Systems and Methods for Serving Secure Content

• US 20140095324A1
• Filed: 09/29/2012
• Published: 04/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: AppNexus Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Dilling, Andrew S., Cabral, Kevin M., Dixon, Timothy B.
• Granted Patent: US 10,832,313 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.71
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0243 Comparative campaigns
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions

Abstract

A method and system for maintaining and delivering secure online content includes facilitating registration of secure content with an online content placement auction system, auditing the registered content to ensure security requirements for the registered content are met, and holding an auction among bidders for placement of content in a secure online content space. The process of holding an auction for the content space includes receiving a call for secure content to be served in the content space, transmitting a bid request to bidders in response to the call, receiving bid replies having bid amounts and proposed content to be securely served in the content space, and determining a qualifying subset of the received bid replies having proposed content approved as secure.

Claims

1. A method, implemented on at least one computer, for maintaining and delivering secure online content, the computer comprising at least one memory storing computer executable instructions and at least one processing unit for executing the instructions stored in the memory, wherein execution of the instructions results in the computer performing the steps of:

facilitating registration of secure content with an online content placement auction system;

auditing the registered content to ensure security requirements for the registered content are met; and

holding an auction among one or more bidders for placement of content in a secure online content space, wherein holding the auction comprises;

receiving a call for secure content to be served in the content space,

transmitting a bid request to one or more bidders in response to the call, the bid request comprising an indication that proposed content must be secure,

receiving one or more bid replies from the bidders in response to the bid request, each bid reply comprising a bid amount and proposed content to be securely served in the content space, and

determining a qualifying subset of the received bid replies having proposed content approved as secure.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein facilitating registration of the secure content comprises specifying one or both of a resource identifier for the secure content and source code of the secure content.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein facilitating registration of the secure content further comprises specifying a pixel resource identifier for the secure content.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein facilitating registration of the secure content further comprises specifying one or both of a resource identifier for a non-secure version of the secure content and source code of the non-secure version.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein facilitating registration of the secure content further comprises specifying a pixel resource identifier for the non-secure version.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein auditing the registered content comprises triggering a re-audit of the registered content upon detecting a modification to one or more of the resource identifier, the source code, and the pixel resource identifier.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the secure content comprises secure advertising content to be securely served in an online impression space.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the online content placement auction system comprises a real-time bidding system for online advertising impressions.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the security requirements comprise one or more of a valid SSL certificate, a required encryption method, and a minimum encryption key length.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein holding the auction further comprises:

determining a winning bid from the subset of qualifying bid replies; and

causing the secure content associated with the winning bid to be securely served in the content space.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein holding the auction further comprises causing default secure content to be securely served in the content space upon determining the subset contains no qualifying bid replies.

12. A system for maintaining and delivering secure online content, the system comprising at least one memory storing computer executable instructions and at least one processing unit for executing the instructions stored in the memory, wherein execution of the instructions results in one or more application modules together comprising:

a registration module for facilitating registration of secure content with an online content placement auction system;

a security module for auditing the registered content to ensure security requirements for the registered content are met; and

an auction module for holding an auction among one or more bidders for placement of content in a secure online content space, wherein holding the auction comprises;

receiving a call for secure content to be served in the content space,

transmitting a bid request to one or more bidders in response to the call, the bid request comprising an indication that proposed content must be secure,

receiving one or more bid replies from the bidders in response to the bid request, each bid reply comprising a bid amount and proposed content to be securely served in the content space, and

determining a qualifying subset of the received bid replies having proposed content approved as secure.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein facilitating registration of the secure content comprises specifying one or both of a resource identifier for the secure content and source code of the secure content.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein facilitating registration of the secure content further comprises specifying a pixel resource identifier for the secure content.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein facilitating registration of the secure content further comprises specifying one or both of a resource identifier for a non-secure version of the secure content and source code of the non-secure version.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein facilitating registration of the secure content further comprises specifying a pixel resource identifier for the non-secure version.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein auditing the registered content comprises triggering a re-audit of the registered content upon detecting a modification to one or more of the resource identifier, the source code, and the pixel resource identifier.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the secure content comprises secure advertising content to be securely served in an online impression space.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the online content placement auction system comprises a real-time bidding system for online advertising impressions.

20. The system of claim 12, wherein the security requirements comprise one or more of a valid SSL certificate, a required encryption method, and a minimum encryption key length.

21. The system of claim 12, wherein holding the auction further comprises:

determining a winning bid from the subset of qualifying bid replies; and

causing the secure content associated with the winning bid to be securely served in the content space.

22. The system of claim 12, wherein holding the auction further comprises causing default secure content to be securely served in the content space upon determining the subset contains no qualifying bid replies.