Content-targeted advertising using collected user behavior data

• US 20050021397A1
• Filed: 08/27/2003
• Published: 01/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Lawrence, Steve, Cui, Yingwei Claire, Jindal, Deepak, Shivakumar, Narayanan, Carobus, Alexander Paul
• Application Number:
  US10/649,585
• Publication Number:
  US 20050021397A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.420
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0243 Comparative campaigns
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0254 based on statistics

Abstract

A content-targeting ad system is provided with a user behavior (e.g., selection (e.g., click), conversion, etc.) feedback mechanism. The performance of individual ads, or groups of ads, may be tracked on a per document (e.g. per URL) and/or on a per host (e.g. per Website) basis. The performance of ad targeting functions may also be tracked on a per document, and/or per host basis. Such user behavior feedback data may be processed (e.g., aggregated) into useful data structures. Such user behavior feedback data (raw or processed) may then be used in a content-targeting ad system to improve ad quality, improve user experience, and/or maximize revenue.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

a) tracking, for a set of one or more ads, ad set performance information with respect to a document; and

b) aggregating, for the document, tracked ad set performance information.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the ad set performance information includes selection and impression information.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the document is a Web page identified by a URL.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

c) thresholding the ad set performance information.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

c) determining a confidence measure of the ad set performance information; and

d) combining general ad set performance information and the ad set performance information with respect to the document using the determined confidence measure.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the act of determining a confidence measure uses at least one of a data amount and a data age.

7. A method comprising:

a) tracking, for a set of one or more ads, ad set performance information with respect to a set of documents, wherein the set of documents is a subset of a document collection; and

b) aggregating, for the set of documents, tracked ad set performance information.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the ad set performance information includes selection and impression information.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the set of documents includes related Web pages.

10. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

c) thresholding the ad set performance information.

11. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

c) determining a confidence measure of the ad set performance information; and

d) combining general ad set performance information and the ad set performance information with respect to the set of documents using the determined confidence measure.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the act of determining a confidence measure uses at least one of a data amount and a data age.

13. A method comprising:

a) accepting, for a set of one or more ads, performance information for a document; and

b) scoring or modifying a score of each of one or more ads using the accepted ad set performance information for the document.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the ad set performance information includes selection and impression information.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein the document is a Web page identified by a URL.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein the act of scoring or modifying a scoring includes:

i) determining a first ad score using, at least, general performance information for the ad set, and

ii) modifying the first ad score using the accepted ad set performance information for the document.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the act of determining a first score further uses, at least, document information.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the act of determining a first score further uses, at least, ad targeting information.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein the act of determining a first score further uses, at least, ad relevance information.

20. The method of claim 13 wherein the act of scoring or modifying a scoring includes:

i) determining mixed performance information using, at least, general performance information for the ad set and the accepted ad set performance information for the document, and

ii) scoring the ad using the determined mixed performance information.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the act scoring the ad further uses, at least, document information.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein the act of scoring the ad further uses, at least, ad targeting information.

23. The method of claim 20 wherein the act of scoring the ad further uses, at least, ad relevance information.

24. A method comprising:

a) accepting, for a set of one or more ads, performance information for a set of documents, wherein the set of documents is a subset of a document collection; and

b) scoring or modifying a score of each of one or more ads using the accepted ad set performance information for the set of documents.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the ad set performance information includes selection and impression information.

26. The method of claim 24 wherein the set of documents includes related Web pages.

27. The method of claim 24 wherein the act of scoring or modifying a score includes:

i) determining a first ad score using, at least, general performance information for the ad set, and

ii) modifying the first ad score using the accepted ad set performance information for the set of documents.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein the act of determining a first score further uses, at least, document information.

29. The method of claim 27 wherein the act of determining a first score further uses, at least, ad targeting information.

30. The method of claim 27 wherein the act of determining a first score further uses, at least, ad relevance information.

31. The method of claim 24 wherein the act of scoring or modifying a score includes:

i) determining mixed performance information using, at least, general performance information for the ad set and the accepted ad set performance information for the set of documents, and

ii) scoring the ad using the determined mixed performance information.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein the act scoring the ad further uses, at least, document information.

33. The method of claim 31 wherein the act of scoring the ad further uses, at least, ad targeting information.

34. The method of claim 31 wherein the act of scoring the ad further uses, at least, ad relevance information.

35. A method comprising:

a) accepting targeting function performance for a document; and

b) scoring or modifying a score of each of one or more ads using the accepted targeting function performance for the document.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the ad performance includes selection and impression information.

37. The method of claim 35 wherein the document is a Web page identified by a URL.

38. The method of claim 35 wherein the act of scoring includes

i) selecting a scoring function using, at least, the accepted targeting function performance for the document, and

ii) applying ad information and document information to the selected scoring function to generate a score.

39. The method of claim 38 wherein the scoring function is a function selected from a set of functions including (A) keyword targeting, (B) document content targeting, and (C) host content targeting.

40. The method of claim 35 wherein the act of scoring includes

i) selecting one or more parameters of a scoring function using, at least, the accepted targeting function performance for the document, and

ii) applying ad information and document information to the scoring function with the selected one or more parameters to generate a score.

41. A method comprising:

a) accepting targeting function performance for a set of documents; and

b) scoring or modifying a score of each of one or more ads using the accepted targeting function performance for the set of documents, wherein the set of documents is a subset of a document collection.

42. The method of claim 41 wherein the ad performance includes selection and impression information.

43. The method of claim 41 wherein the set of documents includes related Web pages.

44. The method of claim 41 wherein the act of scoring includes

i) selecting a scoring function using, at least, the accepted targeting function performance for the set of documents, and

ii) applying ad information and document information to the selected scoring function to generate a score.

45. The method of claim 44 wherein the scoring function is a function selected from a set of functions including (A) keyword targeting, (B) document content targeting, and (C) host content targeting.

46. The method of claim 41 wherein the act of scoring includes

i) selecting one or more parameters of a scoring function using, at least, the accepted targeting function performance for the set of documents, and

ii) applying ad information and document information to the scoring function with the selected one or more parameters to generate a score.

47. A method for determining a set of ads eligible to be served with a document, the method comprising:

a) determining a first set of ads;

b) accepting ad performance information for the document;

c) determining a number of best performing ads for the document; and

d) determining a final set of ads using the first set of ads and the number of best performing ads determined.

48. A method for determining a set of ads eligible to be served with a document, the method comprising:

a) determining a first set of ads;

b) accepting ad performance information for a set of documents to which the document belongs, wherein the set of documents is a subset of a collection of documents;

c) determining a number of best performing ads for the set of documents; and

d) determining a final set of ads using the first set of ads and the number of best performing ads determined.

49. A method comprising:

a) determining for a document, at least two concepts;

b) determining for each of the at least two concepts, one or more ads;

c) determining for each of the at least two concepts, a concept performance score; and

d) updating, for at least one of the ads, an ad performance score using a concept performance score of the concept with which the ad is associated.

50. The method of claim 49 wherein the act of determining a concept performance score uses document-specific ad performance scores of ads associated with the concept.

51. The method of claim 49 wherein the document belongs to a group, and

wherein the act of determining a concept performance score uses group-specific ad performance scores of ads associated with the concept.

52. The method of claim 51 wherein the document is a Web page and wherein the group is Web pages belonging to a Website.

53. The method of claim 51 wherein the group is a cluster of related documents.

54. The method of claim 51 wherein the group is a classification of documents.

55. Apparatus comprising:

a) means for tracking, for a set of one or more ads, ad set performance information with respect to a document; and

b) means for aggregating, for the document, tracked ad set performance information.

56. The apparatus of claim 55 wherein the ad set performance information includes selection and impression information.

57. The apparatus of claim 55 wherein the document is a Web page identified by a URL.

58. The apparatus of claim 55 further comprising:

c) means for thresholding the ad set performance information.

59. The apparatus of claim 55 further comprising:

c) means for determining a confidence measure of the ad set performance information; and

d) means for combining general ad set performance information and the ad set performance information with respect to the document using the determined confidence measure.

60. The apparatus of claim 59 wherein the means for determining a confidence measure use at least one of a data amount and a data age.

61. Apparatus comprising:

a) means for tracking, for a set of one or more ads, ad set performance information with respect to a set of documents, wherein the set of documents is a subset of a document collection; and

b) means for aggregating, for the set of documents, tracked ad set performance information.

62. The apparatus of claim 61 wherein the ad set performance information includes selection and impression information.

63. The apparatus of claim 61 wherein the set of documents includes related Web pages.

64. The apparatus of claim 61 further comprising:

c) means for thresholding the ad set performance information.

65. The apparatus of claim 61 further comprising:

c) means for determining a confidence measure of the ad set performance information; and

d) means for combining general ad set performance information and the ad set performance information with respect to the set of documents using the determined confidence measure.

66. The apparatus of claim 65 wherein the means for determining a confidence measure use at least one of a data amount and a data age.

67. Apparatus comprising:

a) an input for accepting, for a set of one or more ads, performance information for a document; and

b) means for scoring or modifying a score of each of one or more ads using the accepted ad set performance information for the document.

68. The apparatus of claim 67 wherein the ad set performance information includes selection and impression information.

69. The apparatus of claim 67 wherein the document is a Web page identified by a URL.

70. The apparatus of claim 67 wherein the means for scoring or modifying a scoring include:

i) means for determining a first ad score using, at least, general performance information for the ad set, and

ii) means for modifying the first ad score using the accepted ad set performance information for the document.

71. The apparatus of claim 70 wherein the means for determining a first score further use, at least, document information.

72. The apparatus of claim 70 wherein the means for determining a first score further use, at least, ad targeting information.

73. The apparatus of claim 70 wherein the means for determining a first score further use, at least, ad relevance information.

74. The apparatus of claim 70 wherein the means for scoring or modifying a scoring include:

i) means for determining mixed performance information using, at least, general performance information for the ad set and the accepted ad set performance information for the document, and

ii) means for scoring the ad using the determined mixed performance information.

75. The apparatus of claim 74 wherein the means for scoring the ad further use, at least, document information.

76. The apparatus of claim 74 wherein the means for scoring the ad further use, at least, ad targeting information.

77. The apparatus of claim 74 wherein the means for scoring the ad further use, at least, ad relevance information.

78. Apparatus comprising:

a) an input for accepting, for a set of one or more ads, performance information for a set of documents, wherein the set of documents is a subset of a document collection; and

b) means for scoring or modifying a score of each of one or more ads using the accepted ad set performance information for the set of documents.

79. The apparatus of claim 78 wherein the ad set performance information includes selection and impression information.

80. The apparatus of claim 78 wherein the set of documents includes related Web pages.

81. The apparatus of claim 78 wherein the means for scoring or modifying a score include:

i) means for determining a first ad score using, at least, general performance information for the ad set, and

ii) means for modifying the first ad score using the accepted ad set performance information for the set of documents.

82. The apparatus of claim 81 wherein the means for determining a first score further use, at least, document information.

83. The apparatus of claim 81 wherein the means for determining a first score further use, at least, ad targeting information.

84. The apparatus of claim 81 wherein the means for determining a first score further use, at least, ad relevance information.

85. The apparatus of claim 78 wherein the means for scoring or modifying a score include:

i) means for determining mixed performance information using, at least, general performance information for the ad set and the accepted ad set performance information for the set of documents, and

ii) means for scoring the ad using the determined mixed performance information.

86. The apparatus of claim 85 wherein the means for scoring the ad further use, at least, document information.

87. The apparatus of claim 85 wherein the means for scoring the ad further use, at least, ad targeting information.

88. The apparatus of claim 85 wherein the means for scoring the ad further use, at least, ad relevance information.

89. Apparatus comprising:

a) an input for accepting targeting function performance for a document; and

b) means for scoring or modifying a score of each of one or more ads using the accepted targeting function performance for the document.

90. The apparatus of claim 89 wherein the ad performance includes selection and impression information.

91. The apparatus of claim 89 wherein the document is a Web page identified by a URL.

92. The apparatus of claim 89 wherein the means for scoring include

i) means for selecting a scoring function using, at least, the accepted targeting function performance for the document, and

ii) means for applying ad information and document information to the selected scoring function to generate a score.

93. The apparatus of claim 92 wherein the scoring function is a function selected from a set of functions including (A) keyword targeting, (B) document content targeting, and (C) host content targeting.

94. The apparatus of claim 89 wherein the means for scoring include

i) means for selecting one or more parameters of a scoring function using, at least, the accepted targeting function performance for the document, and

ii) means for applying ad information and document information to the scoring function with the selected one or more parameters to generate a score.

95. Apparatus comprising:

a) an input for accepting targeting function performance for a set of documents; and

b) means for scoring or modifying a score of each of one or more ads using the accepted targeting function performance for the set of documents, wherein the set of documents is a subset of a document collection.

96. The apparatus of claim 95 wherein the ad performance includes selection and impression information.

97. The apparatus of claim 95 wherein the set of documents includes related Web pages.

98. The apparatus of claim 95 wherein the means for scoring includes

i) means for selecting a scoring function using, at least, the accepted targeting function performance for the set of documents, and

ii) means for applying ad information and document information to the selected scoring function to generate a score.

99. The apparatus of claim 98 wherein the scoring function is a function selected from a set of functions including (A) keyword targeting, (B) document content targeting, and (C) host content targeting.

100. The apparatus of claim 95 wherein the means for scoring include

i) means for selecting one or more parameters of a scoring function using, at least, the accepted targeting function performance for the set of documents, and

ii) means for applying ad information and document information to the scoring function with the selected one or more parameters to generate a score.

101. Apparatus for determining a set of ads eligible to be served with a document, the apparatus comprising:

a) means for determining a first set of ads;

b) an input for accepting ad performance information for the document;

c) means for determining a number of best performing ads for the document; and

d) means for determining a final set of ads using the first set of ads and the number of best performing ads determined.

102. Apparatus for determining a set of ads eligible to be served with a document, the apparatus comprising:

a) means for determining a first set of ads;

b) an input for accepting ad performance information for a set of documents to which the document belongs, wherein the set of documents is a subset of a collection of documents;

c) means for determining a number of best performing ads for the set of documents; and

d) means for determining a final set of ads using the first set of ads and the number of best performing ads determined.

103. Apparatus comprising:

a) means for determining for a document, at least two concepts;

b) means for determining for each of the at least two concepts, one or more ads;

c) means for determining for each of the at least two concepts, a concept performance score; and

d) means for updating, for at least one of the ads, an ad performance score using a concept performance score of the concept with which the ad is associated.

104. The apparatus of claim 103 wherein the means for determining a concept performance score use document-specific ad performance scores of ads associated with the concept.

105. The apparatus of claim 103 wherein the document belongs to a group, and

wherein the means for determining a concept performance score use group-specific ad performance scores of ads associated with the concept.

106. The apparatus of claim 105 wherein the document is a Web page and wherein the group is Web pages belonging to a Website.

107. The apparatus of claim 105 wherein the group is a cluster of related documents.

108. The apparatus of claim 105 wherein the group is a classification of documents.