Ad placement

• US 10,204,356 B2
• Filed: 09/12/2012
• Issued: 02/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ferber, John B., Ferber, Scott, Kretsinger, Stein E., Luenberger, Robert, Luenberger, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Munson, Patricia H
• Application Number:
  US13/612,625
• Publication Number:
  US 20130054352A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,344 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0244 Optimization
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0246 Traffic
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0254 based on statistics
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement

Abstract

This invention concerns optimal ad selection for Web pages by selecting and updating an attribute set, obtaining and updating an ad-attribute profile, and optimally choosing the next ad. The present invention associates a set of attributes with each customer. The attributes reflect the customers'"'"' interests and they incorporate the characteristics that impact ad selection. Similarly, the present invention associates with each ad an ad-attribute profile in order to calculate a customer'"'"'s estimated ad selection probability and measure the uncertainty in that estimate. An ad selection algorithm optimally selects which ad to show based on the click probability estimates and the uncertainties regarding these estimates.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying a digital advertising campaign associated with serving digital advertisements over one or more network-based media, the digital advertising campaign having an associated period of time and a digital delivery smoothness parameter;

determining, by at least one server, a target delivery rate for the digital advertisement campaign;

serving digital advertisements of a plurality of digital advertisements to client devices associated with users over the one or more network-based media, the plurality of digital advertisements including one or more digital advertisements associated with the digital advertising campaign and one or more digital advertisements not associated with the digital advertising campaign;

determining, by the at least one server, that the target delivery rate for the digital advertisement campaign has been exceeded by a predetermined amount by simultaneously tracking a number of times the one or more digital advertisements associated with the digital advertising campaign are served via the one or more network-based media;

serving in real-time, by the at least one server and to one or more client devices associated with one or more users, digital advertisements associated with the digital advertising campaign in response to a real-time request to serve a digital advertisement based on a determination that the predetermined amount is within the digital delivery smoothness parameter; and

serving in real-time, by the at least one server and to one or more client devices associated with one or more users, only digital advertisements not associated with the digital advertising campaign for a remainder of a sub-period of time in response to the real-time request to serve a digital advertisement based on a determination that the predetermined amount exceeds the digital delivery smoothness parameter, wherein serving only the digital advertisements not associated with the digital advertising campaign for the remainder of the sub-period of time maintains smooth delivery of the digital advertisements associated with the digital advertising campaign.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the predetermined amount comprises a number of clicks or a number of impressions.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein target delivery rate comprises the predetermined amount divided by a number of sub-periods of time in the period of time.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the sub-period of time is an hour.

5. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the target delivery rate comprises a number of impressions per day or a number of clicks per day.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the digital delivery smoothness parameter is equal to the target delivery rate plus a predetermined percentage of the target delivery rate.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the digital delivery smoothness parameter is equal to 1.20 times the target delivery rate.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising periodically updating the target delivery rate.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more network-based media comprise computer software.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the computer software is installed on a mobile device.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more network-based media comprise one or more websites.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the target delivery rate provides a uniform delivery over the associated period of time.

13. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

determining a probability that one or more digital advertisements of the plurality of digital advertisements will be selected by a user accessing a website; and

serving the digital advertisement with the highest probability to the website displayed on a client device associated with the user.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including a set of instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause a computer system to perform steps comprising:

identifying aa digital advertising campaign associated with serving digital advertisements over one or more network-based media, the digital advertising campaign having an associated period of time and a digital delivery smoothness parameter;

determining a target delivery rate for the digital advertisement campaign;

serving digital advertisements of a plurality of digital advertisements to client devices associated with users over the one or more network-based media, the plurality of digital advertisements including one or more digital advertisements associated with the digital advertising campaign and one or more digital advertisements not associated with the digital advertising campaign;

determining that the target delivery rate for the digital advertisement campaign has been exceeded by a predetermined amount by simultaneously tracking a number of times the one or more digital advertisements associated with the digital advertising campaign are served via the one or more network-based media;

serving in real-time, to one or more client devices associated with users, digital advertisements associated with the digital advertising campaign in response to a real-time request to serve a digital advertisement based on a determination that the predetermined amount is within the digital delivery smoothness parameter; and

serving in real-time, to the one or more client devices associated with users, only digital advertisements not associated with the digital advertising campaign for a remainder of a sub-period of time in response to the real-time request to serve a digital advertisement based on a determination that predetermined amount exceeds the digital delivery smoothness parameter, wherein serving only the digital advertisements not associated with the digital advertising campaign for the remainder of the sub-period of time maintains smooth delivery of the digital advertisements associated with the digital advertising campaign.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 14, wherein the predetermined amount comprises a number of clicks or a number of impressions.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 15, wherein target delivery rate comprises the predetermined amount divided by a number of sub-periods of time in the period of time.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 16, wherein the sub-period of time is an hour.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 16, wherein the target delivery rate comprises a number of impressions per day or a number of clicks per day.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 18, wherein the digital delivery smoothness parameter is equal to the target delivery rate plus a predetermined percentage of the target delivery rate.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 19, wherein the digital delivery smoothness parameter is equal to 1.20 times the target delivery rate.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 14, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the computer system to periodically update the target delivery rate.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 14, wherein the one or more network-based media comprise computer software.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 22, wherein the computer software is installed on a mobile device.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 14, wherein the one or more network-based media comprise one or more websites.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 14, wherein the target delivery rate provides a uniform delivery over the associated period of time.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 14, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the computer system to:

determine a probability that each digital advertisement of the plurality of digital advertisements will be selected by a user accessing a website; and

serve the digital advertisement with the highest probability to the website displayed on a client device associated with the user.

27. A method comprising:

identifying a digital advertising campaign, the digital advertising campaign associated with serving digital advertisements over one or more network-based media having an associated period of time and an associated number of impressions or clicks and an associated digital delivery smoothness parameter;

determining, by at least one server, a first delivery rate for the period of time;

serving digital advertisements associated with the digital advertising campaign within the digital delivery smoothness parameter of the first delivery rate during a first portion of the period of time to client devices associated with users over the one or more network-based media;

determining, by at least one server, that the first delivery rate is exceeded by a predetermined amount by simultaneously tracking a number of times the one or more digital advertisements associated with the digital advertising campaign are served via the one or more network-based media;

determining, by the at least one server and based on the first delivery rate being exceeded by the predetermined amount, an updated delivery rate for a remaining portion of the period of time, the updated delivery rate being less than the first delivery rate; and

serving in real-time and in response to a real-time request to serve a digital advertisement, by the at least one server and to one or more client devices associated with one or more users, digital advertisements associated with the digital advertising campaign within the digital delivery smoothness parameter of the updated delivery rate during a second portion of the period of time, wherein serving the digital advertisements at the updated delivery rate during the second portion of the period of time maintains smooth delivery of the digital advertisements associated with the digital advertising campaign.

28. The method as recited in claim 27, wherein the first and second portions are each an hour.

29. The method as recited in claim 27, wherein the first and second portions are each a day.

30. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein the first delivery rate is a number of impressions per day.

31. The method as recited in claim 27, wherein the updated delivery rate is smaller than the first delivery rate.

32. The method as recited in claim 27, wherein the digital delivery smoothness parameter is a percentage of the first delivery rate.

33. The method as recited in claim 32, wherein the percentage is 20 percent.

34. The method as recited in claim 27, wherein the first delivery rate provides a uniform delivery over the associated period of time.

35. The method as recited in claim 34, wherein the updated delivery rate provides a uniform delivery over the remaining portion of the period of time.

36. The method as recited in claim 27, wherein serving digital advertisements comprises serving digital advertisements to one or more mobile devices.

37. The method as recited in claim 27, further comprising:

determining a probability that one or more digital advertisements of a plurality of digital advertisements will be selected by a user accessing a website; and

serving the digital advertisement with a high probability to the website displayed on a client device associated with the user.

38. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including a set of instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause a computer system to perform steps comprising:

identifying a digital advertising campaign, the digital advertising campaign associated with serving digital advertisements over one or more network-based media having an associated period of time and an associated number of impressions or clicks and an associated digital delivery smoothness parameter;

determining a first delivery rate for the period of time;

serving digital advertisements associated with the digital advertising campaign within the digital delivery smoothness parameter of the first delivery rate during a first portion of the period of time to client devices associated with users over the one or more network-based media;

determining that the first delivery rate is exceeded by a predetermined amount by simultaneously tracking a number of times the one or more digital advertisements associated with the digital advertising campaign are served via the one or more network-based media;

determining, based on the first delivery rate being exceeded by the predetermined amount, an updated delivery rate for a remaining portion of the period of time, the updated delivery rate being less than the first delivery rate; and

serving in real-time and in response to a real-time request to serve a digital advertisement, to one or more client devices associated with one or more users, digital advertisements associated with the digital advertising campaign within the digital delivery smoothness parameter of the updated delivery rate during a second portion of the period of time, wherein serving the digital advertisements at the updated delivery rate during the second portion of the period of time maintains smooth delivery of the digital advertisements associated with the digital advertising campaign.

39. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 38, wherein the first and second portions are each a day.

40. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 39, wherein the first delivery rate is a number of impressions per day.

41. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 38, wherein the first and second portions are each an hour.

42. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 38, wherein the updated delivery rate is smaller than the first delivery rate.

43. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 38, wherein the digital delivery smoothness parameter is a percentage of the first delivery rate.

44. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 43, wherein the percentage is 20 percent.

45. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 38, wherein the first delivery rate provides a uniform delivery over the associated period of time.

46. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 45, wherein the updated delivery rate provides a uniform delivery over the remaining portion of the period of time.

47. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 38, wherein serving digital advertisements comprises serving digital advertisements to one or more mobile devices.

48. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 38, further comprising instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the computer system to perform steps comprising:

determining a probability that one or more digital advertisements of a plurality of digital advertisements will be selected by a user accessing a website; and

serving the digital advertisement with the highest probability to the website displayed on a client device associated with the user.

49. A method comprising:

identifying a digital advertising campaign associated with serving digital advertisements over one or more network-based media, the digital advertising campaign having an associated period of time and a digital delivery smoothness parameter;

determining, by at least one server, a target delivery rate for the digital advertisement campaign;

serving digital advertisements of a plurality of digital advertisements to mobile devices associated with users over the one or more network-based media, the plurality of digital advertisements including one or more digital advertisements associated with the digital advertising campaign and one or more digital advertisements not associated with the digital advertising campaign;

determining, by the at least one server, that the target delivery rate for the digital advertisement campaign has been exceeded by a predetermined amount by simultaneously tracking a number of times the one or more digital advertisements associated with the digital advertising campaign are served via the one or more network-based media;

serving in real-time, by the at least one server and to one or more mobile devices associated with one or more users, digital advertisements associated with the digital advertising campaign in response to a real-time request to serve a digital advertisement based on a determination that the predetermined amount is within the digital delivery smoothness parameter; and

serving in real-time, by the at least one server and to one or more mobile devices associated with one or more, only digital advertisements not associated with the digital advertising campaign for a remainder of a sub-period of time in response to the real-time request to serve a digital advertisement based on a determination that the predetermined amount exceeds the digital delivery smoothness parameter, wherein serving only the digital advertisements not associated with the digital advertising campaign for the remainder of the sub-period of time maintains smooth delivery of the digital advertisements associated with the digital advertising campaign.

50. The method as recited in claim 49, wherein the predetermined amount comprises a number of clicks or a number of impressions.

51. The method as recited in claim 50, wherein the target delivery rate comprises a number of impressions per day or a number of clicks per day.

52. The method as recited in claim 51, wherein the digital delivery smoothness parameter is equal to the target delivery rate plus a predetermined percentage of the target delivery rate.

53. The method as recited in claim 49, further comprising periodically updating the target delivery rate.

54. The method as recited in claim 49, wherein serving digital advertisements of a plurality of digital advertisements to one or more mobile devices comprises serving digital advertisements to one or more network-based media on the one or more mobile devices.

55. The method as recited in claim 49, wherein one or more network-based media comprise computer software installed on the one or more mobile devices.

56. The method as recited in claim 49, wherein the one or more network-based media comprise one or more websites being accessed by the one or more mobile devices.

57. The method as recited in claim 49, wherein the target delivery rate provides a uniform delivery over the associated period of time.

58. The method as recited in claim 49, further comprising:

determining a probability that one or more digital advertisements of the plurality of digital advertisements will be selected by a user accessing the one or more network-based media; and

serving the digital advertisement with a high probability to a mobile device associated with the user.