US-12626275-B2 - Systems and/or methods for distributing advertisements from a central advertisement network to a peripheral device via a local advertisement server

US12626275B2US 12626275 B2US12626275 B2US 12626275B2US-12626275-B2

Abstract

Certain exemplary embodiments disclosed herein relate to systems and/or methods for distributing advertisements from a central advertisement network to one or more peripheral devices at a location via a local advertisement server. In certain exemplary embodiments, the local advertisement server within a location receives advertisements from the central advertisement network and rebroadcasts them to peripheral devices within that location. Advertising information may be tracked and reported, e.g., for accounting, revenue-sharing, and/or other purposes in certain exemplary embodiments. Thus, in certain exemplary embodiments, the distribution of advertisements is provided to peripherals via a non-web- and non-PC-dependent network. Moreover, in certain exemplary embodiments, reporting and advertising related communications are substantially bi-directional regardless of device type. Certain exemplary embodiments provide revenue sharing among some or all of the central advertising network provider, the proprietors of locations, operators tasked with maintaining the local ad server and/or the peripheral devices, etc.

Inventors

Dominique Dion
Michael Tooker
Francois Guy
Mounir Khenfir

Assignees

TOUCHTUNES MUSIC COMPANY, LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20240627

Claims (16)

1 . A digital jukebox provided at a venue, the digital jukebox comprising: a local memory; a first communication interface configured to connect to a one or more remote computers including at least one central content server; a second communication interface configured to connect to a plurality of peripheral display devices located at the venue and physically separate from the digital jukebox, the plurality of peripheral display devices including display devices of a first type and display devices of a second type; a display; audio output devices; and at least one processing circuitry configured to: transmit location information about the venue of the digital jukebox to the central content server over the first communication interface; responsive to the transmitted location information, receive, via the first communication interface, diverse digital content categorized for play back, wherein the diverse digital content includes media files and advertisement files; play back, using the display and the audio output devices, said media files and advertisement files received from the at least one central content server; selectively distribute at least some of the advertisement files received from the central content server, to the plurality of peripheral display devices connected to the digital jukebox through the second communication interface, the selectively distributing to display devices of the first type being different from the selectively distributing to display devices of the second type, wherein the selectively distributing includes distributing advertisement files to display devices of the first type based on a device type of the display devices of the first type and distributing advertisement files to display devices of the second type based on user interaction data of users of the display devices of the second type.
2 . The digital jukebox of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processing circuitry is further configured to prompt said users to register themselves on the respective devices of the second type, and to perform the selectively distributing advertisement files to display devices of the second type based on user information received in the registering by the users.
3 . The digital jukebox of claim 2 , wherein the selectively distributing includes: customizing one or more advertisement files received from the at least one central content server by incorporating user information received from a particular user registering on a display device of the second type; and distributing the one or more customized advertisement files to the display device of the particular user.
4 . The digital jukebox of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processing circuitry is further configured to: cause display devices connected to the digital jukebox via the second communication interface that do not include their own other advertisement queues to display at least some of the advertisement files received from the network based on a server advertisement queue and in dependence on content control data associated with those advertisement files.
5 . The digital jukebox of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processing circuitry is further configured to: configure in the local memory an advertisement server advertisement queue; store the received advertisement files in the advertisement server advertisement queue; and for each of the plurality of display devices, configuring a respective indicator in the local memory indicating whether the display device maintains its own advertisement queue on the display device, wherein selectively distributing includes distributing to other advertisement queues residing in, and usable by, multiple of the display devices based on respective capabilities thereof and based upon statuses of the respective indicators in the local memory indicating whether a corresponding one of the display devices maintains its own advertisement queue on the display device, each said other advertisement queue being programmed to aid the display device to which it is usable in displaying advertisement files thereon in a manner that corresponds with content control data associated with the advertisement files in the respective other advertisement queue.
6 . The digital jukebox of claim 1 , wherein each said advertisement files is one of a leader board, banner, or media clip, and each media for play back includes at least a song.
7 . The digital jukebox of claim 1 , wherein the advertisement files received from the at least one central content server includes respective content control data, and the content control data for each advertisement file comprises indications of how and when the associated advertisement file is to be displayed.
8 . The digital jukebox of claim 1 , further comprising a non-volatile storage medium and stored thereon a plurality of log files including a first log file storing information regarding the distribution of advertisement files from the at least one central content server, and a second log file storing information regarding the display of advertisement files on the display devices.
9 . The digital jukebox of claim 1 , further comprising a display controller, and the at least one processing circuitry in association with the display controller is further configured to combine, in a predetermined format, the advertisement files with the media received from the at least one central content server via the first communication interface to create a combined signal, the combined signal being transmittable to at least some of the display devices for possible subsequent display.
10 . The digital jukebox of claim 9 , wherein the at least one central content server advertisement queue includes an advertisement queue for each of a plurality of different display device types, the display controller being further configured to cause display devices connected thereto via the second communication interface to display at least some of the received advertisement files in dependence on the content control data associated with the advertisement files and the associated advertisement queue.
11 . The digital jukebox of claim 10 , wherein the display controller is further configured to change or modify the advertisement files being displayed in response to input provided, directly or indirectly, by a person to whom the advertisement file is targeted.
12 . The digital jukebox of claim 1 , wherein the first type and the second type are different in a type of display device.
13 . The digital jukebox of claim 1 , wherein the first type and the second type are different in a type of a user.
14 . A system comprising: a first pay-for-play digital jukebox at a first venue; a second pay-for-play digital jukebox at a second venue geographically different from the first venue; one or more remote computers including at least one central content server, and communicating with the first pay-for-play digital jukebox and the second pay-for-play digital jukebox, wherein the first and second pay-for-play digital jukeboxes each comprises: a local memory; a first communication interface configured to connect to a one or more remote computers including the at least one central content server; a second communication interface configured to connect to a plurality of display devices located at the venue and physically separate from the digital jukebox, the plurality of display devices including display devices of a first type and display devices of a second type; a display; audio output devices; and at least one processing circuitry configured to: transmit location information about the venue of the first or second pay-for-play digital jukebox to the central content server over the first communication interface; responsive to the transmitted location information, receive, via the first communication interface, diverse digital content categorized for play back, wherein the diverse digital content includes media files and advertisement files; play back, using the display and the audio output devices, said media files and advertisement files received from the at least one central content server; selectively distribute at least some of the advertisement files received from the central content server, to the plurality of peripheral display devices connected to the digital jukebox through the second communication interface, the selectively distributing to display devices of the first type being different from the selectively distributing to display devices of the second type, wherein the selectively distributing includes distributing advertisement files to display devices of the first type based on a device type of the display devices of the first type and distributing advertisement files to display devices of the second type based on user interaction data of users of the display devices of the second type.
15 . The system according to claim 14 , wherein the at least one processing circuitry is further configured to prompt said users to register themselves on the respective devices of the second type, and to perform the selectively distributing advertisements to display devices of the second type based on user information received in the registering by the users.
16 . The system according to claim 15 , wherein the selectively distributing includes: customizing one or more advertisements received from the at least one central server by incorporating user information received from a particular user registering on a display device of the second type; and distributing the one or more customized advertisements to the display device of the particular user.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 17/985,448 filed Nov. 11, 2022, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 17/011,719 filed Sep. 3, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,501,333 issued on Nov. 15, 2022, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 15/959,889 filed Apr. 23, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,776,850 issued on Sep. 15, 2020, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 14/277,404 filed May 14, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,953,341 filed Apr. 24, 2018, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 13/670,553 filed Nov. 7, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,739,206, issued on May 27, 2014, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 12/318,864 filed Jan. 9, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,332,887, issued on Nov. 12, 2012, which claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 61/006,382 filed Jan. 10, 2008, the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in this application. TECHNICAL FIELD The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein relate to systems and/or methods for distributing advertisements to one or more peripheral devices. More particularly, certain exemplary embodiments relate to systems and/or methods for distributing advertisements from a central advertisement network to one or more peripheral devices at a location via a local advertisement server. In certain exemplary embodiments, the local advertisement server within a location receives advertisements from the central advertisement network and rebroadcasts them to peripheral devices within that location. Advertising information may be tracked and reported, e.g., for accounting, revenue-sharing, and/or other purposes in certain exemplary embodiments. BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY Various advertising schemes have been developed over the years. For example, an early advertising scheme still used today involves printing advertisements and recording information about the “impressions.” Impression information tends to reflect the subject matter of the advertisement, the general audience targeted, the location where printed, etc. Another common advertising scheme involves inserting commercials into television programming. Again, “impressions” about the advertisement are recorded. An advertising technique that has gained prominence in the Internet age has been banner and pop-up type advertisements. Impressions may be recorded, e.g., in the form of cookies or the like, and sometimes may be reported back to a local server. Based on these and/or other information, including demographic, taste, shopping habit, and/or other comparisons, it has sometimes been possible to attempt to more precisely target advertisements to users. Unfortunately, such advertising techniques suffer several disadvantages. For example, it often is difficult to accurately record impression information for printed advertisements and television commercials. Although it is possible to get an idea about the broad area and/or audience covered, the time of day a spot was run, and general demographic information about neighborhoods and/or television viewers, it is difficult to capture more detailed and/or more precise impression information. Banner and pop-up ads are able to gather more information about a user and/or a user's computer. However, the information still may be limited based on privacy settings set by the user and/or technical challenges related to the network-based connections. Moreover, such advertisements typically are limited to exposure on a personal computer. There are also problems associated with the effect of advertisements on users. Oftentimes, printed advertisements are simply discarded. Television commercials increasingly are being ignored or completely skipped (e.g., through the proliferation of digital video recorders and “TV on DVD” style offerings). More recently, banner and pop-up ads tend to be viewed as intrusive and a violation of privacy. Accordingly, numerous attempts have been made to try to filter or reduce the appearance of banner and pop-up ads on computers. Unsolicited email messages have been labeled “spam,” are subject to email client filters, and even have been the subject of several bills sponsored in both houses of the U.S. Congress. In view of the above, a further problem exists in that although digital advertisement distribution techniques present a better chance of reaching potential customers in new and engaging ways while also allowing advertisers to gather more detailed impression information, they tend to be subject to more criticism and to technology-based filtering. Therefore, it will be appreciated that there is a need in the art for improved digital advertisement distribution techniques. It also will be appreciated that there is a need in the art for systems and/or methods for distributing advertisements from a central advertisement network to one or more peripheral devices at a location via a local advertisement server. One aspect of certain exemplary embod