Automated price maintenance for use with a system in which advertisements are rendered with relative preferences
First Claim
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1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
- a) receiving, responsive to a request for advertisements to be served with a document and using a computer system including at least one computer, information identifying advertisements to be served with the document, each of the advertisements having an associated maximum bid per result;
b) for one of the advertisements, determining, responsive to receiving the information identifying advertisements to be served with the document and using the computer system, a cost to be charged for the result, wherein the cost is a function of a next highest maximum bid of the advertisements to the maximum bid of the one of the advertisements; and
c) serving, using the computer system, the identified advertisements.
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Abstract
A cost maintenance scheme useful with an advertising system which orders ads in a manner that maximizes both their relevance and their economic value, and which provides a fair bidding process in which a winning bidder is assured of not having paid too much. Ordering may be done based on accepted maximum ad bid information and/or ad performance information. For example, this information may be used to determine a position value. Cost may be determined based on accepted maximum ad bid information and/or performance information. Billing the determined cost may be subject to a condition precedent.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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a) receiving, responsive to a request for advertisements to be served with a document and using a computer system including at least one computer, information identifying advertisements to be served with the document, each of the advertisements having an associated maximum bid per result; b) for one of the advertisements, determining, responsive to receiving the information identifying advertisements to be served with the document and using the computer system, a cost to be charged for the result, wherein the cost is a function of a next highest maximum bid of the advertisements to the maximum bid of the one of the advertisements; and c) serving, using the computer system, the identified advertisements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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a) receiving, responsive to a request for advertisements to be served with a document and using a computer system including at least one computer, information identifying advertisements of a set of ordered advertisements to be rendered with the document in accordance with the ordering of the ordered advertisements, each of the advertisements having an associated maximum bid per result; b) for one of the advertisements, determining, responsive to receiving the information identifying advertisements of the set of ordered advertisements and using the computer system, a cost to be charged for the result, wherein the cost is a function of the maximum bid per result belonging to a next advertisement in the order; and c) serving, using the computer system, the set of ordered advertisements. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. Apparatus comprising:
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a) at least one processor; and b) at least one storage device storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method including i) receiving, responsive to a request for advertisements to be served with a document information identifying advertisements to be served with the document, each of the advertisements having an associated maximum bid per result, ii) for one of the advertisements, determining, responsive to receiving the information identifying advertisements to be served with the document, a cost to be charged for the result, wherein the cost is a function of a next highest maximum bid of the advertisements to the maximum bid of the one of the advertisements, and iii) serving the identified advertisements. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. Apparatus comprising:
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a)at least one processor; and b) at least one storage device storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method including i) receiving, responsive to a request for advertisements to be served with a document, information identifying advertisements of a set of ordered advertisements to be rendered with the document in accordance with the ordering of the ordered advertisements, each of the advertisements having an associated maximum bid per result, ii) for one of the advertisements, determining, responsive to receiving the information identifying advertisements of the set of ordered advertisements, a cost to be charged for the result, wherein the cost is a function of the maximum bid per result belonging to a next advertisement in the order, and iii) serving the set of ordered advertisements. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification