System and method for pay for performand advertising in general media

• US 20030220866A1
• Filed: 12/30/2002
• Published: 11/27/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Findwhat.Com Inc (Inuvo, Inc.)
• Inventors: Protheroe, Robert Llewellyn, Neumann, Peter Thomas, Garcia, Anthony Albert, Hart, Sean Patrick, Rae, David Clouston, Pisaris-Henderson, Craig Allen, Thune, Phillip Ross, Williams, Jason Benhard
• Application Number:
  US10/331,926
• Publication Number:
  US 20030220866A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0249 based upon budgets or funds
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0275 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

A method for providing advertising services in general media using a pay-for-performance model is provided. A service provider defines at least one biddable advertisement for presentation in advertising media. A bid amount chargeable to a participating advertiser upon a response to the at least one biddable advertisement is determined, generally by an open auction conducted by the service provider. The biddable advertisement is associated with a participating advertiser based, at least in part, on the bid amount. As responses to the biddable advertisement are received by the service provider, they are provided to the associated participating advertiser and that participating advertiser is charged the bid amount for the response. The advertiser associated with a biddable ad can change in real time based on the auction and association mechanisms used by the service provider, such as a bid weighted rotation which associates the biddable ad to a number of participating advertisers.

Claims

1. A method for providing advertising services comprising:

defining at least one biddable advertisement for presentation in advertising media;

establishing a bid amount chargeable to a participating advertiser upon a response to the at least one biddable advertisement;

associating the at least one biddable advertisement with a participating advertiser based on said bid amount;

receiving responses to the biddable advertisement;

providing the responses to the associated participating advertiser; and

charging the participating advertiser associated with the biddable advertisement at the time of the response based on the bid amount.

2. The method of providing advertising services according to claim 1, wherein the advertising media is static media and the step of defining at least one biddable ad includes providing an inquiry identifier in the advertisement.

3. The method of providing advertising services according to claim 2, wherein the inquiry identifier is a telephone number of a service provider and wherein the step of associating the at least one biddable advertisement with the participating advertiser includes mapping the telephone number of the service provider with a telephone number of the participating advertiser.

4. The method of providing advertising services according to claim 3, wherein the at least one biddable advertisement comprises a plurality of biddable advertising placements arranged in static media, each of said biddable advertising placements having a unique telephone number of the service provider.

5. The method of providing advertising services according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of biddable advertising placements have differing value and the step of associating the biddable advertisement to the participating advertisers further comprises associating the plurality of advertising placements in order of value in accordance with the bid amounts of a plurality of participating advertisers.

6. The method of providing advertising services according to claim 2, wherein the inquiry identifier is a network address of a service provider and wherein the step of associating the at least one biddable advertisement with the participating advertiser includes mapping the network address of the service provider with a network address associated with the participating advertiser.

7. The method of providing advertising services according to claim 1, wherein the step of defining the at least one biddable advertisement comprises inserting content specified by the participating advertiser associated with the biddable advertisement.

8. The method of providing advertising services according to claim 7, wherein the advertising media is interactive and wherein the content specified by the participating advertiser is determined at least in part by input provided by the party responding to the biddable advertisement.

9. The method of providing advertising services according to claim 1, wherein the step of associating the at least one biddable advertisement with a participating advertiser further comprises a bid weighted rotation among a plurality of participating advertisers wherein the level of participation of each the participating advertisers is determined by the respective bid amounts.

10. The method of providing advertising services according to claim 9, wherein the bid weighted rotation associates one of the plurality of advertisers with a biddable ad based on a measured rotation of the plurality of participating advertisers.

11. The method of providing advertising services according to claim 9, wherein the bid weighted rotation associates one of the plurality of advertisers with a biddable ad based on a random rotation of the plurality of participating advertisers.

12. A method of pay for performance advertising in static media comprising:

publishing a plurality of biddable ads in static media, each of said biddable ads including an inquiry identifier therein;

providing an auction for the biddable ads among participating advertisers, wherein the participating advertisers offer bid amounts payable for responses to the biddable ads;

associating participating advertisers with said biddable ads based at least in part on said bid amounts;

maintaining a participating advertiser database, the participating advertiser database having records of advertiser accounts, advertisement listings, bid amounts associated with the advertisement listing, inquiry routing information for the participating advertisers;

receiving an inquiry from a consumer in response to at least one of the biddable ads using the inquiry identifier;

determining which participating advertiser is associated with the biddable ad being responded to and routing the inquiry using the inquiry routing information associated with the participating advertiser;

debiting the bid amount from the advertiser account of the participating advertiser to which the inquiry was routed.

13. The method of providing advertising services according to claim 12, wherein the inquiry identifier is a telephone number of a service provider and wherein the step of associating the at least one biddable advertisement with the participating advertiser includes mapping the telephone number of the service provider with a telephone number of the participating advertiser.

14. The method of providing advertising services according to claim 13, wherein the at least one biddable advertisement comprises a plurality of biddable advertising placements arranged in static media, each of said biddable advertising placements having a unique telephone number of the service provider.

15. The method of providing advertising services according to claim 14, wherein the plurality of biddable advertising placements have differing value and the step of associating the biddable advertisement to the participating advertisers further comprises associating the plurality of advertising placements in order of value in accordance with the bid amounts of a plurality of participating advertisers.

16. The method of providing advertising services according to claim 12, wherein the inquiry identifier is a network address of a service provider and wherein the step of associating the at least one biddable advertisement with the participating advertiser includes mapping the network address of the service provider with a network address associated with the participating advertiser.

17. The method of providing advertising services according to claim 12, wherein the step of associating the at least one biddable advertisement with a participating advertiser further comprises a bid weighted rotation among a plurality of participating advertisers wherein the level of participation of each the participating advertisers is determined by the respective bid amounts.

18. The method of providing advertising services according to claim 17, wherein the bid weighted rotation associates one of the plurality of advertisers with a biddable ad based on a measured rotation of the plurality of participating advertisers.

19. The method of providing advertising services according to claim 17, wherein the bid weighted rotation associates one of the plurality of advertisers with a biddable ad based on a random rotation of the plurality of participating advertisers.

20. A computer system for managing responses to advertising placements in a pay for performance advertising system comprising:

a telecom switching system, the telecom switching system having at least one telephone line for receiving response to at least one advertising placement;

a computer server, the computer server being operatively coupled to a computer network accessible by advertisers, the computer server maintaining a database in computer readable media, the database including a plurality of advertiser account listings therein, each account listing including a bid amount payable for responses to an advertising placement, response routing data, and a response record, the computer server being operatively coupled to the telecom switching system and being adapted to receive the responses therefrom and route the responses therethrough using the response routing data associated with the advertising placement being responded to.

21. A computer server for a pay for performance advertising system, the computer server comprising:

a database maintained in computer readable media, the database including a plurality of advertiser account listings therein, each account listing including a bid amount payable for responses to an advertising placement, response routing data, and a response record;

a processor, the processor being programmed to;

establish a bid amount chargeable to a participating advertiser upon a response to the at least one biddable advertisement;

associate the at least one biddable advertisement with a participating advertiser based on the established bid amount;

receive responses to the biddable advertisement;

provide the responses to the associated participating advertiser in accordance with the response routing data in the database; and

updating the response record of the associated participating advertiser at the time of the response in accordance with the bid amount.

22. The computer server of claim 21, wherein the processor operations for establishing a bid amount further comprise performing an auction for the biddable advertisement among a plurality of advertisers.

23. The computer server according to claim 21, wherein the processor operations for associating the at least one biddable advertisement with a participating advertiser further comprise a bid weighted rotation among a plurality of participating advertisers wherein the level of participation of each the participating advertisers is determined by the respective bid amounts.

24. The computer server according to claim 23, wherein the bid weighted rotation associates one of the plurality of advertisers with a biddable ad based on a measured rotation of the plurality of participating advertisers.

25. The computer server according to claim 23, wherein the bid weighted rotation associates one of the plurality of advertisers with a biddable ad based on a random rotation of the plurality of participating advertisers.