System and Method for Marketing Over an Electronic Network

Abstract

A method, and system for implementing the method, comprising the steps of providing an object browser user supporting at least speech communication with the user, permitting user-controlled browsing of objects received through a computer communication network; downloading an object through the computer communication network in dependence on a user input, the object having an associated data file defining a predetermined vocabulary and a predetermined grammar; presenting the downloaded object through the object browser, wherein speech information received from the user is interpreted in conjunction with both the predetermined vocabulary and the predetermined grammar; and selectively generating at least one communication through the computer communication network, in dependence on the interpreted speech information.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A system for providing interactive content on a mobile device, the system comprising:
 a user interface configured to present information to and receive information from a user;   a speech engine configured to:
 recognize a speech input and to control the user interface to present an interactive element, 
 access at least one data store storing a plurality of interactive elements having an associated plurality of data files, individual ones of the associated data files defining a vocabulary and a grammar for user commands associated with a respective interactive element, and 
 process a command received as the speech input, recognized by the speech engine and interpreted with respect to the vocabulary and grammar defined in a respective data file associated with the presented interactive element; and 
   a port for communication with the Internet, the port configured to receive the interactive element, and one of the associated data files into the data store from the Internet, wherein the at least one data store is configured to store a user profile and information regarding an incentive associated with the interactive element being dependent on the user profile.   
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21  wherein in connection with the speech engine recognizing a speech input as corresponding to a user command of the data file associated with the presented interactive element, the user interface is updated to display content associated with the presented interactive element. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 22  wherein updating the user interface to display content associated with the presented interactive element includes activating a URL link for the recognized user command of the data file to receive the content via the port. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 21  wherein the speech engine monitors the interaction of the user with third party websites and communicates data associated with the user interaction to the at least one data store via the port. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 21  further comprising a message delivery subsystem configured to present a message associated with the interactive element via the user interface to facilitate user interaction with the presented interactive element. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 21  wherein the at least one data store storing the plurality of interactive elements is the memory of a remote distributor computing device enabling the plurality of interactive elements to be modified remote from the at least one speech engine. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 21  wherein the user profile is used to predict engagement of the user with the interactive element. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 21  wherein the user profile comprises information associated with the user including at least one of a lifestyle characteristic, a behavioral characteristic, a personality trait, demographic information, an interest, and an occupation. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 21  wherein the speech engine is further configured to, upon recognizing the speech input as corresponding to a user command of the interactive element, update the user interface with at least one graphic for the user command included in a commands configuration file. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 21  wherein upon recognizing the speech input as corresponding to a user command of the interactive element, activating a URL link associated with the user command included in the commands configuration file. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 21  wherein the speech engine is configured to recognize the speech input including a plurality of variables. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 25  wherein the message delivery subsystem is further configured to present a message associated with the interactive element via the user interface to facilitate user interaction with the presented interactive element. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 25  wherein presenting the message includes using a text-to-speech engine to read the message to the user. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 27  wherein the communication port is further configured to communicate data pertaining to interaction of the user with the interactive element to a remote advertising server. 
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 21  wherein the data store storing the plurality of interactive advertisements is the memory of a remote distributor computing device enabling the plurality of interactive elements to be modified remote from the speech engine, the speech engine accessing the interactive element via a network. 
     
     
         36 . A method comprising:
 presenting, via a user interface of a user device, an interface of a computer program and an interactive advertisement; and   accessing, from a memory storing a plurality of interactive advertisements, the interactive advertisement selected from the plurality of interactive advertisements based at least in part on information associated with the user and an associated commands configuration file including a vocabulary and a grammar for user commands associated with the interactive advertisement;   recognizing, via a speech-to-text engine, a speech input of the user as a user command for the interactive advertisement based at least in part on the vocabulary and grammar of the commands configuration file associated with the interactive advertisement; and   tracking interaction of the user with the presented interactive advertisement via speech input.   
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36  further comprising monitoring the interaction of the user with third party websites and communicating data associated with the user interaction to the memory via a network. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37  further comprising communicating data pertaining to interaction of the user with the interactive advertisement to a remote advertising server. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 36  wherein the information associated with the user is a user profile used to predict engagement of the user with the interactive advertisement. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 36  wherein the information associated with the user includes at least one of a lifestyle characteristic, a behavioral characteristic, a personality trait, demographic information, an interest, and an occupation. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 36  further comprising updating the user interface with at least one graphic for the recognized user command included in the commands configuration file upon recognizing the speech input as corresponding to the user command of the interactive advertisement. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 36  further comprising activating a URL link associated with the user command included in the commands configuration file upon recognizing the speech input as corresponding to the user command of the interactive advertisement. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 36  further comprising presenting a message associated with the interactive advertisement via the user interface to facilitate user interaction with the presented interactive advertisement. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 36  wherein presenting the message includes using a text-to-speech engine to read the message to the user. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 36  wherein the interface of the computer program is presented in a first portion of a display screen of the user interface of the user device, while the interactive advertisement is presented in a second portion of the display screen of the user interface of the user device. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 45  wherein the first portion of the display screen is a browser window and the second portion of the display screen is a banner window. 
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 36  wherein at least a portion of the interactive advertisement is presented via the user interface of the user device using speech. 
     
     
         48 . An apparatus comprising:
 a user interface configured to display information to and receive information from a user; and   at least one processing device, configured to operate a speech engine configured to recognize a speech input and to control the user interface to present a voice-interactive element;   the at least one processing device is configured to access at least one data store, the data store configured to store a plurality of interactive elements having an associated plurality of data files, individual ones of the associated data files defining a vocabulary and a grammar for user commands associated with a respective voice-interactive element; and   the at least one processing device further configured to process a command received as the speech input, recognized by the speech engine and interpreted with respect to the vocabulary and grammar defined in a respective data file associated with the presented voice-interactive element.