Serving requests by selectively using a plurality of response providers

• US 8,577,724 B1
• Filed: 04/04/2008
• Issued: 11/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yahoo AD Tech LLC
• Original Assignee: Nexage Incorporated (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gandhi, Devkumar R., Kumar, Jayash G., Zhang, Liangen Leon
• Primary Examiner(s): Maguire, Lindsay M.
• Application Number:
  US12/098,362
• Time in Patent Office: 2,041 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14.4, 705/14.49, 705/14.66, 705/14.67
• US Class Current: 705/14.49
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements

Abstract

A multi-provider response selector (MPRS) receives requests and provides respective selected responses. Each request includes respective selection criteria (such as keywords and demographic/geographic information) and/or respective other information (such as page location/time and demographic/geographic information). The MPRS uses the respective selection criteria to fill each of the requests (obtaining the respective selected responses) from one of a plurality of response providers, where the response providers are optionally selected in an order determined by the respective other information and/or other factors such as value returned from the response providers. Optionally, a content server receives content requests for respective specified content, generates requests for the MPRS, and returns the specified contents along with respective selected responses. In one example, a content request is from a cellular telephone, respective specified content includes video content, and respective selected responses include advertisements.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining information in response to a content request originated by a user via a device;

computing advertising selection criteria to create computed advertising selection criteria based at least in part on all or any portion of the information;

choosing at least two of a plurality of advertising providers corresponding to respective plurality of advertising networks based at least in part on at least a first portion of the information;

determining an ordering of the at least two of the plurality of advertising providers corresponding to the respective plurality of advertising networks based at least in part on at least a second portion of the information;

providing a respective portion of the computed advertising selection criteria to the chosen plurality of advertising providers corresponding to the respective plurality of advertising networks;

after the computed advertising selection criteria is created, each of the chosen plurality of advertising providers and corresponding plurality of advertising networks being configured to interactively attempt to select and provide respective advertising based at least in part on and in response to the computed advertising selection criteria received;

selecting advertising, based at least in part on the ordering, from the respective advertising provided by one or more of the chosen plurality of advertising providers of respective plurality of advertising networks that have been interactively provided thereby in response to and after receipt of the computed advertising selection criteria;

providing content in accordance with the content request and further in accordance with the selected advertising;

wherein the device is enabled to communicate the content request to an agent at least in part via a network, and the agent is enabled to perform the determining information, the computing of advertising selection criteria, the choosing advertising providers of respective advertising networks, the determining an ordering, the providing a respective portion of the computed advertising selection criteria, and the selecting advertising; and

wherein the providing content is compatible with display of the content on the device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information comprises information determined from a network locator of the content request.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the information comprises information associated with an account of the user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the information comprises demographic information associated with the user.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the information comprises geographic information of the user.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the geographic information comprises a location of the device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the information comprises history information associated with the user.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the history information comprises browser history.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing content is compatible with viewing the content by the user via a cellular telephone.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the providing content comprises providing video content.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the ordering is based at least in part on revenue obtainable from one or more of the advertising providers.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein greater revenue is obtainable from a first one of the advertising providers as compared to a second one of the advertising providers, and the ordering gives preference to the first advertising provider as compared to the second advertising provider.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the agent comprises a first agent and a second agent, the first agent enabled to perform the determining information, and the second agent enabled to perform the selecting advertising.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising communicating the selected advertising from the second agent to the first agent.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the second agent comprises one of the at least two advertising providers.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein, for at least one of the at least some of the chosen advertising providers, the respective portion of the computed advertising selection criteria comprises a respective tag, the respective tag specifying an operator of a content source associated with the content.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing a respective portion of the computed advertising selection criteria comprises

providing the respective portion of the computed advertising selection criteria to a first one of the at least some of the chosen advertising providers, and

waiting for a response from the first chosen advertising provider prior to providing the respective portion of the computed advertising selection criteria to a second one of the at least some of the chosen advertising providers.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the waiting for a response comprises waiting for either a reply from the first chosen advertising provider or a timeout.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having a set of instructions stored therein which when executed by a computer causes the computer to perform procedures comprising:

determining information in response to a content request originated by a user via a device;

computed advertising selection criteria based at least in part on all or any portion of the information;

choosing at least two of a plurality of advertising providers corresponding to respective advertising networks based at least in part on at least a first portion of the information;

determining an ordering of the at least two advertising providers corresponding to the respective advertising networks based at least in part on at least a second portion of the information;

providing a respective portion of the computed advertising selection criteria to each of at least some of the chosen advertising providers corresponding to the respective advertising networks, after the computed advertising selection criteria is created, each of the chosen advertising providers and corresponding advertising networks being configured to interactively attempt to select and provide respective advertising based at least in part on and in response to at least some of the respective portion of the computed advertising selection criteria received;

selecting advertising, based at least in part on the ordering, from the respective advertising provided by one or more of the chosen advertising providers of respective advertising networks that have been interactively provided thereby in response to and after receipt of the computed advertising selection criteria;

providing content in accordance with the content request and further in accordance with the selected advertising;

wherein the device is enabled to communicate the content request to the computer at least in part via a network; and

wherein the providing content is compatible with display of the content on the device.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the information comprises information determined from a network locator of the content request.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the providing content is compatible with viewing the content by the user via a cellular telephone.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the ordering is based at least in part on revenue obtainable from one or more of the advertising providers.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the computer comprises a first computer and a second computer, the first computer enabled to perform the determining information, and the second computer enabled to perform the selecting advertising.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23, further comprising communicating the selected advertising from the second computer to the first computer.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the second computer comprises one of the at least two advertising providers.