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`US007917390B2
`
`c12) United States Patent
`Feinberg
`
`(IO) Patent No.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 7,917,390 B2
`Mar.29,2011
`
`(54) SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING
`CUSTOMIZED ADVERTISEMENTS OVER A
`NETWORK
`
`(75)
`
`Inventor: Paul H. Feinberg, River Vale, NJ (US)
`
`(73) Assignees: Sony Corporation (JP); Sony
`Electronics Inc., Park Ridge, NJ (US)
`
`( *) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term ofthis
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 3010 days.
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 09/785,095
`
`(22) Filed:
`
`Feb.16,2001
`
`(65)
`
`Prior Publication Data
`
`US 2001/0053999 Al
`
`Dec. 20, 2001
`
`(60)
`
`(51)
`
`(52)
`
`(58)
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`
`Provisional application No. 60/210,499, filed on Jun.
`9, 2000.
`
`Int. Cl.
`G06Q 30/00
`(2006.01)
`U.S. Cl. ............... 705/14.63; 705/14.49; 705/14.58;
`705/14.55; 705/14.67; 705/26.63
`Field of Classification Search . ... ... ... ... .. ... .. 705/14,
`705/14.49, 14.58, 14.55, 14.63, 14.67, 26.63
`See application file for complete search history.
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`5,774,868 A *
`6/1998 Cragun et al ................... 705/10
`6/1999 Robinson ................. 395/200.49
`5,918,014 A
`5,948,040 A *
`9/1999 DeLorme et al. ............. 701/201
`6,009,410 A
`12/ 1999 LeMole et al. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 5/ 14
`6,026,369 A
`2/2000 Capek ............................. 705/14
`6,026,375 A *
`2/2000 Hall et al.
`....................... 705/26
`6,112,192 A
`8/2000 Capek ............................. 705/59
`6,128,663 A
`10/2000 Thomas ........................ 709/228
`6,266,649 Bl *
`7/2001 Linden et al. ................... 705/26
`6,587,835 Bl*
`7/2003 Treyz et al ...................... 705/14
`6,636,733 Bl *
`10/2003 Helferich ................... 455/412.2
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`* 8/1998
`WO 98/36366
`* 10/1998
`WO 98/47295
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`WO
`WO
`
`www.vindigo.com , selected web pages (23 pages, printed Sep. 22,
`2000).
`Ben Hammer, GPS To Do Wonders for Wireless Browsing, cnn.com
`(dated May 25, 2000; printed Sep. 22, 2000).
`www.my.yahoo home page (printed Sep. 22, 2000).
`
`* cited by examiner
`
`Primary Examiner - Raquel Alvarez
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm - Lerner, David, Littenberg,
`Krumholz & Mentlik, LLP
`
`ABSTRACT
`(57)
`In response to a request for audio-visual content from a user,
`a method and system is provided which sends the content and
`additional information related to the location of the user.
`
`48 Claims, 2 Drawing Sheets
`
`62
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`CELL BASE
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`Instructions
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`
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`115
`
`VENDOR
`
`Twitter Exhibit 1024
`Twitter, Inc. v. BlackBerry Ltd.
`Page 00001
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar.29,2011
`
`Sheet 2 of 2
`
`US 7,917,390 B2
`
`FIG. 2
`83
`
`~130
`,
`ZIP-AD LOOKUP
`ZIP
`AD ID
`A
`10001
`B
`A
`
`10027
`
`10027
`
`. . .
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`142
`
`Page 00003
`
`

`

`US 7,917,390 B2
`
`1
`SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING
`CUSTOMIZED ADVERTISEMENTS OVER A
`NETWORK
`
`CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED
`APPLICATIONS
`
`The present application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional
`Application No. 60/210,499, filed on Jun. 9, 2000, which is
`hereby incorporated by reference.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`5
`
`10
`
`2
`matically receiving a request for information from the client
`device; receiving location information indicative of the geo(cid:173)
`graphical position of the client device; selecting audio-visual
`content based on the request and regardless of the location
`information; selecting geographically oriented information
`based on the location information; and sending response
`information to the client device, the response information
`including the geographically-oriented information and the
`content.
`Another aspect of the invention provides a portable system
`for presenting information to a user. The system includes a
`processor, a positioning system, input means for receiving
`As with newspapers, magazines, television and radio,
`information from a user, a display, a modem, and instructions
`advertisements are also relied upon for financial support to
`15 executable by the processor. The instructions include: receiv(cid:173)
`pay for programming delivered via the pages of the World
`ing a request for information from a user via the input means;
`Wide Web. Web page content servers, such as for example
`retrieving the geographic location of the positioning system
`Yahoo!, sell space in their web pages to third party advertis(cid:173)
`from the positioning system; sending the request and the
`ers. Advertisements in web pages are presented in many dif(cid:173)
`geographic location to a server via the modem; receiving
`ferent forms, but most often in the form of an advertising
`20 from the server requested information and location informa(cid:173)
`banner displayed across the top or bottom of a web page. A
`web advertisement typically includes a hyperlink to the home
`tion, the requested information being responsive to the
`page of the advertiser. Thus, by "double clicking" on an
`request and the location information being responsive to the
`advertising banner, the user quickly jumps to the advertiser's
`geographic location; and displaying the requested informa-
`home page, where products or services can be purchased and
`tion and the location information.
`where more information about a particular product or service 25
`In yet another aspect of the invention, a system for present(cid:173)
`can be obtained.
`ing information to a user comprises a remote device including
`As with traditional communications medium, absent
`a positioning system and a modem, and a server including
`selecting a web site that is more likely to reach a particular
`neutral content and dependant content, the dependant content
`segment of the public, advertisements appearing in the pages
`comprising geographically-oriented content. When the
`of the World Wide Web are often targeted to a receiving end
`user without regard to the user's interest in the subject matter 30 remote device requests the neutral content via the modem and
`sends its geographical location as determined by the position(cid:173)
`of the advertisement. However, unlike traditional communi(cid:173)
`ing system, the server sends the neutral content and the
`cations medium, the Web offers a much more dynamic way
`dependant content.
`for transmitting advertisements to the public in that different
`advertisements can be shown to different users who are simul(cid:173)
`taneously viewing or accessing the same file. Based on this 35
`feature, many proposals have been advanced for customizing
`Web advertisements so as to present different ads to different
`viewers.
`Early efforts to customize Web page advertisements
`focused on customization preformed by a web site content 40
`server after very limited information was obtained about the
`user of the web site. Advertisements appearing in the home
`page of Internet search engines and Internet search directo(cid:173)
`ries, such as Google and Yahoo!, for example, alter advertise(cid:173)
`ments that appear in advertising banners at the top of their 45
`web pages based on the search terms a user enters into the
`search engine or search directory. For example, after a user
`enters the search term "loans", the web page might display an
`advertisement from a loan provider in the advertising banner.
`Prior efforts have also customized web advertisements by
`tracking a user's activity on the Internet, for example, through 50
`"cookies"-i.e., small pieces of information sent by a web
`server to the web browser which can later be read back from
`the web browser. Based on the user's activity on the Internet,
`a profile of the user is established, i.e., what types of web sites
`the user has selected. Other efforts have customized web page 55
`advertisements using demographic information previously
`obtained from the user. For example, demographic informa(cid:173)
`tion obtained from the user's local browser, which was sup(cid:173)
`plied by the user when setting up service, can be acquired and
`used to customize advertisements. The demographic infor- 60
`mation may have been supplied by the user, for example, to
`the Internet access provider.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG.1 is a block diagram of a communications network for
`delivering customized file to users of the network.
`FIG. 2 is a diagram of an Ad Lookup Table.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
`
`As shown in FIG. 1, a system 50 in accordance with one
`embodiment of the invention comprises a network of com(cid:173)
`puters such as end user personal computer 60 that communi(cid:173)
`cates with web servers 80 via Internet 90. Although only a few
`computers are depicted in FIG.1, it should be appreciated that
`a typical system can include a large number of connected
`computers.
`Preferably, end user computer 60 is a personal digital assis(cid:173)
`tant (PDA) with wireless capability having all the internal
`components normally found in a PDA such as, for example,
`central processing unit (CPU) 65, touch-sensitive display 62,
`buttons 61, wireless modem 63 and all of the components
`used for connecting these elements to one another. The but(cid:173)
`tons 61 and display 62 are typically used for data entry,
`although other data entry means may also be used and present
`such as keyboards, mice, microphones for voice recognition
`and the like. Although end user computer 60 is shown as a
`PDA, it may comprise any work station capable of processing
`instructions and transmitting data to and from humans and
`other computers, including network computers lacking local
`storage capability and Internet-capable wireless phones.
`End user computer 60 communicates with the Internet 90
`65 via wireless modem 63 as schematically shown by wireless
`connection 64. As is known to those of ordinary skill in the art,
`the connection may be made via a cellular base station 91.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`One aspect of the invention relates to a method of providing
`information to a client device. The method includes: auto-
`
`Page 00004
`
`

`

`US 7,917,390 B2
`
`3
`End user computer 60 also includes a GPS receiver 69. The
`GPS receiver triangulates signals from satellites 200 to deter(cid:173)
`mine the latitude and longitude of the GPS receiver 69. GPS
`receivers for PDA's are widely available. Computer 60 con(cid:173)
`tains software which continuously writes the latitude and
`longitude in a "cookie" which is accessible to web sites inter(cid:173)
`ested in viewing the information contained in the cookie.
`Web server 80 contains hardware for sending and receiving
`information over the World Wide Web, such as web pages or
`files. The web server 80 may be a typical web server or any
`computer network server or other automated system capable
`of communicating with other computers over a network,
`including the Internet, wide area networks or local area net(cid:173)
`works.
`Web server 80 contains a processor 87, a set of instructions
`86 which are executed by processor 87, and a variety of data.
`Preferably, the instructions 86 are stored as a program on the
`hard drive of the server. The functions, methods and routines
`of the program are explained in more detail below. The data
`includes the data contained in database 81 and, although the
`data is shown separately from instructions 86, the data may be
`modified by the program. Although only a single processor is
`shown, the instructions may actually be distributed to a num(cid:173)
`ber of different components or processors for execution.
`The server and data 81 are further associated with a par(cid:173)
`ticular URL, such as URL 85. For the purposes of example
`only, the URL shall be considered to be "www.a.com."
`Web server 80 provides web pages containing content such
`as a collection of audio-visual data containing text and pic(cid:173)
`tures of an electronic magazine 84. For all purposes herein,
`"audio-visual" means information which is either audible,
`visual or both. The web pages also contain advertisements
`from Ad-Lookup Table 83. The advertisements differ in as
`much as they are geographically-oriented, i.e., they are more
`relevant to one geographical area than another. For example,
`one advertisement may be about a restaurant located in the
`northern section of a city whereas another advertisement may
`be about a restaurant located in the southern section of a city.
`Ad-Lookup Table 83 is shown in more detail in FIG. 2.
`Ad-Lookup Table 83 is actually a collection of data com(cid:173)
`prised of a number of lookup tables, including Pos-Zip
`Lookup Table 120, Zip-Ad Lookup Table 130 andAdID-File
`Lookup Table 140. Each record of the Pos-Zip Lookup Table
`120 contains three fields, latitude 121, longitude 122 and zip
`code 123. The Pos-Zip Lookup Table 120 is used to determine
`the zip code corresponding with a particular latitude and
`longitude. FIG. 2 shows two example records for two zip
`codes in New York City. Each record of the Zip-Ad Lookup
`Table 130 contains a zip code field 131 and an Ad ID field 132.
`The Zip-Ad Lookup Table 130 is used to determine the ID of
`an ad or ads that correlate with a particular zip code. As shown
`by the example illustrated in the figure, each particular zip
`code may be associated with more than one ad. Each record of
`theAdID-File Lookup Table 140 contains an ID field 141 and
`file field 142. TheAdID-File Lookup Table 140 is used to find
`the file containing the particular information about an ad,
`such as for example its text, pictures and hyperlinks (if any).
`In operation, the user will cause the web browser of the
`PDA to download a page from a particular URL. More spe(cid:173)
`cifically and by way of example in FIG. 1, the user enters the 60
`URL 85 of web server 80 into the web browser of the PDA,
`namely "www.a.com". The processor 65 then causes wireless
`modem 63 to connect with cell base station 91 and, via Inter(cid:173)
`net 90, to web server 80.
`Upon receipt of the request for the web page, web server 80 65
`queries the cookie contained in end user computer 60 and
`extracts the location information (in this instance, the latitude
`
`4
`and longitude) stored by GPS receiver 69. For the purposes of
`illustration, it shall be assumed that reference circle 110
`relates to a particular geographical location within New York
`City while reference circles 111 and 112 relate to other geo-
`5 graphical locations in New York City.
`Upon receipt of the latitude and longitude, processor 87 in
`accordance with instructions 86 queries the Ad-Lookup Table
`83 to determine which advertisement should be presented to
`the user. Specifically and with regard to FIG. 2, the processor
`10 queries Pos-Zip Lookup Table 120 for the zip code associated
`with the particular latitude and longitude. Using the sample
`values shown in the figure, if the latitude and longitude were
`40.75 and 73.997, then the processor would select zip code
`10001. Once the zip code is obtained, the processor next
`15 queries Zip-Ad Lookup Table 130 for the Ad ID or ID's
`associated with the particular zip code. Using the sample
`values shown in the figure, if the zip code were 10001, then
`the Ad ID would be "A". Once the Ad ID is obtained, the
`processor queries AdID-File Lookup Table 140 to get the
`20 information about the advertisement associated with that par(cid:173)
`ticular ID. For example, the ad may be the name of a restau(cid:173)
`rant ( such as "Restaurant 11 O") and function as hyperlink to
`the home page of the restaurant.
`Returning to FIG. 1, once the advertisement information is
`25 obtained, the advertisement is combined with the rest of the
`content 84 contained on the web page. In other words, the web
`server 80 combines information which is particular to the
`user's location with information which is not particular to the
`user's location, and sends the resultant web page to the end
`30 user computer 60 via Internet 90. Thus, display 62 will show
`a web page showing the URL 71 of the web server 80, a
`barmer advertisement which is geographically related to the
`geographic location of the end user computer 60, and other
`content (from content file 84) which was requested by the user
`35 (such as text 72 and a picture 73) but not necessarily geo(cid:173)
`graphically-oriented.
`A different end user computer in another geographical
`location would get the same content as the end user computer
`60, but would get different geographically-oriented informa-
`40 tion. In other words, the steps described above are the same
`for end user computer 160 but a portion of the display would
`change. For example, if end user computer 160 is in a differ(cid:173)
`ent geographical location 112 at latitude 40.8113 and longi(cid:173)
`tude 73.9538, then using the sample values contained in FIG.
`45 2, the end user computer 160 may get an advertisement hav(cid:173)
`ing the ID of"B", which may be a hyper linked advertisement
`to a restaurant kuown as "Restaurant 112." Thus, if both
`computer 60 and computer 160 downloaded the web page at
`www.a.com, the displays 62 and 162 would be substantially
`50 identical with respect to information which is not dependent
`on location. The URL's 71 and 171, text 72 and 172 and
`pictures 73 and 173 would all be identical. The advertise(cid:173)
`ments 70 and 170, on the other hand, would differ.
`Similarly, if end user computer 60 moved to a different
`55 geographic location 111, the advertisement would change but
`the rest of the web page would not. If the advertisement
`portion of the page is automatically refreshed, the advertise(cid:173)
`ment will change automatically. Otherwise, it will change
`when the page is reloaded.
`Accordingly, one of the advantages of the present invention
`is that in response to requests for information from users, the
`server provides not only the requested information but other
`information which is relevant to the current location of the
`user.
`The invention has the added advantage of being able to
`implement numerous variations and handling different con(cid:173)
`tingencies. The foregoing embodiments are merely illustra-
`
`Page 00005
`
`

`

`US 7,917,390 B2
`
`5
`tive of one manner in which the invention may be imple(cid:173)
`mented. For example, if the geographic location of the
`computer 60 is unknown, or if there is no advertisement
`particularly directed to a known location, then a default
`advertisement or other information targeting a broader geo(cid:173)
`graphic region may be selected and transmitted.
`At the opposite end of the spectrum are situations where
`more than one advertisement is associated with any particular
`geographical area. In this instance, software decision algo(cid:173)
`rithms may be used by the content server to determine which 10
`advertisements or information are selected and transmitted to
`different users of a file.
`The advertisement may also cycle through the various
`advertisements targeted for that area. For example, an adver(cid:173)
`tisement from one vendor can be followed by advertisements
`from another vendor or additional vendors, based on the
`geographic location of the user. As shown in the sample
`values of FIG. 2, there are two advertisements for the 10027
`zip code. Similarly, an advertisement for the same vendor 20
`may change as the user gets closer to the vendor's establish(cid:173)
`ment. For example, the advertisement may contain messages
`such as "Your getting closer!".
`It is also not necessary to actually store the advertisements
`at the web server 80. Rather, the advertisements may be stored 25
`and provided by another server dedicated to the provision of
`advertisements.
`The process may also include the step of allowing the user
`to chat with the vendor directly, for example, to negotiate or
`discuss the availability of items or current sales and special 30
`offers. Suitable chat features include systems and methods
`known for engaging in real time communications over the
`Internet. Thus, depending on the user's interest, the solicita(cid:173)
`tion may be followed by an electronic coupon and live per(cid:173)
`sonalized service, all before the potential customer enters the 35
`store.
`Indeed, web server 80 may notify the vendor 115 associ(cid:173)
`ated with the particular advertisement 70 that a potential
`customer is in the area. The vendor may then contact the user,
`either by email or the aforementioned chat, and engage the
`user in a one-on-one solicitation. Accordingly, the invention
`is able to provide great advantages over the typical advertis(cid:173)
`ing methods.
`Still further embodiments of the invention will select an
`advertisement based not only on the geographic information
`as described above, but also based on other information as
`well. For example, in one embodiment, the decision algo(cid:173)
`rithm also determines the time at which a user is requesting a
`file (such as when the file request is received by the file
`content server), and accordingly, the advertisement can be
`customized based on the time of day. Thus, for example, if the
`user is walking into a mall, and if the time of day is deter(cid:173)
`mined to between about 11:00 A.M. and 1:00 P.M., then a
`banner advertisement on the user's PDA may be updated to
`display an advertisement for the particular restaurant in the
`mall and/or may display "lunch specials" or provide coupons
`for lunch.
`Other demographic information may also be used to select
`or modify the advertisement. For example, the system may
`use demographic information previously provided by the user 60
`to the content server. Accordingly, if information is known
`about the user's preferences, sale items could be displayed
`with particular features corresponding to the user's prefer(cid:173)
`ences. For example, the displayed page may indicate the
`preferred shirt color and size of the user in the banner adver- 65
`tisement. Some of the information may already reside in the
`aforementioned cookie.
`
`6
`Other processes may also be incorporated into the decision
`algorithm. For example, a vendor's inventory may be simul(cid:173)
`taneously accessed during the advertisement selection pro(cid:173)
`cess. Accordingly, after checking the inventory, a vendor can
`5 advertise that a store located near the user has a certain items
`available at this time.
`Moreover, the invention is not limited to the Internet, but
`rather may be implemented over any network. In networks
`other than the Internet, other languages besides HTML can be
`used such as XML.
`In addition, the invention is not limited to using GPS sig(cid:173)
`nals. Any positioning system may be used, such as triangula(cid:173)
`tion of signals from multiple cellular base stations. The posi(cid:173)
`tioning system may also use only the unique sector identifier
`15 transmitted by the cellular base station 91 to which it is
`connected. While the sector served by a particular cell base
`station may be broad, it still provides the opportunity to
`modify a web page based on the geographical location of the
`user.
`Thus, the user computer 60 has a positioning system which
`can provide information indicative of its position-be it lati(cid:173)
`tude and longitude, zip codes, cell base station identifiers,
`area codes and exchanges, radio broadcasts, the identity of
`local radio stations and the like-and the web server 80 is able
`to use that information to provide geographically-oriented
`information along with other information. The invention
`allows a magazine to come alive based on the location of the
`user. Whereas prior geographically-oriented advertisements
`pushed information, the invention allows the subscriber to be
`pulled towards a merchant in a proactive way.
`Although the content described above focused on text and
`pictures, the content may also include sounds. Indeed, the
`content may comprise any audio-visual information.
`The invention is particularly advantageous for use with
`next generation cellular telephone technology ( such as wide(cid:173)
`band CDMA [W-CDMA] or Orthogonal Frequency Division
`Multiplexing [OFDM]) which is geared for high wireless data
`throughput and pinpointing geographic location in response
`to emergency 911 calls. It may also be advantageously used in
`40 connection with satellite digital radio, such as Satellite Digi(cid:173)
`tal Audio Radio Service (SDARS), which is also likely to
`include data transmission. Unless stated to the contrary, use of
`the words such as "including," "containing," "comprising"
`and the like, means "including without limitation" and shall
`45 not be construed to limit any general statement that it follows
`to the specific or similar items or matters immediately fol(cid:173)
`lowing it. Except where the context indicates to the contrary,
`all company and product names, as well as URL addresses,
`are intended to be fictitous and used herein for purposes of
`50 example only.
`Most of the foregoing alternative embodiments are not
`mutually exclusive, but may be implemented in various com(cid:173)
`binations to achieve unique advantages. As these and other
`variations and combinations of the features discussed above
`55 can be utilized without departing from the invention as
`defined by the claims, the foregoing description of the
`embodiments should be taken by way of illustration rather
`than by way of limitation of the invention as defined by the
`claims.
`What is claimed is:
`1. A method of providing information to a device, said
`method comprising:
`receiving a request for information from said device;
`receiving location information indicative of the geographi(cid:173)
`cal position of said device;
`processing the requested information and location infor(cid:173)
`mation with at least one processor so as: (1) to select
`
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`US 7,917,390 B2
`
`7
`audio-visual content based on said request and regard(cid:173)
`less of said location information, and (2) to select geo(cid:173)
`graphically-oriented information, based on said location
`information; and
`sending response information to said client device in 5
`response to said request, said response information com(cid:173)
`prising both said geographically-oriented information
`and said content,
`wherein the geographically-oriented information includes
`(a) a first message of a vendor and (b) a subsequent 10
`message of the vendor indicating a change in proximity
`of the device.
`2. The method of claim 1 wherein said location information
`is provided by said at least one processor.
`3. The method of claim 2 wherein said request for infor(cid:173)
`mation is the address of a web page and said response infor(cid:173)
`mation is a web page.
`4. The method of claim 3 wherein said geographically(cid:173)
`oriented information is placed within said web page.
`5. The method of claim 4 wherein said web page comprises
`an on-line magazine.
`6. The method of claim 3 wherein said geographically(cid:173)
`oriented information relates to an advertisement.
`7. The method of claim 1 wherein said advertisement infor(cid:173)
`mation comprises a hyperlink to another web page.
`8. The method of claim 2 wherein said geographically(cid:173)
`oriented information is selected based on the time of day of
`the request.
`9. The method of claim 2 wherein said geographically(cid:173)
`oriented information is selected based on demographic infor- 30
`mation relating to the processor or the user of said processor.
`10. The method of claim9 wherein said demographic infor(cid:173)
`mation was received before said request was received.
`11. The method of claim 2 further comprising transmitting
`default information in place of said geographically-oriented 35
`information if said location information is not received.
`12. The method of claim 1 wherein said steps of sending
`and receiving comprise sending and receiving via a wireless
`connection.
`13. The method of claim 1 wherein said location informa- 40
`tion comprises latitude and longitude.
`14. The method of claim 1 wherein said location informa(cid:173)
`tion is provided by a GPS receiver connected to said proces-
`sor.
`15. A method of providing information to a device, said 45
`method comprising:
`receiving a request for information from said device;
`receiving location information indicative of the geographi(cid:173)
`cal position of said device;
`processing the requested information and location infor- 50
`mation with at least one processor so as: (1) to select
`audio-visual content based on said request and regard(cid:173)
`less of said location information, and (2) to select geo(cid:173)
`graphically-oriented information, based on said location
`information; and
`sending response information to said client device in
`response to said request, said response information com(cid:173)
`prising both said geographically-oriented information
`and said content,
`wherein said step of selecting geographically-oriented
`information comprises selecting said geographically(cid:173)
`oriented information from a collection of said geo(cid:173)
`graphically-oriented information,
`wherein the collection of said geographically-oriented
`information includes a second message of a vendor and
`a first message of the vendor, and wherein the step of
`selecting
`the geographically-oriented
`information
`
`8
`includes delivering the first message to indicate a change
`in proximity of the device relative to the vendor.
`16. The method of claim 15 wherein at least two items in
`the collection are associated with the same geographic loca(cid:173)
`tion.
`17. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving a
`request for information from a second processor different
`from the other said processor; receiving location information
`indicative of the geographical position of said second proces(cid:173)
`sor; selecting audio-visual content based on said request and
`regardless of said location information, said request from said
`second processor being identical to the request from said
`other processor; selecting geographically-oriented informa(cid:173)
`tion for said second client that is different from the geographi-
`15 cally-oriented information for said other processor.
`18. The method of claim 1 wherein said geographically(cid:173)
`oriented information is chosen from a plurality of information
`associated with said geographical position.
`19. The method of claim 18 wherein said plurality of infor-
`20 mation associated with said geographical position comprises
`a plurality of advertisements associated with a plurality of
`different entities near said geographical position.
`20. The method of claim 1 wherein said geographically(cid:173)
`oriented information comprises an advertisement for a ven-
`25 dor and said advertisement changes based on the distance
`between said geographical position and said vendor's estab(cid:173)
`lishment.
`21. The method of claim 1 wherein said audio-visual con(cid:173)
`tent and said geographically-oriented information are stored
`on different servers.
`22. A method of providing information to a device, said
`method comprising:
`receiving a request for information from said device;
`receiving location information indicative of the geographi(cid:173)
`cal position of said device;
`processing the requested information and location infor(cid:173)
`mation with at least one proce