Network node ad targeting

• US 8,438,062 B2
• Filed: 12/29/2006
• Issued: 05/07/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Rohan, Terrence, Tunguz-Zawislak, Tomasz J., Sheffer, Scott G., Harmsen, Jeremiah
• Primary Examiner(s): Bekerman, Michael
• Assistant Examiner(s): BROWN, LUIS A
• Application Number:
  US11/618,506
• Publication Number:
  US 20080162260A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,321 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14.66, 705/319, 705/14.53, 705/14.52, 705/14.49
• US Class Current: 705/14.66
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0226 Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for displaying advertisements to members of a network comprises identifying one or more communities of members, identifying one or more influencers in the one or more communities, and placing one or more advertisements at the profiles of one or more members in the identified one or more communities.

Claims

1. A method for displaying advertisements to members of a network, the method comprising:

identifying, by a computer, a community within a network, wherein the community comprises a plurality of members of the network, wherein at least two members of the plurality of members are linked to each other directly and wherein at least two members of the plurality of members are linked to each other indirectly, wherein the at least two indirectly linked members are each linked to a common member of the plurality of members;

determining a weight of the community based on a quantity of direct links among the members of the community and a quantity of indirect links among the members of the community;

for each member of the community, determining a respective score of influence by determining a change between the weight of the community when the member is included in the community and a weight of the community when the member is excluded from the community;

ranking, by the computer, each of the plurality of members included in the community, wherein a rank of a member is based on the member'"'"'s score of influence;

identifying, by the computer, a plurality of influencers in the community, wherein the plurality of influencers are members of the community with highest ranks; and

associating, by the computer, advertisements with the profiles of the plurality of influencers, wherein a quantity of advertisements associated with an influencer'"'"'s profile depends upon a rank of the influencer in the community.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving information pertaining to a plurality of members belonging to the network, wherein the information comprises content of profiles of the plurality of members and information describing one or more members with whom each of the plurality of members is linked.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein identifying the community comprises grouping members who are directly and indirectly linked to each other.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein two members are connected to each other through a link that has a weight, the method further comprising associating one or more advertisements with a profile of each of the two members, wherein a quantity of advertisements associated with the profile is based on the weight of the link.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising identifying one or more common interests of the plurality of members of the community based on the content of the profiles of the plurality of members.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the network comprises an online social network.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the profile comprises one or more web pages stored on a server hosting the online social network.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a member of the network belongs to more than one community.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more advertisements are placed solely on the profiles of the one or more influencers.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one member of the at least two indirectly linked members is directly linked to another member of the plurality of members.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one member of the at least two directly linked members is indirectly linked to another member of the plurality of members.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the common member is directly linked to another member of the plurality of members.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein associating advertisements with the profiles of each of the plurality of influencers comprises placing the advertisements on the profiles of each of the plurality of influencers.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that an influencer of the community is an influencer of another community within the network; and

associating advertisements relevant to the other community together with the advertisements with the profile of the influencer of the community and of the other community.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising iteratively optimizing the community to account for addition and removal of members from the plurality of members.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein a member'"'"'s score of influence is based on a quantity of members with whom the member is directly linked and a quantity of members with whom the member is indirectly linked.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by one or more processing devices to perform operations for displaying advertisements to members of a network, the operations comprising:

identifying a community within a network, wherein the community comprises a plurality of members of the network, wherein at least two members of the plurality of members are linked to each other directly and wherein at least two members of the plurality of members are linked to each other indirectly, wherein the two members who are linked to each other indirectly are each directly linked to a same member of the plurality of members;

determining a weight of the community based on a quantity of direct links among the members of the community and a quantity of indirect links among the members of the community;

for each member of the community, determining a respective score of influence by determining a change between the weight of the community when the member is included in the community and a weight of the community when the member is excluded from the community;

ranking, by the computer, each of the plurality of members included in the community, wherein a rank of a member is based on the member'"'"'s score of influence;

identifying a plurality of influencers in the community, wherein the plurality of influencers are members of the community with highest ranks; and

associating advertisements with the profiles of the plurality of influencers, wherein a quantity of advertisements associated with an influencer'"'"'s profile depends upon a rank of the influencer in the community.

18. The medium of claim 17, the operations further comprising receiving information pertaining to the plurality of members belonging to the network, wherein the information comprises content of profiles of the plurality of members and information describing one or more members with whom each of the plurality of members is linked.

19. The medium of claim 18, wherein the operations for identifying the community further comprises grouping members who are directly and indirectly linked to each other.

20. The medium of claim 19, wherein two members are directly connected to each other through a link that has a weight, the method further comprising associating one or more advertisements with a profile of each of the two members, wherein a quantity of advertisements associated with the profile is based on the weight of the link.

21. The medium of claim 18, the operations further comprising identifying one or more common interests of the plurality of members of the community based on the content of the profiles of the plurality of members.

22. The medium of claim 18, wherein the network comprises an online social network.

23. The medium of claim 22, wherein the profile comprises one or more web pages stored on a server hosting the online social network.

24. The medium of claim 17, wherein a member of the network belongs to more than one community.

25. The medium of claim 17, wherein the one or more advertisements are placed solely on the profiles of the one or more influencers.

26. The medium of claim 17, wherein at least one member of the at least two indirectly linked members is directly linked to another member of the plurality of members.

27. The medium of claim 17, wherein at least one member of the at least two directly linked members is indirectly linked to another member of the plurality of members.

28. The medium of claim 17, wherein the common member is directly linked to another member of the plurality of members.

29. The medium of claim 17, wherein associating advertisements with the profiles of each of the plurality of influencers comprises placing the advertisements on the profiles of each of the plurality of influencers.

30. The medium of claim 17, the operations further comprising:

determining that an influencer of the community is an influencer of another community within the network; and

associating advertisements relevant to the other community together with the advertisements with the profile of the influencer of the community and of the other community.

31. The medium of claim 17, the operations further comprising iteratively optimizing the community to account for addition and removal of members from the plurality of members.

32. The medium of claim 17, wherein a member'"'"'s score of influence is based on a quantity of members with whom the member is directly linked and a quantity of members with whom the member is indirectly linked.

33. A method for displaying advertisements to members of a network, the method comprising:

identifying, by a computer, a community within a network, wherein the community comprises a plurality of members of the network, wherein at least two members of the plurality of members are linked to each other directly and wherein at least two members of the plurality of members are linked to each other indirectly, wherein the at least two indirectly linked members are each linked to a common member of the plurality of members;

determining a weight of the community by;

identifying a first quantity of links between the plurality of members in the community;

identifying a second quantity of links between members outside the community; and

determining the weight of the community as a ratio of the first quantity to the second quantity,

for each member of the community, determining a respective score of influence by determining a change between the weight of the community when the member is included in the community and a weight of the community when the member is excluded from the community;

ranking, by the computer, each of the plurality of members included in the community, wherein a rank of a member is based on the member'"'"'s score of influence;

identifying, by the computer, a plurality of influencers in the community, wherein the plurality of influencers are members of the community with highest ranks; and

associating, by the computer, advertisements with the profiles of the plurality of influencers, wherein a quantity of advertisements associated with an influencer'"'"'s profile depends upon a rank of the influencer in the community.