Apple investigating mood-based ad delivery system
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday published a peculiar Apple filing describing an ad service that targets users based on hard-to-quantify metrics like behavior and mood.
Source: USPTO
Apple's "Inferring user mood based on user and group characteristic data" patent application looks to offer advertisers and content providers a more intuitive and effective way to target users.
As noted in the document, a user's responsiveness to targeted content delivery -- advertisements -- can be affected by any number of factors. Among these are location, time of day, current activity and mood. Apple wants to leverage user mood and mood-associated characteristic data to provide a more accurate method of ad targeting.
In addition to mood, the system takes into account user demographics, behavior, location, time, how the ad is served, the package contents and more.
According to the filing, the system analyzes mood data collected over a set period of time to generate a "baseline mood profile" for a user. By comparing a user's mood-associated data against various "mood rules," the method can infer how a user is feeling at a given moment and subsequently serve up an appropriate ad.
Described by the filing, mood-associated characteristics can be physical, behavioral or spatial-temporal. For example, heart rate, blood pressure, adrenaline level, perspiration, body temperature and vocal expressions may all be used to determine a user's mood. Behavioral cues include type of media is being consumed, the sequence in which apps are launched and social networking activities, among others. Time and location data can be used to infer mood by comparing it with stored mood-associated characteristics.
In some embodiments, mood is gauged by a camera which, when used in tandem with facial recognition software, can measure facial expressions.
On the backend, a database consisting of a user's profile is automatically updated based on a set of rules instituted either by the user or the system. Pieces of the profile may be revised as needed based on learning algorithms that tap into external data like iTunes registration and usage information.
Once user mood characteristic data is gathered a mood can be inferred based on a set of predefined rules. These rules act off a user's baseline mood, which is applied on a per-user basis. For example, one user's baseline may be happy, while another user is sad.
Based on the current inferred mood, the system determines how likely a user is to interact with a given ad and serves up mood-appropriate content. At this point, a segment assigner module applies a set of user characteristics to a given ad before pushing it out. For example, the document notes content will be sent out if a user meets the following criteria: "gender, male; age, 19-24; location, Northern California or New York City; mood, happy."
The patent filing goes on to explain the system in exhaustive detail, including rules to be applied to user data to estimate and infer moods, baseline mood analysis and tagging, data collection systems and more.
Apple dedicates a part of the property to address privacy concerns and states the information gathered should not be used for nefarious purposes. The system is meant to enhance user experience by serving relevant ads while at the same time providing advertisers with more effective distribution tools.
With the U.S. grappling with privacy issues brought to the fore by recent revelations regarding the NSA's surveillance policies, it is unlikely that Apple's invention will be applied anytime soon.
Apple's mood-based ad system patent application was first filed for in 2012 and credits Michael Froimowitz Greenzeiger, Ravindra Phulari and Mehul K. Sanghavi as its inventors.
Source: USPTO
Apple's "Inferring user mood based on user and group characteristic data" patent application looks to offer advertisers and content providers a more intuitive and effective way to target users.
As noted in the document, a user's responsiveness to targeted content delivery -- advertisements -- can be affected by any number of factors. Among these are location, time of day, current activity and mood. Apple wants to leverage user mood and mood-associated characteristic data to provide a more accurate method of ad targeting.
In addition to mood, the system takes into account user demographics, behavior, location, time, how the ad is served, the package contents and more.
According to the filing, the system analyzes mood data collected over a set period of time to generate a "baseline mood profile" for a user. By comparing a user's mood-associated data against various "mood rules," the method can infer how a user is feeling at a given moment and subsequently serve up an appropriate ad.
Described by the filing, mood-associated characteristics can be physical, behavioral or spatial-temporal. For example, heart rate, blood pressure, adrenaline level, perspiration, body temperature and vocal expressions may all be used to determine a user's mood. Behavioral cues include type of media is being consumed, the sequence in which apps are launched and social networking activities, among others. Time and location data can be used to infer mood by comparing it with stored mood-associated characteristics.
In some embodiments, mood is gauged by a camera which, when used in tandem with facial recognition software, can measure facial expressions.
On the backend, a database consisting of a user's profile is automatically updated based on a set of rules instituted either by the user or the system. Pieces of the profile may be revised as needed based on learning algorithms that tap into external data like iTunes registration and usage information.
Once user mood characteristic data is gathered a mood can be inferred based on a set of predefined rules. These rules act off a user's baseline mood, which is applied on a per-user basis. For example, one user's baseline may be happy, while another user is sad.
Based on the current inferred mood, the system determines how likely a user is to interact with a given ad and serves up mood-appropriate content. At this point, a segment assigner module applies a set of user characteristics to a given ad before pushing it out. For example, the document notes content will be sent out if a user meets the following criteria: "gender, male; age, 19-24; location, Northern California or New York City; mood, happy."
The patent filing goes on to explain the system in exhaustive detail, including rules to be applied to user data to estimate and infer moods, baseline mood analysis and tagging, data collection systems and more.
Apple dedicates a part of the property to address privacy concerns and states the information gathered should not be used for nefarious purposes. The system is meant to enhance user experience by serving relevant ads while at the same time providing advertisers with more effective distribution tools.
With the U.S. grappling with privacy issues brought to the fore by recent revelations regarding the NSA's surveillance policies, it is unlikely that Apple's invention will be applied anytime soon.
Apple's mood-based ad system patent application was first filed for in 2012 and credits Michael Froimowitz Greenzeiger, Ravindra Phulari and Mehul K. Sanghavi as its inventors.
Comments
I was excited then nervous about so much data residing on Apple's servers. I felt this was an intrusion at a scale unprecedented before. I do not think Google has anything like this currently. I cautiously read the rest of the article and realized how truly secretive Apple is! So many competitors are either not doing enough individual research to make outstanding biometric products before shipping or are just waiting to discover what Apple does. Apple is doing truly innovative research!!
Back to being nervous... How will/can the data be protected from the NSA and other US government departments? Having data centers outside the USA is a great start but European and Asian governments could step in to replace the nefarious activities of the USA.
This is an awesome patent but extreme caution is needed if a move forward is decided by Apple.
Hello, Gatorguy. ????
I've got a great idea for Google to counter Apple's mood determination algorithms. Just include a "I'm not in the mood to see intrusive advertisements." checkbox. This, of course, will put Google out of business, but they're a clever bunch, so maybe they could make some money by tricking Facebook into licensing the technology.
Indeed!
It is all very intrusively freaky, the future of advertising.
But it could have some medical usefulness.
No thanks, I don't want my phone listening to me and watching me to determine my mood so it can serve me ads. This sounds like something Google would do. I can imagine if this article was about Google, people here would be having a field day with it.
The "current" quietness could be due to trust value. People might trust Apple to take care of the collected data in ways they do not with Google thanks to Google's repeated privacy intrusions. Apple has not presented itself in a negative light as Google has done. Still, with so many privacy intrusions going on, I did get a bit nervous as I read the article.
What if I'm in the "mood" for NO ADS!
What if I'm in the "mood" for NO ADS!
*pop up ad for ad blockers*There's certainly a good debate about what data should be available to advertisers. What's most interesting to me about this article is this list:
Makes me VERY excited for the launch iwatch. They're not just putting a screen on your wrist. They're going all out with sensors... they didn't make the M7 just to track gyro and accelerometers.
Ohhhhh pleassse.......!
Google --> "cheapest life insurance"
.
.
.
Ads by Google --> buy Viagra online ... no prescription required
EDIT: Oh, this is interesting. . . Is Bing pushing "illegal drugs"? They look like they're placing ads for foreign companies who ship from overseas and bypass US requirements. Isn't that what Google supposedly got tagged for?
http://www.bing.com/search?q=cheap+viagra&go=Submit&qs=n&pq=cheap+viagra&sc=8-12&sp=-1&sk=&cvid=1178bdadd17b4b118e86308dc59b4ea5&first=9&FORM=PERE
Apple is certainly innovating in the ad delivery sector. Between this, iAds and iBeacons they're taking advertising technology to levels they've never been before. When you combine this with the fact that iOS edges out Android in mobile ad traffic and dominates in revenue generated from those ads, iOS looks to be like the mobile platform of choice when it comes to advertising to consumers. With these new innovations it looks well positioned to remain that way for years to come as well.
I don't block ads because I want the sites I visit to get credit for displaying them and so I can learn about the advertisers. A tech company advertising at AppleInsider is perfectly fine with me. On the flip side an ad promising to fix my golf swing is completely unwelcome on AppleInsider and earns that company a place on my "never buy anything from them" list.
Sadly I saw an OWC ad in a completely inappropriate place the other day. Because I have shopped there in the past I gave them a one-time pass. I may write to their president and suggest he change advertising tactics or I'll be obliged to blacklist them forever.
I just Binged it. So now what?
EDIT: Oh, this is interesting. . . Is Bing pushing "illegal drugs"? They look like they're placing ads for foreign companies who ship from overseas and bypass US requirements. Isn't that what Google supposedly got tagged for?
http://www.bing.com/search?q=cheap+viagra&go=Submit&qs=n&pq=cheap+viagra&sc=8-12&sp=-1&sk=&cvid=1178bdadd17b4b118e86308dc59b4ea5&first=9&FORM=PERE
Don't waste your time there. You know exactly what I was talking about. google has been penalized by a number of countries for accepting illegal Ads.
Bing? Microsoft? Come on!
It was, is and will always be google who needs to shove Ads, any Ads, up their dumb visitors' a$$ to keep the lights on!
Remember this, my friend ... NO Ads = NO Google.
Wonder what comes up in a search for "cheap Viagra" on DuckDuckGo
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=cheap+viagra
So no, I'm not sure even you know what point you're trying to make. All ads are evil maybe? The only evil ones are the ones you get dinged for by a government agency?
What about receiving car ads from Ford, evil? How about car insurance offers based on your driving history, are those evil? Targeted iAds using on your personal information collected by Apple. Are those evil? Just trying to figure out where you draw your lines.
No ads=No newspapers. No ads=No magazines. No ads=no local news broadcasts etc. etc.
Wonder what comes up in a search for "cheap Viagra" on DuckDuckGo
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=cheap+viagra
So no, I'm not sure even you know what point you're trying to make. All ads are evil maybe? The only evil ones are the ones you get dinged for by a government agency?
What about receiving car ads from Ford, evil? How about car insurance offers based on your driving history, are those evil? Targeted iAds using on your personal information collected by Apple. Are those evil? Just trying to figure out where you draw your lines.
No ads=No newspapers. No ads=No magazines. No ads=no local news broadcasts etc. etc.
Come on man! ROFLAMO ... we keep talking about completely different subjects! Let's agree to disagree ... you're google fan no matter what. Fair enough .... LMAO
Yesterday I emailed a friend some business information. He is using gmail and the Chrome browser. When he received my business correspondence several words in the body of my text had been tagged by Google with a HTML links to various Google advertisers.... It appears that Google is trying to match up his google search terms to text in his received gmail email...
What do you think of those apples ???