System and method for consumer-selected advertising and branding in interactive media

Abstract

A user of an interactive medium may select advertising for display on the user's avatar, property, or other user-associated environment. The invention presents one or more advertisements to the user and allows the user to select at least one advertisement to display. The user may also choose a location for displaying the selected advertisement. The invention presents the selected advertisement to other users of the interactive medium. The invention tracks these presentations or displays and rewards the original user based on the presentation. The tracking data may also be used to bill the advertiser or optimize the process of selecting and displaying advertisements.

1 . A method, comprising:
 identifying, by a processing device, advertising locations within a display in an interactive medium;   receiving a user input identifying a selection of a subset of the advertising locations;   identifying, by the processing device, a selected advertisement for presentation within the interactive medium from a set of at least one advertisement and based on said selection of the subset of the advertising locations;   selecting, by the processing device, a reward based on said selection of said advertising locations.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said selecting the reward comprises:
 tracking interactions with said selected advertisement by users of the interactive medium; and   wherein the selection of the reward is based on a result of the tracking.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said interactions includes viewing of said selected advertisement. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying information about the set of at least one advertisement,   wherein the received user input includes a selection of a subset of the set of at least one advertisement; and   wherein identifying the selected advertisement for the presentation within the interactive medium is based on the selection of the subset of the advertisements.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user input is associated with a user of users the interactive medium. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said interactive medium includes at least one of a virtual world or an ancillary support environment. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein said selection of said subset of said advertising locations is provided in at least one of said virtual world or said ancillary support environment. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said interactions occur in at least one of a computer game, a video game, an online chat, an instant message, or a virtual scene. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said virtual scene includes at least one of a dance, party, sporting event, gambling event, meeting, shopping mall, town square, trade show, rally, conference, life simulation, or fantasy simulation. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said tracking includes gathering information about at least one of:
 providing said set of at least one advertisement to a user of said users,   receiving at least one selection from the set of at least one advertisement from said user;   providing said set of at least one advertisement for said user to choose said selected advertisement; or   said presentation within the interactive medium.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising: providing the gathered information to at least one of a host, an advertiser, or at least one of said users. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein said gathered information includes at least one of:
 a measured display time of said selected advertisement to at least one of said users;   a count of said users that viewed said selected advertisement;   anticipated display time of said selected advertisement;   information about said advertising locations; or   information on exposure of said set of at least one advertisement to said at least one of said users.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said reward includes at least one of coupons, merchandise, credits, goods, services, information about said interactive medium, opportunities in said interactive medium, real money, or virtual money. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising creating a consumer profile for a user of users of the interactive medium, the user associated with the user input, wherein said consumer profile includes at least one of:
 registration information;   environment continuation information to allow said user to continue where said user previously left in said interactive medium;   information on the selected advertisement;   information on a user selection of said selected advertisement;   information on said selection of said advertising locations; or   information about the reward.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said selected advertisement is located on at least one of an avatar, a virtual space, or a virtual object associated with a user of users of the interactive medium, the user associated with the user input. 
     
     
         16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said interactive medium is provided by at least one of an electronic system including a server and a database, or interactive television. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said selected advertisement is displayed at least at one of times designated by a user of users of the interactive medium, the user associated with the user input, or times designated by at least one of a host or an advertiser. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said selected advertisement includes at least one of text, symbols, graphics, graphics that are texture-mapped in said interactive medium, or multimedia elements of audio, video, and animation. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said selected advertisement includes at least one of corporate symbols, logos, trademarks, advertising text or copy, graphical pictures, or multimedia elements. 
     
     
         21 . An apparatus, comprising:
 a memory device configured to store instructions associated with an application program; and   a processing device that, in response to executing the instructions stored in the memory device, is configured to:
 identify a plurality of location identifiers each representing a different advertising location selected from a plurality of advertising locations within a display in an interactive medium; and 
 receiving a user input identifying a selection of a location from the plurality of advertising locations; 
 in response to receiving the user input, associated the received user input to location identifier of the plurality of location identifiers; and 
 determine a reward based on the associated location identifier. 
   
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the advertising locations are associated with different reward values, and wherein the processing device is further configured to identify a plurality of advertisement identifiers each representing an advertisement selected from a plurality of advertisements, wherein a reward value associated with each of the plurality of advertisements is based on a particular advertising location selected from the plurality of advertising locations. 
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the advertising locations are associated with different reward values, and wherein the processing device is further configured to determine each of the different reward values based on a location of a corresponding one of the plurality of advertising locations. 
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the processing device is further configured to track data associated with an advertising location selected from the plurality of advertising locations. 
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 24 , wherein the advertising locations are associated with different reward values, and wherein the processing device is further configured to determine a reward value of the different reward values based on the tracked data. 
     
     
         26 . The apparatus of  claim 24 , wherein the tracked data is associated with a prior selection of the advertising location. 
     
     
         27 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the advertising locations are associated with different reward values, and wherein the processing device is further configured to:
 identify a plurality of advertisements configured for display in each of the plurality of advertising locations;   receive an input indicating a selection of an advertisement from the plurality of advertisements; and   determine a corresponding reward value of the different reward values based on the selected advertisement.   
     
     
         28 . The apparatus of  claim 24 , wherein the processing device is further configured to:
 identify a plurality of advertisements configured for display in each of the plurality of advertising locations;   receive an input indicating a selection of an advertisement from the plurality of advertisements;   display the advertisement in response to the input; and   replace the advertisement with a different advertisement in response to the tracked data or changing the location of the advertisement in response to the tracked data, or any combinations thereof.   
     
     
         29 . The apparatus of  claim 24 , wherein the advertising locations are associated with different reward values, and wherein the processing device is further configured to:
 rank each of the plurality of advertising locations based on the tracked data; and   determine each of the different reward values based on a rank of a corresponding advertising location selected from the plurality of advertising locations.   
     
     
         30 . The apparatus of  claim 24 , wherein the processing device is further configured to receive a user input identifying a selection of the advertising location from the plurality of advertising locations to present an advertisement associated with a user identifier. 
     
     
         31 . The apparatus of  claim 30 , wherein the processing device is further configured to modify the advertisement or the advertising location based on the tracked data. 
     
     
         32 . The apparatus of  claim 31 , wherein the advertising locations are associated with different reward values, and wherein the processing device is further configured to increase a particular reward value of the different reward values based on the modifying. 
     
     
         33 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the processing device is further configured to:
 track a characteristic of presentation of an advertisement in one of the advertising locations corresponding to the selection, the presentation within the display in the interactive medium; and   generate information based on the tracked characteristics and send a communication over an electronic network based on the generated information.   
     
     
         34 . The apparatus of  claim 33 , wherein the characteristic includes at least one of time that the advertisement is presented in an environment, a count of other users that are visually exposed to the advertisement, a count of non-participant viewers who are visually exposed to the advertisement, or a total exposure time based on at least time of visual exposure corresponding to the other users or time of visual exposure corresponding to the non-participant viewers. 
     
     
         35 . The apparatus of  claim 33 , wherein the electronic network couples an electronic device corresponding to the interactive medium and an electronic device of an advertiser of the advertisement.