OPTIMIZED SEARCH RESULT COLUMNS ON SEARCH RESULTS PAGES
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for optimizing the relative positions of sponsored and organic search results on a search results page displayed to a user, the method comprising:
- calculating, by a search engine, a degree of commerciality of a search query;
receiving the search query from a user by the search engine; and
delivering, by the search engine to a browser of a user in response to the search query, a plurality of sponsored search results in at least two columns and a plurality of organic search results in at least a third column of one or more search results pages, where a layout of the at least three columns depends on the degree of commerciality of the search query;
where the degree to which the search query is commercial is based on an analysis of one or more of the organic search results associated with advertisers that also bid on search terms related to the search query.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Computer-implemented system and methods are disclosed for optimizing the relative positions of sponsored and organic search results on a search results page displayed to a user, including calculating, by a search engine, a degree of commerciality of a search query; receiving the search query from a user by the search engine; and delivering, by the search engine to a browser of a user, a plurality of sponsored search results in at least two columns and a plurality of organic search results in at least a third column of one or more search results pages, wherein a layout of the at least three columns depends on the degree of commerciality of the search query.
17 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for optimizing the relative positions of sponsored and organic search results on a search results page displayed to a user, the method comprising:
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calculating, by a search engine, a degree of commerciality of a search query; receiving the search query from a user by the search engine; and delivering, by the search engine to a browser of a user in response to the search query, a plurality of sponsored search results in at least two columns and a plurality of organic search results in at least a third column of one or more search results pages, where a layout of the at least three columns depends on the degree of commerciality of the search query; where the degree to which the search query is commercial is based on an analysis of one or more of the organic search results associated with advertisers that also bid on search terms related to the search query. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A computer-implemented method for optimizing the relative positions of sponsored and organic search results on a search results page displayed to a user, the method comprising:
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obtaining bidding data related to a search query by a search engine having a processor and a memory, the data including a number of bidders for the search query, their price-per- click (PPC) bid amounts, and a daily maximum spending amount for each bidder; estimating, by the search engine, a projected click-through-rate (CTR) for each possible sponsored search result position to be filled in response to the search query during a next time period based on the bidding data; estimating, by the search engine, a number of sponsored search result positions required during the next time period in order to meet the daily maximum spending amount of each bidder, based on the number of bidders and the average CTR for each position; estimating a commercial score, by the search engine, based on analysis of one or more organic search results returned in response to the search query that are associated with bidders that also bid on search terms related to the search query; and determining, by the search engine, a layout of at least two result columns to both of which to deliver the sponsored search results on the one or more search results pages based on the estimated number of positions and the commercial score. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A search engine for optimizing relative positions of sponsored and organic search results on a search results page displayed to a user, comprising:
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a processor and a memory coupled with the processor; a database including organic and sponsored search results, the database coupled with the processor; a communication interface, coupled with the processor and the database, to receive the query from a user and to deliver one or more search results pages to a browser of the user in response to the query; a commercial engine, coupled with the processor and the database, to calculate a degree to which the search query is commercial and to save the calculated degree in the database; and a delivery manager, coupled with the processor, the database, and the communication interface, the delivery manager to receive the query from the communications interface and to direct the communications interface to deliver a plurality of sponsored search results in at least two columns, with the organic search results in at least a third column, of the one or more search results pages in response to the search query, where a layout of the at least three columns depends on the degree of commerciality of the search query; where the degree to which the search query is commercial is based on an analysis of one or more of the organic search results associated with advertisers that also bid on search terms related to the search query. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification