System and method for managing advertising inventory to maximize advertising revenue

• US 20020133399A1
• Filed: 02/06/2001
• Published: 09/19/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 02/06/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Main, Robert Allen
• Granted Patent: US 7,546,249 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0247 Calculate past, present or future revenues
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0254 based on statistics
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising

Abstract

The present invention relates to managing advertising inventory. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and method for managing advertising inventory so as to enhance total ad revenue. In a preferred embodiment, one or more restrictions are selectively applied to limit the respective availability levels of one or more selected categories of advertisements within the advertising inventory. Typically, the selected categories of advertisements which are subject to the restrictions are at the lowest end of the pricing levels. By limiting the respective availability levels of selected categories of advertisements, unnecessary displacements of other categories of advertisements which are priced at the higher end of the pricing levels are reduced, thereby enhancing the total ad revenue that can be generated.

Claims

1. A system for managing allocation levels of advertising inventory, comprising:

a plurality of categories of advertisements; and

a plurality of restrictions designed to limit said allocation levels of said advertising inventory;

wherein one or more of said plurality of restrictions are applied to one or more of said categories of advertisements so as to limit the availability of said one or more of said categories of advertisements.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein each one of said plurality of categories of advertisements is designated a pricing level.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of restrictions are designed based on one or more demand analyses performed on said plurality of categories of advertisements.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein ad revenue generated by sale of said advertising inventory is optimized by limiting the availability of said one or more of said categories of advertisements.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein said one or more of said plurality of restrictions applied to said one or more of said plurality of categories of advertisements are adjusted in response to demand for said one or more of said plurality of categories of advertisements.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein said demand for one of said plurality of categories of advertisements is calculated using a method comprising steps of:

generating a matrix having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, wherein a row and a column define a cell, each of said plurality of rows represents a specific day of delivery, each of said plurality of columns represents number of days before delivery, and value of a cell represents number of ad impressions to be delivered;

populating cells of said matrix with data;

plotting a graph having a y-axis and a x-axis, said y-axis representing day of delivery and said x-axis representing days before delivery, wherein data points on said graph correspond to said cells of said matrix;

identifying a data line from said graph based on a selected date; and

extrapolating a requested data point using said data line.

7. A system for managing allocation levels of advertising inventory, comprising:

an ad request interface capable of issuing a request for a desired category of advertisements within said advertising inventory; and

an inventory management system designed to provide a response to said request issued by said ad request interface;

wherein said response includes availability information on said desired category of advertisements;

wherein said availability information is obtained based on selectively restricting the quantity of said desired category of advertisements which are available for sale.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein said request includes date and demographic information.

9. The system according to claim 7, wherein ad revenue generated from sale of said advertising inventory is optimized by selectively restricting the quantity of said desired category of advertisements which are available for sale.

10. The system according to claim 7, wherein said selective restriction is made based on respective demand for said desired category of advertisements and other categories of advertisements.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein said selective restriction is adjusted in response to respective subsequent demand for said desired category of advertisements and other categories of advertisements.

12. The system according to claim 10, wherein demand for said desired category of advertisements is calculated using a method comprising steps of:

generating a matrix having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, wherein a row and a column define a cell, each of said plurality of rows represents a specific day of delivery, each of said plurality of columns represents number of days before delivery, and value of a cell represents number of ad impressions to be delivered;

populating cells of said matrix with data;

plotting a graph having a y-axis and a x-axis, said y-axis representing day of delivery and said x-axis representing days before delivery, wherein data points on said graph correspond to said cells of said matrix;

identifying a data line from said graph based on a selected date; and

extrapolating a requested data point using said data line.

13. The system according to claim 7, wherein said advertising inventory has a plurality of categories of advertisements;

wherein said plurality of categories of advertisements have their respective pricing levels;

wherein said desired category of advertisements has the lowest pricing level amongst said respective pricing levels.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein said request includes date and demographic information.

16. The system according to claim 14, wherein said inventory management system calculates an amount of available inventory for said desired category of advertisements;

and

wherein said availability allocation module adjusts said amount of available inventory based on said one or more selective restrictions and prepares said response using said adjusted amount of available inventory.

17. The system according to claim 16, wherein said amount of available inventory is adjusted based on demand for other categories of advertisements.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein said desired category of advertisements has a pricing level;

wherein said other categories of advertisements have their respective pricing levels; and

wherein said pricing level of said desired category of advertisements is lowest amongst said respective pricing levels of said other categories of advertisements.

20. The method according to claim 19, further comprising a step of:

adjusting said at least one restriction in response to demand for others of said plurality of categories of advertisements.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein said at least one restriction is imposed based on respective demand for said plurality of categories of advertisements.

22. The method according to claim 19, wherein said plurality of categories of advertisements have their respective pricing levels;

and

wherein said at least one of said plurality of categories of advertisements has a pricing level amongst the lowest of said respective pricing levels of said plurality of categories of advertisements.

23. The method according to claim 19, wherein ad revenue generated by sale of said advertising inventory is optimized by said imposition of said at least one restriction.

25. The method according to claim 24, further comprising a step of:

adjusting said one or more restrictions in response to demand for other categories of advertisements within said advertising inventory.

14. A system for managing advertising inventory to optimize ad revenue, comprising:

an ad request interface capable of issuing a request for a desired category of advertisements within said advertising inventory;

an inventory management system configured to interact with said ad request interface by forwarding a response to said ad request interface pursuant to said request; and

an availability allocation module designed to provide said response to said inventory management system;

wherein said response is prepared based on one or more selective restrictions designed to limit the quantity of said desired category of advertisements which are available for sale.

19. A method for managing allocation levels of advertising inventory, comprising steps of:

classifying said advertising inventory into a plurality of categories of advertisements; and

imposing at least one restriction on at least one of said plurality of categories of advertisements to limit the amount of said at least one of said plurality of categories of advertisements which is available for sale.

24. A method for managing advertising inventory to enhance ad revenue, comprising steps of:

receiving an availability request for a desired category of advertisements within said advertising inventory;

determining a quantity of said desired category of advertisements which are available for sale;

adjusting said quantity based on one or more restrictions imposed on said desired category of advertisements; and

providing a response to said availability request using said adjusted quantity.

26. A method for calculating a demand curve, comprising steps of:

generating a matrix having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, wherein a row and a column define a cell, each of said plurality of rows represents a specific day of delivery, each of said plurality of columns represents number of days before delivery, and value of a cell represents number of ad impressions to be delivered;

populating cells of said matrix with data;

plotting a graph having a y-axis and a x-axis, said y-axis representing day of delivery and said x-axis representing days before delivery, wherein data points on said graph correspond to said cells of said matrix;

identifying a data line from said graph based on a selected date; and

extrapolating a requested data point using said data line.

27. A method for calculating a demand curve, comprising steps of:

tabulating a plurality of cells for a delivery date, said plurality of cells representing respectively number of ad impressions to be delivered on consecutive days starting from said delivery date;

repeating said tabulating step for all delivery dates;

plotting a graph having a y-axis and a x-axis, said y-axis representing day of delivery and said x-axis representing days before delivery, wherein data points on said graph correspond to said plurality of cells;

identifying a data line from said graph based on a selected date; and

extrapolating a requested data point using said data line.