System and method for marketing employing the distribution of a pay for performance database

• US 8,626,576 B1
• Filed: 02/12/2001
• Issued: 01/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc., MIVA AK Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Pisaris-Henderson, Craig, Garcia, Anthony
• Primary Examiner(s): Lastra, Daniel
• Application Number:
  US09/781,500
• Time in Patent Office: 4,712 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14, 705/26, 705/27, 705/79, 705/37, 705/14.1
• US Class Current: 705/14.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements

Abstract

A system for marketing distribution over a computer data network includes at least one advertising client computer, at least one affiliate service provider computer coupled to the data network, a query client computer and a server computer which are coupled to the data network. The server computer maintains an advertiser account database and an advertiser keywords database which has a number of keyword entries and bids which are associated with advertising content pages of the advertising client computers. The server also includes a query processing subsection which is responsive to a search term entered on a query client computer provided to the server computer via one of the affiliate service provider computers. The query processing subsection returns search results to the query client which are ordered in accordance with the bid associated with the entries in the advertiser keyword database and have a link to the associated content pages.

Claims

1. A system for marketing distribution over a computer network comprising:

a data network;

at least one advertising client computer coupled to said data network;

at least one affiliate service provider computer coupled to said data network;

at least one query client computer coupled to said at least one affiliate service provider computer via said data network and associated with said at least one affiliate service provider; and

a server computer operatively coupled to said data network, the server computer further comprising;

an advertiser account database;

an advertiser keywords database, the advertiser keywords database having a plurality of keyword entries and entry denominations which are associated with advertising content pages of said at least one advertising client computer;

a query processing subsection, the query processing subsection being operatively coupled to said advertiser keywords database, the query processing subsection being responsive to at least one search term entered on said at least one query client computer and provided to said server computer via said at least one affiliate service provider computer associated with said at least one query client computer, the query processing subsection returning search results to said query client computer including those entries in the advertiser keywords database which match the at least one search term entered by the query client computer, the search results being ordered in accordance with the denomination associated with the entries in the advertiser keyword database and having a link to the associated advertising content pages, wherein the server computer receives an indication if the query client computer selects to view the advertising content pages associated with an entry in the search results and an indication of the affiliate service provider computer associated with the query client computer entering the search;

wherein the server computer, upon receiving a request for placing an entry in the advertiser keywords database from one of said advertising client computers, performs a relevancy determination between content offered by the advertising client computer and the selected keyword, the relevancy determination comprising;

determining at least one category of goods and services associated with the content offered by the advertising computer,

determining at least one potential category for the selected keyword; and

accepting the entry only if the at least one category of goods and services is associated with the at least one potential category.

2. The system for marketing distribution over a computer network according to claim 1, wherein the server computer debits an entry in the account database associated with the advertising client computer of the selected advertising content pages an amount equal to the denomination associated with the keyword in the selected entry in the search results.

3. The system for marketing distribution over a computer network according to claim 1, wherein the server computer credits an entry in the account database associated with the at least one affiliate service provider computer associated with the query client computer entering the search.

4. The system for marketing distribution over a computer network according to claim 1, wherein the credit is at least a portion of the denomination associated with the keyword in the selected entry in the search results.

5. The system for marketing distribution over a computer network according to claim 1, wherein the denomination is a cash amount that will be paid by the operator of the advertising client computer when the entry associated with the keyword is selected by a query client computer.

6. The system for marketing distribution over a computer network according to claim 1, wherein the at least one affiliate service provider is provided with a software application associated with said server computer, the software application providing a search engine interface display to said at least one query client computer, receiving search terms entered at said at least one query client computer, and providing said search terms to said server computer.

7. The system for marketing distribution over a computer network according to claim 1, wherein the server computer further comprises an account processing subsection, said account processing subsection providing access for authorized users to said account database and said advertiser keywords database.

8. The system for marketing distribution over a computer network according to claim 7, wherein the access provided by said account processing subsection allows authorized users to view and modify at least a portion of the entries in the account database and advertiser keywords database in real-time.

9. The system for marketing distribution over a computer network according to claim 1, wherein the affiliated service provider computer associated with the query client computer comprises an affiliated service provider computer which refers the query client entering the search to the server computer.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the server computer disallows the advertising computer from bidding on the selected keyword if the at least one category of goods and services is not associated with the at least one potential category.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the request for placing an entry in the advertiser keywords database includes a new keyword not previously in the advertiser keywords database, the new keyword defining the selected keyword.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the request for placing an entry in the advertiser keywords database includes a keyword presently existing in the advertiser keywords database, the presently existing keyword defining the selected keyword.

13. A method for marketing distribution over a computer network comprising:

maintaining an advertiser keyword database having a plurality of entries which are associated with advertising content pages, each of said plurality of entries including at least one keyword and a denomination associated with the keyword;

providing a search interface to a plurality of affiliate service providers, the search interface providing access to the advertiser keyword database for users of the affiliate service providers;

receiving at least one keyword entered in the search interface by a user of an affiliate service provider;

searching the advertiser keyword database to find entries which match the at least one keyword entered in the search;

returning the matching entries from the search, ordered in accordance with the denominations associated with said entries, to the user of an affiliate service provider;

receiving an indication if the query client computer selects to view the advertising content pages associated with an entry in the search results and an indication of the affiliate service provider computer associated with the query client computer entering the search; and

debiting an advertisers account for the value of the denomination associated with the selected entry;

wherein said step of maintaining an advertiser keyword database further comprises performing a relevancy determination between a selected keyword and at least one advertising content page for the selected keyword and only adding an entry for the selected keyword in the advertiser keyword database if a minimum relevancy threshold is satisfied, the relevancy determination comprising;

determining at least one category of goods and services associated with a content offered by the at least one advertising content page;

determining at least one potential category for the selected keyword; and

accepting the entry only if the at least one category of goods and services is associated with the at least one potential category.

14. The method for marketing distribution over a computer network according to claim 13, further comprising the step of crediting an account of the affiliate service provider associated with the query client computer entering the search for a value which is at least a portion of the denomination associated with the selected entry.

15. The method for marketing distribution over a computer network according to claim 13, further comprising providing real-time access to authorized users of the advertisers account and allowing the authorized user to view account activity and modify the keyword account database entries.

16. The method for marketing distribution ever a computer network according to claim 13, wherein the step of receiving an indication if the query client computer selects to view the advertising content pages associated with an entry in the search results and an indication of the affiliate service provider computer associated with the query client computer entering the search comprises receiving an indication of the affiliate service provider computer which refers the query client computer entering the search to the server computer.

17. The system for marketing distribution over a computer network according to claim 13, wherein the affiliated service provider computer associated with the query client computer comprises an affiliated service provider computer which refers the query client entering the search to the server computer.

18. The method of claim 13, further comprising disallowing an advertiser to bid on the selected keyword if at least one category of goods and services associated with content offered by at least one advertising content page of the advertiser is not associated with the at least one potential category.

19. A system for marketing distribution over a computer network comprising:

a data network;

at least one advertising client computer coupled to said data network;

a plurality of affiliate service provider computers coupled to said data network;

at least one query client computer coupled to said at least one of said affiliate service provider computers via said data network and associated therewith; and

a server computer operatively coupled to said data network, the server computer further comprising;

an advertiser account database;

an advertiser keywords database, the advertiser keywords database having a plurality of keyword entries and entry denominations which are associated with advertising content pages of said at least one advertising client computer;

a query processing subsection, the query processing subsection being operatively coupled to said advertiser keywords database, the query processing subsection being responsive to at least one search term entered on said at least one query client computer and provided to said server computer via one of said affiliate service provider computers associated with the at least one query client computer, the query processing subsection returning search results to said query client computer including those entries in the advertiser keywords database which match the at least one search term entered by the query client computer, the search results being ordered in accordance with the denomination associated with the entries in the advertiser keyword database and having a link to the associated advertising content pages, wherein the server computer receives an indication if the query client computer selects to view the advertising content pages associated with an entry in the search results and an indication of the affiliate service provider computer associated with the query client computer entering the search;

wherein the server computer, upon receiving a request for placing an entry in the advertiser keywords database from one of said advertising client computers, performs a relevancy determination between content offered by the advertising client computer and the selected keyword, said server only accepting the entry if a minimum relevancy threshold is satisfied; and

the relevancy determination comprising;

accepting the entry only if at least one of the selected keyword and an equivalent to the selected keyword from a thesaurus database is present in at least one of a title of at least one advertising content page of said at least one advertising computer, a description of at least one advertising content page of said at least one advertising computer, and a content of at least one advertising content page of said at least one advertising computer.

20. The system for marketing distribution over a computer network according to claim 19, wherein the server computer debits an entry in the account database associated with the advertising client computer of the selected advertising content pages an amount equal to the denomination associated with the keyword in the selected entry in the search results.

21. The system for marketing distribution over a computer network according to claim 19, wherein the server computer credits an entry in the account database associated with one of said affiliate service provider computers associated with the query client computer entering the search.

22. The system for marketing distribution over a computer network according to claim 19, wherein the credit is at least a portion of the denomination associated with the keyword in the selected entry in the search results.

23. The system for marketing distribution over a computer network according to claim 19, wherein the denomination is a cash amount that will be paid by the operator of the advertising client computer when the entry associated with the keyword is selected by a query client computer.

24. The system for marketing distribution over a computer network according to claim 19, wherein at least one of said affiliate service providers is provided with a software application associated with said server computer, the software application providing a search engine interface display to said at least one query client computer, receiving search terms entered at said at least one query client computer, and providing said search terms to said server computer.

25. The system for marketing distribution over a computer network according to claim 19, wherein the server computer further comprises an account processing subsection, said account processing subsection providing access for authorized users to said account database and said advertiser keywords database.

26. The system for marketing distribution over a computer network according to claim 25, wherein the access provided by said account processing subsection allows authorized users to view and modify at least a portion of the entries in the account database and advertiser keywords database in real-time.

27. A system for marketing distribution over a computer network comprising:

a data network;

at least one advertising client computer coupled to said data network;

at least one affiliate service provider computer coupled to said data network;

at least one query client computer coupled to said at least one affiliate service provider computer via said data network and associated with said at least one affiliate service provider; and

a server computer operatively coupled to said data network, the server computer further comprising;

an advertiser account database;

an advertiser keywords database, the advertiser keywords database having a plurality of keyword entries and entry denominations which are associated with advertising content pages of said at least one advertising client computer;

a query processing subsection, the query processing subsection being operatively coupled to said advertiser keywords database, the query processing subsection being responsive to at least one search term entered on said at least one query client computer and provided to said server computer, the query processing subsection returning search results to said query client computer including those entries in the advertiser keywords database which match the at least one search term entered by the query client computer, the search results being ordered in accordance with the denomination associated with the entries in the advertiser keyword database and having a link to the associated advertising content pages, wherein the server computer receives an indication if the query client computer selects to view the advertising content pages associated with an entry in the search results and an indication of the affiliate service provider computer associated with the query client computer entering the search;

wherein the server computer, upon receiving a request for placing an entry in the advertiser keywords database from one of said advertising client computers, performs a relevancy determination between content offered by the advertising client computer and the selected keyword, said server only accepting the entry if a minimum relevancy threshold is satisfied; and

determining at least one category of goods and services associated with content of the advertising content pages of the advertising client computer,

determining at least one potential category for the selected keyword, and

accepting the entry only if the at least one category of goods and services is associated with the at least one potential category.

28. The system for marketing distribution over a computer network according to claim 27, wherein the affiliated service provider associated with the query client computer comprises an affiliated service provider which refers the query client entering the search to the server computer.

29. The system for marketing distribution over a computer network according to claim 27, wherein the affiliated service provider associated with the query client computer comprises an affiliated service provider which transmits the at least one search term entered on the query client computer to the server computer.

30. A server for a system for marketing distribution over a computer network, the computer network comprising:

a data network;

at least one advertising client computer coupled to said data network;

at least one affiliate service provider computer coupled to said data network;

at least one query client computer coupled to said at least one affiliate service provider computer via said data network and associated with said at least one affiliate service provider; and

the server operatively coupled to said data network and comprising;

an advertiser account database;

an advertiser keywords database, the advertiser keywords database having a plurality of keyword entries and entry denominations which are associated with advertising content pages of said at least one advertising content computer;

a query processing subsection, the query processing subsection being operatively coupled to said advertiser keywords database, the query processing subsection being responsive to at least one search term entered on said at least one query client computer and provided to said server computer via said at least one affiliate service provider computer associated with said at least one query client computer, the query processing subsection returning search results to said query client computer including those entries in the advertiser keywords database which match the at least one search term entered by the query client computer, the search results being ordered in accordance with the denomination associated with the entries in the advertiser keyword database and having a link to the associated advertising content pages;

wherein the server computer receives an indication if the query client computer selects to view the advertising content pages associated with an entry in the search results and an indication of the affiliate service provider computer associated with the query client computer entering the search;

the server computer, upon receiving a request for placing an entry in the advertiser keywords database from one of said advertising client computers, performs a relevancy determination between content offered by the advertising client computer and the selected keyword, said server only accepting the entry if a minimum relevancy threshold is satisfied; and

the relevancy determination comprising;

determining at least one category of goods and services associated with content of the advertising content pages of the advertising client computer,

determining at least one potential category for the selected keyword, and

accepting the entry only if the at least one category of goods and services is associated with the at least one potential category.

31. A computer for a system for marketing distribution over a computer network, comprising:

an advertiser account database;

an advertiser keywords database, the advertiser keywords database having at least one keyword entry and at least one entry denomination, each of which are associated with at least one advertising content page;

a query processing subsection operatively connected to said advertiser keywords database and responsive to at least one search, the query processing subsection operative to return search results including those entries in the advertiser keywords database which match the at least one search term;

wherein the search results are ordered in accordance with the denomination associated with the entries in the advertiser keyword database and have a link to the associated advertising content page; and

the computer, upon receiving a request for placing an entry in the advertiser keywords database, performs a relevancy determination between content offered by an advertiser associated with the request and the selected keyword, said computer only accepting the entry if a minimum relevancy threshold is satisfied;

wherein the relevancy determination comprises;

determining at least one category of goods and services of the content offered by the advertiser;

determining at least one potential category for the selected keyword, and

accepting the entry only if the at least one category of goods and services is associated with the at least one potential category.