WO2014177167A1

WO2014177167A1 - Subscriber facilitated advertisement

Info

Publication number: WO2014177167A1
Application number: PCT/DK2014/050127
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kasper Bloch GEVALDIG; Esben ELMØE
Original assignee: ALLUNITE ApS
Priority date: 2013-05-03
Filing date: 2014-05-05
Publication date: 2014-11-06

Abstract

The invention relates to a subscriber facilitated advertisement network comprising a plurality of independent subscriber wireless access point (WAP), wherein the plurality of wireless access point (WAP) are centrally served and maintained with respect to advertisement supply by means of an advertising management system (AMS) via the Internet (I), the wireless access points being geographically distributed and each wirelessly covering a decentral coverage area (DCA), wherein the advertising management system supply the different wireless access points (WAP) of the subscribers (SUB) with individual advertising content determined by the individual subscribers (SUB) and wherein the subscriber facilitated advertisement network is accessible by an automatic connection procedure available to mobile devices connecting to the wireless network via said plurality of wireless access points (WAP).

Description

SUBSCRIBER FACILITATED ADVERTISEMENT

Field of the invention

The invention relates to a subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to claim 1 Background of the invention

It is very often a technical challenge to effectively make advertisement to potential recipients of service or information or optional buyers of a product or service.

In particular, it may be very difficult to target specific customers or groups of customers with relevant information or advertising. Summary of the invention

The invention relates to a subscriber facilitated advertisement network comprising a plurality of independent subscriber wireless access point (WAP), wherein the plurality of wireless access point (WAP) are centrally served and maintained with respect to advertisement supply by means of an advertising management system (AMS) via the Internet (I), the wireless access points being geographically distributed and each wirelessly covering a decentral coverage area (DCA), wherein the advertising management system supply the different wireless access points (WAP) of the subscribers (SUB) with individual advertising content determined by the individual subscribers (SUB) and wherein the subscriber facilitated advertisement network is accessible by an automatic connection procedure available to mobile devices connecting to the wireless network via said plurality of wireless access points (WAP). According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the network should attract as many users as possible. This may be done according to the invention by offering automatic access to the complete network, either subsequent to a first manual login or e.g. by downloading e.g. an app to the mobile device, thereby establishing an automatic connection to any of the wireless access point of the network when these are within reach.

Independent subscribers in the present context may typically imply that the individual subscribers owns, governs or rent their own wireless access points and/decentral coverage areas.

The individual subscriber may moreover have the burden of maintaining and supply internet access though the wireless access point. This burden may also be regulated on an individual basis, thereby making it even easier for the individual subscriber being part of the network.

An advantage of an embodiment of the invention is that individual subscribers may form part of a wireless network owned by a large amount of other independent and still obtain the advantage of using his on wireless access point(s) without colliding with other subscribers interests insofar the decentral coverage areas do not overlap.

Some overlapping may of course be acceptable, but the subscribers may just, due to the independency between the subscribers choose to make his access point available or not, if overlapping decentral coverage areas may exist to a degree that the subscriber(s) is dissatisfied.

A part of the technical solution to obtain a simple control of conflicts between decentral advertisers, here e.g. the individual subscribers, is thus a rigid separation of individual coverage areas, thereby obtaining an extremely easy structure for targeted advertising and the technical means are simple and the result is bulletproof. It is in particular noted that the individual subscribers may preferably be interrelated with respect to network ID, thereby facilitating easy access for potential users of the wireless access points without necessarily requiring individual login procedures every time a mobile device is in the process of connecting to a wireless access point of the network. An advantage of the invention is that subscribers may locally obtain a local advertising channel, i.e. the communication line between the central advertisement management system and the wireless access point. The channel may be extremely specific and focus on very specific geographical area of interest for the subscriber in spite of the fact the subscriber is a part of greater network with a plurality of independent subscribers as himself.

The motivation for obtaining a decentral coverage area through which the subscriber may govern at least some of the transmitted advertising content, is therefore increased insofar a subscriber may have an interest of advertising in the very specific decentral coverage area. At the same time, it is possible to make an easy physical separation which is defined by where coverage may be present or not present. In this way it may be possible to avail a much targeted advertisement in the same - as seen from the mobile devices - geographically distributed network and with very simple technical measures ensuring that advertising conflict does not occur or is minimized

The present invention may thus provide a advantageous way of providing advertising and/or other information to users of mobile devices, both seen from the subscriber's point of view and the user^'s point of view. The subscriber may by the present invention be assured that their individual advertising content is provided to relevant users within a relevant geographical range. Moreover, users may experience that the information provided to them by the mobile device by the system is relevant in that it may be adapted/determined by the individual subscriber. Hence, seen from the subscriber's point of view, the present invention provides a lucrative, efficient and customizable technical solution for providing relevant information such as advertising to relevant users of mobile devices. In an embodiment of the invention, the advertising management system (AMS) and the wireless access points are communicatively coupled via the Internet (I).

In an embodiment of the invention, the wireless access points are communicatively coupled to the Internet (I).

In an embodiment of the invention the mobile devices connecting to the wireless access points are communicatively coupled to the Internet (I) and the advertising management system (AMS).

In an embodiment of the invention the individual advertising content supplied to the individual subscribers (SUB) by said advertising management system (AMS) is transmitted to mobile devices (MD) connecting to the wireless network via said subscriber wireless access points (WAP).

The advertising content transmitted from a wireless access point served from the central advertisement management system to connected mobile devices typically may be display- wise added to the web content retrieved and received by the mobile device. Thus, such a displaying may typically imply that the advertising content sent from the advertising management system is displayed on the mobile device in addition to e.g. the web content sent from a web server to the mobile device and/or in addition to other content displayed on the mobile device.

In an embodiment of the invention a potential conflict of interest between different advertising subscribers in the multiple access network is obtained at least partly though minimizing overlapping of the decentral coverage areas.

A targeted advertising control may be very difficult if not impossible through a standard Internet network setup, where a plurality of users are connected to the internet via individual access point. Typically, a geographical location of a user may at most be determined to a certain city or a part of the city and typically meaningful targeted advertising is therefore determined on the basis of who the user is rather than where he/she is. Determination of user profiles may therefore be the most attractive determining factor when addressing advertising or information though the Internet. According to the invention an unpreceeded level of geographical targeting has been obtained while still obtaining a very robust and practical solution to the problem arising due to success with respect to conflict between advertisers interest. The more targeted the advertising become, the more advertisers may be sensible to competitor advertising. Such a geographical targeting may, if successful, require extremely complex management and service ensuring that the individual advertisers interests are not compromised. Both conflicting problems have been dealt with according to an embodiment of the invention.

In an embodiment of the invention the subscriber facilitated advertisement network is accessible by an automatic connection procedure available to mobile devices, the connection procedure connecting the mobile devices wirelessly to the subscriber facilitated advertisement network via a wireless access point through which the mobile devices may access Internet web content (WC).

A great advantage of the advertising network according to a preferred embodiment of the invention is that the mobile devices are offered and provided Internet access through the wireless access points and that the advertisement is delivered together with the Internet. It is therefore possible to motivate users of mobile devices to receive advertisement as long as the advertisement is not bothering the user of the mobile device. In an embodiment of the invention the subscriber facilitated advertisement network has a common network ID, thereby identifying each wireless access point (WAP) wirelessly to a mobile device as the same access point.

This may e.g. provide an advantageous way of handling identification of wireless access points. In an embodiment of the invention the automatic connection procedure is performed when a wireless access point become available to a candidate mobile device if the candidate mobile device has been connected previously to any of the access points of the subscriber facilitated advertisement network.

This technique is in particular advantageous if the candidate mobile device has connected through a standard connection procedure, with or without requirement of login. This may e.g. be facilitated by assignment of a common network ID, shared by all wireless access points, thereby making a connection possible by a standard mobile device due to the fact that all wireless access points will look the same as seen from the mobile device, thereby facilitation automatic connection irrespective of whether or not the mobile device have connected to the specific wireless access point before. Most conventional mobile device facilitates an automatic re-connection to a wireless access point once it is within reach of the specific access point. When sharing the same network ID, the mobile device will connect as if the specific access point was the same access point previously connected.

In an embodiment of the invention the advertising management system (AMS) facilitates a central uploading of individual advertising content determined by the individual subscribers (SUB) via the Internet (I), the individual advertising content being subscriber defined advertising content (SAC).

Subscriber advertising content may be uploaded from the subscriber to a shared central server in a central advertising management system. In this way or the subscriber may simply choose from a portal of centrally available templates. In this way, even small stores, libraries, coffee shops, offices may become a part of an advertising network, without even being required a computer. A simple wireless access point may suffice. In an embodiment of the invention the advertising management system (AMS) further offers distribution of an advertising network operator defined advertising content (A AC). By furthermore transmitting advertising network operator defined advertising content to the subscribers, it may be possible to combine the locally much targeted subscriber advertisement content with a more broad advertising content completely or partly independent of the individual subscribers, thereby making the individual subscribers wireless access point further available for larger and more broad covering advertisers.

In an embodiment of the invention the subscriber (S) are associated to a unique identifier (UID).

In an embodiment of the invention the unique ID is transmitted to the advertising management system (AMS) via the Internet (I) thereby availing the advertising management system, preferably upon request, to transmit the different subscribers (SUB) with individual advertising content as determined by the individual subscribers (SUB) according to a subscriber rule set (SRS).

The unique identifier may e.g. facilitate an efficient way of identifying how and/or whivh advertisings that should be provided to the mobile devices conneted to the internet via the respective subscriber. The unique ID may thus be associated with a geographical location and/or a set of advertisings to be provided to the mobile units connected to the internet via the subscriber.

In an embodiment of the invention the request for subscriber defined advertising content is initiated by code inserted into web content passing through a wireless access point to a mobile device (MD) connected to the wireless access point, the code comprising a script requesting advertising content and the script supplying the unique ID facilitating the advertising management system to automatically transmit, the script being executed at the mobile device upon receipt of the web content comprising the script. According to an advantageous embodiment it will be possible to add a script in a proxy server, preferably a proxy server related to the wireless access point, e.g. a so- called wireless router.,

This may e.g. provide an efficient solution where advertisings may be provided to users of the mobile device(s) in an efficient, controlled and dynamic way. Updates to the wireless access points may thus be provided over time, e.g. by providing an update of the code to be inserted into web content passing through the wireless access point.

In an embodiment of the invention, the subscriber facilitated advertisement network function as an adaptive network by motivating new subscribers to join in if a decentral coverage area (DCA) is not under coverage of wireless access points of the subscriber facilitated advertisement network.

In an embodiment of the invention router software is updated from a central server.

The adaptive network feature may thus in aspects of the invention efficiently be provided by providing e.g. a software update to an existing wireless access point so that it after the update insert a code into web content passing through the wireless access point to a mobile device as previously mentioned. It may e.g. also comprise that a "new" wireless access point with such a code may be provided to a new subscriber. This may facilitate an efficient way of managing and adding subscribers to the system.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a potential user of a mobile device may perform a logon procedure once and then subsequently automatically connect every time a wireless access point of the network is within reach.

According to the invention it is possible to integrate individually owned wireless access points into a common network, which may be centrally operated and maintained, while adding subscriber governance of some or all the advertisement transmitted through the individual wireless access point

The advertising content supplied from the subscriber facilitated advertisement network comprising to a wireless access point and therefrom to a mobile device may preferably be formatted and coded in a way to ensure that the advertising content is displayed at the mobile device. The displaying of the advertising content may preferably be done in parallel to displaying of the user performed browsing at the mobile device. An advantage of an embodiment of the invention is that it is possible to transmit advertising content from a central advertising management system to a mobile device while avoiding conflict between the interests of the individual subscribers and further advertising content transmitted through the wireless access point of the subscriber. The transmitted combination of the advertising content comprising subscriber- defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content A AC may be combined and transmitted in several different ways. The different advertising content AC, i.e. the subscriber-defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC may e.g. be transmitted in sequence, thereby shifting between subscriber-defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC, preferably in accordance with an agreement with the subscriber about the ratio between subscriber-defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC. Alternatively, the advertising content AC may be transmitted and displayed at the requesting mobile device at the same time.

In a preferred embodiment the disclosed method is performed over time, e.g. so that the combining takes place by alternatingly or by an alternative selection scheme transmitting subscriber-defined and advertising network operator-defined advertising content, respectively, the mobile device requesting advertising content. In this context, some of the steps of the method are performed several times iteratively, and for example the statement that the advertising management system AMS receives plural requests from the mobile device is to be understood so that over time, the advertising management system will have received several requests from the mobile device, and have, according to the step of transmitting a combination of advertising content, transmitted several individual or sets of the different kinds of advertising content, thereby over time combining advertising content at the mobile device.

In an embodiment the mobile device may at one point in time send several requests or a request that expands to several requests for advertising content. In an embodiment the advertising management server may respond by transmitting a bulk of combined advertising content.

It should be noted that the wireless access points WAP, being configured to distribute advertising content AC to mobile devices DEV may establish a connection for transmission of advertising content AC from the advertising management system AMS to the device(s), does not necessarily need to provide further intelligence to the system insofar sufficient information is being forwarded to the advertising management system in connection with the request, thereby allowing the advertising management system to identify what to transmit in reply to the request.

In the present context a subset may comprise an empty subset. In other words, a subscriber may have none subscriber-defined advertising content SAC associated with him, e.g. according to this specific subscriber's agreement with the advertising network operator ANO. In a preferred embodiment a plurality of the subscribers are associated with non-empty subsets of subscriber-defined advertising content SAC.

It should be noted that one, two or more wireless access points may be associated to the same subscriber, and that a subset of the plurality of wireless access points may form a subset of a system, where further wireless access points may be operated through other principles.

Advertising content AC is generally understood as something (such as a short film or a written notice) that is shown or presented to the public to help sell a product or to make an announcement. In various preferred embodiments the advertising content comprises, e.g., text, images, video, audio, flash or other possibly interactive media,

The advertising content may in embodiments of the invention, together with the information such as text, images, video, audio, flash or the like comprise a link such as a hyperlink and/or other information retrieving triggers such as a command, a script or the like. Hence, a user of the mobile device may e.g. activate the area where the retrieved advertising from the advertising management system is displayed at the mobile device, e.g. by a finger, a mouse marker and/or the like. Thereby, the user may initiate/activate the information retrieving trigger and thus be directed by a browser or the like on the mobile device to a home page or other information means such as a pop-up information window may be visualized upon the activation, to visualize further information related to the activated/clicked advertising content. Preferably, this/these information retrieving trigger(s), and thus the available further information, may be shifted together with advertising content provided to the mobile device based on the advertising management system over time. The advertising content may thus in embodiments of the invention refer to a web page or other information not being part of the subscriber facilitated advertisement network as such. Hence, the subscriber may provide updates to the destination of the link, and the user will thus be presented to these updates over time even though the advertising content may remain the same. In other embodiments, the data provided when the activation of the advertising content is performed by the user at the mobile device may trigger a request for further information related to the activated/clicked advertising content from the advertising management system, and the advertising management system may upon this request provide the further information/data. Different advertising content may in embodiments of the invention comprise/trigger similar information retrieving triggers upon user activation. Hence, a subscriber or another party as disclosed in this document may provide different advertisings to the mobile device, e.g. relating to different products, services or the like, but when the user triggers the information retrieving trigger relating to one of these different products, services or the like, the user may be presented to the same further information which may be common to one or more of the different advertisings.

The advertising network AN in a preferred embodiment denotes a virtual network comprising the advertising management system and all wireless access points participating in the same united network. In an embodiment the advertising network may be considering an abstract network further comprising the advertising network operator ANO and the subscribers SUB. The advertising network AN in an embodiment enables location-based control and exposure of advertisements in the coverage area of an associated united network. In a preferred embodiment the advertising network operator ANO comprises a legal or natural person who facilitates the advertising network AN and operates the advertising management system AMS. The advertising network operator may in an embodiment be motivated to enter into arrangements with subscribers as described in order to enlarge his inventory of advertising space, i.e. the wireless access points, and happy, returning mobile device users. Further the advertising network operator in a preferred embodiment offers a part of the advertising space to advertisers ADV in accordance with the agreement entered with subscribers.

An advertising management system AMS is generally understood as an integrated or distributed control system for the advertising network operator ANO to control the advertising network and any, some or all of storage, categorization, selection and distribution of advertisements. The advertisement management system AMS may preferably comprise an advertisement content server ACS and is preferably implemented, integrated or distributed, by data processing equipment DPE.

A subscriber SUB is in a preferred embodiment a legal or natural person, e.g. a business, a shop, a mall, a cafe, or an owner or manager of such, typically a business with a physical, local, presence, who may be motivated to offer wireless internet access to customers and guests in return of being able to add advertisements to the web content retrieved via his wireless connection. The subscriber may own the wireless access points or the subscriber may e.g. according to a specific agreement have acquired the rights from the owner of the wireless access point(s). The subscriber may thereby ensure that his advertisement, e.g. defined by the subscriber rule set, may be broadcasted through his interest zone, i.e. the decentral coverage area DCA covered by the subscriber's wireless access points. In a preferred embodiment the subscriber enters into an agreement with the advertising network operator, preferably in order to subscribe for advertisements to be delivered to his customers or guests, in return for being included in the united network offering automatic internet connection to customers and guests and therewith being able to offer his own subscriber-defined advertisements to the customers and guests. In an embodiment the subscriber may be considered a location provider, i.e. providing a physical, geographical location for a wireless access point being part of the united network. The subscriber is in a preferred embodiment also the subscriber for the local internet connection required in order to make the wireless access point communicatively coupled to the internet. Advertising content AC which is defined by the subscriber, e.g. for promoting his own business, or advertisements he has sold to a third party, are denoted subscriber- defined advertising content SAC. In a preferred embodiment the subscriber may fully control the substance of his own advertisements, and setup rules for their exposure, cf. the subscriber rule set SRS.

The subscriber rule set SRS is understood as comprising rules for managing, e.g. categorizing, selecting, combining and/or avoiding conflict of interest, of subscriber- defined advertising content SAC. A part of the subscriber rule set SRS preferably reflects an agreement with a subscriber SUB, and is in a preferred embodiment primarily controlled by the subscribers, and to a lesser degree by the advertiser network operator ANO.

Advertising content AC which is defined by the advertisement network operator ANO, preferably advertisements sold to advertisers ADV or e.g. for promoting the advertising network or making announcements, are denoted advertiser network operator-defined advertising content AAC. In a preferred embodiment the subscriber may fully or partly control the substance of advertising network operator-defined advertisements AAC that are being exposed via his wireless access point by configuring a compliance rule set CRS. Also the advertiser ADV and/or the advertising network operator ANO may influence the exposure behavior of advertising network operator-defined advertisements AAC by configuring the compliance rule set CRS.

In the present context a compliance rule set CRS comprises rules for managing, e.g. categorizing, selecting, combining and/or avoiding conflict of interest, of advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC. A part of the compliance rule set CRS preferably reflects agreements with subscriber SUB and possibly also advertisers ADV, and is in a preferred embodiment primarily controlled by the subscribers, the advertiser and the advertiser network operator ANO.

In a preferred embodiment the wireless access points WAP are configured to provide wireless internet connectivity by means of radio communication, preferably at least by comprising an arrangement for establishing a wireless local area network (WLAN), also known as a WiFi network, preferably according to one or more of the IEEE 802.11 standards, e.g. 802. l lg, 802.11η, 802.1 lac, etc. In a preferred embodiment a wireless access point WAP is configured to be used in accordance with several of the IEEE 802.11 standards, e.g. 802.1 lb/g/n, as is widely known by a person skilled in the art. A wireless access point WAP in a preferred embodiment associates the WLAN with a network identifier, typically, as known by the skilled person, a so-called service set identifier (SSID). Mobile devices are able to recognize a WLAN and differentiate between different WLANs due to the network identifier.

The radio transceiver of the wireless access point WAP, including the antenna configuration, is a main contributor to defining a space around the wireless access point WAP within which mobile devices DEV may connect to the wireless access point. The space, which is also referred to as a decentral coverage area DCA in the present disclosure, may be limited and defined by, among other things, radio transmission power of the wireless access point and/or the mobile device, antenna configuration, elevation, encoding technology, physical obstructions or reflectors, e.g. walls, concrete constructions, etc., interference or obscuring by other nearby radio transmitters, etc. It is noted that the covered space, the decentral coverage area DCA, forms a three-dimensional radiation pattern around the wireless access point antenna(s).

In a preferred embodiment, the wireless access point is communicatively coupled to the internet I via a router, which may be a separate hardware unit or integrated with the wireless access point, and any suitable last-mile internet networking technology as widely known by a person skilled in the art, such as, e.g., an optical fiber connection, ADSL or other DSL connection typically utilizing telephone wires, cable modems utilizing cable TV network infrastructure, or wireless technologies such as, e.g. WiMAX or LTE, or even a further WLAN connection with a same or different network identifier to another wireless access point. When referring to the internet I is generally understood as a minimum the Internet infrastructure, i.e. the worldwide network infrastructure that makes web pages and other web content of the World Wide Web accessible together with various other web services and internet distributed services, e.g. video streaming and email communication. In various embodiments the internet may be referring to the internet infrastructure as well as connected web servers and other connected servers. The mobile device DEV is broadly understood as a device that is mobile. In preferred embodiments the mobile devices are handheld or portable devices such as, e.g., smartphones, tablets, PDAs, laptops, etc. In an embodiment the mobile device may be a fixed system in mobile setup, e.g. a computer, navigation system or smart-TV for automotive use, e.g. mounted in a car, etc. In a preferred embodiment several mobile devices DEV of same and/or different of the mentioned or other types are used simultaneously and/or sequentially, for various, possibly overlapping, periods.

A mobile device DEV is according to an embodiment characterized by being battery- powered. In a preferred embodiment the mobile device comprises a user interface, preferably comprising a display and/or other arrangement, e.g. a loudspeaker, for rendering advertising content and other information to a human user, solely or in combination with other content, information and/or input controls. The user interface in a preferred embodiment comprises a touchscreen, e.g. based on capacitive or resistive touchscreen technology, which may therefore provide functionality of both displaying information to the user and receiving input from the user, e.g. as being typically used in smartphones and tablet computers as understood by a person skilled in the art. The mobile device may in an embodiment comprise one or more position detecting or determining arrangements, e.g. a GPS-receiver, an arrangement for multilateration, trilateration or triangulation with respect to base stations, WiFi positioning systems, etc., possibly combined such as in hybrid positioning systems, e.g. Assisted GPS technology. The mobile device is in an embodiment preferably configured to be able to communicate the determined position, on request and/or by choice, e.g. directly to a base station or wireless access point, or via the internet to a server or other internet-connected system, e.g. an advertisement management system.

In a preferred embodiment the mobile device comprises wireless internet connectivity, preferably at least by comprising an arrangement for connecting via wireless local area network (WLAN) technology, also known as WiFi technology, preferably according to one or more of the IEEE 802.11 standards, e.g. 802. l lg, 802.11η, 802.1 lac, etc. In a preferred embodiment a mobile device DEV is configured to be used in accordance with several of the IEEE 802.11 standards, e.g. 802.1 lb/g/n, as is widely known by a person skilled in the art. In an embodiment the mobile device is configured with WLAN technology as well as other wireless connection technologies, such as e.g. mobile broadband, e.g. according to one or more of technologies know by the skilled person with reference to terms such as LTE-Advanced, LTE, IEEE 802.16m, HSPA+, WiMAX, UMTS, EDGE, etc., or other wireless data transfer technologies such as, e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, NFC, etc. In an embodiment the mobile device is capable of connecting to the internet according to WLAN technologies e.g. as described above, but does not comprise a slot or receiver for a SIM card and does not feature mobile broadband or other typically cellphone-specific functionality.

In an embodiment of the invention, the subscriber rule set (SRS) associating a subset of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) to each subscriber (SUB) thereby facilitates individual transmittal of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) from the advertising management system (AMS) via wireless access points (WAP) associated to the subscriber.

According to this embodiment of the invention, the individual subscribers may be served by the, preferably, central advertising management system and the individual subscriber may relay dedicated advertisement via the access points to mobile devices connecting to his or her wireless access point. This opportunity may serve several different purposes, such as motivation of the subscribers to join the network but it may also be a very specific solution to a complex desire for local geographically targeted advertisement by a subscriber.

In an embodiment of the invention, the subset of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) defined by the subscriber rule set (SRS) is received from the subscriber. The subscriber may thus upload or communicate subscriber-defined advertising content he wishes to be transmitted via his wireless access point to the advertising management system. This may e.g. be done in a primitive upload of an image or it may be uploaded as a more complex structure, whereby the subscriber may define properties related to the uploaded advertising content.

In an embodiment of the invention, the subscriber rule set (SRS) furthermore defines timing definitions defining a desired timing according to which subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) is to be automatically transmitted by the advertising management system (AMS).

Timing definitions in relation to the subscriber-defined advertising content SAC may facilitate that the advertising in question is transmitted according to timing definitions of the subscriber, e.g. certain advertisement is automatically transmitted on certain times of the day, week or year. It may also imply timing during the specific session during which the mobile device is connected to the subscriber wireless access point, and/or comprise sequence rules for causing subscriber-defined advertising content to be received on the mobile device in a certain sequence. In an embodiment of the invention, the at least one of the step of providing a set of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) and the step of providing a set of advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) is performed at least partly in dependency with a user profile (UP) associated with the mobile device or a user of the mobile device.

User profile UP generally relates to information about the mobile devices or their users. According to an embodiment, the user profile may advantageously be applied for making the advertising more targeted, e.g. by correlation with user habits, user defined preferences, etc. The user profile may in a preferred embodiment be updated by the user, thereby allowing the user actively to affect the types of advertisement transmitted to him by the advertising management system. The user profile may also be updated on the basis of analysis of the web content or the web search results accessed by the mobile device or the user of the mobile device, thereby making it possible automatically to correlate the user's habits or interest without requiring inputs from the user. The user profile may in an embodiment be anonymous in the sense that it only relates to an identifier, e.g. a MAC-address or other distinctive identifier of the mobile device, an email-address, an alias, etc. In an embodiment the user profile is related to a named or otherwise identified user, e.g. by social security number, a user ID of a social media network, a digital certificate, etc. In an embodiment part of the user profile is derived from social media network and other public or private sources.

The identification of a mobile device sufficient to lookup a corresponding anonymous user profile may be performed as soon as the user's mobile device is moved into a decentral coverage area of one of the wireless access points of the united network UN, at least if the WiFi-functionality is activated on the mobile device, because the mobile device in that case broadcasts its MAC address together with polls for wireless networks, and even connects to the united network automatically if already having been initialized once due to the WLAN account ACC.

If user identification is desired to lookup a personal user profile, this may be obtained in various ways. In an embodiment the user is required to login to the united network by being redirected to a login page upon moving the mobile device into a coverage area of the united network. In an embodiment the user is asked to create a profile upon the very first connection attempt to the united network, and as part of the profile the mobile device is identified in order to be able to associate the user with the particular mobile device, e.g. by using the MAC-address as key, for further connections thereafter. In an embodiment a login system of a popular social media network is used to ease the login procedure and profile creation for new users of the united network. In an embodiment of the invention, the subscriber rule set (SRS) furthermore relates to a user profile (UP) associated with the mobile device or a user of the mobile device, and wherein the set of subscriber-defined advertising content is further selected in accordance with the user profile (UP).

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the user profile may advantageously be applied for making the advertising even more targeted, e.g. by correlation with user habits, user defined preferences, etc. In an embodiment of the invention, the user profile is updated by means of input from a user.

The user profile may advantageously be updated by the user, thereby allowing the user actively to affect the types of advertisement transmitted to him by the advertising management system.

In an embodiment of the invention, the user profile is updated in response to analysis of web content or web search results accessed by the mobile device or the user of the mobile device.

The user profile may also be updated on the basis of analysis of the web content or the web search results accessed by the mobile device or the user of the mobile device, thereby making it possible automatically to correlate the user's habits or interest without requiring inputs from the user.

In an embodiment of the invention, the subscriber rule set (SRS) associates a subscriber (SUB) with a specified subset of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) stored at a, preferably central, advertising content server (ACS). It is possible within the scope of the invention to specify a subset of the subscriber- defined advertising content to a subscriber, thereby making it possible for a central server to address advertisement to a specific communication channel for decentral distribution by one or more decentral wireless access point associated with the subscriber. The subscriber may own the wireless access points or the subscriber may e.g. according to a specific agreement have acquired the rights from the owner of the wireless access point(s). The subscriber may thereby ensure that his advertisement, defined by the subscriber rule set, may be broadcasted through his interest zone, i.e. the decentral coverage area DC A covered by the subscriber's wireless access points.

In a preferred embodiment the advertising management system AMS comprises an advertising content server ACS for storing advertising content AC, preferably at least divided into a database or table for subscriber-defined advertising content SAC and a database or table for advertiser network operator-defined advertising content AAC, or a single database with categorizations into these kinds. The advertising content server may preferably comprise further categorization of the advertisement content, and/or further types of data, e.g. tables of subscribers together with associated wireless access points, location thereof, etc.

In an embodiment of the invention, the subscriber rule set (SRS) is defining subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) exclusively associated to said associated subscriber (SUB).

The subscriber-defined advertising content SAC is preferably individually controlled by the individual subscribers SUB, thereby causing the specific advertising content associated with the different subscribers to be different. In an embodiment of the invention, the compliance rule set (CRS) defining a subset of the advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) as compliant with the individual subscribers (SUB) facilitates individual transmittal of compliant advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) from the advertising management system (AMS) via wireless access points (WAP) associated with the subscriber. A compliance rule set may specifically be used to facilitate that only a subset of the complete advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC is transmitted to a mobile device, insofar the mobile device is connected to the advertising network through one or more mobile access points WAP associated to a specified subscriber SUB or a specified group of subscribers SUB. In this way, it is possible to allow individual subscribers control or a least partly control also with respect to advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC.

In an embodiment of the invention, the subscriber (SUB) is associated to an industrial classification code and where the compliance rule set (CRS) determines whether advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) may be transmitted via the wireless access point(s) associated to said subscriber (SUB).

By the application of a code, e.g. an industrial classification code associated to the individual subscribers, it will be possible in a relatively simple way to determine whether network operator-defined advertising content AAC may be transmitted via the wireless access point(s) associated to said subscriber SUB automatically by the advertising management system. This may e.g. be done by associating the advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC stored in the advertising management system AMS with individual codes, e.g. an industrial classification code. In this way, the advertising management system may e.g. thereby determine if a network operator-defined advertising content potentially to be transmitted is applicable or not and thereby exclude a subset of the total network operator-defined advertising content with respect to the individual subscriber through which advertising content is distributed.

The compliance rule set may of course be more or less sophisticated in dependency of the conventions of the advertising network and the agreements with the individual subscribers. In an embodiment of the invention, the advertising management system (AMS) determining the dedicated subscriber (SUB) related to the request from said mobile device (DEV) on the basis of a unique ID (UID) associated with said requests. This may provide an advantageous way of identifying the subscriber so as to be able to identify the proper advertising to provide to the mobile device transmitting the request based on the rule set, preferably the subscriber rule set SRS and/or the compliance rule set CRS. The unique ID UID refers to an identifier serving to identify a wireless access point or its associated subscriber in order to determine through which subscriber a mobile device is connecting to the internet and should receive advertising content AC. The unique ID may preferably be included in the requests for advertising content sent from the mobile device, or the unique ID may be injected in the request during the transmission of the request to the advertising management system. This may e.g. be achieved by having the wireless access point configured to add the unique ID to the request upon forwarding the request to the advertising management system. In a preferred embodiment the unique ID UID identifies the wireless access point WAP through which the requests are transmitted from the mobile device DEV by comprising a hardware identifier, preferably a media access control address (MAC- address), of the wireless access point (WAP). In various other embodiments, the unique ID may comprise e.g. a serial number of said wireless access point, a subscriber number or other identification of the subscriber, a position of the wireless access point or the user, etc.

In an embodiment of the invention, the unique ID (UID) identifies the wireless access point (WAP) through which the requests were transmitted from the mobile device (DEV). The advertising management system AMS may thus determine the subscriber SUB related to the request from said mobile device DEV on the basis of a unique ID UID of a wireless access point WAP associated with the dedicated subscriber SUB. The unique ID may preferably be included in the requests from the mobile device, or the unique ID may be injected in the request during the transmission of the request to the advertising management system. This may e.g. be achieved by having the wireless access point configured to add the unique ID to the request upon forwarding the request to the advertising management system.

In an embodiment of the invention, the unique ID (UID) identifies the wireless access point (WAP) through which the requests were transmitted from the mobile device (DEV) by comprising a hardware identifier, preferably a media access control address (MAC-address), of said wireless access point (WAP).

Alternatively or additionally, the unique ID may comprise a serial number of said wireless access point, if available, or, e.g., a subscriber number or other identification of the subscriber.

In an embodiment of the invention, the unique ID (UID) is determined based on a positioning system of said mobile device performing the requests for advertising content (AC).

Preferably, the positioning system is a Global Positioning System (GPS), but it is understood that any suitable positioning system may be used in further aspects of the invention. The unique ID may when based on position, e.g. comprise latitude and longitude, map coordinates, a street address, etc., possibly together with the elevation.

In an embodiment of the invention, the unique ID (UID) is determined based on multilateration, trilateration or triangulation to determine the position of said mobile device performing the request(s) for advertising content (AC).

In this context it should be noted that multilateration, trilateration or triangulation evidently may be performed on the basis of as few or a many signal levels needed to obtain the desired position. The point is therefore not the specific number of detected signal levels measured at the mobile device, but rather that the signal levels measured at the mobile device will suffice for determination of the position of the mobile device, preferably at least to a degree sufficient to identify the subscriber.

In an embodiment of the invention, the subscriber is identified by a unique ID combined into the requests for advertisement content.

In a preferred embodiment, the unique ID identifies a subscriber directly or indirectly, e.g. by name or subscriber number, or by MAC-address or serial number of the wireless access point WAP, or by other similar, unique identification, and the unique ID is in this preferred embodiment part of the request for advertisement content, e.g. as a part of an URL or URI, an HTTP GET- or PUT-request, meta- or header-information in e.g. one of the protocols of the TCP/IP system, as part of a SOAP-message or other web service request, an asynchronous HTTP requests, XML HTTP requests, etc.

In an embodiment of the invention, the unique ID into said requests for advertising content is triggered by said mobile device (DEV).

It may thus within the scope of the invention be possible to make the mobile device trigger the combining of the unique ID into the request by means of dedicated software, e.g. an app downloaded and executed at the mobile device from which the request originates.

In an embodiment of the invention, the combining of said unique ID into said requests for advertising content is triggered by said advertising network (AN).

It may moreover within the scope of the invention be possible that the advertising network, e.g. a component thereof, triggers the combining of the unique ID into the request. This triggering may e.g. be performed in hardware interfaces along the communication line between the mobile device and a web server from which the mobile device is retrieving web content. A very advantageous embodiment in this context would be a component such as a proxy server related to the wireless access point, e.g. a proxy server forming part of a wireless router also comprising the wireless access point.

In an embodiment of the invention, the combining of said unique ID into said requests for advertising content is triggered by the wireless access point through which the requests was transmitted from said mobile device (DEV), said unique ID identifying said wireless access point.

In embodiments of the invention, the unique ID may, if possible, be added anywhere between the mobile device and the advertising management system so that it is possible to determine the subscriber. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the unique ID, which is associated to the requests transmitted from the mobile device, is originating from either a code associated with hardware of the wireless access point, or additionally or alternatively another suitable identifier enabling identification of the wireless access point through which the mobile device is communicatively coupled to the advertising network.

The requests may be triggered by modified web content MWC generated in response to a user-initiated request for web content WC. In an embodiment of the invention, the wireless access points (WAP) are further configured to communicatively connect said mobile device (DEV) to the internet (I) for retrieval of web content (WC).

Web content WC is understood as the content from web servers WS that the mobile device accesses by means of the internet connectivity. The web content is typically HTML-documents together with any associated sub resources. The web content may include web server advertising, e.g. from banner exchange services, which in this context is also referred to as web content, as opposed to advertising content, which in the present context refers to advertising managed by the advertising network operator and advertising management system. In an embodiment of the invention, the step of the advertising management system (AMS) receiving requests for advertising content (AC) from a mobile device (DEV) via the Internet (I) is preceded by the steps of: the mobile device (DEV) requesting web content (WC); and the mobile device receiving said requested web content (WC) as modified web content (MWC) from said wireless access point (WAP), the mobile device initiating and transmitting said request for advertising content (AC) in response to receipt of said modified web content.

In a preferred embodiment the mobile device receives advertising content or is triggered to request advertising content each time or some time it requests web content, e.g. a web page from a web server. This may be achieved by modifying the requested web content into modified web content before relaying it to the mobile device.

It is noted, that the present method may in a preferred embodiment be carried out iteratively over time, in which case the statement that the steps of requesting web content and receiving modified web content precede the steps of requesting advertising content and transmitting advertising content is to be understood as relating to each or some of the iterations. In other words, the mentioned requests for advertising content may take place at different times, each or some time preceded by steps of requesting web content and receiving modified web content. In an embodiment of the invention, the requests from the mobile device (DEV) for advertising content are triggered by the modified web content (MWC) received by the mobile device. The web content WC may, e.g., have been modified into modified web content MWC included some or all of the original web content, together with script(s) or instructions which when processed causes the mobile device to make the requests for advertising content.

In a preferred embodiment, modified web content MWC refers to web content WC modified by, e.g., a proxy server PS and sent to a mobile device DEV by means of a wireless access point WAP. The modification preferably comprises addition of a reference to an advertising content AC, e.g. in the form of a URL involving an advertising management system AMS or advertising content server ACS, and/or a script configured to establish such a reference. In an embodiment the script may establish an update of the advertising content AC at predefined intervals. In an alternative embodiment the modification may comprise combining the web content WC and the advertising content AC into a modified web content MWC.

In an embodiment of the invention, the modified web content (MWC) comprises the web content (WC) and further script(s) or instructions. Said script or instructions may comprise the unique ID. The modification may add script or instructions which, when executed, may reserve space on the screen of the device for the advertising content which is received in response to the request for advertising content. The script or instruction may also comprise a software code which, when executed, manipulates the mobile device to transmit the request for advertising content.

An example of an instruction may e.g. be an HTML-tag instructing a browser to retrieve an image from an URL, the URL pointing at a web server of the advertising management system and the URL further comprising a query string, preferably comprising the unique ID, possibly together with further parameters for facilitating the advertising management system in selecting targeted advertising content. An injected HTML-instruction may in an embodiment look like, e.g., <IMG SRC="http://www.allunite.com/get_ad/?ap_mac= 01 :23 :45:67:89:ab" alt="AHUnite advertisement" height="25" width="75" />.

An example of a script may be a javascript-implemented interval function which may cause a browser to periodically retrieve an image as widely understood by a person skilled in the art, from an URL comprising a query string containing the unique ID as described above. The retrieval of the advertisement may be performed as a normal download of a sub resource in a browser, or it may be carried out by asynchronous requests, e.g. an asynchronous XMLHttpRequest. The script itself may be modified into the web content html document, or the modification may consist in adding an HTML-tag which when processed causes download and execution of a script-file.

The reservation of space on the screen of the mobile device may comprise adding, e.g., an IMG, OBJECT or DIV-tag to an HTML-document, manipulating a CSS- document, adding an inline frame (iframe) to a web page, etc. It is noted that the advertising content may comprise images, text, audio or video, etc. Combinations of the examples or alternatives including other instructions in e.g. HTML or CSS files, or other kinds of scripts, e.g. with further functionality or applicable to different platforms, may be readily available as will be recognized by a person skilled in the art.

In an embodiment of the invention, the subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) is associated to an industrial classification code. When associating subscriber-defined advertising content to an industrial classification code, it is thereby possible to establish a well-defined description of the advertising and it is furthermore possible to establish whether the subscriber-defined advertising content, when used in another context would conflict with other advertising content.

In an embodiment of the invention, the subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) is categorized. By categorizing the subscriber-defined advertising content, it may be possible to better target the user of the mobile device connected to the subscriber's wireless access point. The categorization of the advertising content may at the step of selecting a set of subscriber-defined advertising content SAC be correlated with the subscriber rule set SRS and/or a user profile, either obtained from the specific user as described above regarding user profiles UP, or obtained by other analysis of the subscriber's customers or guests. The categorization may, e.g., involve age, gender, interests, etc.

In an embodiment of the invention, the advertising management system (AMS) facilitates a central uploading of individual advertising content determined by the individual subscribers (SUB) via the Internet (I), the individual advertising content being subscriber defined advertising content (SAC).

Subscriber advertising content may be uploaded from the subscriber to a shared central server in a central advertising management system. In this way the subscriber may simply choose from a portal of centrally available templates. In this way, even small stores, libraries, coffee shops, offices, etc., may become a part of an advertising network, without even being required a computer. A simple wireless access point may suffice.

In an embodiment of the invention, the advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) is associated to a an industrial classification code.

The network operator-defined advertising content AAC may advantageously be categorized according to an industrial classification code. This may in particular be advantageous insofar there is a wish for transmission of this advertisement via subscribers' wireless access point(s) and if these subscribers do not want to allow transmission of this content unless the content doesn't conflict with the business or intentions of the subscriber. Such categorization is thereby facilitating an automatic transmission by the advertising management system of both advertising network operator-defined advertising content and subscriber-defined content via the same communication channel, i.e. the wireless access point associated to the subscriber.

In an embodiment of the invention, the advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) is categorized.

By categorizing the advertising network operator-defined advertising content, it may be possible to better target the user of the mobile device to whom the advertising content is transmitted. The categorization of the advertising content may at the step of selecting a set of advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC be correlated with the compliance rule set CRS and/or a user profile, either obtained from the specific user as described above regarding user profiles UP, or obtained by other analysis of the subscriber's customers or guests. The categorization may, e.g., involve age, gender, interests, etc.

In an embodiment of the invention, the combination of the subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) and the advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) for transmission to said mobile device (DEV) in response to said requests is performed as a sequential transmission over time of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) and advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC).

According to an embodiment of the invention, it is possible to transmit subscriber- defined advertising content and the advertising network operator-defined advertising content to the mobile device, thereby allowing displaying of the two types of advertisement sequentially. Furthermore, it will be possible to allocate different time frames to the individual advertising content and it will be possible to allocate the individual duration of the advertisement content. In an embodiment of the invention, the combination of advertising content (AC) is transmitted to the requesting mobile device for a parallel displaying at the mobile device (DEV). In an embodiment subscriber-defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC are presented simultaneously at the display of the mobile device. In this context simultaneous or parallel displaying means that both types of advertising content appear to the user at substantially the same time under appropriate circumstances, i.e. when the network etc. allows for all content to be fetched in a reasonably short time, and when the device's display, or on devices with resizable windows: the window, is sufficiently large to show all content. In other words, content are considered displayed in parallel or simultaneously also when different parts appear clearly sequentially e.g. due to slow internet connection, slow servers or slow mobile device, or when different parts cannot actually be seen at the same time because of the screen or window being too small, but can be seen individually by scrolling the content in the window. In an embodiment of the invention, the web content (WC) retrieved by said mobile device (DEV) is received and displayed at the mobile device.

In a preferred embodiment, the mobile devices connect to the subscriber's wireless access point in order to gain access to the internet for retrieving web content. The web content is preferably displayed at the mobile device, and for this purpose, the mobile device preferably comprises a user interface, preferably comprising a display and/or other arrangement, e.g. a loudspeaker, for rendering advertising content and other information to a human user, solely or in combination with other content, information and/or input controls. The user interface in a preferred embodiment comprises a touchscreen, e.g. based on capacitive or resistive touchscreen technology, which may therefore provide functionality of both displaying information to the user and receiving input from the user, e.g. as being typically used in smartphones and tablet computers as understood by a person skilled in the art. In an embodiment of the invention, the combination of the subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) and the advertising network operator- defined advertising content (AAC) transmitted to said mobile device (DEV) is received and displayed at the mobile device.

The advertising content is preferably displayed to a user at the mobile device in a similar way as described above regarding the display of web content.

In an embodiment of the invention, the advertising content (AC) transmitted to the mobile device (DEV) is displayed at the mobile device in addition to web content (WC) requested by the mobile device (DEV).

The advertising content is preferably displayed in addition to web content, e.g. in a pop up window, in a banner at the top, bottom and/or side(s) of the display, in suitable whitespace anyway produced by the web content, or in an embodiment by substituting some of the web content with the advertising content, preferably other advertising content received as web content opposed to the advertising content received as such from the advertising management system.

In an embodiment of the invention, the advertising content (AC) transmitted to the mobile device (DEV) is displayed at the mobile device simultaneously with web content (WC) requested by the mobile device (DEV).

In a preferred embodiment the advertising content is displayed simultaneously with displaying of web content to a user at the mobile device, preferably by a bar at the bottom or top of a web browser window.

In this context simultaneous or parallel displaying means that both web content and advertising content appear to the user at substantially the same time under appropriate circumstances, i.e. when the network etc. allows for all content to be fetched in a reasonably short time, and when the device's display, or on devices with resizable windows: the window, is sufficiently large to show all content. In other words, content are considered displayed in parallel or simultaneously also when different parts appear clearly sequentially e.g. due to slow internet connection, slow servers or slow mobile device, or when different parts cannot actually be seen at the same time because of the screen or window being too small, but can be seen individually by scrolling the content in the window. By displaying the advertising content and web content parallel at the mobile device, it may be possible for the user of the mobile device to visually see both the advertisement content and a visual presentation of the user accessed web content at the same time. This will, in the preferred embodiment, enable that the user may access the Internet in a usual manner without being interrupted by pop-ups, relaying web-sites, etc, while browsing the internet. The added advertisement content may simply be graphically added to the displayed website, thereby basically expanding the view with the advertisement content of the subscriber or the centrally determined advertisement. The added advertisement content may advantageously be added in the top window, in the bottom part of the window and/or to the left and/or to the right of the user accessed web content. The added advertisement may e.g. be inserted by a relatively simple modification of the Document Object Model DOM established at the mobile device.

In an embodiment of the invention, the plurality of said wireless access points are comprised in wireless routers (WR).

A wireless router WR is generally understood as a hardware unit comprising the functionality of both a wireless access point and a router, typically comprising an uplink Ethernet port, or ports for other cabling technologies, for connecting the wireless router to a wired broadband internet connection, e.g. a fiber connection. The wireless router may in an embodiment comprise further components such as a firewall, a web server, a configuration interface, etc. An example of a suitable wireless router is e.g. TL-WDR3500 N600 Wireless Dual Band Router from TP- Link, etc.

In an embodiment of the invention, the plurality of said wireless routers (WR) comprise proxy servers (PS). In the present context a proxy server PS of a wireless router WR or related to a wireless access point WAP is understood as a component, typically implemented in a processor and memory of a wireless access point or wireless router, and acts as an intermediary for requests from and to mobile devices seeking resources from web servers. The proxy server is configured to analyze and manipulate the content of network packages sent through the wireless router or wireless access point.

The proxy server is preferably formed by hardware controlled by an operating system, e.g. an embedded linux system, comprising proxy server control software. The hardware may preferably be shared by the router, the proxy server and the wireless access point, and may comprise a CPU, RAM and static / non-volatile memory. Proxy server software may typically be updated, e.g. by firmware upgrade mechanisms, which may preferably be autonomous or controlled from remote connection.

In an embodiment of the invention, the proxy servers trigger the association of a unique ID determining a subscriber. In a preferred embodiment the proxy server modifies web content requested by a mobile device connected to the wireless access point so that the modified web content is made to provide the association of the unique ID to the mobile device, which in turn may provide the unique ID with its request for advertising content. In an embodiment, the proxy server modifies the requests for advertising content when on their way from the mobile device to the advertising management system in order to associate the request with the unique ID that can be used to determine the subscriber.

In an embodiment of the invention, the advertising network (AN) further comprises at least one base station (BS) of a wireless telecommunication network, and wherein the method comprises a step of the advertising management system (AMS) transmitting advertising content (AC) as a combination of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) and advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) to said mobile device (DEV) when the mobile device is connected to said base station and not connected to said wireless access points; and wherein said advertising content (AC) is selected in accordance with a location of said mobile device.

In an embodiment the advertising network also covers a number of telecommunication base stations preferably offering mobile broadband connection, and the advertising management system may thereby provide advertising content to mobile devices that are outside a decentral coverage area of the wireless access points of the system, e.g. when the mobile device is moved into a park, recreational area or a parking lot where no subscribers have put up wireless access points. According to the method, the advertising management system may even in these circumstance provide advertising content based on the location of the mobile device, and in a preferred embodiment correlate the location with nearby subscribers to provide targeted and relevant local advertising content from the subscriber-defined advertising content.

Moreover, the invention relates to a method of operating an advertising network (AN) comprising an advertising network operator (ANO) and a plurality of subscribers (SUB), the advertising network operator (ANO) providing an advertising technology to the plurality of subscribers (SUB), each of the plurality of subscribers (SUB) in return for said advertising technology providing a decentral coverage area (DCA) to said advertising network operator (ANO) as a part of said advertising network the advertising technology involving a united network (UN) established by a plurality of wireless access points (WAP), each associated with one of said subscribers (SUB), the advertising technology further being configured to transmit advertising content (AC) automatically via said plurality of wireless access points (WAP) to mobile devices (DEV) while targeting said provided decentral coverage area (DCA) with individual subscriber-defined advertising content (SC).

According to an embodiment of the invention the decentral coverage area provided by a subscriber to the advertising network operator in return for the advertising technology provided by the network operator will form part of the overall network and increase the overall network coverage area.

In essence, subscribers are therefore motivated to become part of the network and the network will expand every time new subscribers provide or attach a new decentral coverage area to the advertising network. This increased combined coverage of the network will in turn make it more likely that the subscribers decentral coverage area may be chosen and connected to by users of mobile devices.

The unique combination of targeted advertising and the ability to form a complete network gathered by a plurality of decentral coverage area is highly attractive due to the fact that user of mobile devices will be more aware of the network due to the simple fact that the united coverage area increases and due to the fact that users of mobile devices will be attracted to the network, in particular if the united network provides access to the Internet. In an embodiment of the invention, the advertising technology comprises data processing equipment.

Data processing equipment may e.g. comprise computers or other hardware enabling automated handling of the method of the invention.

In an embodiment of the invention, the advertising technology further provides for an individual subscriber (SUB) to transmit subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) to a subset of said mobile devices (DEV) being connected to a subset of said wireless access points (WAP) associated with the individual subscriber (SUB) in accordance with a subscriber advertising plan settled with the advertising network operator (ANO).

In an embodiment of the invention, the wherein the unique ID is associated to a specified subscriber in a subscriber rule set (SRS).

In an embodiment of the invention, the advertising content (AC) comprising advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC).

In an embodiment of the invention, the method further comprising offering exposure among said advertising content (AC) in dependency of the geographical location to an advertiser (ADV) in accordance with an advertiser billing plan.

The advertising billing plan typically settles a fee, typically an amount of money, according to the number of exposures, number of advertisements, kind of advertisements, kind and extent of criteria for exposure, etc. The advertiser billing plan may e.g. comprise a price per time an advertisement is displayed on a mobile device within a desired geographic area. Advertisers ADV may be highly motivated to buy advertising exposure within the disclosed advertising network, because of the high precision of geographical locations provided by the local subscribers, and because of the outlook to relevant and location-based exposure to a significant amount of mobile device users highly expected to enjoy free WiFi internet access because of the united network UN. The high motivation for advertisers to buy advertising may allow for increasing the compensation. The geographical location may in a preferred embodiment be understood as a decentral coverage area.

In an embodiment of the invention, the advertising technology comprising compliance rule set in accordance with subscriber advertising rule set and/or advertising billing plan. In an embodiment of the invention, the method further comprising offering internet access to said mobile devices (DEV) within a coverage area (CA) of said united network (UN) via said wireless access points (WAP) in return of providing for exposure of said advertising content (AC) in a display of said mobile device (DEV).

The mobile devices DEV may preferably enjoy free access to the internet in return for letting advertisements show on the mobile device, typically when browsing the World Wide Web or using a mobile application, a so-called app. The users of mobile devices DEV may be highly motivated to utilize the united network UN of the disclosed advertising network AN for accessing the internet for free because it allows for maintaining an internet connection seamlessly while strolling around the coverage area CA defined by the combined decentral coverage area DCA of the wireless access points WAP of all the participating subscribers SUB. The internet connection provided by the disclosed method, i.e. by means of WiFi-technology, may in many areas allow for higher bandwidth and/or better signal quality than the mobile data connections provided by mobile network operators for a, typically, considerable charge, in particular when outside a home area.

Moreover, the invention relates to a method of operating an advertising network (AN) comprising an advertising network operator (ANO) and a plurality of subscribers (SUB), each subscriber providing a communication channel (CC) to an advertiser (ADV), the communication channel being configure for transmission of advertising content (AC) from a wireless access point (WAP) to a mobile device (DEV), the advertising content (AC) comprising advertiser-defined advertising content , as compensation for said subscriber (SUB) providing a communication channel (CC) to an advertiser (ADV), the communication channel (CC) is further configured for transmission of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC), In an embodiment of the invention, the advertising network has a common ID shared by all wireless access points, thereby allowing mobile devices to connect to the wireless access points free of charge and automatically subsequent to one initial connection.

In an embodiment of the invention, the connection is obtained as a simple free of charge access and wherein the mobile device is communicatively coupled to the Internet for web browsing, the web browsing bypassing the advertisement management system and accessing relevant web servers directly, while the advertising content is obtained by communication with the advertisement management system.

In an embodiment of the invention, the mobile device (DEV) connecting to the wireless access point (WAP) receives advertising content from the advertising management system and web content from the Internet.

In an embodiment of the invention, the mobile device (DEV) connecting to the wireless access point (WAP) receives advertising content from the advertising management system and web content from the Internet, wherein the web content (WC) is transmitted from the Internet without being relayed via the advertising management system (AMS).

According to an embodiment of the invention web content should preferably be requested directly from the web source instead of being relayed though the advertising management system. It is thereby ensured that the advertising management system does not act as a bottleneck to browsing performed by the user of the mobile device. In an embodiment of the invention, a mobile device may be provided with an app, i.e. software, to be executed at the individual mobile device. The app will be executed as a visual display of a compass. The compass will direct a user of the mobile device to a stronger network by physically showing the direction.

The compass function will technically be based on detection of signal levels related to one or preferably the closest wireless access point. The signal detection is performed in the mobile device and a display will illustrate a direction towards a stronger network signal. The app is very attractive to a user, due to the fact that the user does not have to specify a specific local network to search for, but rather just search for a wireless access point providing a stronger wifi connection within the united network established by the wireless access points of the advertising network.

In an embodiment of the invention, a website may also be applied for the purpose of being directed to physical shops or physical providers for the purpose of obtaining or buying advertised goods or information.

In an embodiment of the invention, it is possible to provide a subscriber associated to more than one wireless access point, e.g. a shop owner having five wireless access points, with a heap map, showing or reflecting where mobile devices have moved within the store at a given time or one or more specified time periods.

In an embodiment of the invention, it will be possible for the subscriber to assign different of the subscriber's wireless access point with different dedicated advertisement. It may therefore be possible for a subscriber, e.g. a shop owner or a library to give specific advertisement to a mobile device in dependency of where the mobile device is in the store. This may e.g. be done advantageously by the subscriber when dedicating advertisement regarding books in one subscriber-defined advertising content to a wireless access point located in the subscriber's book department and dedicating advertisement regarding delicious meat in another subscriber-defined advertising content to a wireless access point located in the subscriber's butcher department. In an embodiment of the invention, a subscriber may be associated to more than one wireless access point. This may e.g. be defined centrally in the advertisement management system. This application of a multiple numbers or wireless access points associated to one subscriber may be applied throughout the present application. The group may be seen from the advertising management system as one uniform group of wireless access point and the advertising management system may thereby submit the same subscriber-defined advertising content to all wireless access point in the group. The advertising management system may also handle the wireless access points individually and transmit different subscriber-specified advertising content to the different wireless access points of the group. This may e.g. be done by referral to different MAC numbers or other suitable measures.

The wireless access point of a subscriber may thus e.g. be grouped with further wireless repeaters. Wireless repeaters are commonly used to improve signal range and strength of a wireless network. A wireless repeater (also called wireless range extender) takes an existing signal from a wireless router or access point and rebroadcasts it to create a second network. When two or more hosts have to be connected with one another over the IEEE 802.11 protocol and the distance is too long for a direct connection to be established, a wireless repeater is used to bridge the gap. It can be a specialized stand-alone computer networking device. Also, some wireless network interface controllers optionally support operating in such a mode. Those outside of the primary network will be able to connect through the new "repeated" network. However, as far as the original router or access point is concerned only the repeater's MAC-address is connected.

In a preferred embodiment the wireless repeater is configured with wireless network settings, SSID and security credentials identically to the wireless access points participating in a united network UN, thereby simply extending the coverage area CA of the united network.

It is noted, that the terms advertising and advertisement are used interchangeably in the present disclosure. Generally, it is to be understood that the wireless access points may be geographically distributed in different ways. Preferably, the wireless access points may be located at parties at different geographically distributed locations such as places of business in the form of e.g. shops, stores, service providers and/or the like in malls, along pedestrian streets or at other stores, shops/service providers or the like. The advertising content may hence at least partly be based on the individual shop, store, and/or service provider so that e.g. at least a part of the advertising content which is to be visualized at a mobile client(s) connected to a wireless access point at a subscriber may be based on an offered product or services of the place of business where the individual wireless access point is located.

The figures

An exemplary embodiment of the invention will be described in the following with reference to the figures, where fig. 1 A is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the invention,

fig. IB is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of the invention,

fig. 2 - 3 are block diagrams illustrating various embodiments of the invention, fig. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of the invention,

fig. 5 - 7 are block diagrams illustrating various embodiments of the invention and fig. 8 illustrates an advertisement network according to an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed description

Fig. 8 illustrates a subscriber facilitated advertisement network AN according to an embodiment of the invention.

The advertising network AN may e.g. be operated by an advertising network operator ANO.

The network comprises a plurality of independent subscriber wireless access point WAP. The plurality of wireless access point WAP are centrally served and maintained with respect to advertisement supply by means of an advertising management system AMS via an Internet I connection.

The wireless access points are geographically distributed and each wirelessly covers a decentral coverage area DC A.

The advertising management system supply the different wireless access points WAP of the subscribers SUB with individual advertising content determined by the individual subscribers SUB. wherein the subscriber facilitated advertisement network is accessible by an automatic connection procedure available to mobile devices connecting to the wireless network via said plurality of wireless access points WAP. The automatic connection procedure may e.g. be obtained by assigning the different wireless access point WAP with the common identifier CNID, e.g. the SSID of the wireless network established by the wireless access points WAP. A mobile device DEV may thereby perceive and handle the individual wireless access points WAP as being the same network and apply standard software and processing equipment in the mobile device to automatically connect to the subscriber facilitated advertisement network for Internet access. At the same time, the individual subscriber may individually obtain highly targeted advertising content with respect to location due to the fact the wireless access points may be individually served with advertising content of the central advertising management system. Moreover, the illustrated embodiment of the invention moreover provided effective provisions for minimization of conflict of interest between the individual subscribers SUB due to the physical distribution of the wireless access points.

The above-mentioned provisions may be employed in the below exemplary embodiment of the invention. The distinguishing between the decentral coverage areas are not necessarily shown in the drawings, but the presence of geographically separated wireless access points is a precondition.

A decentral coverage area DCA denotes a three-dimensional space around a wireless access point WAP in which a mobile device DEV may connect to the wireless access point. The space, i.e. the decentral coverage area DCA, is typically not a uniformly shaped volume, as it may be limited and defined by, among other things, radio transmission power of the wireless access point and/or the mobile device, antenna configuration, elevation, encoding technology, physical obstructions or reflectors, e.g. walls, concrete constructions, etc., interference or obscuring by other nearby radio transmitters, etc. Dependent on the defining parameters, the decentral coverage area may in a typical embodiment extend between 10 and 200 meters from the antenna(s), e.g. about 50 - 100 meters for a typical wireless access point when placed with free line of sight to the mobile device.

In an embodiment where several wireless access points WAP contributes to a united network UN by associating a common network identifier CNID, typically a common SSID, to the WLANs they establish, the mobile device will typically connect to the wireless access point WAP with the highest signal strength or the best signal quality and/or bandwidth. Thereby the decentral coverage areas DCA of two neighboring wireless access points WAP may adapt to each other and "share", so-to-speak, the common ground where they both theoretically cover, at least in absence of the other. In other words, mobile device DEV located between and within reach of two wireless access points, may by choice of which one they connect to, define the location of the common boundary between the two decentral coverage areas DCA. The decentral coverage areas thereby adapt automatically when the physical parameters and/or properties of nearby wireless access points are changed.

By coverage area CA is in a preferred embodiment referred to a union of all decentral coverage areas DCA that are established by wireless access points WAP with the same common network identifier CNID, e.g. the same SSID. In other words the coverage area CA is the three-dimensional, geographical space anywhere within of which a mobile device DEV may connect by means of a particular common network identifier CNID. In an embodiment the coverage area CA is a continuous, geographical space. In an embodiment the coverage area CA consists of several discontiguous spaces, or a discontinuous single space, i.e. an area with non-covered "holes" in it. A continuous coverage area CA may e.g. be established by a sufficient amount of sufficiently closely located wireless access points WAP. If the density of wireless access points in an area is insufficient, the coverage area will typically be a single space with a coverage-"hole" at the area of insufficient density. If two covered spaces are located at significant distance, e.g. two separate districts in a city, or in two different cities with no continuous coverage in-between, the coverage area CA is referred to as dis-contiguous coverage area. The coverage area may thereby in an embodiment refer to the geographical extent within which a united network UN according to the present disclosure is accessible. Wireless access points WAP may identify their controlled WLANs by network identifiers, typically referred to as service set identifiers (SSID) or wireless network names as understood by the skilled person. When two WLANs are identified by a common network identifier CNID, i.e. the same, e.g., SSID and employing no wireless security, they will be typically be appreciated as the same WLAN, even though the wireless access points WAP may typically be differentiable by their respective, unique hardware addresses, the so-called MAC-addresses or basis service set identifiers (BSSID). This effect may in an embodiment also be obtained by utilizing a common network identifier CNID, typically a common SSID, together with identical wireless security settings, e.g. securing all the wireless access points with, e.g., WPA2-protection and the same security credentials. In other words, all wireless access points WAP to be considered part of a united network UN to contribute decentral coverage area DCA to the coverage area CA should be using a same, common network identifier CNID. As is generally understood by a person skilled in the art, a common SSID may also be referred to as an extended service set identifier (ESSID). Fig. 1 A is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an advertising network AN according to an embodiment of the invention. An advertising management system AMS operated by an advertising network operator ANO is connected to the internet I. The advertising management system AMS comprises advertising content AC, which comprises subscriber-defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC. The advertising management system also comprises a subscriber rule set SRS and a compliance rule set CRS.

The advertising network AN comprises a plurality of wireless access points WAP, to which accept connections from mobile devices DEV by means of WiFi-based technology. As the wireless access points WAP are connected to the internet I, the mobile devices DEV may also be offered access the internet I by the wireless connections. Each of the wireless access points WAP is associated, hence the dashed line, with a subscriber SUB. The advertising network AN comprises a plurality of subscribers SUB, and in an embodiment some subscribers are associated with more than one wireless access point WAP, as illustrated.

As elaborated in more detail above, the subscribers preferably represent shops, cafes, malls, businesses, waiting rooms, public areas, sports or concert venues, etc., where customers or guests come and go, and where an offer for wireless internet, preferably for free, will typically be well received and relevant for mobile device users. As elaborated in more detail above, a subset of the subscriber-defined advertising content SAC is assigned to an individual subscriber SUB, and other subsets are assigned to other individual subscribers SUB. The subscriber rules set SRS controls these relationships, possibly among other things. It is thereby possible to distribute subscriber-defined advertising content SAC to a mobile device DEV being connected to the internet I through the wireless access point WAP of a specific subscriber; and wherein the subscriber-defined advertising content SAC is specific to that subscriber. In an exemplary embodiment, the system facilitates that when a mobile device user is in a clothing store the system may distribute offers for items on sale in that very store to him. When the mobile device user later sits in front of a cafe, e.g. waiting for public transport, the system may distribute an offer for a cheap coffee to go from the cafe to him. In these examples the clothing store and the cafe represent two different subscribers each offering free internet through their separate wireless access points, and the advertising management system AMS is able to distribute relevant and useful subscriber-defined advertising content to the mobile device user when the accepts their offers for internet access.

As also elaborated in more detail above, a subset of the advertising network operator- defined advertising content AAC, which preferably comprises advertisements sold to third-party advertisers, is defined as compliant with an individual subscriber SUB, and other or the same or combinations of subsets are defined as compliant with other individual subscribers SUB. This is controlled by the compliance rule set CRS. When a mobile device DEV is connected to the internet I through the wireless access point WAP of a specific subscriber SUB it is thereby possible for the advertising management system AMS to select and distribute advertising network operator- defined advertising content AAC which complies with e.g. interests or other constraints set by that subscriber and by the operator and/or third-party advertiser. To expand on the above exemplary embodiment, when the mobile device user is inside the clothing store, the advertising management system may further send it advertisements for other local stores or nearby restaurants, etc., which the advertising network operator or third-party advertiser finds relevant to customers in the clothing store, but the clothing store manager may restrict the third-party advertisements delivered in his store to not include, e.g., advertisements for competitors' clothing stores. Likewise, when the mobile device user waits for his transport in front of the cafe, the advertising management system may further send him third-party advertisements which are found relevant for that location or activity, and some of which may possibly be the same as received in the clothing store, but the cafe manager whose internet access is utilized here may by means of the compliance rule set restrict the third-party advertising to not include, e.g., advertisements from a tea house at the opposite side of the road. The advertising management system is in this example is again facilitated to distribute relevant and useful advertising content to the mobile device user, while at the same time acknowledging and respecting the interests of the subscribers.

Examples and alternatives for the different components and structures are disclosed and discussed in more detail above, and any, some or all possibilities, alone or in combination, are within the scope of the present invention and applicable to various embodiments thereof.

Fig. IB is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of receiving advertising content to a mobile device DEV in the above described advertising network AN. In a first step 1B.1 is illustrated, that the advertising management system AMS receives a request for advertising content AC from a mobile device DEV. As indicated in fig. IB, the request goes through the wireless access point WAP and the internet I.

In a second step IB.2 the advertising management system AMS determines the particular subscriber related to the request for advertising content AC, typically the subscriber associated with the wireless access point through which the request is received. The identification of the particular wireless access point and/or the particular subscriber is in a preferred embodiment provided to the advertising management system AMS together with or as part of the request for advertising content, and may either be added to the request by the mobile device DEV or the subscriber's wireless access point WAP. Other ways of determining the subscriber may be achieved by various methods and embodiments as described and illustrated herein.

In a third step IB.3 the advertising management system AMS establishes advertising content AC by combining subscriber-defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC in dependency of the determined subscriber SUB. The selecting of subscriber-defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC is made in accordance with the subscriber rule set SRS and the compliance rule set CRS.

The fourth step IB.4 illustrates that advertising content AC, comprising subscriber- defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC is distributed to the mobile device DEV via the internet I and the wireless access point WAP. This step of distributing advertising content is also illustrated in Fig. 1A by the indication of advertising content AC being transferred along the illustrated connections from the advertising management system AMS to the internet I, to the wireless access point WAP, and finally to a mobile device DEV. Fig. 2 illustrates various embodiments of the invention based on the illustration of fig. 1A. The various additional features may all be present in a preferred embodiment, but various embodiments comprise different combinations of only some or all of the features of fig. 2. In an embodiment derivable from fig. 2 the advertising content AC is stored in an advertising content server ACS.

In an embodiment derivable from fig. 2 the advertising management system AMS comprises user profiles UP, preferably related to the mobile devices or users of the mobile devices. Various embodiments relating to the establishment of and use of the user profiles UP are disclosed above. In an embodiment derivable from fig. 2 the advertising management system AMS comprises data processing equipment DPE comprising hardware and software for performing the tasks of the advertising management system AMS. In an embodiment derivable from fig. 2 the advertising network operator ANO is further in communication with an advertiser ADV, preferably in order to sell exposure of advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC or to receive the advertiser's preferences regarding the compliance rule set CRS. In an embodiment derivable from fig. 2, a unique ID UID is used to determine the subscriber through which a request for advertising content has been sent. Fig. 2 illustrates various embodiments of implementing and using the unique ID, which may be used alone or in combination(s) in various embodiments. In a preferred embodiment an individual unique ID UID is a property of each wireless access point WAP, e.g. a MAC-ad dress. By adding this kind of unique ID to the request for advertising content the advertising management system AMS may identify the relevant subscriber SUB as the subscriber associated with the wireless access point identified by the unique ID.

In an embodiment an individual unique ID UID is a property of each subscriber SUB, e.g. a customer number. By adding this kind of unique ID to the request for advertising content the advertising management system AMS may explicitly get the identity of the relevant subscriber SUB.

In an embodiment an individual unique ID UID represents a position, relative or absolute, in terms of coordinates, street address or any other suitable representation as further elaborated above, of the wireless access point, the subscriber or the mobile device, etc., and when the advertising management system AMS in an embodiment receives this kind of unique ID it may identify the relevant subscriber by comparing the represented position with known positions of the subscribers or wireless access points and, preferably, determine the nearest one to be the relevant subscriber. Fig. 3 illustrates various embodiments of the invention based on the illustration of fig. 1 A and/or fig. 2. The various additional features may all be present in a preferred embodiment, but various embodiments comprise different combinations of only some or all of the features of fig. 1A, 2 and/or 3.

In an embodiment derivable from fig. 3 a web server WS as further discussed above is also connected to the internet I, and the mobile device requests web content WC from the web server WS. As illustrated in fig. 3, the retrieval and transmission of web content WC does in a preferred embodiment not involve the advertising management system AMS. The web content may in a preferred embodiment comprise a web page, typically based on an HTML-document, but any web content may be retrieved in accordance with various embodiments of the invention. In an embodiment derivable from fig. 3 proxy servers PS are located in relation to the wireless access points WAP. In a preferred embodiment the proxy servers are located close to the wireless access points in terms of connection length or routing hops, preferably at the same geographical location as the wireless access point WAP and even more preferably integrated together with the wireless access point WAP, e.g. in a wireless router WR as illustrated and further described above, in order to distribute the required proxy processing power as much as possible. In an embodiment one or more proxy servers are located upstream from a number of wireless access points WAP in order to process all traffic collectively for those wireless access points, thereby requiring less proxy servers but with higher processing power demands on each. The proxy servers PS are in a preferred embodiment configured to manipulate the web content WC into modified web content MWC before it is transmitted to the mobile device. The manipulation preferably comprises adding code, e.g. text, graphical items, a script or other instructions, that makes the mobile device request advertising content AC when processing the received modified web content MWC. Any modification of web content suitable for making the mobile device request advertising content is within the scope of the invention, and various embodiments thereof are disclosed above. In a preferred embodiment the proxy server modifies all or some HTML-documents transmitted in accordance with the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP).

Fig. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of distributing advertising content to a mobile device DEV in reaction to the mobile device's request for web content WC. In a first step 4.1 is illustrated, that a request from a mobile device DEV for web content WC is received by a wireless access point WAP and relayed to a web server WS via the internet access provided by the wireless access point WAP. In a second step 4.2 the web content WC sent through the internet I from the web server WS is intercepted somewhere around the wireless access point WAP and manipulated into modified web content MWC before it is passed on to the mobile device DEV. As mentioned above, the manipulation of the web content into modified web content is preferably performed in relation to the wireless access point, e.g. by a proxy server integrated with or substantially immediately upstream from the wireless access point WAP.

In a third step 4.3 the mobile device DEV processes the received modified web content MWC. The modified web content preferably comprises an HTML- or XHTML document which can be processed in order to prepare a web page for viewing by a user, but other kinds of web content is within the scope of the invention.

In a fourth step 4.4 the mobile device obtains the unique ID UID which may be used to determine the relevant subscriber SUB. In a preferred embodiment the unique ID UID is included in the modified web content MWC and is thereby readily available. In an embodiment the unique ID UID represents a position of, e.g., the mobile device, as this in turn represents an approximate position of the wireless access point and thereby the subscriber. In that case, the mobile device DEV needs to measure, calculate, inquire, or otherwise determine its position with some predefined or available precision in order to obtain the unique ID UID. In a fifth step 4.5 the advertising management system AMS receives a request for advertising content AC from a mobile device DEV via the wireless access point WAP and the internet I. The request for advertising content AC preferably comprises or is received together with the unique ID, as illustrated.

In a sixth step 4.6 the advertising management system AMS determines the particular subscriber related to the request for advertising content AC on the basis of the unique ID UID. In a seventh step 4.7 the advertising management system AMS establishes advertising content AC by combining subscriber-defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC in dependency of the determined subscriber SUB. The selecting of subscriber-defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC is made in accordance with the subscriber rule set SRS and the compliance rule set CRS.

The eighth step 4.8 illustrates that advertising content AC, comprising subscriber- defined advertising content SAC and advertising network operator-defined advertising content AAC is distributed to the mobile device DEV via the internet I and the wireless access point WAP.

In a ninth step 4.9 the distributed advertising content AC is displayed on the mobile device DEV, and thereby rendered to the user by means of a user interface of the mobile device. The part of the modified web content MWC which originates from the web content WC is preferably also displayed. This may happen before or during the request for advertising content, or it may first be displayed together with the advertising content. Preferably the web page is shown as soon as it is processed, and the advertising content AC is added as a bar above or below the web page view as soon as it is received. Fig. 5 illustrates various embodiments of the invention based on the illustration of fig. 1A, 2 and/or fig. 3. The various additional features may all be present in a preferred embodiment, but various embodiments comprise different combinations of only some or all of the features of fig. 1 A, 2, 3 and/or 4.

In an embodiment derivable from fig. 4 each wireless access point WAP defines a decentral coverage area DCA as described above, basically representing the geographical area or three-dimensional space within which a mobile device may establish a connection with it. Though illustrated by circles in fig. 5 for simplicity the decentral coverage areas DCA are in practice shaped by walls and other obstacles reducing the range differently in different directions.

In an embodiment derivable from fig. 4 each mobile device DEV comprises a WLAN account ACC which records WiFi-network to which is has been connected or is allowed to connect.

In an embodiment derivable from fig. 4 each wireless access point WAP associates its wireless network with a common network identifier CNID. By using the same common network identifier, in WiFi-networks typically referred to as SSID, the mobile devices DEV are enabled to use the same WLAN account ACC to connect to any of the wireless access points WAP. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the combination of common network identifiers and WLAN accounts ACC in practice makes the mobile devices DEV experience the different wireless access points as belonging to one united network UN, to which the mobile device can connect automatically, typically without requiring individual user accept, at any of the wireless access points, if it has just one time been connect to any of the participating wireless access points before.

In an embodiment derivable from fig. 4, when the wireless access points WAP work together to establish a united network UN as disclosed, the different decentral coverage areas DCA may collectively be considered a coverage area CA of the united network UN. In other words, if a mobile device comprises a WLAN account ACC for the relevant common network identifier CNID, it can automatically connect any time it enters the coverage area CA anywhere, and it may stay connected and seamlessly switch from wireless access point to wireless access point as it is being moved around within the coverage area CA.

Fig. 6 illustrates that in an embodiment the decentral coverage areas DCA in practice adapt to neighbors also participating in the united network UN, as a mobile device DEV located somewhere between two wireless access points WAP with the same common network identifier CNID typically connects to the one with strongest or best quality signal. Due to this preferred automatic selection of wireless access point by the mobile devices, a wireless access point may not be reachable within its entire theoretical range, if the range of a nearby wireless access point overlaps this theoretical range. By this mechanism, the united network automatically adapts to the interests of the nearest wireless access point, which preferably coincides with the interests of the subscriber associated with that wireless access point, in particular when taking into account that the decentral coverage areas DCA will often match the walls or other boundaries between, e.g., buildings, due to their obstacle effect on radio communication. Fig. 7 illustrates an embodiment where a base station BS of a wireless telecommunication network is also connected to the internet I and participating in the distribution of advertising content AC to a mobile device DEV that is outside reach of any of the wireless access points WAP of the advertising network AN. Further base stations BS may be used for the mobile device or the telecommunication network to determine the location of the mobile device in order to select relevant advertising content, e.g. based on the subscribe^ s) nearest to the mobile device.

Claims

1. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network (AN) comprising a plurality of independent subscriber wireless access points (WAP), wherein the plurality of wireless access points (WAP) are centrally served and maintained with respect to advertising content (AC) by means of an advertising management system (AMS) via the Internet (I), the wireless access points being geographically distributed and each wirelessly covering a decentral coverage area (DCA), wherein the advertising management system supply the different wireless access points (WAP) of subscribers (SUB) with individual advertising content (AC) determined by the individual subscribers (SUB) and wherein the subscriber facilitated advertisement network is accessible by an automatic connection procedure available to mobile devices connecting to the wireless network via said plurality of wireless access points (WAP).

2. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to claim 1, wherein the advertising management system (AMS) and the wireless access points are communicatively coupled via the Internet (I).

3. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the mobile devices connecting to the wireless access points are communicatively coupled to the Internet (I).

4. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-3, wherein the mobile devices connecting to the wireless access points are communicatively coupled to the Internet (I) and the advertising management system (AMS).

5. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-4, wherein the individual advertising content supplied to the individual subscribers (SUB) by said advertising management system (AMS) is transmitted to mobile devices (MD) connecting to the wireless network via said subscriber wireless access points (WAP).

6. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-5, wherein a potential conflict of interest between different advertising subscribers in the multiple access network is obtained at least partly though minimizing overlapping of the decentral coverage areas.

7. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-6, wherein the subscriber facilitated advertisement network is accessible by an automatic connection procedure available to mobile devices,

the connection procedure connecting the mobile devices wirelessly to the subscriber facilitated advertisement network via a wireless access point through which the mobile devices may access Internet web content (WC).

8. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-7, wherein the subscriber facilitated advertisement network has a common network ID, thereby identifying each wireless access point (WAP) wirelessly to a mobile device as the same access point.

9. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-8, wherein the automatic connection procedure is performed when a wireless access point become available to a candidate mobile device if the candidate mobile device has been connected previously to any of the access points of the subscriber facilitated advertisement network.

10. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-9, wherein the advertising management system (AMS) facilitates a central uploading of individual advertising content determined by the individual subscribers (SUB) via the Internet (I), the individual advertising content being subscriber defined advertising content (SAC).

11. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-10, wherein the advertising management system (AMS) further offers distribution of an advertising network operator defined advertising content (AAC).

12. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-11, wherein the subscriber (S) are associated to a unique identifier (UID).

13. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-12, wherein the unique ID is transmitted to the advertising management system (AMS) via the Internet (I) thereby availing the advertising management system, preferably upon request, to transmit the different subscribers (SUB) with individual advertising content as determined by the individual subscribers (SUB) according to a subscriber rule set (SRS).

14. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-13, wherein the request for subscriber defined advertising content is initiated by code inserted into web content passing through a wireless access point to a mobile device (MD) connected to the wireless access point, the code comprising a script requesting advertising content and the script supplying the unique ID facilitating the advertising management system to automatically transmit, the script being executed at the mobile device upon receipt of the web content comprising the script.

15. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-14, wherein the subscriber facilitated advertisement network function as an adaptive network by motivating new subscribers to join in if a decentral coverage area (DC A) is not under coverage of wireless access points of the subscriber facilitated advertisement network.

16. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-

15, wherein said subscriber rule set (SRS) associating a subset of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) to each subscriber (SUB) thereby facilitates individual transmittal of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) from the advertising management system (AMS) via wireless access points (WAP) associated to the subscriber.

17. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-

16, wherein the subscriber rule set (SRS) furthermore defines timing definitions defining a desired timing according to which subscriber-defined advertising content

(SAC) is to be automatically transmitted by the advertising management system (AMS).

18. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-17, wherein at least one of the step of providing a set of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) and the step of providing a set of advertising network operator- defined advertising content (AAC) is performed at least partly in dependency with a user profile (UP) associated with the mobile device or a user of the mobile device.

19. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-18, wherein the subscriber rule set (SRS) furthermore relates to a user profile (UP) associated with the mobile device or a user of the mobile device, and wherein the set of subscriber-defined advertising content is further selected in accordance with the user profile (UP).

20. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-

19. wherein the user profile is updated by means of input from a user.

21. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-20, wherein the user profile is updated in response to analysis of web content or web search results accessed by the mobile device or the user of the mobile device.

22. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-21, wherein the subscriber rule set (SRS) associates a subscriber (SUB) with a specified subset of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) stored at a, preferably central, advertising content server (ACS).

23. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-22, wherein the subscriber rule set (SRS) is defining subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) exclusively associated to said associated subscriber (SUB).

24. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-23, wherein said compliance rule set (CRS) defining a subset of the advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) as compliant with the individual subscribers (SUB) facilitates individual transmittal of compliant advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) from the advertising management system (AMS) via wireless access points (WAP) associated with the subscriber.

25. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-

24. wherein the subscriber (SUB) is associated to an industrial classification code and where the compliance rule set (CRS) determines whether advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) may be transmitted via the wireless access point(s) associated to said subscriber (SUB).

26. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-25, wherein the advertising management system (AMS) determining the dedicated subscriber (SUB) related to the request from said mobile device (DEV) on the basis of a unique ID (UID) associated with said requests.

27. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1- 26,wherein said unique ID (UID) identifies the wireless access point (WAP) through which the requests were transmitted from the mobile device (DEV).

28. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-27, wherein said unique ID (UID) identifies the wireless access point (WAP) through which the requests were transmitted from the mobile device (DEV) by comprising a hardware identifier, preferably a media access control address (MAC-address), of said wireless access point (WAP).

29. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-28, wherein said unique ID (UID) is determined based on a positioning system of said mobile device performing the requests for advertising content (AC).

30. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1- 29,wherein said unique ID (UID) is determined based on multilateration, trilateration or triangulation to determine the position of said mobile device performing the request(s) for advertising content (AC).

31. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-30, wherein said subscriber is identified by a unique ID combined into the requests for advertisement content.

32. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-31, wherein the combining of said unique ID into said requests for advertising content is triggered by said mobile device (DEV).

33. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1- 32,wherein the combining of said unique ID into said requests for advertising content is triggered by said advertising network (AN).

34. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-33, wherein the combining of said unique ID into said requests for advertising content is triggered by the wireless access point through which the requests was transmitted from said mobile device (DEV), said unique ID identifying said wireless access point.

35. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-34, wherein the wireless access points (WAP) are further configured to communicatively connect said mobile device (DEV) to the internet (I) for retrieval of web content (WC).

36. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1- 35,wherein said step of the advertising management system (AMS) receiving requests for advertising content (AC) from a mobile device (DEV) via the Internet (I) is preceded by the steps of: the mobile device (DEV) requesting web content (WC); and the mobile device receiving said requested web content (WC) as modified web content (MWC) from said wireless access point (WAP), the mobile device initiating and transmitting said request for advertising content (AC) in response to receipt of said modified web content.

37. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-36, wherein said requests from the mobile device (DEV) for advertising content are triggered by the modified web content (MWC) received by the mobile device.

38. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-37, wherein said modified web content (MWC) comprises the web content (WC) and further script(s) or instructions.

39. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-38, wherein the subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) is associated to an industrial classification code.

40. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-39, wherein the subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) is categorized.

41. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-40, wherein the advertising management system (AMS) facilitates a central uploading of individual advertising content determined by the individual subscribers (SUB) via the Internet (I), the individual advertising content being subscriber defined advertising content (SAC).

42. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-41, wherein the advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) is associated to a an industrial classification code.

43. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-42, wherein the advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) is categorized.

44. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-

43, wherein said combination of the subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) and the advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) for transmission to said mobile device (DEV) in response to said requests is performed as a sequential transmission over time of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) and advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC).

45. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-

44, wherein the combination of advertising content (AC) is transmitted to the requesting mobile device for a parallel displaying at the mobile device (DEV).

46. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-

45, wherein said web content (WC) retrieved by said mobile device (DEV) is received and displayed at the mobile device.

47. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-46, wherein said combination of the subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) and the advertising network operator- defined advertising content (AAC) transmitted to said mobile device (DEV) is received and displayed at the mobile device.

48. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-47, wherein the advertising content (AC) transmitted to the mobile device (DEV) is displayed at the mobile device in addition to web content (WC) requested by the mobile device (DEV).

49. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1- 48,wherein the advertising content (AC) transmitted to the mobile device (DEV) is displayed at the mobile device simultaneously with web content (WC) requested by the mobile device (DEV).

50. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-49, wherein a plurality of said wireless access points are comprised in wireless routers

(WR).

51. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-50, wherein a plurality of said wireless routers (WR) comprise proxy servers (PS).

52. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-53, wherein said proxy servers trigger the association of a unique ID determining a subscriber.

53. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-52, wherein the advertising network (AN) further comprises at least one base station (BS) of a wireless telecommunication network, and wherein the method comprises a step of the advertising management system (AMS) transmitting advertising content (AC) as a combination of subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) and advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC) to said mobile device (DEV) when the mobile device is connected to said base station and not connected to said wireless access points; and wherein said advertising content (AC) is selected in accordance with a location of said mobile device.

54. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network (AN) comprising an advertising network operator (ANO) and a plurality of subscribers (SUB), the advertising network operator (ANO) providing an advertising technology to the plurality of subscribers (SUB), each of the plurality of subscribers (SUB) in return for said advertising technology providing a decentral coverage area (DCA) to said advertising network operator (ANO) as a part of said advertising network the advertising technology involving a united network (UN) established by a plurality of wireless access points (WAP), each associated with one of said subscribers (SUB), the advertising technology further being configured to transmit advertising content (AC) automatically via said plurality of wireless access points (WAP) to mobile devices (DEV) while targeting said provided decentral coverage area (DCA) with individual subscriber-defined advertising content (SC).

55. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-54, wherein the advertising technology comprises data processing equipment.

56. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-55, the advertising technology further provides for an individual subscriber (SUB) to transmit subscriber-defined advertising content (SAC) to a subset of said mobile devices (DEV) being connected to a subset of said wireless access points (WAP) associated with the individual subscriber (SUB) in accordance with a subscriber advertising plan settled with the advertising network operator (ANO).

57. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1- 56,wherein the unique ID is associated to a specified subscriber in a subscriber rule set (SRS).

58. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1- 59,the advertising content (AC) comprising advertising network operator-defined advertising content (AAC).

59. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-60, the network further comprising offering exposure among said advertising content

(AC) in dependency of the geographical location to an advertiser (ADV) in accordance with an advertiser billing plan.

60. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-59, wherein the advertising technology comprising compliance rule set in accordance with subscriber advertising rule set and/or advertising billing plan.

61. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-60, the network further comprising offering internet access to said mobile devices (DEV) within a coverage area (CA) of said united network (UN) via said wireless access points (WAP) in return of providing for exposure of said advertising content (AC) in a display of said mobile device (DEV).

62. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-61, wherein the mobile device (DEV) connecting to the wireless access point (WAP) receives advertising content from the advertising management system and web content from the Internet.

63. Subscriber facilitated advertisement network according to any of the claims 1-62, wherein the mobile device (DEV) connecting to the wireless access point (WAP) receives advertising content from the advertising management system and web content from the Internet, wherein the web content (WC) is transmitted from the Internet without being relayed via the advertising management system (AMS).

64. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a set of instructions for executing the processes of the claims 1-61 by one or more processors of a data processing equipment (DPE).

65. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a set of instructions for automatically executing the processes of the claims 1-61 by one or more processors of a data processing equipment (DPE).