AUCTIONING FOR VIDEO AND AUDIO ADVERTISING

• US 20080004948A1
• Filed: 06/28/2006
• Published: 01/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Dumais, Susan T., Naam, Ramez, Flake, Gary W., Goodman, Joshua T., Horvitz, Eric J., Moss, Kenneth A., Gounares, Alexander G., Gates, William H.
• Application Number:
  US11/427,316
• Publication Number:
  US 20080004948A1
• 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 30/0275 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

Architecture that facilitates online advertising taking on characteristics of a commodities market approach to purchasing advertising space, options for ad space and a futures market for online ad space. Available advertising space is identified and aggregated, and subsets of the aggregated ad space are offered for purchase using a commodities market-based approach. The architecture facilitates revenue-sharing paradigms, coupon delivery, targeted advertising, point-of-sale transactions, inventory control, just-in-time delivery of ads, content and product/services, value-based advertising models, etc. The architecture comprises an aggregation component that aggregates advertisement space information associated with online advertisements, and a transaction component that facilitates transacting subsets of the aggregated advertisement space information to bidders as a function of supply and demand. The aggregation component receives information about online advertising space that is now available, that will become available in the future, and that is predicted by prediction analysis to become available in the future. Advertisements and/or ad space can be specified based on dynamic sensing of contextual cues.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented system that facilitates sale of online advertising space, comprising:

an aggregation component that aggregates online advertisement space information for at least one of video and audio advertisements; and

a transaction component that facilitates auctioning subsets of the online advertisement space information to bidders as a function of supply and demand.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the aggregation component receives information about online advertising space for the at least one of video and audio advertisements that is now available and/or will become available in the future.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the aggregation component receives information about online advertising space for the at least one of video and audio advertisements that is predicted by prediction analysis to become available in the future.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the subsets of the online advertisement space information for the video and audio advertisements are valuated based on supply and demand.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the transaction component facilitates purchase of options to buy online advertising space associated with the online advertisement space information.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the transaction component facilitates purchase of futures related to the online advertising space information associated with the at least one of video and audio advertisements.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the transaction component facilitates pricing of the subsets of the aggregated space information and sale thereof based on received electronic bids.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the aggregation component groups the advertisement space information according to separate categories of audio and video content.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the aggregation component groups the advertisement space information of the separate categories according to at least one of type and size.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a machine learning and reasoning component that employs a probabilistic and/or statistical-based analysis to prognose or infer an action that a user desires to be automatically performed.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising a market component that interfaces to a national market exchange system for receiving market information related to availability of online advertising space for at least one of video and audio advertisements.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the aggregation component groups the advertisement space information according to categories of properties that are of interest to the bidders.

13. A computer-implemented method of transacting online advertising space, comprising:

receiving advertising space data for online audio and video advertisements of a web location;

grouping the advertising space data into sets based in part on characteristics of the associated audio and video advertising space; and

selling one or more of the sets to bidders in an online auction.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising tracking historical information related to transactions associated with the auction.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein one of the sets is a single advertising space of the web location for sale in the auction.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the sets are grouped based on properties of the advertising space and associated audio and video advertisements, which properties include at least one of type of content to be presented, file size of the content, duration of content presentation, and size of the advertising space.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising generating profile information about the advertising space which is used to set a minimum auction price.

18. The method of claim 13, further comprising automatically accessing a major stock market exchange system to set a minimum auction price for the advertising space.

19. The method of claim 13, further comprising automatically contacting one of the bidders based on an inference that the bidder should bid on the advertising space.

20. A computer-executable system for transacting online advertising space, comprising:

computer-implemented means for receiving advertising space data for online audio and video advertisements of a web location;

computer-implemented means for grouping the advertising space data into sets based in part on characteristics of the associated audio and video advertising space;

computer-implemented means automatically accessing a major stock market exchange system to set a minimum auction price for the advertising space; and

computer-implemented means for selling one or more of the sets to bidders according to the minimum auction price in an online auction.