RELATED APPLICATIONS

Benefit is claimed to India Provisional Application No. 3064/CHE/2009, titled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PERSON-TO-PERSON DIGITAL ADVERTISEMENT" by Logica Pvt. Ltd., filed on December 11, 2009, which is herein incorporated in its entirety by reference for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to advertising, more particularly the present invention relates to mobile advertising.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Typically, mobile advertising involves sending advertisements, short message service advertisements, local information updates, service provider calls, etc. to the mobile device of the user by a network operator. The content of the advertisement is stored in a personal advertisement server associated with the network operator which is then delivered to the user on the mobile device. The network operator may therefore charge high the service provider for hosting the advertisement. The service providers such as painters, cooks, technicians, plumbers, retailers and the like may not be afford the cost of advertisement.

Also, the advertisements delivered to the mobile device may be not be relevant to the user of the mobile device and may go unnoticed. The advertisements delivered on the mobile device may also be intrusive to the user of the mobile device causing inconvenience to the user. The user may like to obtain information and advertisements related to the various events, commercial enterprises, retail stores, and businesses of interest to the user.

The user may also need updates in real time on availability of service providers in the vicinity of the user. The user may also need the addresses and contact information of service providers to locate the business services of the service providers. Therefore, there is a need for providing the user with direct access to the business services of the service providers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a mobile advertising system and method. In one aspect, a method of mobile advertising includes providing a client application to a handheld device associated with an advertiser. The method also includes creating a business profile associated with a business by the advertiser using the client application, and hosting at least one business advertisement using a personal advertisement server residing in the handheld device. The method further includes performing activation of the at least one business advertisement with a provisioning server coupled to the handheld device, and storing information associated with the at least one business advertisement in the handheld device.

Furthermore, the method includes receiving a request for business information from a user of another handheld device based on the hosted at least one business advertisement using a wireless connection, and providing the business information to the user based on the request. Moreover, the method may include receiving a schedule request from the user based on the business information, and providing service to the user based on the schedule request.

In another aspect, a handheld device includes a personal advertisement server, and memory coupled to the personal advertisement server, where the memory includes a client application, and is temporarily configured to store instructions capable of performing the method described above.

In yet another aspect, a method of mobile advertising includes providing a client application on a handheld device associated with a user. The method also includes fetching contact information associated with at least one advertiser of a business from a provisioning server using the client application. The method further includes sending a request for business information associated with the business of the at least one advertiser to a personal advertisement server in a handheld device of the at least one advertiser based on the contact information using a wireless connection.

Furthermore, the method includes rendering the business information on a graphical user interface associated with the client application of the user from the personal advertisement server. The method may include scheduling an appointment with advertiser based on the business information, and availing a service associated with the business at the scheduled appointment. Moreover, the method may include making a payment to the advertiser after availing the service.

In a further aspect, a handheld device includes a processor, and memory coupled to the processor, where the memory includes a client application and is temporarily configured to store instructions capable of performing the method described above.
Other features of the embodiments will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWING

Figure 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary mobile advertising system, according to one embodiment.

Figure 2 is a process flow chart of an exemplary method of posting a business advertisement associated with a business or a service using a client application, according to one embodiment.

Figure 3 is a process flow chart of an exemplary method of availing a service associated with the business advertisement, according to one embodiment.

The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a mobile advertising system and method. In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims.

Figure 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary mobile advertising system 100, according to one embodiment. In Figure 1, the mobile advertising system 100 includes an advertiser's handheld device 102, a provisioning server 104, and a user's handheld device 106. The advertiser's handheld device 102 includes a personal advertisement server 108, and memory 110 coupled to the personal advertisement server 108. The memory 110 includes a client application 112 and an advertising module 114. The user's handheld device 106 includes a processor 116 and memory 118 coupled to the processor 116. The memory 118 includes a client application 120 and a business search module 122.

In an exemplary operation, the advertiser creates a business profile associated with a business using the client application 112 provided on the advertiser's handheld device 102. Suppose, if the advertiser wishes to post a business advertisement associated with a service, the advertiser creates the business advertisement using the client application 112. In one embodiment, the business advertisement created by the advertiser is hosted on the personal advertisement server 108 residing in the handheld device 102. The personal advertisement server 108 may be embedded on hardware of the handheld device 102 or may be embedded in a subscriber identity module (SIM) card in the handheld device 102.
Further, the advertiser performs an activation procedure with the provisioning server 104 to activate the business advertisement hosted on the personal advertisement server 108 using the client application 112. The activation may be performed as per wish of the advertiser or based on the availability of the advertiser. In case, if the business advertisement is old, then the advertising module 114 enables the advertiser to update the business information before activation using the client application 112. Alternatively, the advertising module 114 enables the advertiser to update the business information after performing the activation procedure using the client application 112.

During activation, the advertising module 114 shares information associated with the hosted business advertisement such as a mobile number of the advertiser, a geographic location associated with the advertiser, an address associated with the personal advertisement server 108, a nature of business and type of service associated with the business advertisement. It can be noted that, the advertising module 114 enables the advertiser to deactivate the business advertisement on the provisioning server 104 using the client application 112 when the advertiser wishes to do so. The provisioning server 104 then stores the above information associated with the business advertisement in its database.

On the other hand, the client application 120 on the handheld device 106 enables a user to search for a business. If the user is looking for a business service, the user may search for one or more business advertisements associated with the service using the client application 120. The business search module 122 may facilitate to fetch information associated with the one or more business advertisements from the provisioning server 104 using the client application 120 and provide the information on a graphical user interface of the client application 120. The information may include a mobile number of an advertiser, a geographic location associated with the advertiser, an address of a personal advertisement server in an advertiser's handheld device, a nature of business and type of service associated with a business advertisement.

Further, the user may select a particular business advertisement from the one or more business advertisements fetched from the provisioning server 106 based on the information provided. The user may click on a link associated with the address of the personal advertisement server 108 and hence the business search module 122 establishes a HTTP connection with the personal advertisement server 108 of the advertiser's handheld device 102. Upon establishing the connection, the business search module 122 may send a request for business information associated with the advertiser's business advertisement. Based on the request, the advertising module 114 sends the requested business information associated with the business advertisement hosted on the personal advertisement server 108 to the handheld device 106 over a wireless connection. The business information includes but not limited to a business profile, current service information, present status information, pricing information, availability information and offer and discount information.

The client applications 112 and 120 may then enable the advertiser and the user respectively to exchange one or more messages for acquiring additional information associated with the service or negotiating cost associated with the service. Thereafter, the user may fetch availability information (calendar) associated with the advertiser from the personal advertisement server 108. The business search module 122 may enable the user to send a schedule request for making an appointment with the advertiser based on the availability information using the client application 120. The advertising module 114 confirms the appointment for availing the service based on the schedule request and availability. In one embodiment, the advertising module 114 sends one or more reminders to the advertiser regarding the scheduled appointment prior to a schedule date on the client application 112.

The user may then send postal address of the user or service location associated with the user using the client application 120. The advertiser may provide the service to the user based on the schedule appointment and the user makes payment associated with the availed service to the advertiser using the client application 120.

Figure 2 is a process flow chart 200 of an exemplary method of posting a business advertisement associated with a business or a service using the client application 112, according to one embodiment. At step 202, a business profile associated with a business is created by an advertiser. The business profile may include profile photo, advertiser's name, experience, education, achievements and so on. The business can be a service or a product related business. Service related business may include housekeeping, news paper supply, water supply, painting, and the like.

At step 204, a business advertisement is hosted using the personal advertisement server 108 of the advertiser's handheld device 102. The personal advertisement server 108 may be embedded in SIM card or an external storage device associated with the advertiser's handheld device 102. The handheld device 102 may be a mobile phone, smart phone, tablet, and so on. The business advertisement may include business information such as a business profile, current service information, present status information, pricing information, availability information and offer and discount information.

At step 206, the business advertisement is activated with the provisioning server 104 using the client application 112. During activation, the advertiser shares information associated with the business advertisement such as a mobile number, address of the personal advertisement server 108, business type, and geographic location of the advertiser. Upon activation, the information associated with the business advertisement is stored in the provisioning server 104, at step 208. It can be noted that, the advertiser only shares the information of the advertiser and associated business type with the provisioning server 104 and not the business advertisement.

At step 210, the business information is periodically updated in the personal advertisement server 108. It is appreciated that, the client application 112 allows the advertiser to locally update the business information in the personal advertisement server 108 without need of a wireless connection. For example, the advertiser may update availability status as available, not available, busy and so on, events, promotions, discounts and so on.

Figure 3 is a process flow chart 300 of an exemplary method of availing a service associated with the business advertisement, according to one embodiment. At step 302, a search for a business or business service is performed in the provisioning server 104 using the client application 120. At step 304, contact information associated with an advertiser of the business is fetched from the provisioning server 104 based on the results of the search. At step 306, an address associated with the personal advertisement server 108 associated with the advertiser in the contact information is selected.

At step 308, a connection (e.g., HTTP) is established between the user's handheld device 106 and the advertiser's handheld device 102 upon selection of the personal advertisement server address. At step 310, a request for business information is sent to the personal advertisement server 108. At step 312, the business information is rendered on a graphical user interface of the user's handheld device 106.

Based on the business information, the user's initiates a chat session with the advertiser based on the business information using the client application 120, at step 314. If the user wishes to go ahead with the service of the advertiser, then calendar information associated with the advertiser is obtained from the personal advertisement server 108, at step 316. Based on the availability in the calendar information, at step 318, the user schedules an appointment with the advertiser for availing the service associated with the business.

At step 320, the user receives appointment confirmation from the advertiser based on the schedule request. It can be noted that, the advertiser may update new schedule based on the availability and the same is notified to the user. Further, the user may share service location address with the advertiser for availing the service upon confirming the appointment. At step 322, the service associated with the business is availed to the user based on the scheduled appointment. At step 324, a payment is made to the advertiser using the client application 120.

Although the present embodiments have been described with reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the various embodiments. Furthermore, the various devices, modules, analyzers, generators, and the like described herein may be enabled and operated using hardware circuitry, for example, complementary metal oxide semiconductor based logic circuitry, firmware, software and/or any combination of hardware, firmware, and/or software embodied in a machine readable medium. For example, the various electrical structure and methods may be embodied using transistors, logic gates, and electrical circuits, such as application specific integrated circuit.

We Claim:

1. A method of mobile advertising, comprising:

providing a client application to a handheld device associated with an advertiser;
creating a business profile associated with a business by the advertiser using the client application;

hosting at least one business advertisement using a personal advertisement server residing in the handheld device;

receiving a request for business information from a user of another handheld device based on the hosted at least one business advertisement using a wireless connection; and
providing the business information to the user based on the request.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein hosting the at least one business advertisement
using the personal advertisement server residing in the handheld device further
comprises:

performing activation of the at least one business advertisement with a provisioning server coupled to the handheld device; and

storing information associated with the at least one business advertisement in the provisioning server.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprises:
updating at least one parameter associated with the business information associated with the hosted at least one business advertisement.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprises:
enabling the advertiser to communicate with the user using the client application upon providing the business information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the business information associated with the at least business advertisement includes a business profile, current service information, present status information, pricing information, availability information and offer and discount information.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein providing the business information to the user comprises:

receiving a schedule request for availing a service associated with the business based on the business information;

confirming an appointment by the advertiser based on the schedule request;

providing reminders to the advertiser regarding the confirmed appointment;

providing the service associated with the business based on the confirmed appointment;
and receiving a payment from the user using the client application for the service.

7. The method claim 1 in a form of a machine-readable medium embodying a set of instructions that, when executed by a machine, causes the machine to perform the method of claim 1.

8. A handheld device comprising:

a personal advertisement server; and

memory coupled to the personal advertisement server, wherein the memory includes a client application, and wherein the memory is temporarily configured to store instructions capable of:

creating a business profile associated with a business using the client application;
hosting at least one business advertisement using the personal advertisement server;

receiving a request for business information from a user of another handheld device based on the hosted at least one business advertisement; and

providing the business information to the user based on the request.

9. The handheld device of claim 8, wherein the instructions to host the at least one
business advertisement using the personal advertisement server further comprises:

activating the at least one business advertisement with a provisioning server coupled to the handheld device; and

storing the business information associated with the at least one business advertisement in the handheld device.

10. The handheld device of claim 8, wherein the instructions further comprises:

updating at least one parameter associated with the business information associated with the hosted at least one business advertisement.

11 .The handheld device of claim 8, wherein the instructions further comprises:

enabling the advertiser to communicate with the user using the client application upon providing the business information.

12.The handheld device of claim 8, wherein the business information associated with the at least business advertisement includes a business profile, current service information, present status information, pricing information, availability information and offers and discount information.

13. The handheld device of claim 12, wherein the instructions to provide the business information to the user comprises:

receiving a schedule request for availing a service associated with the business based on the business information;

confirming an appointment associated with the schedule request;

providing reminders to the advertiser regarding the confirmed appointment;

providing the service associated with the business based on the confirmed appointment; and receiving a payment from the user using the client application for the service.

14. A method of mobile advertising, comprising:

providing a client application on a handheld device associated with a user;

fetching contact information associated with at least one advertiser of a business from a provisioning server using the client application;

sending a request for business information associated with the business of the at least one advertiser to a personal advertisement server in a handheld device of the at least one advertiser based on the contact information using a wireless connection; and
rendering the business information on a graphical user interface associated with the client application of the user from the personal advertisement server.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprises:

enabling the user to communicate with the at least one advertiser using the client application of the user upon rendering the business information.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprises:

availing a service associated with the business based on the communication with the at least one advertiser.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the contact information associated with the at least one advertiser comprises a mobile number, a geographical location and a personal advertisement server address associated with the at least one advertiser.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein sending the request for the business information to a personal advertisement server in a handheld device of the at least one advertiser

based on the contact information, comprises:

selecting the personal advertisement server address in the contact information;

establishing a wireless connection with the personal advertisement server based on the personal advertisement server address; and

sending a request for business information to the personal advertisement server upon successful establishment of the connection.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein in rendering the business information on the graphical user interface, the business information includes a business profile, current service information, present status information, pricing information, availability information and offers and discount information.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein availing the service associated with the business comprises:

fetching calendar information associated with the at least one advertiser from the personal advertisement server;

scheduling an appointment for availing the service associated with the business based on the calendar information;

availing the service associated with the business based on the scheduled appointment; and
making a payment to the at least one advertiser using the client application upon availing the service.

21.The method claim 14 in a form of a machine-readable medium embodying a set of instructions that, when executed by a machine, causes the machine to perform the method of claim 14.

22. A handheld device comprising:

a processor; and

memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory includes a client application, and wherein the memory is temporarily configured to store instructions capable of:

fetching contact information associated with at least one advertiser of a business from a provisioning server using the client application;

sending a request for business information associated with the business of the at least one advertiser to a personal advertisement server residing in a handheld device of the at least one advertiser based on the contact information; and

rendering the business information on a graphical user interface associated with the client application from the personal advertisement server.

23. The handheld device of claim 22, wherein the instructions further comprises:

enabling the user to communicate with the at least one advertiser using the
client application upon rendering the business information.

24. The handheld device of claim 22, wherein the instructions further comprises:
availing a service associated with the business based on the communication
with the at least one advertiser.

25. The handheld device of claim 22, wherein the contact information associated with the at least one advertiser comprises a mobile number, a geographical location and a personal advertisement server address associated with the one or more advertisers.

26. The handheld device of claim 22, wherein the instructions to send the request for the business information to a personal advertisement server in a handheld device of the at least one advertiser based on the contact information, comprises:

selecting the personal advertisement server address in the contact information;
establishing a connection with the personal advertisement server based on the personal advertisement server address; and

sending a request for business information to the personal advertisement server upon successful establishment of the connection.

27.The handheld device of claim 22, wherein the business information includes a business profile, current service information, present status information, pricing information, availability information and offers and discount information.

28.The handheld device of claim 27, wherein the instructions to avail the service associated with the business comprises:

fetching calendar information associated with the at least one advertiser from the personal advertisement server;

scheduling an appointment for availing the service associated with the business based on the calendar information;

availing the service associated with the business based on the scheduled appointment; and
making a payment to the at least one advertiser using the client application upon availing the service.

29. Methods and devices of mobile advertising as described and explained with reference to the drawings.