FACILITATING ADVERTISEMENT SELECTION USING ADVANCEMENT BIDS

• US 20110196747A1
• Filed: 02/11/2010
• Published: 08/11/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: KARIDI, RON JACK, TENNENHOLTZ, MOSHE
• Granted Patent: US 8,620,751 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.71
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0275 Auctions

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that facilitate advertisement selection using advancement bids. In embodiments, advertisement attributes in association with an advertisement are referenced. Such advertisement attributes might include an impression bid and a click bid. For a particular advertisement, it is determined if a satisfactory click rate is available. If it is determined that the satisfactory click rate is unavailable for the advertisement, an impression bid is utilized to compete with other advertisements in an advertisement-selection auction. On the other hand, if it is determined that the satisfactory click rate is available for the advertisement, the satisfactory click rate and the click bid are utilized (e.g., via an effective impression value) to compete with the other advertisements in the advertisement-selection auction.

Claims

1. One or more computer storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, that when executed, cause a computing device to perform a method for facilitating advertisement selection using impression bids when satisfactory click rates are unavailable, the method comprising:

referencing a set of one or more advertisement attributes in association with an advertisement, the set of advertisement attributes including at least an impression bid provided by an advertiser that indicates an acceptable amount to pay for one or more displays of the advertisement and a click bid provided by the advertiser that indicates an acceptable amount to pay for one or more user selections of the advertisement; and

determining if a satisfactory click rate is available for the advertisement, the satisfactory click rate being available when accuracy of an estimated click rate for the advertisement exceeds a threshold, wherein

if it is determined that the satisfactory click rate is unavailable for the advertisement, utilizing the impression bid to compete with other advertisements in an advertisement-selection auction, and

if it is determined that the satisfactory click rate is available for the advertisement, utilizing the satisfactory click rate and the click bid to compete with the other advertisements in the advertisement-selection auction.

2. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1 further comprising receiving the click bid and the impression bid for the advertisement provided by the advertiser.

3. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1 further comprising determining that the advertisement should participate in the advertisement-selection auction.

4. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1, wherein the target threshold indicates a desired level of accuracy, or confidence thereof.

5. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1, wherein the utilized impression bid competes in the advertisement-selection auction against impression bids and effective impression values associated with other advertisements.

6. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1 further comprising determining an effective impression value for the advertisement using the satisfactory click rate and the click bid.

7. The one or more computer storage media of claim 6, wherein the effective impression value competes in the advertisement-selection auction against impression bids and effective impression values associated with other advertisements.

8. The one or more computer storage media of claim 7, wherein an advertisement associated with a highest of the impression bids and effective impression values is selected for display.

9. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1, wherein an advertisement-selection auction is an auction in which a plurality of advertisements compete to be selected for display to a user or set of users.

10. The one or more computer storage media of claim 9, wherein the plurality of advertisements compete using effective impression values and impression bids associated with the plurality of advertisements.

11. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1, wherein at least one of the set of advertisement attributes in association with the advertisement is used to determine the accuracy of the estimated click rate.

12. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1 further comprising selecting an advertisement for display to a user or a set of users.

13. One or more computer storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, that when executed, cause a computing device to perform a method for facilitating advertisement selection using experimentation bids when satisfactory click rates are unavailable, the method comprising:

referencing a set of one or more advertisement attributes for each advertisement within an experimentation pool, the set of advertisement attributes including at least an experimentation bid provided by an advertiser that indicates an acceptable amount to pay for one or more displays of the advertisement;

for each advertisement, determining a probability that the advertisement will be selected from the experimentation pool to be displayed to one or more users based on the experimentation bid for the advertisement and a totality of experimentation bids provided for each advertisement within the experimentation pool; and

selecting an advertisement for display, the advertisement for display being selected from the experimentation pool in accordance with the determined probabilities that the advertisement will be selected from the experimentation pool.

14. The one or more computer storage media of claim 13, wherein the experimentation pool comprises a plurality of advertisements for which satisfactory click rates are unavailable.

15. The one or more computer storage media of claim 13 further comprising presenting the selected advertisement to the one or more users.

16. The one or more computer storage media of claim 13, wherein the selected advertisement is presented in association with a set of search results.

17. The one or more computer storage media of claim 13 further comprising reducing the experimentation bid of the selected advertisement by a monetary amount.

18. The one or more computer storage media of claim 17, wherein the monetary amount is an average impression cost or a recent impression cost.

19. A computerized method for facilitating advertisement selection using advancement bids, the method comprising:

referencing a set of one or more advertisement attributes associated with an advertisement within an auction pool having advertisements associated with satisfactory click rates and advertisements associated with unsatisfactory click rates, the set of one or more advertisement attributes including an impression bid provided by an advertiser that indicates an acceptable amount to pay for one or more displays of the advertisement and an effective impression value that indicates a monetary value associated with a set of one or more impressions of the advertisement;

determining if the impression bid or the effective impression value is greater, wherein

if the impression bid is greater, designating the impression bid for use in an advertisement-selection auction, and

if the effective impression value is greater, designating the effective impression value for use in the advertisement-selection auction;

comparing the designated impression bid or the effective impression bid for the advertisement with impression bids and effective impression bids designated for other advertisements within the auction pool;

selecting one of the advertisements within the auction pool; and

displaying the selected advertisement.

20. The computerized method of claim 19, further comprising selecting to use the auction pool to choose the advertisement to be presented to one or more users.