Google filed an update last week for a U.S. patent that describes a method for managing a two-part promotion on mobile devices.

The promotion switches between two images. It relies on the consumer interacting with the first part of the promotion or the first image before serving the second image.

The patent is intended to give brands a way to determine an interest in the promotional content being displayed on a mobile device, such as a smartphone, and eliminate false positives, given the sensitivity of screens.

Accidentally clicking on a link, an image,or other objects may lead to a false positive — an indication the consumer shows interest in the promotional content displayed on the device.

The inventors of this patent also wanted to eliminate the possibility of the promotional content interrupting one process in favor of another on the device.

The patent gives this example: While navigating a website using a mobile device having a touch screen, an operator of the mobile device may accidentally select a link from promotional content, such as an ad placed within the website. The inadvertent click may cause the browser of the mobile device to open a marketing website associated with the link from the ad. This interrupts the browsing process in favor of the ad, which could frustrate the mobile user.

The technology may receive a request, such as search terms of a web search engine from the mobile communication device, according to the patent. Then, depending on the response by the viewer, the technology would identify and/or generate promotional content to serve on the mobile device. It would target different pieces of content, depending on the device, and based on different levels of interest.

It appears that in some instances, based on the interaction of the viewer, the second piece of content may never be served.

The patent was updated last week, but filed earlier this year.

This column was originally published in the Search Insider on July 1, 2019.