Systems And Methods For Optimizing Distribution Of Advertisement Information

• US 20130129060A1
• Filed: 11/22/2011
• Published: 05/23/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAS Institute Incorporated
• Original Assignee: SAS Institute Incorporated
• Inventors: Gopalakrishnan, Balaji, Inman, William Elliot, Lehman, Thomas Robert, Brocklebank, John Clare
• Granted Patent: US 8,619,955 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/93.01
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0244 Optimization
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal

Abstract

In accordance with the teachings described herein, systems and methods are provided for optimizing distribution of advertisement information. In one example, call tracking data may be generated from a plurality of telephone calls made to a business entity, where the call tracking data includes geographical information to identify locations from which the plurality of telephone calls originated. A call distribution may be determined from the call tracking data, where the call distribution groups the call tracking data based at least in part on distances between the business entity and the locations from which the plurality of telephone calls originated. A probability density function may be generated from the call distribution and used in the generation of the advertisement distribution plan.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for optimizing distribution of advertisement information, comprising:

receiving call tracking data generated from a plurality of telephone calls made to a business entity, the call tracking data including geographical information to identify locations from which the plurality of telephone calls originated;

determining a call distribution from the call tracking data that groups the call tracking data based at least in part on distances between the business entity and the locations from which the plurality of telephone calls originated;

generating a probability density function from the call distribution, the probability density function for determining a probability that a telephone call will be received by the business entity in response to advertisement information delivered to a call location, wherein the probability density function expresses probability as a function of distance between the call location and the business entity; and

providing the probability density function for generating an advertisement distribution plan;

wherein the steps of the method are performed by one or more processors.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the call tracking data is received from a plurality of related business entities.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the advertisement distribution plan identifies a predetermined distance from the business entity to distribute advertisement information.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the advertisement distribution plan identifies a predetermined distance from each of the plurality of related business entities to distribute advertisement information.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the geographical information includes information to identify geographical units from which the plurality of telephone calls originated, the call distribution is based at least in part on distances between the business entity and the geographical units from which the plurality of telephone calls originated, and the probability density function is for determining a probability that a telephone call will be received by the business entity in response to advertisement information delivered to a call location within a certain geographical unit.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the geographical units are city blocks.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the geographical units are based on postal codes.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving demographic information relating to the geographical units,

wherein the demographic information is used in generating the advertisement distribution plan.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the probability density function is generated by generating a step function based on the call distribution and fitting the step function to a curve.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the call tracking data is generated from a sample of telephone call received by the business entity.

11. A computer-implemented method for optimizing the distribution of advertisement information for a plurality of businesses, comprising:

receiving call tracking data generated from telephone calls received by each of the plurality of businesses, the call tracking data including geographical information to identify locations from which the telephone calls originated and to associate each telephone call with a particular one of the plurality of businesses that received the call;

for each of the plurality of businesses, generating a probability density function based on the call tracking data, the probability density function for determining a probability that a telephone call will be received by the business in response to advertisement information delivered to a call location, wherein the probability density function expresses probability as a function of distance between the call location and the business;

for each of the plurality of businesses, using the probability density function to perform a plurality of simulations that predict calls to be generated in response to a distribution of advertisement information to call locations within a geographic area; and

providing results of the plurality of simulations for use in generating an advertisement distribution plan for the geographic area;

wherein the steps of the method are performed by one or more processors.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

for each of the plurality of businesses, determining a call distribution from the call tracking data that groups the call tracking data based at least in part on distances between one or more business locations and the locations from which the telephone calls originated;

wherein the probability density function for each of the plurality of businesses is generated from the call distribution.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

for each of the plurality of simulations, determining an optimal simulation result from each of the plurality of businesses;

wherein the advertisement distribution plan is generated based, at least in part, on a combination of the optimal simulation results.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

for each of the plurality of simulations, summing the optimal simulation results to generate an optimal value;

determining a mean of the optimal values from each of the plurality of simulations;

identifying one of the plurality of simulations with optimal simulation results having a summation value that is closest to the mean; and

generating the advertisement distribution plan based on the identified one of the plurality of simulations.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving demographic information relating to the geographic area,

wherein the demographic information is used in generating the advertisement distribution plan.

16. A system for optimizing distribution of advertisement information, comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more memory devices;

a call tracking application stored in the one or more memory devices and executable by the one or more processors, when executed the call tracking application being configured to receive call tracking data generated from a plurality of telephone calls made to a business entity, the call tracking data including geographical information to identify locations from which the plurality of telephone calls originated; and

an optimization engine stored in the one or more memory devices and executable by the one or more processors, when executed the optimization engine being configured to;

determine a call distribution from the call tracking data that groups the call tracking data based at least in part on distances between the business entity and the locations from which the plurality of telephone calls originated,

generate a probability density function from the call distribution, the probability density function for determining a probability that a telephone call will be received by the business entity in response to advertisement information delivered to a call location at a distance from the business entity, and

provide the probability density function for generating an advertisement distribution plan.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the call tracking data is received from a plurality of related business entities.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the geographical information includes information to identify geographical units from which the plurality of telephone calls originated, the call distribution is based at least in part on distances between the business entity and the geographical units from which the plurality of telephone calls originated, and the probability density function is for determining a probability that a telephone call will be received by the business entity in response to advertisement information delivered to a call location within a certain geographical unit.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the geographical units are city blocks.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the geographical units are based on postal codes.

21. The system of claim 18, wherein the optimization engine is further configured to receive demographic information relating to the geographical units, and wherein the demographic information is used in generating the advertisement distribution plan.

22. The system of claim 16, wherein the probability density function is generated by generating a step function based on the call distribution and fitting the step function to a curve.

23. The system of claim 16, wherein the call tracking data is generated from a sample of telephone call received by the business entity.