Systems and methods relating to an opportunity distribution engine and distribution simulation

• US 8,321,256 B2
• Filed: 01/09/2008
• Issued: 11/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AutoWeb, Inc. (California)
• Original Assignee: Autobytel Incorporated
• Inventors: Rose, C. Michael, Mathews, Peter D., Sward, Jeffrey E., Dunkle, Glenn R., Dohoney, John L., Davis, Glenn S.
• Primary Examiner(s): DIXON, THOMAS A
• Application Number:
  US11/971,823
• Publication Number:
  US 20080201205A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,784 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7.22
• US Class Current: 705/7.22
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06375 Prediction of business process outcome or impact based on a proposed change
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0225 Avoiding frauds

Abstract

Opportunity distribution systems and methods distribute business opportunities received from lead sources for routing to one or more destination businesses that will make use the opportunity, such as an opportunity to place a webpage advertisement on a webpage that is being served to a viewer. The system identifies a set of most profitable destinations for each opportunity, for each routing, while complying with business rules associated with the opportunity source and the destination businesses. System variables associated with the lead source and the destinations may be advantageously adjusted to maintain desired flow rate and quality levels of leads to each destination and to maximize profit to the system. A system administrator module and log of lead transactions allows the system to review previous performance and to carry out simulations in order to identify desired adjustments to system variables.

Claims

1. An opportunity distribution system that provides a business opportunity available for purchase to a selected set of one or more businesses, the system comprising:

a processor in communication with computer readable storage that includes;

a data repository with stored data about candidate businesses for the business opportunity, wherein said stored data includes a least four different types of data values for each candidate business; and

processor readable instructions configured such that, together with the processor, an opportunity distribution engine is implemented to;

populate said data repository with additional data values about said candidate businesses, wherein said additional data values are derived, at least in part, from said stored data values; and

select, based at least in part on said stored data values and said additional data values in said data repository, a set of one or more candidate businesses permitted to purchase an opportunity to place an advertisement in each of one or more advertisement spaces on a webpage currently being served to a viewer.

2. The opportunity distribution system of claim 1, wherein said processor is further configured to cause one or more advertisements to be placed in one or more of the advertisement spaces on the webpage being served to the viewer on behalf of the one or more selected businesses.

3. The opportunity distribution system of claim 1, wherein a plurality of the one or more advertisement spaces on the webpage is associated with a cost that may be different from the cost of at least one other advertisement space on the webpage, said opportunity distribution engine being configured to use said data repository to select a business for each of said one or more advertisement spaces in order to obtain a preferred monetary or other business benefit.

4. An opportunity distribution system that provides a business opportunity available for purchase to a selected set of one or more businesses, the system comprising:

a processor in communication with computer readable storage that includes;

a data repository with stored data about candidate businesses for the business opportunity, wherein said stored data includes a least four different types of data values for each candidate business; and

processor readable instructions configured such that, together with the processor, an opportunity distribution engine is implemented to;

populate said data repository with additional data values about said candidate businesses, wherein said additional data values are derived, at least in part, from said stored data values; and

identify, based at least in part on said stored data values and said additional data values in said data repository, candidate businesses for an opportunity to place an advertisement on a webpage being served to a viewer and configured to identify candidate businesses for a business lead regarding a consumer interested in making a purchase.

5. The opportunity distribution system of claim 4, wherein said opportunity distribution engine is configured to identify when a candidate business for the first opportunity, which is the opportunity to place an advertisement on the webpage, is also a candidate business for the second business opportunity, which is the business lead regarding a consumer who is potentially interested in making a purchase, the opportunity distribution engine further configured to use the data values that populate the data repository for the first opportunity to change one or more data values that populate the data repository for the second opportunity, and/or- to use the data values that populate the data repository for the second opportunity to change one or more data values that populate the data repository for the first opportunity, for selecting the businesses for the first and second business opportunities.

6. The opportunity distribution system of claim 5, wherein the one or more data values that are changed affect a margin score that represents a level of monetary and/or other business benefit from providing the first opportunity or the second opportunity, or both, to one of the candidate businesses.

7. An opportunity distribution system that provides a business opportunity available for purchase to a selected set of one or more businesses, the system comprising:

a processor in communication with computer readable storage storing;

a data repository with stored data about candidate businesses for the business opportunity, wherein said stored data includes a least four different types of data values for each candidate business; and

processor readable instructions configured such that, together with the processor, an opportunity distribution engine is implemented to;

populate said data repository with additional data values about said candidate businesses, wherein said additional data values are derived, at least in part, from said stored data values;

store, over the course of a selected time period, a historical log of said populated data repository and said selected set of candidate businesses, in addition to other populated data repositories used to select other sets of candidate businesses for other business opportunities during said selected time period;

make changes to one or more stored or derived future data values used to populate future data repositories in response to a review of said historical log;

identify changes to make by re-populating said data repositories in accordance with said changed future data values, selecting simulated sets of one or more candidate businesses, based, at least in part on said re-populated tables, and identifying business benefit results associated with said selected simulated sets of candidate businesses, and

change the stored data in accordance with these results.