WO2001016666A2

WO2001016666A2 - Method, program and system for advertising over the internet

Info

Publication number: WO2001016666A2
Application number: PCT/US2000/023209
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bruce A. Ii Sneath; John Clark Snowdall, Jr.
Original assignee: Matrix Pacific Media Group, Inc.
Priority date: 1999-08-27
Filing date: 2000-08-24
Publication date: 2001-03-08
Also published as: WO2001016666A3; AU7068000A

Abstract

A method, program and system for advertising over the Internet (20). It provides digital advertising (46) with multimedia files downloaded on the Internet (48) and allows companies to generate revenue from the adversitsements rather than or in addition to revenue generated through the selling of their products directly. The method, program and system create a new standard for embedding digital advertising content within a multimedia file (42).

Description

METHOD, PROGRAM AND SYSTEM FOR ADVERTISING OVER THE INTERNET

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to the field of computer network technologies and related software programs. More particularly, the present invention relates to the field of computerized or electronic commerce ("e-commerce") utilizing computer networks such as the Internet.

BACKGROUND ART

With the rapid expansion and wide use of the Internet, e-commerce is a growing business and plays an important role in the United States economy. Consequently, substantial and extensive efforts have been made in researching and developing related computer network technologies, including software programs specializing in e-commerce applications on the Internet, such as advertising over the Internet.

One of the most important growing areas of e-commerce is the electronic distribution of multimedia files over the Internet. Music, movies, television shows, books, and many other forms of media already are being distributed over the Internet. This method of distributing media allows customers direct and instant access to vast arrays of entertainment, informative, and education media. However, this new method also requires new models for earning revenue, since the Internet also allows for easy piracy of intellectual property. Advertising is one of the avenues for earning revenue through multimedia distribution over the Internet. Currently a common method of advertising over the Internet is to display advertisements on the advertisers' or other third parties' web sites. However, since such advertisements are often displayed on web sites that are accessible to the general public, the advertisements are usually general in nature and are not tailored to a particular target group. In addition, while the advertisers are spending a great amount of money in advertising over the Internet, it is often hard to monitor the effectiveness, responsiveness and result of the advertisements.

United States Patent No. 5,809,242 issued to Shaw et al. on September 15, 1998 for "Electronic Mail System for Displaying Advertisement at Local Computer Received From Remote System" (hereafter the "Shaw Patent") discloses a system for providing scheduled messages to a remote user in a batch oriented system. While the user creates the electronic mail, a message is displayed to the user on a portion of the local monitor, where the message is changing in accordance with a local display schedule and stored on a local storage device. The message is targeted to the particular user. When the user is ready to transmit the e-mail created and/or receive e-mail addressed to him or her, the user's local client establishes a connection via a modem with a remote e-mail server system. The remote e-mail server system not only receives the e-mail transmitted by the user and/or transmits e-mail addressed to the user, but also updates the user's local messages in accordance with a distribution schedule. After the e-mail and message updates are transmitted, the user's local computer is disconnected from the remote e-mail server system.

While the Shaw Patent discloses the use of e-mail systems for displaying advertisement at a local computer, it is limited with the use of the e-mail systems and the advertisement is not an integral part of any e-mails transmitted. Therefore, there remains a need to provide a new method, program and system for providing digital advertisement over the Internet. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The present invention is a novel and unique method, program and system for advertising over the Internet. The method, program and system provides advertisements with digital multimedia files transmitted over the Internet.

It has been discovered, according to the present invention, that at present, most companies earn revenue from e-commerce by selling their products to consumers over the Internet. For example, many media companies sell video, music and songs in the form of digital multimedia files over the Internet. However, many vendors are concerned about losing revenue from the secondary or subsequent transmission of the digital files after the files have been downloaded from these vendors' web sites. These vendors are trying to control such transmission by utilizing various restrictive or security means. If there is a method, program and system that provides incentive to such vendors not to restrict but rather encourage the free transmission of the digital multimedia files over the Internet, then the e-commerce over the Internet can be further promoted.

It has been further discovered, according to the present invention, that if advertising materials can be attached to digital multimedia files that are transmitted over the Internet, then the vendors of such files can earn their revenue from the advertisers by providing their advertisements together with the vendors' digital multimedia files transmitted over the Internet. Since the transmitting of such files are usually initiated by the consumers, the advertisements are guaranteed to be received by the consumers and can be made more tailored to the interests of particular consumers. This will not only give the advertisers incentive to spend their advertising dollars through this channel, but also give an incentive to the vendors to encourage and increase the transmission of the digital multimedia files over the Internet. Careful tracking of what customers received what advertising content would encourage advertisers to use this invention. Media vendors would be encouraged by knowing that duplication and retransmission of their media files embedded with advertising content would only serve to expose more individuals to this advertising. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method, program and system for advertising over the Internet. Particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method, program and system for providing advertisements with digital multimedia files transmitted over the Internet.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method, program and system for allowing advertisers to have an advertising channel that directly connects to targeted consumers and can be updated and monitored, while allowing the vendor companies to generate revenue from advertisers rather than from the consumers, thereby encourage the free transmission of digital multimedia files over the Internet.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a method, program and system for delivering electronic digital advertising contents to consumers via digital multimedia files on computers and multimedia devices over the Internet or other computer networks.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method, program and system for attaching advertisements, coupons, and other information to existing and future digital multimedia files, and for tracking, profiling, updating and monitoring the advertisements and their effectiveness and results.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a method, program and system for creating and establishing a new standard for embedding digital advertising content within a digital multimedia file.

Described generally, the present invention is a method, program and system for advertising over the Internet. It provides digital advertising content within digital multimedia files transmitted over the Internet.

Further novel features and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, discussion and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Referring particularly to the drawings for the purpose of illustration only and not limitation, there is illustrated:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention method, program and system for advertising over the Internet;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating the logical operation of a portion of the present invention program that displays an advertisement transmitted with a digital multimedia file on a customer's local computer;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating the logical operation of another portion of the present invention program for updating the advertisements downloaded to the customer's local computer;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating the logical operation of still another portion of the present invention program for appending digital advertising contents to a multimedia file that is requested by a customer and to be transmitted over the Internet to the customer's local computer;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating the logical operation of still another portion of the present invention program for downloading updated advertisements from the vendor's server computer;

FIG. 6 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating the web site structure on a vendor's server computer; and

FIG. 7 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating the related components on a customer's local computer.

MODES FORCARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Although specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, it should be understood that such embodiments are by way of example only and merely illustrative of but a small number of the many possible specific embodiments which can represent applications of the principles of the present invention. Various changes and modifications obvious to one skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and contemplation of the present invention as further defined in the appended claims.

The present invention is a method, program and system for advertising over the Internet. The present invention method, program and system provide digital advertising contents appended to and/or embedded within digital multimedia files, such as MPEG2 Layer III audio files, transmitted over the Internet. The Motion Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) has put forth a standard for the encoding of video and music. The method, program and system allow advertising content to be embedded within an MPEG2 Layer III file which utilizes a psychoanalytical model for encoding and compressing an audio signal into digital data.

As one embodiment of the present invention, it utilizes a current standard, e.g., the so-called "ID3" standard, that allows additional information to be added to a multimedia file. The ID3 standard allows one to include information such as photos of a musician, song lyrics, and copyright information to a music or song file. It also allows one to create additional fields for extra information. Using this feature of the ID3 standard, a field can be created to carry digital advertising content. Audio file players that utilize the ID3 standard can then present the consumer with the digital advertising content.

As an additional embodiment of the present invention, it utilizes a standard Internet animation file format called "Shockwave". This Shockwave file can display advertising to the customer downloading the file. The file can also play the downloaded media file. Since the Shockwave format is an executable file, no additional player software is required for it to display its advertising content or the desired multimedia. The customer would also be given the ability to extract the multimedia content from the Shockwave format file.

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention method, program and system will establish and utilize a new standard for embedding digital advertising content within a digital multimedia file, which allows more control over how advertising content is presented. For example, the advertising contents can be placed at the end of a multimedia file, led by ASCII characters "ADZ" which signifies the advertising contents. The digital data following this indicator contains the actual contents of the advertisement.

In addition, each of these file extensions can contain several advertisements. For example, after the "ADZ" tag, the ASCII characters "ADSTART" indicate each individual advertisement. The data following these characters will be the data of an individual advertisement. Each individual advertisement can contain many different kinds of data, such as sound and graphic data, though graphics are the most often used data type. Different data types are preceded by relevant ASCII tags.

According to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, the digital advertising contents can be added right before the digital multimedia files are distributed over the Internet. Software tools are provided to vendors such as the media companies, allowing them to easily add the digital advertising contents to the digital multimedia files through a graphical user interface. It will also be easy for previously created advertising contents to be imported and added to the digital multimedia files.

Pursuant to the present invention method, when a customer first visits the web site of a vendor or joins a distribution list of multimedia files, he or she will be directed to download a program allowing them to view the advertising added to multimedia files. This download may be a requirement for membership in the list, or may be automatically performed when a welcome message is displayed on the customer's computer, television or other types of multimedia devices.

The downloaded program is an advertising viewer which starts when the computer boots up and will remain active in the operating system background while the computer is operating. The program monitors the operating system events, looking specifically for which multimedia files have been opened. When the program detects that a multimedia file has been opened, it searches the multimedia file for the "ADZ" tag and reads in the advertising data if it is found. The advertising viewer randomly selects one of the advertisements, reads and presents the graphics and text to the customer in a popup window on the computer's screen.

The advertising viewer also monitors when the computer it resides on is connected to the Internet. When it detects that an Internet connection has been established, it creates a connection with a server maintained by the vendor or the advertising company. The advertising viewer downloads new advertisements from this server. When it determines that advertising contained within the multimedia files on the customer's computer need to be updated, it will replace the outdated advertising with a new version downloaded from the server. In this way, the customer is presented with fresh relevant advertising material as well as new coupons to redeem on a regular basis.

Referring to Figure 1, there is shown at a simplified schematic block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention method, program and system for advertising over the Internet. According to the present invention, a vendor such as a media company may establish and maintain a web site 20 for providing digital multimedia files or MPEG2 Layer III files to be downloaded by a customer's computer 12, television or other types of multimedia devices over the Internet 30. When set forth in the claims of invention, multimedia devices include but is not limited to computers, television monitors, portable audio players, portable MP-3 players, home audio systems, automobile audio systems, and 3 -dimensional video projectors. Advertisers 14 and other merchants and service providers 16 may have their systems also connected to the Internet 30, and therefore can be linked with the web site 20. The advertising materials 10 may be provided by the advertisers 14 or merchants and service providers 16 to the media company through regular means such as mail, facsimile or commercial delivery service, or transmitted to the web site 20 of the media company via the Internet, where the advertising materials 10 can be added to the digital multimedia files provided at the web site 20 of the media company. Part of the advertising materials embedded with the multimedia files may be digital data of a coupon 18 that can be printed out by the customer's computer system 12 or electronically stored therein for later redemption to the merchants or service providers 16. Once the web site 20 is established, a customer can use his or her computer 12 or multimedia devices to access the web site 20 of the vendor and browse and download digital multimedia files such as music and songs provided by the vendor.

Detailed operations and functions of the above described components of the present invention method, program and system will be described and become apparent through further detailed descriptions below.

Referring to Figure 2, there is shown a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating the logical operation of a portion of the present invention program that displays an advertisement transmitted with a digital multimedia file on a customer's local computer. This portion of the present invention program is the viewer program that is downloaded to and stored in the customer's computer. As shown, the essential steps of this viewer program include querying an operating system (OS) of a customer's computer for currently open multimedia files, opening a multimedia file, locating the multimedia file in a list at the web site of the media company, adding the multimedia file to the list if the multimedia file is not present in the list for advertisement updates, opening the multimedia file and parsing out advertisements, randomly selecting an advertisement and displaying on the customer's computer screen, and allowing the user an option of printing a coupon on the customer's printer for later redemption.

Referring to Figure 3, there is shown a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating the logical operation of another portion of the present invention program for updating the advertisements downloaded to the customer's local computer. This portion of the present invention program is the updating program that is downloaded to and stored in the customer's computer. As shown, the steps of the customer side's updating program include querying the operating system (OS) of the customer's computer to see if there is an Internet connection, establishing an Internet connection, downloading new advertisements to the customer's computer, checking multimedia files in a local file list, checking advertisements in multimedia files are out of date, and replacing old advertisements with new downloaded advertisements.

Above described viewer program and updating program are customer side portions of the overall software program of the present invention for advertising over the Internet. Referring to Figure 4, there is shown a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating the logical operation of still another portion of the present invention program for appending digital advertising contents to a multimedia file that is requested by a customer and to be transmitted over the Internet to the customer's local computer. This portion of the present invention program is the advertisement appending program that is loaded and stored in the vendor company's server. As shown, the steps of this advertisement appending program include waiting for a customer to connect to the Internet, checking the customer's computer to detect an ad viewer is already installed at the customer's computer and if not asking the customer to download the ad viewer, placing unique tracking numbers in advertisements, logging the tracking numbers with a customer profile in a customer database, and appending the advertisements located in the multimedia files selected by the customer and downloading to the customer's computer.

Referring to Figure 5, there is shown a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating the logical operation of still another portion of the present invention program for downloading updated advertisements from the vendor's server computer. This portion of the present invention program is the advertisement updating program that is also loaded and stored in the vendor company's server. As shown, the steps of this advertisement updating program include waiting for the customer's computer to connect to the Internet for advertisement update, logging the customer profile in the customer database, and downloading updated advertisements to the customer's computer.

Referring to Figure 6, there is shown schematic block diagram illustrating the web site structure on a vendor or a third party's computer system 40, which hosts the media company's web site 20 for the customers to browse and download multimedia files and a media company's advertisement update server 42 for automatically updating advertisements on the customers' computers. There is further provided a database management system for managing and storing information related to the operation of the present invention, including a customer profile database 44, an ad database 46 and a multimedia database 48.

Referring to Figure 7, there is shown a schematic block diagram illustrating the related components on a customer's local computer. Figure 7 shows the relevant components of a customer's computer system 49 which includes a computer operating system 50, an advertisement viewer 52 (operating in the background with the advertisement updating program), a local file list 54, and multimedia files with advertisements 56 attached thereto.

Referring to Figures 6 and 7, the media company's sever 42 accesses a customer profile database 44 to look up a customer profile from a "cookie" information, i.e., information provided by the consumer's computer at logging on. If there is no cookie information, it implies that this is the first time the customer's computer has accessed the web site 20 and therefore does not have the ad viewer 52 installed. If the ad viewer 52 is not installed, it asks the customer to download and install the ad viewer. If the ad viewer 52 is installed on the customer's computer, then the customer can browse through the web site 20 and select a multimedia file to be downloaded. Advertisements targeted to the customer as determined by their profile information are appended to the multimedia files as well as a unique tracking number before being downloaded to the customer's computer. This tracking number is stored in the customer's profile in the customer database 44 so that the media company can track the advertising's effectiveness. Occasionally, the advertisements on a customer's computer will need to be updated.

One of the unique features of the ad viewer 52 is that it automatically updates advertisements 46 in the multimedia files 56. It constantly monitors the operating system 50 to determine when the customer's computer is connected to the Internet. When an Internet connection is detected, the advertising viewer contacts the media company's server 42 in the background. It also sends the compiled local list 54 of multimedia files stored on the customer's computer. The media company's server 42 utilizes the local file list 54 and will determine what advertisements 46 are to be updated. These new advertisements are downloaded to the customer's computer, where the ad viewer 52 replaces the old advertisements in the multimedia files with new advertisements 56.

Defined in detail, the present invention is a method for advertising over the Internet, comprising the steps of: (a) maintaining a web site for a media company on the Internet; (b) establishing a communication link between a customer's local computer and the web site through the Internet; (c) installing an advertisement viewer program on the customer's local computer; (d) allowing the customer to select audio files for downloading from the media company's web site to the customer's local computer; (e) adding advertising contents to the audio files; (f) downloading the audio files with the advertising contents to the customer's local computer; and (g) automatically selecting and playing an advertising content added to the audio files when it is opened by the customer's local computer.

Defined broadly, the present invention is a method for advertising over the Internet, comprising the steps of: (a) maintaining a web site for a media company on the Internet; (b) establishing a communication link between a customer's multimedia device and the web site through the Internet; (c) installing an advertisement viewer program on the customer's multimedia device; (d) allowing the customer to select a multimedia file for downloading from the media company's web site to the customer's multimedia device; (e) adding advertising contents to the multimedia file; (f) downloading the multimedia file with the advertising contents to the customer's multimedia device; and (g) automatically selecting and playing an advertising content added to the multimedia file when it is opened by the customer's multimedia device.

Defined more broadly, the present invention is a method for advertising over the Internet, comprising the steps of: (a) establishing a communication link between a customer's multimedia device and a web site through the Internet; (b) presenting a multimedia file with advertisements on the web site; (c) downloading an advertisement viewer from the web site for viewing the advertisements; (d) downloading the multimedia file to the customer's multimedia device; and (e) automatically selecting and playing an advertisement when the multimedia file is opened by the customer's multimedia device.

Defined even more broadly, the present invention is a method for providing advertisements with multimedia files, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing the multimedia files with advertisements on a web site; (b) downloading an ad viewer from the web site for viewing the advertisements; and (c) downloading a respective one of the multimedia files which in turn allows the ad viewer to randomly select one of the advertisements in the respective one of the multimedia files and displaying it on a screen.

Defined alternatively in detail, the present invention is an apparatus for advertising over the Internet, comprising: (a) an Internet web site established by a media company on the Internet; (b) a communication link established between a customer's local computer and the web site through the Internet; (c) audio files with advertisements placed on the web site; (d) an advertising viewer downloaded from the web site for viewing the advertisements at the customer's local computer; (e) the audio files selected and downloaded to the customer's local computer; (f) the audio files added to a local file list for advertisement update; and (g) the audio files opened at the customer's local computer which in turn allows the advertising viewer to randomly select one of the advertisements and displayed it on a screen of the customer's local computer.

Defined alternatively broadly, the present invention is an apparatus for advertising over the Internet, comprising: (a) an Internet web site established by a media company on the Internet; (b) a communication link established between a customer's multimedia device and the web site through the Internet; (c) multimedia files with advertisements placed on the web site; (d) an advertising viewer downloaded from the web site for viewing the advertisements at the customer's multimedia device; (e) the multimedia files selected and downloaded to the customer's multimedia device; (f) the multimedia files added to a local file list for advertisement updates; and (g) the multimedia files opened at the customer's multimedia device which in turn allows the advertising viewer to randomly select one of the advertisements and displayed it on a screen of the customer's multimedia device.

Defined alternatively more broadly, the present invention is an apparatus for advertising over the Internet, comprising: (a) a communication link established between a customer's multimedia device and a web site through the Internet; (b) multimedia files with advertisements placed on the web site; (c) means for downloading an ad viewer from the web site for viewing the advertisements; (d) the multimedia files downloaded to the customer's multimedia device; and (e) means for opening the multimedia files which in turn allows the ad viewer to randomly select one of the advertisements and displaying it on a screen of the customer's multimedia device.

Defined alternatively even more broadly, the present invention is an apparatus for advertising over the Internet, comprising: (a) multimedia files with advertisements provided on a web site; (b) an ad viewer downloaded from the web site for viewing the advertisements; and (c) means for downloading a respective one of the multimedia files which in turn allows the ad viewer to randomly select one of the advertisements in the respective one of the multimedia files and displaying it on a screen. Of course the present invention is not intended to be restricted to any particular form or arrangement, or any specific embodiment, or any specific use, disclosed herein, since the same may be modified in various particulars or relations without departing from the spirit or scope of the claimed invention hereinabove shown and described of which the apparatus or method shown is intended only for illustration and disclosure of an operative embodiment and not to show all of the various forms or modifications in which this invention might be embodied or operated.

The present invention has been described in considerable detail in order to comply with the patent laws by providing full public disclosure of at least one of its forms. However, such detailed description is not intended in any way to limit the broad features or principles of the present invention, or the scope of the patent to be granted. Therefore, the invention is to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

THE CLAIMS

1. A method for advertising over the Internet, comprising the steps of: a. maintaining a web site for a media company on the Internet; b. establishing a communication link between a customer's local computer and said web site through the Internet; c. installing an advertisement viewer program on the customer's local computer; d. allowing the customer to select audio files for downloading from said media company's web site to said customer's local computer; e. adding advertising contents to said audio files; f. downloading said audio files with said advertising contents to said customer's local computer; and g. automatically selecting and playing an advertising content added to said audio files when it is opened by said customer's local computer.

2. The method in accordance with Claim 1, further comprising the step of printing a coupon at said customer's local computer.

3. The method in accordance with Claim 1, further comprising the step of providing a graphical user interface for adding said advertising contents to said audio files.

4. The method in accordance with Claim 1, further comprising the step of: a. establishing a database of customer profiles; b. placing unique tracking numbers in said advertising contents; c. logging said tracking numbers in said customer profile database; and d. appending tailored advertising contents to said audio files selected by said customer based on data stored in said customer profile database.

5. The method in accordance with Claim 4, further comprising the step of: a. adding said audio files to a file list maintained by said customer's computer for advertisement update; b. updating said advertising contents on said customer's local computer via the Internet; and c. downloading new advertising contents to replace old advertising contents in said audio files downloaded to said customer's local computer.

6. The method in accordance with Claim 1, wherein said audio files include music.

7. A method for advertising over the Internet, comprising the steps of: a. maintaining a web site for a media company on the Internet; b. establishing a communication link between a customer's multimedia device and said web site through the Internet; c. installing an advertisement viewer program on said customer's multimedia device; d. allowing the customer to select a multimedia file for downloading from said media company's web site to said customer's multimedia device; e. adding advertising contents to said multimedia file; f. downloading said multimedia file with said advertising contents to said customer's multimedia device; and g. automatically selecting and playing an advertising content added to said multimedia file when it is opened by said customer's multimedia device.

8. The method in accordance with Claim 7, further comprising the step of printing a coupon at said customer's multimedia device.

9. The method in accordance with Claim 7, further comprising the step of providing a graphical user interface for adding said advertising contents to said multimedia file.

10. The method in accordance with Claim 7, further comprising the step of: a. establishing a database of customer profiles; b. placing unique tracking numbers in said advertising contents; c. logging said tracking numbers in said customer profile database; and d. appending tailored advertising contents to said multimedia file selected by said customer based on data stored in said customer profile database.

11. The method in accordance with Claim 10, further comprising the step of: a. adding said multimedia file to a file list maintained by said customer's multimedia device for advertisement update; b. updating said advertising contents on said customer's multimedia device via the Internet; and c. downloading new advertising contents to replace old advertising contents in said multimedia file downloaded to said customer's multimedia device.

12. A method for advertising over the Internet, comprising the steps of: a. establishing a communication link between a customer's multimedia device and a web site through the Internet; b. presenting a multimedia file with advertisements on said web site; c. downloading an advertisement viewer from said web site for viewing said advertisements; d. downloading said multimedia file to said customer's multimedia device; and e. automatically selecting and playing an advertisement when said multimedia file is opened by said customer's multimedia device.

13. The method in accordance with Claim 12, further comprising the step of printing a coupon at said customer's multimedia device.

14. The method in accordance with Claim 12, further comprising the step of adding said multimedia file to a local file list for advertisement update.

15. The method in accordance with Claim 12, further comprising the step of providing a graphical user interface which allows a media company to add said advertisements to said multimedia file.

16. The method in accordance with Claim 12, further comprising the step of: a. establishing a database of customer profiles; b. placing unique tracking numbers in said advertisements; c. logging said tracking numbers with said each customer profile in said database; and d. appending said advertisements from said multimedia file selected by the customer and downloading to said customer's multimedia device.

17. The method in accordance with Claim 16, further comprising the step of: a. updating said advertisements on said customer's multimedia device via the Internet; b. logging said each customer profile in said database; and c. downloading and replacing the old advertisements in said multimedia file with updated advertisements to said customer's multimedia device.

18. A method for providing advertisements with multimedia files, the method comprising the steps of: a. providing said multimedia files with advertisements on a web site; b. downloading an ad viewer from said web site for viewing said advertisements; and c. downloading a respective one of said multimedia files which in turn allows said ad viewer to randomly select one of said advertisements in the respective one of said multimedia files and displaying it on a screen.

19. The method in accordance with Claim 18, further comprising the step of printing a coupon for redemption.

20. The method in accordance with Claim 18, further comprising the step of adding said multimedia files to a local file list for advertisement update.

21. The method in accordance with Claim 18, further comprising the step of providing a graphical user interface which allows a media company to add said advertisements to said multimedia files.

22. The method in accordance with Claim 18, further comprising the step of: a. establishing a database of customer profiles; b. placing unique tracking numbers in said advertisements; c. logging said tracking numbers with said each customer profile in said database; and d. appending said advertisements from said multimedia files.

23. The method in accordance with Claim 22, further comprising the step of: a. updating said advertisements; b. logging said each customer profile in said database; and c. downloading and replacing the old advertisements in said multimedia files with updated advertisements.

24. An apparatus for advertising over the Internet, comprising: a. an Internet web site established by a media company on the Internet; b. a communication link established between a customer's local computer and said web site through the Internet; c. audio files with advertisements placed on said web site; d. an advertising viewer downloaded from said web site for viewing said advertisements at said customer's local computer; e. said audio files selected and downloaded to said customer's local computer; f. said audio files added to a local file list for advertisement update; and g. said audio files opened at said customer's local computer which in turn allows said advertising viewer to randomly select one of said advertisements and displayed it on a screen of said customer's local computer.

25. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 24, further comprising means for printing a coupon at said customer's local computer.

26. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 24, further comprising a graphical user interface which allows said media company to add said advertisements to said audio files.

27. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 24, further comprising: a. a database for providing customer profiles; b. unique tracking numbers placed in said advertisements; c. said tracking numbers logged with said each customer profile in said database; and d. means for appending said advertisements from said audio files selected by the customer and downloading to said customer's local computer.

28. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 27, further comprising: a. means for updating said advertisements on said customer's local computer via the Internet; b. means for logging said each customer profile in said database; and c. means for downloading and replacing the old advertisements in said audio files with updated advertisements to said customer's local computer.

29. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 24, wherein said audio files include music.

30. An apparatus for advertising over the Internet, comprising: a. an Internet web site established by a media company on the Internet; b. a communication link established between a customer's multimedia device and said web site through the Internet; c. multimedia files with advertisements placed on said web site; d. an advertising viewer downloaded from said web site for viewing said advertisements at said customer's multimedia device; e. said multimedia files selected and downloaded to said customer's multimedia device; f. said multimedia files added to a local file list for advertisement update; and g. said multimedia files opened at said customer's multimedia device which in turn allows said advertising viewer to randomly select one of said advertisements and displayed it on a screen of said customer's multimedia device.

31. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 30, further comprising means for printing a coupon at said customer's multimedia device.

32. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 30, further comprising a graphical user interface which allows said media company to add said advertisements to said multimedia files.

33. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 30, further comprising: a. a database for providing customer profiles; b. unique tracking numbers placed in said advertisements; c. said tracking numbers logged with said each customer profile in said database; and d. means for appending said advertisements from said multimedia files selected by the customer and downloading to said customer's multimedia device.

34. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 33, further comprising: a. means for updating said advertisements on said customer's multimedia device via the Internet; b. means for logging said each customer profile in said database; and c. means for downloading and replacing the old advertisements in said multimedia files with updated advertisements to said customer's multimedia device.

35. A apparatus for advertising over the Internet, comprising: a. a communication link established between said customer's multimedia device and a web site through the Internet; b. multimedia files with advertisements placed on said web site; c. means for downloading an ad viewer from said web site for viewing said advertisements; d. said multimedia files downloaded to said customer's multimedia device; and e. means for opening said multimedia files which in turn allows said ad viewer to randomly select one of said advertisements and displaying it on a screen of said customer's multimedia device.

36. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 35, further comprising means for printing a coupon at said customer's local multimedia device.

37. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 35, further comprising means for adding said multimedia files to a local file list for advertisement update.

38. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 35, further comprising a graphical user interface which allows a media company to add said advertisements to said multimedia files.

39. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 35, further comprising: a. a database for providing customer profiles; b. tracking numbers placed in said advertisements; c. said tracking numbers logged with said each customer profile in said database; and d. means for appending said advertisements from said multimedia files selected by the customer and downloading to said customer's multimedia device.

40. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 39, further comprising: a. means for updating said advertisements on said customer's multimedia device via the Internet; b. means for logging said each customer profile in said database; and c. means for downloading and replacing the old advertisements in said multimedia files with updated advertisements to said customer's multimedia device.

41. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 35, wherein said multimedia device includes a computer.

42. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 35, wherein said multimedia device includes a television.

43. An apparatus for advertising over the Internet, comprising: a. multimedia files with advertisements provided on a web site; b. an ad viewer downloaded from said web site for viewing said advertisements; and c. means for downloading a respective one of said multimedia files which in turn allows said ad viewer to randomly select one of said advertisements in the respective one of said multimedia files and displaying it on a screen.

44. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 43, further comprising means for printing a coupon for redemption.

45. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 43, further comprising means for adding said multimedia files to a local file list for advertisement update.

46. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 43, further comprising a graphical user interface which allows a media company to add said advertisements to said multimedia files.

47. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 43, further comprising: a. a database for providing customer profiles; b. tracking numbers placed in said advertisements; c. said tracking numbers logged with said each customer profile in said database; and d. means for appending said advertisements from said multimedia files.

48. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 47, further comprising: a. means for updating said advertisements; b. means for logging said each customer profile in said database; and c. means for downloading and replacing the old advertisements in said multimedia files with updated advertisements.

49. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 43, wherein said screen includes a computer screen.

50. The apparatus in accordance with Claim 43, wherein said screen includes a television.