Identifying and/or blocking ads such as document-specific competitive ads

• US 8,239,263 B2
• Filed: 09/05/2003
• Issued: 08/07/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Axe, Brian, Ranganath, Rama, Shivakumar, Narayanan
• Primary Examiner(s): Boveja, Namrata
• Assistant Examiner(s): Brown, Alvin L
• Application Number:
  US10/656,917
• Publication Number:
  US 20050055271A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,259 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14
• US Class Current: 705/14.4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0254 based on statistics
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search

Abstract

A content owner partner (e.g., a Website/Web page publisher) can easily block entire broad or narrow categories of ads, and can specify objectionable ad content or targeting. Concepts may be associated with a property and ads related to those concepts may be blocked for the given property. Further, terms may be associated with a property and ads including any of the terms may be blocked for the given property.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for blocking advertisements, the method comprising:

referencing a primary advertisement within a web page;

identifying, based on referencing the primary advertisement within the web page, at least one blocking category of advertisements to be blocked and one or more terms that are relevant to the at least one blocking category;

accepting at least one advertisement as a candidate for a secondary advertisement within the web page that features the primary advertisement, with each accepted advertisement being configured to be embedded in the web page and being provided by an advertising server;

storing the at least one accepted advertisement on the advertising server for consideration in a list of candidates for the secondary advertisement;

identifying a document to which the at least one accepted advertisement is linked, the document representing a landing page related to the at least one accepted advertisement;

analyzing, via a processor, content in the document to identify one or more terms in the document;

comparing the one or more terms in the document to the one or more terms that are relevant to the at least one blocking category;

identifying, based on the comparing, whether the at least one accepted advertisement is in one or more of the at least one blocking category;

using the at least one blocking category of advertisements to be blocked to develop the list of the candidates for the secondary advertisement replacement with the primary advertisement, the candidates being selected from the at least one accepted advertisement for the secondary advertisement; and

preventing the at least one accepted advertisement from being included in the list of candidates if the at least one accepted advertisement is in one or more of the at least one blocking category of advertisements to be blocked.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein preventing comprises removing the at least one accepted advertisement from the list of candidates.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least one blocking category comprises a category of advertisements for products to be blocked.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least one blocking category comprises a category of advertisements for services to be blocked.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one blocking category of advertisements to be blocked is accepted from a list associated with at least one document.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one document comprises at least one web page.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one document comprises web pages of a website.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one document comprises at least one web page associated with a path name.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing advertisement information for the at least one accepted advertisement to the one or more terms that are relevant to the at least one blocking category; and

preventing the at least one accepted advertisement from being served if at least a part of the advertisement information includes one or more of the one or more terms that are relevant to the at least one blocking category.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the at least the part of the advertisement information comprises content of a creative of the at least one accepted advertisement.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the at least the part of the advertisement information comprises keyword targeting terms associated with the at least one accepted advertisement.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the advertisement information comprises a product name.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the advertisement information comprises a name of a product manufacturer.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the advertisement information comprises a name of a product retailer.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the advertisement information comprises a service name.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the advertisement information comprises a name of a service provider.

17. The method of claim 9, wherein the advertisement information is associated with at least one document.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the at least one document comprises at least one web page.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the at least one document comprises web pages of a website.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the at least one document comprises at least one web page associated with a path name.

21. An apparatus for blocking advertisements, the apparatus comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more machine-readable media configured to store instructions that are executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

accepting at least one blocking category of advertisements to be blocked within a web page and one or more terms that are relevant to the at least one blocking category, with the web page for presentation of a primary advertisement;

accepting at least one advertisement as a candidate for a secondary advertisement within the web page that features the primary advertisement, with each accepted advertisement being configured to be embedded in a web page and being provided by an advertising server;

identifying a document to which the at least one accepted advertisement is linked, the document representing a landing page related to the at least one accepted advertisement;

storing the at least one accepted advertisement on the advertising server for consideration in a list of candidates for the secondary advertisement;

analyzing content in the document to identify one or more terms in the document;

comparing the one or more terms in the document to the one or more terms that are relevant to the at least one blocking category;

identifying, based on the comparing, whether the at least one accepted advertisement is in one or more of the at least one blocking category;

using the at least one blocking category of advertisements to be blocked to develop the list of the candidates for the secondary advertisement for placement with the primary advertisement, the candidates being selected from the at least one accepted advertisement for the secondary advertisement; and

preventing the at least one accepted advertisement from being included in the list of candidates if the at least one accepted advertisement is in one or more of the at least one blocking category of advertisements to be blocked.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein preventing comprises removing the at least one accepted advertisement from the list of candidates.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein at least one of the at least one blocking category comprises a category of advertisements for products to be blocked.

24. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein at least one of the at least one blocking category comprises a category of advertisements for services to be blocked.

25. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the at least one blocking category of advertisements to be blocked is accepted from a list associated with at least one document.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the at least one document comprises at least one web page.

27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the at least one document comprises web pages of a website.

28. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the at least one document comprises at least one web page associated with a path name.

29. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the operations further comprise:

comparing advertisement information for the at least one accepted advertisement to the one or more terms that are relevant to the at least one blocking category; and

preventing the at least one accepted advertisement from being served if at least a part of the advertisement information includes one or more of the one or more terms that are relevant to the at least one blocking category.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the at least the part of the advertisement information comprises content of a creative of the at least one accepted advertisement.

31. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the at least the part of the advertisement information comprises keyword targeting terms associated with the at least one accepted advertisement.

32. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the advertisement information comprises a product name.

33. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the advertisement information comprises a name of a product manufacturer.

34. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the advertisement information comprises a name of a product retailer.

35. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the advertisement information comprises a service name.

36. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the advertisement information comprises a name of a service provider.

37. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the advertisement information is associated with at least one document.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the at least one document comprises at least one web page.

39. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the at least one document comprises web pages of a website.

40. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the at least one document comprises at least one web page associated with a path name.

41. A computer-readable medium configured to store instructions that are executable by one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving at least one blocking category of advertisements to be blocked in a web page and one or more terms that are relevant to the at least one blocking category, with the web page for presentation of a primary advertisement;

accepting at least one advertisement as a candidate for a secondary advertisement within the web page that features the primary advertisement;

identifying a document to which the at least one accepted advertisement is linked, the document representing a landing page related to the at least one accepted advertisement;

analyzing content in the document to identify one or more terms in the document;

comparing the one or more terms in the document to the one or more terms that are relevant to the at least one blocking category;

identifying, based on the comparing, whether the at least one accepted advertisement is in one or more of the at least one blocking category; and

using the at least one blocking category of advertisements to be blocked to develop a list of candidates for the secondary advertisement for placement with the primary advertisement, the candidates being selected from the at least one accepted advertisement;

preventing the at least one accepted advertisement from being included in the list of candidates if the at least one accepted advertisement is in one or more of the at least one blocking category of advertisements to be blocked.

42. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein preventing comprises removing the at least one accepted advertisement from the list of candidates.

43. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein at least one of the at least one blocking category comprises a category of advertisements for products to be blocked.

44. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein at least one of the at least one blocking category comprises a category of advertisements for services to be blocked.

45. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein the at least one blocking category of advertisements to be blocked is accepted from a list associated with at least one document.

46. The computer-readable medium of claim 45, wherein the at least one document comprises at least one web page.

47. The computer-readable medium of claim 45, wherein the at least one document comprises web pages of a website.

48. The computer-readable medium of claim 45, wherein the at least one document comprises at least one web page associated with a path name.

49. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein the operations further comprise:

comparing advertisement information for the at least one accepted advertisement to the one or more terms that are relevant to the at least one blocking category; and

preventing the at least one accepted advertisement from being served if at least a part of the advertisement information includes one or more of the one or more terms that are relevant to the at least one blocking category.

50. The computer-readable medium of claim 49, wherein the at least the part of the advertisement information comprises content of a creative of the at least one accepted advertisement.

51. The computer-readable medium of claim 49, wherein the at least the part of the advertisement information comprises keyword targeting terms associated with the at least one accepted advertisement.

52. The computer-readable medium of claim 49, wherein the advertisement information comprises a product name.

53. The computer-readable medium of claim 49, wherein the advertisement information comprises a name of a product manufacturer.

54. The computer-readable medium of claim 49, wherein the advertisement information comprises a name of a product retailer.

55. The computer-readable medium of claim 49, wherein the advertisement information comprises a service name.

56. The computer-readable medium of claim 49, wherein the advertisement information comprises a name of a service provider.

57. The computer-readable medium of claim 49, wherein the advertisement information is associated with at least one document.

58. The computer-readable medium of claim 57, wherein the at least one document comprises at least one web page.

59. The computer-readable medium of claim 57, wherein the at least one document comprises web pages of a website.

60. The computer-readable medium of claim 57, wherein the at least one document comprises at least one web page associated with a path name.

61. An apparatus comprising:

means for accepting at least one blocking category of advertisements to be blocked within a web page and one or more terms that are relevant to the at least one blocking category, with the web page for presentation of a primary advertisement;

means for accepting at least one advertisement as a candidate for a secondary advertisement within the web page that features the primary advertisement, with each accepted advertisement being configured to be embedded in a web page and being provided by an advertising server;

means for identifying a document to which the at least one accepted advertisement is linked, the document representing a landing page related to the at least one accepted advertisement;

means for storing the at least one accepted advertisement on the advertising server for consideration in a list of candidates for the secondary advertisement;

means for analyzing content in the document to identify one or more terms in the document;

means for comparing the one or more terms in the document to the one or more terms that are relevant to the at least one blocking category;

means for identifying, based on the comparing, whether the at least one accepted advertisement is in one or more of the at least one blocking category;

means for using the at least one blocking category of advertisements to be blocked to develop the list of the candidates for the secondary advertisement for placement with the primary advertisement, the candidates being selected from the at least one accepted advertisement for the secondary advertisement; and

means for preventing the at least one accepted advertisement from being included in the list of candidates if the at least one accepted advertisement is in one or more of the at least one blocking category of advertisements to be blocked.

62. A method implemented by one or more processors, comprising:

identifying, based on a reference to a first advertisement in a web page, a category of advertisements to be blocked and one or more terms that are relevant to the category of advertisements to be blocked;

accepting a second advertisement as a candidate for placement in the web page that displays the first advertisement;

accessing a landing page of the second advertisement;

comparing, via a processor, one or more terms in the landing page to the one or more terms that are relevant to the category of advertisements to be blocked;

identifying, based on the comparing, whether the second advertisement is in the category of advertisements to blocked;

determining, based on identification of whether the second advertisement is in the category of advertisements to blocked, whether the second advertisement remains as the candidate for placement in the web page.