TECHNIQUES FOR ADVERTISER GEOTARGETING
USING MAP COORDINATES
BACKGROUND
[0001] Mapping applications may allow advertisers to display an advertisement near the
map display. Mapping applications may provide a way for an advertiser to target an
advertisement to a particular map area. Conventional targeting methods may include, for
example, setting a circular target area around a central longitude and latitude, specifying a
zip code, specifying a metropolitan area or other objective boundaries, such as county
lines. It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present improvements
have been needed.
SUMMARY
[0002] This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified
form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not
intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is
it intended as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
[0003] Various embodiments are generally directed to techniques for advertiser
geotargeting. Some embodiments are particularly directed to techniques for advertiser
geotargeting that allow an advertiser to select irregular boundaries for a target area, or to
select a specific zoom level at which the advertisement will appear. In one embodiment,
for example, a technique may include displaying a map to an advertiser at a first zoom
level. The advertiser may stay at the first zoom level or change to a second zoom level.
The advertiser may also create a user-defined area of the map. The advertiser may select
an advertising campaign, and the advertising system may associate the selected advertising
campaign with the user-defined area and the selected zoom level. The advertising system
may then provide the selected advertising campaign for display in a mapping application
operating on a client device when the user-defined area and the selected zoom level are
viewed in the mapping application. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
[0004] These and other features and advantages will be apparent from a reading of the
following detailed description and a review of the associated drawings. It is to be
understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed
description are explanatory only and are not restrictive of aspects as claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a geo-targeted advertising system.
[0006] FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of an ad campaign creation system.
[0007] FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a mapping user interface.
[0008] FIG. 4 illustrates two embodiments of a device and interface.
[0009] FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a logic flow for creating a geo-targeted ad
campaign.
[0010] FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a logic flow for selecting a geo-targeted ad
for display.
[0011] FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a computing architecture.
[0012] FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a communications architecture.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0013] Various embodiments are directed to an advertising method and system that
allows an advertiser to customize an advertisement target area and to control when the
advertisement will appear to a map viewer based on a zoom level on the map.
Embodiments may provide a user interface to allow the advertiser to draw the outline of
the target area. The drawn outline may then be used to identify map elements that
correspond to the outlined area. The map elements may then be associated with the
advertiser's advertisement campaign. When a user of the map application views the target
area at a specified zoom level, the ad campaign may be displayed to the user.
[0014] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram for a system 100 for advertisement
geotargeting. In one embodiment, for example, the system 100 may comprise a computerimplemented
system 100 having multiple components, such as advertising service 110, a
client 120, a map service 130, and a device 140. As used herein the terms "system" and
"component" are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, comprising either
hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution.
For example, a component can be implemented as a process running on a processor, a
processor, a hard disk drive, multiple storage drives (of optical and/or magnetic storage
medium), an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer.
By way of illustration, both an application running on a server and the server can be a
component. One or more components can reside within a process and/or thread of
execution, and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed between
two or more computers as desired for a given implementation. The embodiments are not
limited in this context.
[0015] In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 may be
implemented as part of one or more electronic devices. Examples of an electronic device
may include without limitation a mobile device, a personal digital assistant, a mobile
computing device, a smart phone, a cellular telephone, a handset, a one-way pager, a twoway
pager, a messaging device, a computer, a personal computer (PC), a desktop
computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a handheld computer, a server, a
server array or server farm, a web server, a network server, an Internet server, a work
station, a mini-computer, a main frame computer, a supercomputer, a network appliance, a
web appliance, a distributed computing system, multiprocessor systems, processor-based
systems, consumer electronics, programmable consumer electronics, television, digital
television, set top box, wireless access point, base station, subscriber station, mobile
subscriber center, radio network controller, router, hub, gateway, bridge, switch, machine,
or combination thereof. Although the system 100 as shown in FIG. 1 has a limited
number of elements in a certain topology, it may be appreciated that the system 100 may
include more or less elements in alternate topologies as desired for a given
implementation.
[0016] The components 110, 120, 130, 140 may be communicatively coupled via
various types of communications media. The components 110, 120, 130, 140 may
coordinate operations between each other. The coordination may involve the uni
directional or bi-directional exchange of information. For instance, the components 110,
120, 130, 140 may communicate information in the form of signals communicated over
the communications media. The information can be implemented as signals allocated to
various signal lines. In such allocations, each message is a signal. Further embodiments,
however, may alternatively employ data messages. Such data messages may be sent
across various connections. Examples of connections include parallel interfaces, serial
interfaces, and bus interfaces.
[0017] In various embodiments, the system 100 may comprise advertising service 110.
Advertising service 100 may create and/or store advertisements for display in various
venues. Advertising service 100 may comprise an ad campaign creator 112 that may
allow potential advertisers to create a targeted ad campaign and specify where the ad
campaign should be displayed.
[0018] In various embodiments, the system 100 may comprise client 120. Client 120
may be a computing device operated by an advertiser. Client 120 may be in
communication with advertising service 110 to create a targeted advertising campaign. In
an embodiment, client 120 may comprise an ad creation client 122. Ad creation client 122
may be an application operative on client 120, or may be an interface to ad campaign
creator 112. Ad creation client 122 may display a map and allow the advertiser to "draw"
an area, that when displayed in a mapping application, may cause the ad campaign to be
displayed with the map area.
[0019] In various embodiments, the system 100 may comprise map service 130. Map
service 130 may provide map functions, such as displaying road or aerial maps at different
zoom levels, providing driving directions between locations, identifying points of interest
or businesses in an area, etc.
[0020] Map service 130 may include a map identification (ID) system 132. Map ID
system 132 may represent areas of a map in such a way as to be able to uniquely identify
each point on the map. In an embodiment, a map area may be represented by bounding
latitude and longitude. In an embodiment, a map may be represented as a grid, where each
grid element may be further divided into equal sub-grids. Each sub-grid may be identified
as being a unique component of its parent grid, recursively, and may itself be further
subdivided.
[0021] Map service 130 may be a component of advertising service 110, or may be
operated independently from advertising service 110. In an embodiment, advertising
service 110 may operate in coordination with map service 130 to provide advertisements
for display with a map.
[0022] In various embodiments, the system 100 may comprise a device 140. Device
140 may be a computer, cellular telephone, or mobile device that is capable of displaying
and interacting with a map. Device 140 may access map service 130 via a map application
142, which may be an application operating on device 140, or may be accessed via an
interface such as a web browser.
[0023] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an ad campaign creator system 200 for
creating a targeted ad campaign. Ad campaign creator system 200 ("system 200") may be
an embodiment of ad campaign creator 112. System 200 may operate on one or more
computing devices at advertising system 100, or may operate in part on client 120.
[0024] In various embodiments, the system 200 may comprise a mapping user interface
(UI) 210. Mapping UI 210 may display a map and may allow the advertiser to scroll in
any direction to locate an area in which an ad campaign is to be targeted. Mapping UI
may further allow zooming in and out to change the total amount of geographic area being
displayed. For example, the advertiser may be able to zoom out to view a whole city or
county, or may zoom in to view a neighborhood, or just a few city blocks.
[0025] Mapping UI 210 may also provide a drawing tool that allows the advertiser to
"draw" an area on the map within which an ad campaign will be targeted. The advertiser
may be able to use a mouse, a stylus, a fingertip, or other input device to draw the target
area on the map.
[0026] In various embodiments, the system 200 may comprise a map element converter
220. Map element converter 220 may determine what map elements are contained within
the drawn target area. In an embodiment, map element converter 220 may identify
different sizes of map elements needed to include the target area. Map element converter
220 may retrieve the map identifiers used by the map ID system 132 of map service 130.
If advertising service 110 uses a different system for map element identification, then map
element converter 220 may convert that map identifiers to the advertising system 100
identifiers.
[0027] In various embodiments, the system 200 may comprise a targeted ad generator
230. Targeted ad generator 230 may associate the map identifiers from map element
converter 220 with one or more ad campaigns. Target ad generator 230 may provide an
interface that allows the advertiser to create and/or select an ad campaign to associate with
a target area. Targeted ad generator 230 may also provide other targeting attributes in
addition to the target area, such as demographic attributes.
[0028] In various embodiments, the system 200 may comprise ad campaigns 240. Ad
campaigns 240 may be stored advertisements that may be associated with a target area and
later retrieved and provided for display in conjunction with a map area being viewed. Ad
campaigns 240 may be images, videos, sounds, hyperlinks, or combinations thereof.
[0029] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a user interface 300. UI 300 may be an
embodiment of mapping UI 2 10. UI 300 shows a map 302 of a street view of a city. For
the purposes of illustration, FIG 3. shows a set of grid lines, e.g. lines 304 and 306, that
correspond to map ID system 132. UI 300 may show or hide such grid lines. In FIG. 3,
an advertiser has drawn a target area denoted by line 308. In this example, line 308 is
irregular and non-circular. Map element converter 220 has identified the map elements
that correspond to the target area. In an embodiment where map ID system 132 uses the
grid and sub-grid system described above, the map elements in the target area may be
represented by a number of sub-grids of varying sizes, for example, sub-grid 310 and subgrid
312. In an embodiment, map element converter 220 may retrieve the identifiers of the
map elements and group the identifiers as the target area.
[0030] FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate two views on a device 410. Device 410 may be an
embodiment of device 140. Device 410 may be using map application 142.
[0031] A map is displayed in display area 420a, 420b. Display area 420a shows a map
at a low zoom level, e.g., a county level view that shows several cities. Display area 420b
shows a higher zoom level, such as a street level view that shows only a few blocks.
[0032] Device 410 may show an advertisement in ad block 430a, 430b. In an
embodiment, the ad in ad block 430a may be different from the ad shown in ad block
430b. The ad in ad block 430a may have been selected because the map shown in display
area 420a is showing a particular set of map elements, at a particular zoom level.
Similarly, the ad shown in ad block 430b may have been selected because the map shown
in display area 420b is showing a particular set of map elements, at a particular zoom
level.
[0033] Device 410 may show a zoom bar 440. Zoom bar 440 may illustrate what level
of zoom is being displayed. In FIG. 4A, the "A" level may correspond to a county level,
or a percent of zoom. In FIG. 4B, the "D" level may correspond to street level, or full
zoom. Zoom bar 440 may contain more or fewer gradients of zoom, and may allow the
user of device 410 to switch zoom levels be selecting the different levels. Other methods
of zooming in and out are also possible. The embodiments are not limited to this example.
[0034] Operations for the above-described embodiments may be further described with
reference to one or more logic flows. It may be appreciated that the representative logic
flows do not necessarily have to be executed in the order presented, or in any particular
order, unless otherwise indicated. Moreover, various activities described with respect to
the logic flows can be executed in serial or parallel fashion. The logic flows may be
implemented using one or more hardware elements and/or software elements of the
described embodiments or alternative elements as desired for a given set of design and
performance constraints. For example, the logic flows may be implemented as logic (e.g.,
computer program instructions) for execution by a logic device (e.g., a general-purpose or
specific-purpose computer).
[0035] FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of a logic flow 500. The logic flow 500 may
be representative of some or all of the operations executed by one or more embodiments
described herein. In particular, the logic flow 500 may represent the operations of ad
campaign creator 112.
[0036] In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the logic flow 500 displays a map
at a first zoom level at block 502. For example, ad campaign creator 112 may, via
mapping UI 210, display a map of the advertiser's current location, or a default location, or
a specific address entered previously by the advertiser.
[0037] The logic flow 500 may receive a user-defined area of the map, and a change in
zoom level, if any, at block 504. For example, the advertiser may change the zoom level
to a desired level, and draw the target area for an ad campaign using ad creation client 122
and/or mapping UI 210. The user-defined are of the map may be converted to map
elements and/or map identifiers.
[0038] The logic flow 500 may receive a selection of an advertising campaign at block
506. For example, the advertiser may create an ad campaign with target ad generator 230,
upload an ad campaign, or select from stored ad campaigns 240.
[0039] The logic flow 500 may associate the selected ad campaign with the user defined
area and the selected zoom level at block 508. For example, targeted ad generator 230
may store a targeted ad campaign as a set of map identifiers, a zoom level and an ad
campaign identifier. In an embodiment, more than one target area may be associated with
an ad campaign.
[0040] FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of a logic flow 600. The logic flow 600 may
be representative of some or all of the operations executed by one or more embodiments
described herein.
[0041] In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the logic flow 600 may determine
which map area is being viewed, and the zoom level of the view, at block 602. For
example, map service 130 may determine the map elements needed for display to map
application 142. The zoom level may determine which map elements are needed.
[0042] The logic flow 600 may retrieve the map identifiers associated with the map
elements being viewed, at block 604. For example, if map ID system 132 divides a map
into grids and sub-grids, where each grid or sub-grid has a unique ID, then the unique IDs
of the largest grids being viewed may be retrieved.
[0043] The logic flow 600 may retrieve an advertising campaign at block 606. For
example, target ad generator 230 may search stored ad campaigns 240 for those associated
with the map identifiers of map elements in the area being viewed. Target ad generator
230 may further check the zoom level being used, and refine the search for those ad
campaigns where the same zoom level is associated. If more than one ad campaign meets
the criteria, then one may be selected according to an agreement with the advertisers and
advertising service 110.
[0044] The logic flow 600 may provide the selected ad campaign to the map application
for display at block 608. For example, advertising service 110 may transmit an image,
video, sound, hyperlink or other ad content to device 140 for display in map application
142. In an embodiment, map service 130 may retrieve the ad content from advertising
service 110 and may then transmit the ad content to device 140.
[0045] When the user of device 140 and map application 142 changes the map area
being viewed, or zooms in or out, the logic flow 600 may be repeated to update the
advertising campaign displayed.
[0046] In an embodiment, criteria other than, or in addition to, zoom level may be
associated with an ad campaign. Such criteria may include, for example, the orientation of
the map, the type of map viewed (satellite, road, satellite/road hybrid), whether the map is
being viewed as two-dimensional or three-dimensional, etc.
[0047] FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of an exemplary computing architecture 700
suitable for implementing various embodiments as previously described. The computing
architecture 700 includes various common computing elements, such as one or more
processors, co-processors, memory units, chipsets, controllers, peripherals, interfaces,
oscillators, timing devices, video cards, audio cards, multimedia input/output (I/O)
components, and so forth. The embodiments, however, are not limited to implementation
by the computing architecture 700.
[0048] As shown in FIG. 7, the computing architecture 700 comprises a processing unit
704, a system memory 706 and a system bus 708. The processing unit 704 can be any of
various commercially available processors. Dual microprocessors and other
multi-processor architectures may also be employed as the processing unit 704. The
system bus 708 provides an interface for system components including, but not limited to,
the system memory 706 to the processing unit 704. The system bus 708 can be any of
several types of bus structure that may further interconnect to a memory bus (with or
without a memory controller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of
commercially available bus architectures.
[0049] The system memory 706 may include various types of memory units, such as
read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM),
Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), static RAM
(SRAM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM),
electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, polymer memory
such as ferroelectric polymer memory, ovonic memory, phase change or ferroelectric
memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) memory, magnetic or optical cards,
or any other type of media suitable for storing information. In the illustrated embodiment
shown in FIG. 7, the system memory 706 can include non-volatile memory 710 and/or
volatile memory 712. A basic input/output system (BIOS) can be stored in the non
volatile memory 710.
[0050] The computer 702 may include various types of computer-readable storage
media, including an internal hard disk drive (HDD) 714, a magnetic floppy disk drive
(FDD) 716 to read from or write to a removable magnetic disk 718, and an optical disk
drive 720 to read from or write to a removable optical disk 722 (e.g., a CD-ROM or
DVD). The HDD 714, FDD 716 and optical disk drive 720 can be connected to the
system bus 708 by a HDD interface 724, an FDD interface 726 and an optical drive
interface 728, respectively. The HDD interface 724 for external drive implementations
can include at least one or both of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE 1394 interface
technologies.
[0051] The drives and associated computer-readable media provide volatile and/or
nonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executable instructions, and so forth.
For example, a number of program modules can be stored in the drives and memory units
710, 712, including an operating system 730, one or more application programs 732, other
program modules 734, and program data 736. The one or more application programs 732,
other program modules 734, and program data 736 can include, for example, ad campaign
creator 112, map service 130, and map application 142.
[0052] A user can enter commands and information into the computer 702 through one
or more wire/wireless input devices, for example, a keyboard 738 and a pointing device,
such as a mouse 740. Other input devices may include a microphone, an infra-red (IR)
remote control, a joystick, a game pad, a stylus pen, touch screen, or the like. These and
other input devices are often connected to the processing unit 704 through an input device
interface 742 that is coupled to the system bus 708, but can be connected by other
interfaces such as a parallel port, IEEE 1394 serial port, a game port, a USB port, an IR
interface, and so forth.
[0053] A monitor 744 or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus
708 via an interface, such as a video adaptor 746. In addition to the monitor 744, a
computer typically includes other peripheral output devices, such as speakers, printers, and
so forth.
[0054] The computer 702 may operate in a networked environment using logical
connections via wire and/or wireless communications to one or more remote computers,
such as a remote computer 748. The remote computer 748 can be a workstation, a server
computer, a router, a personal computer, portable computer, microprocessor-based
entertainment appliance, a peer device or other common network node, and typically
includes many or all of the elements described relative to the computer 702, although, for
purposes of brevity, only a memory/storage device 750 is illustrated. The logical
connections depicted include wire/wireless connectivity to a local area network (LAN)
752 and/or larger networks, for example, a wide area network (WAN) 754. Such LAN
and WAN networking environments are commonplace in offices and companies, and
facilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all of which may connect
to a global communications network, for example, the Internet.
[0055] When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 702 is connected to
the LAN 752 through a wire and/or wireless communication network interface or adaptor
756. The adaptor 756 can facilitate wire and/or wireless communications to the LAN 752,
which may also include a wireless access point disposed thereon for communicating with
the wireless functionality of the adaptor 756.
[0056] When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 702 can include a
modem 758, or is connected to a communications server on the WAN 754, or has other
means for establishing communications over the WAN 754, such as by way of the
Internet. The modem 758, which can be internal or external and a wire and/or wireless
device, connects to the system bus 708 via the input device interface 742. In a networked
environment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 702, or portions thereof,
can be stored in the remote memory/storage device 750. It will be appreciated that the
network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a
communications link between the computers can be used.
[0057] The computer 702 is operable to communicate with wire and wireless devices or
entities using the IEEE 802 family of standards, such as wireless devices operatively
disposed in wireless communication (e.g., IEEE 802.7 over-the-air modulation techniques)
with, for example, a printer, scanner, desktop and/or portable computer, personal digital
assistant (PDA), communications satellite, any piece of equipment or location associated
with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk, news stand, restroom), and telephone. This
includes at least Wi-Fi (or Wireless Fidelity), WiMax, and Bluetooth™ wireless
technologies. Thus, the communication can be a predefined structure as with a
conventional network or simply an ad hoc communication between at least two devices.
Wi-Fi networks use radio technologies called IEEE 802.7x (a, b, g, etc.) to provide secure,
reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can be used to connect computers to
each other, to the Internet, and to wire networks (which use IEEE 802.3-related media and
functions).
[0058] FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary communications architecture
800 suitable for implementing various embodiments as previously described. The
communications architecture 800 includes various common communications elements,
such as a transmitter, receiver, transceiver, radio, network interface, baseband processor,
antenna, amplifiers, filters, and so forth. The embodiments, however, are not limited to
implementation by the communications architecture 800.
[0059] As shown in FIG. 8, the communications architecture 800 comprises includes
one or more clients 802 and servers 804. The clients 802 may implement the client 120.
The servers 804 may implement advertising service 110, map service 130, and/or device
140. The clients 802 and the servers 804 are operatively connected to one or more
respective client data stores 808 and server data stores 810 that can be employed to store
information local to the respective clients 802 and servers 804, such as cookies and/or
associated contextual information.
[0060] The clients 802 and the servers 804 may communicate information between each
other using a communication framework 806. The communications framework 806 may
implement any well-known communications techniques, such as techniques suitable for
use with packet-switched networks (e.g., public networks such as the Internet, private
networks such as an enterprise intranet, and so forth), circuit-switched networks (e.g., the
public switched telephone network), or a combination of packet-switched networks and
circuit-switched networks (with suitable gateways and translators). The clients 802 and
the servers 804 may include various types of standard communication elements designed
to be interoperable with the communications framework 806, such as one or more
communications interfaces, network interfaces, network interface cards (NIC), radios,
wireless transmitters/receivers (transceivers), wired and/or wireless communication media,
physical connectors, and so forth. By way of example, and not limitation, communication
media includes wired communications media and wireless communications media.
Examples of wired communications media may include a wire, cable, metal leads, printed
circuit boards (PCB), backplanes, switch fabrics, semiconductor material, twisted-pair
wire, co-axial cable, fiber optics, a propagated signal, and so forth. Examples of wireless
communications media may include acoustic, radio-frequency (RF) spectrum, infrared and
other wireless media. One possible communication between a client 802 and a server 804
can be in the form of a data packet adapted to be transmitted between two or more
computer processes. The data packet may include a cookie and/or associated contextual
information, for example.
[0061] Various embodiments may be implemented using hardware elements, software
elements, or a combination of both. Examples of hardware elements may include devices,
components, processors, microprocessors, circuits, circuit elements (e.g., transistors,
resistors, capacitors, inductors, and so forth), integrated circuits, application specific
integrated circuits (ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLD), digital signal processors
(DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), memory units, logic gates, registers,
semiconductor device, chips, microchips, chip sets, and so forth. Examples of software
elements may include software components, programs, applications, computer programs,
application programs, system programs, machine programs, operating system software,
middleware, firmware, software modules, routines, subroutines, functions, methods,
procedures, software interfaces, application program interfaces (API), instruction sets,
computing code, computer code, code segments, computer code segments, words, values,
symbols, or any combination thereof. Determining whether an embodiment is
implemented using hardware elements and/or software elements may vary in accordance
with any number of factors, such as desired computational rate, power levels, heat
tolerances, processing cycle budget, input data rates, output data rates, memory resources,
data bus speeds and other design or performance constraints, as desired for a given
implementation.
[0062] Some embodiments may comprise an article of manufacture. An article of
manufacture may comprise a storage medium to store logic. Examples of a storage
medium may include one or more types of computer-readable storage media capable of
storing electronic data, including volatile memory or non-volatile memory, removable or
non-removable memory, erasable or non-erasable memory, writeable or re-writeable
memory, and so forth. Examples of the logic may include various software elements, such
as software components, programs, applications, computer programs, application
programs, system programs, machine programs, operating system software, middleware,
firmware, software modules, routines, subroutines, functions, methods, procedures,
software interfaces, application program interfaces (API), instruction sets, computing
code, computer code, code segments, computer code segments, words, values, symbols, or
any combination thereof. In one embodiment, for example, an article of manufacture may
store executable computer program instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause
the computer to perform methods and/or operations in accordance with the described
embodiments. The executable computer program instructions may include any suitable
type of code, such as source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static
code, dynamic code, and the like. The executable computer program instructions may be
implemented according to a predefined computer language, manner or syntax, for
instructing a computer to perform a certain function. The instructions may be
implemented using any suitable high-level, low-level, object-oriented, visual, compiled
and/or interpreted programming language.
[0063] Some embodiments may be described using the expression "one embodiment" or
"an embodiment" along with their derivatives. These terms mean that a particular feature,
structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at
least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment" in various
places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.
[0064] Some embodiments may be described using the expression "coupled" and
"connected" along with their derivatives. These terms are not necessarily intended as
synonyms for each other. For example, some embodiments may be described using the
terms "connected" and/or "coupled" to indicate that two or more elements are in direct
physical or electrical contact with each other. The term "coupled," however, may also
mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other, but yet still co
operate or interact with each other.
[0065] It is emphasized that the Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with
37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quickly
ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that
it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in
the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped
together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This
method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed
embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as
the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a
single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the
Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment. In
the appended claims, the terms "including" and "in which" are used as the plain-English
equivalents of the respective terms "comprising" and "wherein," respectively. Moreover,
the terms "first," "second," "third," and so forth, are used merely as labels, and are not
intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.
[0066] Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural
features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined
in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described
above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example
forms of implementing the claims.
CLAIMS
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
displaying a map at a first zoom level;
receiving a selection of one of: the first zoom level or a second zoom level, and a
user-defined area of the map;
receiving a user selection of an advertising campaign;
associating the selected advertising campaign with the user-defined area and the
selected zoom level; and
providing the selected advertising campaign for display in a mapping application
operating on a client device when the user-defined area and the selected zoom level are
viewed in the mapping application.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a user-defined area of the map
comprises receiving a user-drawn area.
3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the user-defined area is non-circular.
4. The method of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the user-defined area is irregularly
shaped.
5. The method of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the map comprises a plurality of map
elements each map element having a unique identifier, and further comprising identifying
each map element within the user-defined area.
6. The method of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein associating the selected advertising
campaign comprises:
converting a map element identifier for a map element in the user-defined area to
an advertising system element; and
storing the advertising system element and the advertising campaign for retrieval.
7. The method of any of claims 1 to 6, further comprising:
receiving a plurality of user-drawn areas; and
associating a first advertising campaign with a first user-defined area and a second
advertising campaign with a second user-defined area.
8. The method of any of claims 1 to 7, further comprising:
receiving a plurality of user-drawn areas; and
associating the plurality of user-drawn areas with one advertising campaign.
9. The method of any of claims 1 to 8, further comprising:
determining a map area and a zoom level of the map area being viewed in a
mapping application;
retrieving map identifiers associated with the map elements in the map area being
viewed;
retrieving an advertising campaign associated with the map identifiers and zoom
level; and
providing the advertising campaign to the mapping application for display in
conjunction with the map area being viewed.
10. An article comprising a computer-readable storage medium containing instructions
that when executed enable a system to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 9.
11. An apparatus, comprising:
a processor;
a mapping user interface operative on the processor to display a map and receive a
user-drawn selection of a map area; and
a targeted ad generator operative on the processor to associate the user-drawn
selection of the map area with an advertising campaign, and to provide the associated
advertising campaign for display to a mapping application when the user-drawn selection
of the map area is displayed in the mapping application.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a map element converter operative
on the processor to convert the user-drawn selection to a set of map elements.
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the set of map elements includes a subset of
map elements having a size different from a second subset of map elements.
14. The apparatus of claim 12 or 13, wherein each map element has a unique identifier,
and the map element converter to convert a map element identifier to an advertising
system element, and to store the advertising system element and the advertising campaign
for retrieval.
15. The apparatus of any of claims 11 to 14, wherein the user-drawn selection is noncircular.