VIRTUAL SPOT MARKET FOR ADVERTISEMENTS

• US 20080004990A1
• 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:
  US11/427,312
• Publication Number:
  US 20080004990A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/27
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• 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 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.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the aggregation component receives information about online advertising space that is now available.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the aggregation component receives information about online advertising space will become available in the future.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the aggregation component receives information about online advertising space that is predicted by prediction analysis to become available in the future.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the subsets of the aggregated advertisement space information are valuated based on supply and demand.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the transaction component facilitates purchase of options to buy online advertising space.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the transaction component facilitates purchase of futures related to advertising space.

8. 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 bids.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the aggregation component groups the advertisement space information according to categories.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the aggregation component groups the advertisement space information according to at least one of type and size.

11. 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.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising a market component that interfaces to a national market exchange system for communication of market information.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the aggregation component groups the ad space information according to class based on aspects desired by the bidders.

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

receiving advertising space information related to online advertising space of a web location;

accumulating the received advertising space information;

grouping the advertising space information into sets based in part on characteristics of the associated advertising space; and

receiving offers to buy the sets of the advertising space from bidders based on supply and demand data.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising at least one of:

generating the sets of advertising space based on the supply and demand data for related advertising space; and

offering for bid advertisements and/or the advertisement space based on dynamically sensed contextual cues.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising tracking historical information related to transactions associated with the offers to buy.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the act of receiving is associated with an auction process in which a vendor bids for the advertisement space against all other bidders.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising generating profile information which is used to valuate the advertising space.

19. The method of claim 14, further comprising utilizing the advertising space for informational purposes, other than for selling a product or service.

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

computer-implemented means for receiving advertising space information related to online advertising space of web locations;

computer-implemented means for accumulating the received advertising space information for processing;

computer-implemented means for clustering the advertising space information into related sets based in part on characteristics of the associated advertising space; and

computer-implemented means for transacting sales and offers to buy the sets of the advertising space from bidders as a function of supply and demand data.