a second action based on a non-gesture-based selection of the at least one of the plurality of keys proximate to the one or more advertisements, wherein the first action is associated with displaying the one or more advertisements, and wherein the second action triggers the display of a symbol, character, or alphanumeric value corresponding to the at least one of the plurality of virtual keys. 
   
     
     
         17 . The virtual keyboard advertisement device of  claim 16 , wherein the first action causes a plurality of the one or more advertisements to appear to shuffle on the display. 
     
     
         18 . The virtual keyboard advertisement device of  claim 16 , wherein the first action causes a new advertisement to appear on the display, wherein the new advertisement is targeted to a user based on the gesture-based selection of the one or more advertisements. 
     
     
         19 . The virtual keyboard advertisement device of  claim 16 , further comprising displaying a targeted advertisement based on data aggregated from navigating one or more online sources using the virtual keyboard. 
     
     
         20 . The virtual keyboard advertisement device of  claim 16 , further comprising a projection component, wherein the projection component is configured to display the virtual keyboard as a 2D or pseudo 3D image projected on a surface. 
     
     
         21 . The computer-implemented method for displaying advertisements of  claim 1 , further comprising providing feedback in response to the detected selection of the one or more of the virtual keys.