System and method of evaluating content based advertising

• US 8,417,569 B2
• Filed: 11/30/2006
• Issued: 04/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: John Nicholas and Kristin Gross Trust U/A/D April 13 2010
• Original Assignee: John Nicholas and Kristin Gross Trust
• Inventors: Gross, John Nicholas
• Primary Examiner(s): Myhre, James W
• Application Number:
  US11/565,385
• Publication Number:
  US 20070192369A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,322 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14.41, 705/14.6
• US Class Current: 705/14.41
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/95 Retrieval from the web
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements

Abstract

A system and method searches, identifies, tests and/or evaluates websites and content related ads for suitability. The results can be used to identify and promote services to prospective advertising affiliates as part of an advertising campaign.

Claims

1. A method of testing suitability of one or more content sites as sources of advertising material with a mock advertising campaign implemented using computer software instructions embodied in a computer usable medium executing on one or more computing machines and comprising:

identifying a first topic that an advertiser can target as part of an advertising campaign;

selecting one or more first topic advertisements from said advertiser related to said first topic;

analyzing search results corresponding to one or more search queries directed to said first topic with the one or more computing machines to determine a first candidate set of individual first topic webpages;

wherein said first candidate set of first topic individual webpages are classified by a search engine and/or said one or more computing machines as being correlated to said first topic;

presenting search results generated by a search engine to a user in a search engine page in the form of a second set of individual search result webpages in response to a user query related to said first topic;

enabling a mock advertising campaign test with said one more computing machines so that test advertisements are also presented as part of said search engine search results to a user during a mock advertising campaign period;

presenting test advertisements with the one or more computing machines in said search engine page to said user during said mock advertising campaign period, including said one or more first topic advertisements related to said first topic along with selected content from at least one individual first topic webpage from said first candidate set of first topic individual webpages identified by said search engine as part of said second set of search result individual webpages in said search results;

determining a test advertising performance rating for said at least one individual first topic webpage with the one or more computing machines by examining a user interaction with said one or more first topic test advertisements when said at least one individual first topic webpage forms part of said second set of search result individual webpages returned by said search engine in said search engine page;

wherein said test advertising performance is determined on a search engine page and without presenting said one or more first topic test advertisements on said at least one individual first topic webpage which is separate from said search engine page;

whereby said test advertising performance rating determined for said at least one individual first topic webpage presented in said search engine page is used to evaluate a potential future advertising performance of said at least one individual first topic webpage based on said one or more first topic advertisements being presented as content-based ads for said first topic on said at least one individual first topic webpage.

2. The method of claim 1, further including a step:

sorting said first candidate set of first topic individual webpages based on their performance in the mock advertising campaign.

3. The method of claim 2, further including a step:

automatically preparing a communication to owners or operators of selected ones of said first candidate set of first topic individual webpages based on a ranking of their performance, which communication includes at least said ranking and content for proposed advertisements to be run on their site.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said first candidate set of individual first topic webpages are taken from a top N list of said search results.

5. The method of claim 1 further including a step:

assembling a logical collective of first topic webpages based on a scoring for their respective performance rating, which logical collective is treated as a single entity when sharing revenues generated by a search engine operator from other advertisements presented within said search engine page when later queries performed after said mock advertising campaign returns one or more of said first topic webpages in a search result listing.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said search queries are derived from one or more Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds and/or web logs (blogs).

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said one or more test advertisements are presented within an organic advertising portion of said search engine page that is distinct from a sponsored advertising portion of said search engine page.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said one or more first topic advertisements are organic search ads customized for a user profile, and sponsored advertising is removed from said search engine page to facilitate measuring a performance of said organic search ads.

9. A method of testing suitability of one or more advertisements for presentation based on content at a target webpage with a mock advertising campaign implemented using computer software instructions embodied in a computer usable medium executing on one or more computing machines and comprising:

identifying with the one more computing machines a set of one or more individual first topic related advertisements adapted for presentation on a target webpage having content related to said first topic;

enabling a mock advertising campaign test with said one or more computing machines during which test advertisements are presented in a search engine page to users of a search engine;

retrieving search results with the one more computing machines including selected content portions of said target webpage that are presented within said search engine page by said search engine in response to a keyword query provided by a user;

presenting, as one of said test advertisements, at least a first topic advertisement taken from said set of one or more individual first topic related advertisements;

wherein said first topic advertisement is selected based on said first topic being associated with said target webpage;

wherein said test advertisements are presented within part of said search engine page along with said search results for said keyword query including said target webpage;

determining with the one more computing machines a test advertising performance rating for said at least first topic related advertisement by examining a user interaction with said first topic related test advertisement when said target webpage forms part of said search results in said search engine page;

wherein said test advertising performance is determined by selections made on said search engine page and without presenting said one or more first topic test advertisements on said target webpage which is separate from said search engine page;

whereby said test advertising performance determined for said first topic related test advertisement presented in said search engine page is used to evaluate a potential future advertising performance of said first topic related advertisement on said target web page as a content-based advertisement for said first topic.

10. The method of claim 9, further including a step:

sorting a set of one or more individual first topic related advertisements based on their performance rating.

11. The method of claim 10, further including a step:

automatically preparing a communication to advertising content suppliers of selected first topic advertisements based on a ranking of their performance rating, which communication includes at least said ranking and a list identifying said target webpage as a potential site for displaying content-based advertisements by said advertising content supplier.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein said one or more first topic advertisements are presented within an organic advertising portion of said search engine page that is distinct from a sponsored advertising portion of said search engine page.

13. The method of claim 9 wherein said one or more first topic advertisements are organic search ads customized for a user profile, and sponsored advertising is removed from said search engine page to facilitate measuring a performance of said organic search ads.

14. A method of testing suitability of advertising information with a mock advertising campaign implemented using computer software instructions embodied in a computer usable medium executing on one or more computing machines and comprising:

identifying a first topic that an advertiser can target as part of an advertising campaign;

identifying one or more first topic related advertisements from an advertiser relating to said first topic;

identifying one or more target first topic webpages;

wherein said target first topic webpages are classified by a search engine and/or said one or more computing machines as being correlated to said first topic;

presenting search results generated by a search engine to a user in a search engine page in the form of a set of individual search result webpages in response to a user query related to said first topic;

enabling a mock advertising campaign test with said one more computing machines so that test advertisements are also presented as part of said search engine search results to said user during a mock advertising campaign period;

presenting test advertisements with the one or more computing machines in said search engine page to said user during said mock advertising campaign period, including said one or more first topic related advertisements within a search engine page along with selected content from at least one individual first topic webpage from said target first topic webpages identified by said search engine as part of said set of search result individual webpages in said search results;

determining a webpage performance rating for said target first topic webpages and an advertisement performance rating for said first topic related advertisements with the one or more computing machines by examining a user interaction with said one or more first topic test advertisements when said target first topic webpages form part of said set of search result individual webpages returned by said search engine in said search engine page;

wherein said webpage performance rating and said advertisement performance rating are determined by reference to said search engine page and without presenting said one or more first topic test advertisements on said target first topic webpages which are separate from said search engine page;

whereby said webpage performance rating determined for said target first topic webpages presented in said search engine page is used to evaluate a potential future advertising performance of said at least one individual first topic webpage based on said one or more first topic advertisements being presented as content-based ads for said first topic on said at least one individual first topic webpage;

and whereby advertisement performance rating determined for said first topic related test advertisements presented in said search engine page is used to evaluate a potential future advertising performance of said first topic related test advertisements on said target first topic web pages being presented for said first topic.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein said one or more first topic advertisements are presented within an organic advertising portion of said search engine page that is distinct from a sponsored advertising portion of said search engine page.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein said one or more first topic advertisements are organic search ads customized for a user profile, and sponsored advertising is removed from said search engine page to facilitate measuring a performance of said organic search ads.

17. A system for testing suitability of one or more content sites as sources of advertising material with a mock advertising campaign comprising:

one more computing machines configured with at least these executable routines;

a first machine executable routine configured to enable the one or more computing machines to identify one or more first topic advertisements related to a first topic;

a second machine executable routine configured to enable the one or more computing machines to analyze search results corresponding to one or more search queries directed to said first topic to determine a first candidate set of individual first topic webpages;

wherein said first candidate set of first topic individual webpages are classified by a search engine and/or said second machine executable routine as being correlated to said first topic;

said second machine executable routine cooperating with a separate search engine machine executable routine that is configured to present search results to a user in a search engine page in the form of a second set of individual search result webpages in response to a user query related to said first topic;

an advertising executable routine configured to enable a mock advertising campaign test so that said test advertisements are also presented as part of said search engine search results to a user during a mock advertising campaign period;

said advertising executable routine configured to enable the one or more computing machines to present test advertisements in said search engine page to said user during said mock advertising campaign period, including said one or more first topic advertisements related to said first topic along with selected content from at least one individual first topic webpage from said first candidate set of individual first topic webpages identified by said search engine executable routine as part of said second set of search result individual webpages in said search engine search results;

a third machine executable routine configured to enable the one or more computing machines to determine a test advertising performance rating for each of said individual first topic webpages by examining a user interaction with said one or more first topic test advertisements when said at least one individual first topic webpage forms part of said second set of search result individual webpages returned by said search engine in said search engine page;

wherein said test advertising performance can be determined by measuring user activity at said search engine page and without presenting said one or more first topic test advertisements on said at least one individual first topic webpage which is separate from said search engine page;

whereby said test advertising performance rating determined for said first topic webpages presented in said search engine page is used to evaluate a potential future advertising performance of said first topic webpages based on said one or more first topic advertisements being presented as content-based ads for said first topic on said at least one individual first topic webpages.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein said one or more first topic advertisements are presented within an organic advertising portion of said search engine page that is distinct from a sponsored advertising portion of said search engine page.

19. The system of claim 17 wherein said one or more first topic advertisements are organic search ads customized for a user profile, and sponsored advertising is removed from said search engine page to facilitate measuring a performance of said organic search ads.

20. A system for testing advertising with a mock advertising campaign comprising:

one more computing machines configured with at least these executable routines;

a first machine executable routine configured to enable the one or more computing machines to identify a set of one or more individual first topic related advertisements adapted presentation on a target webpage having content related to said first topic;

an advertising engine machine executable routine configured to enable a mock advertising campaign test during which test advertisements are presented as part of search results presented by a search engine;

said second machine executable routine cooperating with a search engine routine that is configured to enable the one or more computing machines to retrieve search results including selected content portions of said target webpage that are presented to a user within a search engine page in response to a keyword query;

said advertising engine machine executable routine further configured to present, as one of said test advertisements, at least a first topic advertisement taken from said set of one or more individual first topic related advertisements;

wherein said first topic advertisement is presented within part of said search engine page along with said search results for said keyword query including said target webpage;

further wherein said first topic advertisement is selected based on said first topic being associated with said target webpage;

a third machine executable routine configured to enable the one or more computing machines to determine a test advertising performance rating for said at least first topic related advertisement by examining a user interaction with said first topic related test advertisement when said target webpage forms part of said search results in said search engine;

wherein said test advertising performance can be determined by measuring user activity at said search engine page and without presenting said one or more first topic test advertisements on said target webpage which is separate from said search engine page;

whereby said test advertising performance rating determined for said first topic related test advertisement presented in said search engine page is used to evaluate a potential future advertising performance of said first topic related test advertisement on said target web page as a content-based advertisement for said first topic.

21. The system of claim 20, further including a routine adapted to sort said set of one or more individual first topic related advertisements based on their performance.

22. The system of claim 20, further including a routine adapted to automatically prepare a communication to advertisers of selected ones of said set of one or more individual first topic related advertisements based on a ranking of their performance, which communication includes at least said ranking and proposed target webpages for presenting content-based ads.

23. The system of claim 20 wherein said target webpage is taken from a top N list of search results returned for a keyword query related to said first topic.

24. The system of claim 20 wherein said search queries are derived from one or more Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds and/or web logs (blogs).

25. The system of claim 20 wherein said one or more first topic advertisements are presented within an organic advertising portion of said search engine page that is distinct from a sponsored advertising portion of said search engine page.

26. The system of claim 20 wherein said one or more first topic advertisements are organic search ads customized for a user profile, and sponsored advertising is removed from said search engine page to facilitate measuring a performance of said organic search ads.

27. A system for testing suitability of one or more advertisements for presentation based on content at a target and employing a mock advertising campaign comprising:

one more computing machines configured with at least these executable routines;

a first machine executable routine configured to enable the one or more computing machines to identify one or more first topic related advertisements from an advertiser related to a first topic;

a second machine executable routine configured to enable the one or more computing machines to identify one or more target first topic webpages;

wherein said target first topic webpages are classified by a search engine and/or said one or more computing machines as being correlated to said first topic;

a search engine executable routine configured to present search results to a user in a search engine page in the form of a set of individual search result webpages in response to a user query related to said first topic;

an advertising executable routine configured to enable a mock advertising campaign test so that test advertisements are also presented as part of said search engine search results to said user during a mock advertising campaign period;

said advertising routine further configured to present test advertisements with the one or more computing machines in said search engine page to said user during said mock advertising campaign period, including said one or more first topic advertisements along with selected content from at least one individual first topic webpage from said target first topic webpages identified by said search engine as part of said set of search result individual webpages;

a third machine executable routine configured to enable the one or more computing machines determine a webpage performance rating for said target first topic webpages and an advertisement performance rating for said first topic advertisements by examining a user interaction with said one or more first topic test advertisements when said target first topic webpages form part of said set of search result individual webpages returned by said search engine in said search engine page;

wherein said webpage performance rating and said advertisement performance rating are determined by measuring user activity at said search engine page and without presenting said one or more first topic test advertisements on said target first topic webpages which are separate from said search engine page;

whereby said webpage performance rating determined for said target first topic webpages presented in said search engine page is used to evaluate a potential future advertising performance of said first topic webpages based on said one or more first topic advertisements being presented as content-based ads for said first topic based on said at least one individual first topic webpages;

and whereby said advertisement performance rating determined for said first topic related test advertisements presented in said search engine page is used to evaluate a potential future advertising performance of said first topic related test advertisements on said target first topic web pages.

28. The system of claim 27, further including a routine adapted to sort said set of one or more individual first topic related advertisements based on their advertisement performance rating.

29. The system of claim 28, further including a routine adapted to automatically prepare a communication to advertising content suppliers of selected ones of said first topic advertisements based on a ranking of their performance, which communication includes at least said ranking and a list identifying said target webpage as a potential site for displaying advertisements by said advertising content supplier.

30. The system of claim 27 wherein said one or more first topic advertisements are presented within an organic advertising portion of said search engine page that is distinct from a sponsored advertising portion of said search engine page.

31. The system of claim 27 wherein said one or more first topic advertisements are organic search ads customized for a user profile, and sponsored advertising is removed from said search engine page to facilitate measuring a performance of said organic search ads.