Systems and methods for determining relative placement of content items on a rendered page

• US 20060106710A1
• Filed: 11/30/2004
• Published: 05/18/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Najm, Tarek, Li, Li, Chickering, David M., Meek, Christopher A., Li, Ying, Heckerman, David E., Prasad, Rajeev, Vajjiravel, Murali, Dhawan, Sachin, Burdick, Brian, Kagalwala, Raxit
• Application Number:
  US10/999,586
• Publication Number:
  US 20060106710A1
• 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 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0247 Calculate past, present or future revenues
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

Systems and methods for determining the value of bids placed by content providers for placement positions on a page, e.g., a web page, rendered according to a given context, for instance, the search results listing for a particular query initiated on a search engine web site, are provided. Additionally, systems and methods are provided for determining placement of content items, e.g., advertisements and/or images, on a rendered page relative to other content items on the page based upon bid value.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for determining relative placement of content items based upon bid value, the content items to be placed on a page rendered according to a given context, comprising:

receiving a plurality of bids each associated with a content item; and

determining a relative placement of one or more of the content items on the page according to Vickrey-like auction principles.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of content item placement positions are available on the page and wherein each of the plurality of bids received may be applied to each of the plurality of content item placement positions.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising determining a bid value for each of the plurality of bids.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein determining a relative placement of one or more of the content items on the page according to Vickrey-like auction principles comprises determining relative placement of one or more of the content items on the page according to Vickrey-like auction principles using the bid value determined for each of the plurality of bids.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising determining a price to be paid for each of the plurality of content item placement positions.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein determining a price to be paid for each of the plurality of content item placement positions comprises:

determining an altered relative placement of one or more of the content items on the page as though a bid had not been received for the content item that was determined to be placed in a particular content item placement position for which price is being determined; and

determining the price to be paid for the particular content item placement position for which price is being determined as the bid value for the particular content item placement position according to the altered relative placement.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein determining a price to be paid for each of the plurality of content item placement positions comprises:

determining a list having the identity of all bidders who placed bids for a particular content item placement position for which price is being determined, including a bidder whose content item was determined to be placed in the particular content item placement position;

determining an altered list having the identity of all bidders who placed bids for the particular content item placement position except for the bidder whose content item was determined to be placed in the particular content item placement position;

determining a sum of the bid values for all bids received from bidders on the altered list;

determining an identity of a bidder whose content item would be determined to be placed in the particular content item position based upon the altered list;

determining a second altered list having the identity of all bidders who placed bids for the particular content item placement position except for the bidder whose content item would be determined to be placed in the particular content item placement position based upon the altered list;

determining a sum of the bid values for all bids received from bidders on the second altered list; and

determining a price to be paid for each of the plurality of content item placement positions as the sum of the bid values for all bids received from bidders on the altered list less the sum of the bid values for all bids received from bidders on the second altered list.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of content item placement positions are available on the page and wherein a plurality of different bids may be received from a single bidder, at least one of the plurality of different bids being applied to a different content item placement position than at least one other of the plurality of different bids.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the one or more content items on the page according to the determined relative placement.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein receiving a plurality of bids comprises receiving at least one of the plurality of bids through an auction.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the given context is determined based upon a search query.

12. A computer programmed to perform the steps recited in claim 1.

13. A computer-implemented method for determining relative placement of content items based upon bid value, the content items to be placed on a page rendered according to a given context, comprising:

receiving a plurality of bids each associated with a content item; and

determining a relative placement of one or more of the content items on the page according to modified Vickrey-like auction principles.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein a plurality of content item placement positions are available on the page and wherein each of the plurality of bids received may be applied to each of the plurality of content item placement positions.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising determining a bid value for each of the plurality of bids.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising determining an order of decreasing desirability among the plurality of content item placement positions.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein determining a relative placement of one or more of the content items on the page according to modified Vickrey-like auction principles comprises determining the relative placement of the content items on the page according to modified Vickrey-like auction principles using the bid value determined for each of the plurality of bids.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising determining a price to be paid for each of the plurality of content item placement positions.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising displaying the one or more content items on the page according to the determined relative placement.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein receiving a plurality of bids comprises receiving at least one of the plurality of bids through an auction.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the given context is determined based upon a search query.

22. A computer programmed to perform the steps recited in claim 13.

23. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon for presenting a user interface on a display device, the user interface for determining relative placement of content items based upon bid value, the content items to be placed on a page rendered according to a given context, comprising:

code for receiving a plurality of bids each associated with a content item; and

code for determining a relative placement of one or more of the content items on the page according to Vickrey-like auction principles.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, further comprising code for determining a bid value for each of the plurality of bids.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein a plurality of content item placement positions are available on the page, and wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for determining a price to be paid for each of the plurality of content item placement positions.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, further comprising code for displaying the one or more content items on the page according to the determined relative placement.

27. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon for presenting a user interface on a display device, the user interface for determining relative placement of content items based upon bid value, the content items to be placed on a page rendered according to a given context, comprising:

code for receiving a plurality of bids each associated with a content item; and

code for determining a relative placement of one or more of the content items on the page according to modified Vickrey-like auction principles.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 27, further comprising code for determining a bid value for each of the plurality of bids.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, wherein a plurality of content item placement positions are available on the page, and wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for determining a price to be paid for each of the plurality of content item placement positions.

30. A computer-implemented method for determining relative placement of content items of varying shapes and sizes based upon bid value, the content items to be placed on a page rendered according to a given context, comprising:

receiving a plurality of bids each associated with a content item;

receiving an indication for which one or more of a plurality of content item placement positions each of the plurality of bids is received; and

determining a relative placement of one or more of the content items on the page.

31. The computer-implemented method of claim 30, further comprising determining a bid value for each of the plurality of bids.

32. The computer-implemented method of claim 31, wherein determining the relative placement of the one or more of the content items on the page comprises determining the relative placement of the one or more of the content items on the page such that an overall bid value is maximized.

33. The computer-implemented method of claim 32, wherein determining the relative placement of the one or more of the content items on the page such that an overall bid value is maximized comprises determining the overall bid value as a sum of the bid value for each of the one or more the content items.

34. The computer-implemented method of claim 30, wherein receiving the plurality of bids comprises receiving at least one of the plurality of bids through an auction.

35. The computer-implemented method of claim 30, further comprising displaying the one or more content items on the page in accordance with the determined relative placement.

36. The computer-implemented method of claim 30, wherein the given context is determined based upon a search query.

37. A computer programmed to perform the steps recited in claim 30.

38. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon for presenting a user interface on a display device, the user interface for determining relative placement of content items of varying shapes and sizes based upon bid value, the content items to be placed on a page rendered according to a given context, comprising:

code for receiving a plurality of bids each associated with a content item;

code for receiving an indication for which one or more of a plurality of content item placement positions each of the plurality of bids is received; and

code for determining a relative placement of one or more of the content items on the page.

39. The computer-readable medium of claim 38, further comprising code for determining a bid value for each of the plurality of bids.

40. The computer-readable medium of claim 38, further comprising code for displaying the one or more of the content items on the page in accordance with the determined relative placement.