AUTOMATIC BID ADJUSTMENTS FOR ELECTRONIC ADVERTISING
First Claim
1. A method in a computer system for generating a bid price for an electronic advertisement, comprising:
- selecting a keyword and a provider with which to place an advertisement, the provider operable to generate a page including content associated with the keyword;
determining a first set of bidding data components related to the advertisement, each bidding data component containing data stored at a different level in a bidding data hierarchy related to an aspect of the advertisement;
determining a minimum number of data points needed to determine a significant bidding result;
selecting a second set of bidding components including a bidding data component at a lowest level in the first set of bidding components and including a number of data points at least meeting the minimum number of data points, the second set of bidding components including at least one bidding component at a next highest level in the bidding data hierarchy when the bidding data component at the lowest level does not include the minimum number of data points;
selecting at least one time period over which to analyze data for each bidding component;
determining a base bid price by analyzing first bid data for each of the second set of bidding components for each selected time period;
determining a bid adjustment factor by analyzing second bid data for each of the second set of bidding components for each selected time period, the second bid data including previously submitted bid prices and actual costs incurred as a result of the previously submitted bid prices;
determining a bid result by adjusting the base bid price by the bid adjustment factor; and
submitting advertising information and the bid result to the provider for the keyword.
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Abstract
The accuracy of bid amounts for electronic advertising is improved by accounting for factors such as the cost-per-click (CPC) ratio for each ad. When a provider such as a search engine selects advertisements using automated auctions, it can be desirable for an advertiser to avoid underbidding for ads when the ads generate a significant amount of revenue or profit, or are otherwise performing well. Various algorithms can be used to generate a bid adjustment factor that allows bid values to be increased (or decreased) as appropriate, based on information such as CPC information. By calculating a separate adjustment factor, the amount of adjustment can be monitored and/or capped to avoid overspending. The algorithms also can utilize information at various levels of categorization, and at different time intervals, depending on the amount and type of information available, in order to provide an accurate and significant result.
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Citations
1 Claim
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1. A method in a computer system for generating a bid price for an electronic advertisement, comprising:
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selecting a keyword and a provider with which to place an advertisement, the provider operable to generate a page including content associated with the keyword; determining a first set of bidding data components related to the advertisement, each bidding data component containing data stored at a different level in a bidding data hierarchy related to an aspect of the advertisement; determining a minimum number of data points needed to determine a significant bidding result; selecting a second set of bidding components including a bidding data component at a lowest level in the first set of bidding components and including a number of data points at least meeting the minimum number of data points, the second set of bidding components including at least one bidding component at a next highest level in the bidding data hierarchy when the bidding data component at the lowest level does not include the minimum number of data points; selecting at least one time period over which to analyze data for each bidding component; determining a base bid price by analyzing first bid data for each of the second set of bidding components for each selected time period; determining a bid adjustment factor by analyzing second bid data for each of the second set of bidding components for each selected time period, the second bid data including previously submitted bid prices and actual costs incurred as a result of the previously submitted bid prices; determining a bid result by adjusting the base bid price by the bid adjustment factor; and submitting advertising information and the bid result to the provider for the keyword.
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Specification