Dynamic pricing of electronic content

• US 8,260,657 B1
• Filed: 09/30/2011
• Issued: 09/04/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Conway, David P.
• Primary Examiner(s): JABR, FADEY S
• Application Number:
  US13/249,910
• Time in Patent Office: 340 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1.1, 705/7.29, 705/7.31, 705/7.32, 705/7.35, 705/7.37, 705/28, 705/52, 705/400, 380/231
• US Class Current: 705/7.35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47211 for requesting pay-per-view content payment schemes payment architectures or payment protocols G06Q20/00, G07F

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for dynamically pricing electronic content. In one aspect, a method includes determining a likelihood that a group of users will repurchase an item of electronic content, determining that a particular user is more or less likely to repurchase the item of electronic content than the users of the group, in response to determining that the particular user is more or less likely to repurchase the item of electronic content than the users of the group, adjusting a base price associated with repurchasing the item of electronic content, and providing the particular user with an offer to repurchase the item of electronic content at the adjusted price.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

determining, for each user in a group of users, a likelihood of the respective user to repurchase an item of electronic content that the respective user has already purchased;

determining an aggregated likelihood that the group of users will repurchase the item of electronic content;

determining, from among other data that is stored on a computer-readable storage medium in association with the item of electronic content, a base price associated with repurchasing a particular item of electronic content that has already been purchased;

determining a portion of the particular item of electronic content that a particular user has consumed;

determining, based upon the portion of the particular item of electronic content, that the particular user is more or less likely to repurchase the particular item of electronic content than the group of users;

in response to determining that the particular user is more or less likely to repurchase the particular item of electronic content than the group of users, adjusting the base price; and

providing the particular user with an offer to repurchase the particular item of electronic content at the adjusted price,

wherein said determining, said adjusting, and said providing are performed by one or more processors of a computer system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the base price further comprises:

adjusting the base price upward based on determining that the particular user is more likely to repurchase the particular item of electronic content than the group of users; and

adjusting the base price downward based on determining that the particular user is less likely to repurchase the particular item of electronic content than the group of users.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the base price further comprises:

determining an extent to which the particular user is more or less likely to repurchase the particular item of electronic content than the group of users; and

adjusting the base price in correlation with the extent to which the particular user is more or less likely to repurchase the particular item of electronic content than the group of users.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an aggregated likelihood that the group of users will repurchase the item of electronic content further comprises:

determining a number of users in the group of users that have paid to consume the item of electronic content in the past;

determining a number of users in the group of users that have also paid to repurchase the item of electronic content; and

dividing the number of users in the group that have also paid to repurchase the item of electronic content by the number of users in the group that have paid to consume the item of electronic content.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an aggregated likelihood that the group of users will repurchase the item of electronic content further comprises:

estimating an aggregated likelihood that the group of users will repurchase the item of electronic content.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the particular user is more or less likely to repurchase the particular item of electronic content further comprises:

determining information about the particular user;

assigning the particular user to a segment of users based on the information;

determining a likelihood of the segment of users to which the particular user is assigned to repurchase the particular item of electronic content; and

comparing the likelihood of the segment of users to which the particular user is assigned, to the likelihood of the group of users.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein determining information about the particular user further comprises identifying a search term entered by the particular user.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein determining information about the particular user further comprises identifying a search result selected by the particular user.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein determining information about the particular user further comprises identifying one or more other items of electronic content that the particular user has consumed in the past.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein determining information about the particular user further comprises identifying one or more other items of electronic content that the particular user has purchased in the past.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein determining information about the particular user further comprises identifying one or more other items of electronic content in which the particular user has expressed interest.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a quantity of items of electronic content that the particular user has paid to repurchase during a predetermined period of time in the past;

wherein;

determining an aggregated likelihood that the group of users will repurchase an item of electronic content further comprises determining an average quantity of items of electronic content that the group of users has paid to repurchase during the predetermined period of time in the past; and

determining that the particular user is more or less likely to repurchase the particular item of electronic content than the group of users further comprises comparing the quantity of items of electronic content that the particular user has paid to repurchase, to the average quantity of items of electronic content that the group of users has paid to repurchase.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the item of electronic content comprises an first audio or video recording, a first game, a first ringtone, a first mobile device application, or a first wallpaper, and

wherein the particular item of electronic content comprises an second audio or video recording, a second game, a second ringtone, a second mobile device application, or a second wallpaper.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an aggregated likelihood that a group of users will repurchase the item of electronic content further comprises determining an average likelihood that the group of users will repurchase the item of electronic content.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an aggregated likelihood that a group of users will repurchase the item of electronic content further comprises determining a weighted average of the likelihood that each user in the group of users will repurchase an item of electronic content, wherein the weighted average is weighted according to a similarity between the group of users and the particular user.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the group of users comprises users that exhibit similar demographic, purchase behavior, or consumption behavior characteristics to the particular user.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the group of users is selected based on a social network behavior of the particular user.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the base price further comprises:

comparing the adjusted base price to a floor price or a ceiling price; and

establishing the floor price or the ceiling price as the adjusted base price based on the comparison.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a quantity of items of electronic content associated with the offer,

wherein the base price associated with repurchasing the particular item of electronic content is further adjusted based on the quantity of items.

20. A system comprising:

one or more computers; and

a computer-readable storage medium coupled to the one or more computers having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising;

determining, for each user in a group of users, a likelihood of the respective user to repurchase an item of electronic content that the respective user has already purchased;

determining an aggregated likelihood that the group of users will repurchase the item of electronic content;

determining a base price associated with repurchasing a particular item of electronic content that has already been purchased;

determining a portion of the particular item of electronic content that a particular user has consumed;

determining, based upon the portion of the particular item of electronic content, that the particular user is more or less likely to repurchase the particular item of electronic content than the group of users;

in response to determining that the particular user is more or less likely to repurchase the particular item of electronic content than the group of users, adjusting a base price associated with repurchasing the particular item of electronic content; and

providing the particular user with an offer to repurchase the particular item of electronic content at the adjusted price.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the group of users is selected based on a social network behavior of the particular user.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein determining that the particular user is more or less likely to repurchase the particular item of electronic content further comprises:

determining information about the particular user;

assigning the particular user to a segment of users based on the information;

determining a likelihood of the segment of users to which the particular user is assigned to repurchase the particular item of electronic content; and

comparing the likelihood of the segment of users to which the particular user is assigned, to the likelihood of the group of users.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein adjusting the base price further comprises:

adjusting the base price upward based on determining that the particular user is more likely to repurchase the particular item of electronic content than the group of users; and

adjusting the base price downward based on determining that the particular user is less likely to repurchase the particular item of electronic content than the group of users.

24. A computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising instructions that when executed by one or more computers cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

determining, for each user in a group of users, a likelihood of the respective user to repurchase an item of electronic content that the respective user has already purchased;

determining an aggregated likelihood that the group of users will repurchase the item of electronic content;

determining a base price associated with repurchasing a particular item of electronic content that has already been purchased;

determining a portion of the particular item of electronic content that a particular user has consumed;

determining, based upon the portion of the particular item of electronic content, that the particular user is more or less likely to repurchase the particular item of electronic content than the group of users;

in response to determining that the particular user is more or less likely to repurchase the particular item of electronic content than the group of users, adjusting a base price associated with repurchasing the particular item of electronic content; and

providing the particular user with an offer to repurchase the particular item of electronic content at the adjusted price.