Advertisement space auction method, apparatus and storage medium

• US 8,626,578 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2007
• Issued: 01/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Numaoka, Chisato, Sakamoto, Etsuro, Koike, Motoyuki, Kojima, Takeru
• Primary Examiner(s): TINKLER, MURIEL S
• Application Number:
  US11/981,877
• Publication Number:
  US 20080082443A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,260 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14.1, 705/26.3
• US Class Current: 705/14.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

An advertisement space auction apparatus enabling a more strategic and open auction transaction to be realized using a network, including a memory storing advertisement space information and being accessible by a plurality of entities connected to the network, a bid data communication unit receiving bid data submitted via the network from at least one of the plurality of entities, the bid data corresponding to the advertisement space information stored in the memory; and a winning bidder determination unit for determining a winning bidder of an advertisement space designated by the advertisement space information, on the basis of the bid data received by the bid data communication unit.

Claims

1. An advertisement transaction executing method, comprising the steps of:

selecting, by a computer, an advertisement of an advertiser, for an advertisement space relating to a content, based on input information of the advertiser corresponding to current bidding status information on the advertisement space and satisfaction of each rule of a set of rules, wherein the set of rules includes (i) a payment capacity rule which requires the advertiser to have the ability to pay for the advertisement and (ii) a winning bid rule in which the advertisement of the advertiser is selected when a bid price of the advertiser for the advertisement space provided over a network and received by the computer during an auction process for bidding for the advertisement space is a highest bid price for the advertisement space provided over the network and received by the computer within a bid submission period having a maximum length during which bidding in the auction process is permitted,

wherein a second time period starts after acceptance of a highest bid as last bid information for the advertisement space, wherein the second time period has a length less than the maximum length of the bid submission period and wherein more bid information can be received over the network during the second time period so long as the more bid information is received within the bid submission period,

wherein, if the second time period elapses after the acceptance of the last bid information and within the bid submission period, the bid submission period ends immediately, and

wherein, if an end of the bid submission period occurs at the maximum length from a start of the bid submission period and before the second time period elapses, the bid submission period ends and no more bid information can be received over the network, and

wherein the current bidding status information is transmitted over the network to the advertiser when bid status information for the advertisement space is updated using bid information for the advertisement space provided over the network from the advertiser;

providing advertisement information relating to the advertisement to a user of the content; and

charging a payment account of the advertiser when the advertisement information is provided to the user.

2. The advertisement transaction executing method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

receiving and storing the advertisement information from the advertiser; and

updating the advertisement information when required by the advertiser;

wherein the advertisement information includes desirable conditions for the advertisement space as defined by the advertiser;

wherein the set of rules includes a desirable conditions rule in which the advertisement space satisfies the desirable conditions of the advertisement information.

3. The advertisement transaction executing method of claim 2, wherein the advertisement information is required bid information filled in by the advertiser.