US 11,961,123 B1
Managing inventory of targeted advertisements for in-vehicle entertainment
Jean-Yves Couleaud, Mission Viejo, CA (US); Peter Hong, Irvine, CA (US); Jerry Thomas, Mission Viejo, CA (US); Tracy Decuir, Yorba Linda, CA (US); and Cecile Andre, Laguna Beach, CA (US)
Assigned to THALES AVIONICS, INC., Irvine, CA (US)
Filed by Thales Avionics, Inc., Irvine, CA (US)
Filed on Apr. 9, 2019, as Appl. No. 16/378,672.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/654,930, filed on Apr. 9, 2018.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/655,558, filed on Apr. 10, 2018.
Int. Cl. G06Q 30/0251 (2023.01); G06Q 30/0272 (2023.01)
CPC G06Q 30/0265 (2013.01) [G06Q 30/0272 (2013.01)] 22 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system for managing advertisements in an in-flight entertainment (“IFE”) system operating on an airplane, the system comprising:
an inventory processing device; and
a non-transitory computer readable medium communicatively coupled to the inventory processing device to cause the inventory processing device to perform operations comprising:
receiving targeting requirements for an advertisement campaign, the targeting requirements indicating a type of targeted advertisements desired by an advertiser including targeted advertisement opportunities that are associated with airplane passengers performing specific activities during a flight, the specific activities being separate from demographic data associated with the airplane passengers;
determining an inventory of targeted advertisements for a plurality of future flights based on the targeting requirements by i) retrieving a list of booked passengers for each flight of the plurality of future flights, ii) estimating additional expected passengers for each flight of the plurality of future flights, and iii) determining the inventory of targeted advertisements based on the list of booked passengers for each flight of the plurality of future flights and the additional expected passengers for each flight of the plurality of future flights;
responsive to determining the inventory, receiving a request to use a portion of the inventory for advertisements associated with the advertiser;
responsive to receiving the request and prior to departure, transmitting instructions to an advertisement controller processing device on-board the airplane to cause the advertisement controller processing device to provide the advertisement during targeted advertisement opportunities during the flight, the instructions being independent from entertainment content;
receiving an impression count from the advertisement controller processing device on-board the airplane indicating a first quantity of targeted advertisements during the flight used to provide the advertisements;
monitoring a total quantity of targeted advertisements used to provide the advertisements;
determining whether the total quantity of targeted advertisements exceeds a threshold value that is based on the request to use the portion of the inventory for the advertisements associated with the advertiser; and
in response to determining that the total quantity of targeted advertisements exceeds the threshold value, preventing the advertisements from being provided on subsequent flights,
wherein the impression counter is used to create a report ensuring a proof of contract fulfillment of the advertisement campaign with the advertiser.