Google Files Patent For Targeted Video Advertising

Google has filed a patent application for "Targeted Video Advertising" with the USPTO, for "a computer-implemented method of providing targeted video promotional material".

The process being patented includes transmitting a promotional item for display on a video terminal, monitoring a viewer's interactions with particular advertisements, such as skipping advertisements and presenting advertisements determined to be similar to those that the user has watched and less like those the user has skipped. The "Targeted Video Advertising" patent application suggests it may go into set-top boxes.

The patent also covers the following user behavior patterns:

1) "Users may be allowed to skip particular commercials, but required to watch or accept a set number of commercials in order to watch a program. The required number may be, for example, a set integer, such as 11 commercials."

2) "The system…may also require the user to fully watch at least four promotions before the program will continue."

3) "The profile includes some demographic information of the user, such as income, age, and gender. This information may be obtained when the user registers for the video service."

4) "A commercial with the interactive format is an advertisement that requires user interaction to be completed (e.g., a survey)."