Allocating and pricing geo-located advertisements for display on maps

• US 8,676,650 B1
• Filed: 08/16/2011
• Issued: 03/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Jurca, Radu
• Primary Examiner(s): Myhre, James W
• Application Number:
  US13/211,119
• Time in Patent Office: 945 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14.71, 705/14.57
• US Class Current: 705/14.71
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0259 based on store location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0275 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 19/22 Advertising or display means on roads, walls or similar surfaces, e.g. illuminated

Abstract

In one embodiment, a map server provides online maps with advertisements corresponding to map features included in the online maps. The map server holds an auction to determine which advertisers can display their associated advertisements in an online map. In one embodiment, the map server selects which advertisers with collocated advertisements in the online map can display their advertisements and calculates a price paid by the selected advertisers for the display of the advertisements.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for conducting an auction for selecting advertisements for display in online maps, the method comprising:

generating, by a computer processor, an online map of a geographical area, the online map including map features of the geographical area;

identifying advertisers having candidate advertisements for businesses represented in the geographical area of the online map;

identifying for each advertiser, a bid price that the advertiser is willing to pay to include an associated candidate advertisement in the online map;

calculating, for each candidate advertisement, a presentation cost describing a visual impact on the online map resulting from including the candidate advertisement in the online map, the calculation of the presentation cost based on an amount of overlap of the candidate advertisement with one or more of the map features included in the online map;

selecting a set of advertisements from the candidate advertisements to include in the online map based on the bid price by each advertiser and the calculated presentation cost associated with each candidate advertisement; and

storing information describing the online map and the selected set of advertisements.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

for each advertisement from the selected set of advertisements to include in the online map, calculating a price to charge an advertiser associated with the advertisement based on bid prices that other advertisers associated with the selected set of advertisements are willing to pay to display their associated advertisements, and presentation costs associated with the other advertisements in the set, wherein the presentation costs describe an impact on a visual appearance of the online map as a result of including the other advertisements in the online map.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the calculated price to charge the advertiser is always less than the bid price by the advertiser.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving from each advertiser a bid for the auction, the bid comprising an associated advertisement, a geographic location associated with the advertisement, and the bid price that the advertiser is willing to pay to include the advertisement at the geographic location represented in the online map.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of the advertisers have collocated candidate advertisements.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein collocated candidate advertisements are associated with a common geographic location.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein collocated candidate advertisements are associated with geographic locations proximate to each other in the online map.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein selecting the set of advertisements from the candidate advertisements to include in the online map comprises:

determining which advertisements from the collocated candidate advertisements can be displayed together at a geographic location associated the advertisements based on the bid price and the presentation cost associated with each collocated candidate advertisement.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein selecting the set of advertisements is further based on a maximum number of advertisements allowed for inclusion in the online map.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein each of the advertisements in the selected set of advertisements is placed at a location in the online map corresponding to a business associated with the advertisement.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein calculating the presentation cost comprises:

calculating a maximal linear overlap or a total area overlap between each candidate advertisement and the one or more map features.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the overlap describes a visual overlap between each candidate advertisement and one or more map features.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more map features comprise at least one of a building, a road, a label, or a point of interest.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting the online map including the set of selected advertisements to a client that requested the online map.

15. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing executable computer program code for conducting an auction for selecting advertisements for display in online maps, the code when executed are for:

generating an online map of a geographical area, the online map including map features of the geographical area;

identifying advertisers having candidate advertisements for businesses represented in the geographical area of the online map;

identifying for each advertiser, a bid price that the advertiser is willing to pay to include an associated candidate advertisement in the online map;

calculating, for each candidate advertisement, a presentation cost describing a visual impact on the online map resulting from including the candidate advertisement in the online map, the calculation of the presentation cost based on an amount of overlap of the candidate advertisement with one or more of the map features included in the online map;

selecting a set of advertisements from the candidate advertisements to include in the online map based on the bid price by each advertiser and the calculated presentation cost associated with each candidate advertisement; and

storing information describing the online map and the selected set of advertisements.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the code when executed is further for:

for each advertisement from the selected set of advertisements to include in the online map, calculating a price to charge an advertiser associated with the advertisement based on bid prices that other advertisers associated with the selected set of advertisements are willing to pay to display their associated advertisements, and presentation costs associated with the other advertisements in the set, wherein the presentation costs describe an impact on a visual appearance of the online map as a result of including the other advertisements in the online map.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the calculated price to charge the advertiser is always less than the bid price by the advertiser.

18. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the code when executed is further for:

receiving from each advertiser a bid for an auction, the bid comprising an associated advertisement, a geographic location associated with the advertisement, and the bid price that the advertiser is willing to pay to include the advertisement at the geographic location represented in the online map.

19. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein a plurality of the advertisers have collocated candidate advertisements.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein collocated candidate advertisements are associated with a common geographic location.

21. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein collocated candidate advertisements are associated with geographic locations proximate to each other in the online map.

22. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the code when executed is further for:

determining which advertisements from the collocated candidate advertisements can be displayed together at a geographic location associated with the advertisements based on the bid price and the presentation cost associated with each collocated candidate advertisement.

23. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein selecting the set of advertisements is further based on a maximum number of advertisements allowed for inclusion in the online map.

24. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein each of the advertisements in the selected set of advertisements is placed at a location in the online map corresponding to a business associated with the advertisement.

25. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the overlap describes a visual overlap between each candidate advertisement and one or more map features.

26. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the code when executed is further for:

transmitting the online map including the set of selected advertisements to a client that requested the online map.

27. A computer system for conducting an auction for selecting advertisements for display in online maps, the system comprising:

at least one server computer comprising a computer processor, the computer processor configured to execute instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium, the instructions when executed by the computer processor cause the processor to;

generate an online map of a geographical area, the online map including map features of the geographical area;

identify advertisers having candidate advertisements for businesses represented in the geographical area of the online map;

identify for each advertiser, a bid price that the advertiser is willing to pay to include an associated candidate advertisement in the online map;

calculate, for each candidate advertisement, a presentation cost describing a visual impact on the online map resulting from including the candidate advertisement in the online map, the calculation of the presentation cost based on an amount of overlap of the candidate advertisement with one or more of the map features included in the online map;

select a set of advertisements from the candidate advertisements to include in the online map based on the bid price by each advertiser and the calculated presentation cost associated with each candidate advertisement; and

store information describing the online map and the selected set of advertisements.

28. The computer system of claim 27, wherein the instructions when executed by the computer processor further cause the processor to:

for each advertisement from the selected set of advertisements to include in the online map, calculate a price to charge an advertiser associated with the advertisement based on bid prices that other advertisers associated with the selected set of advertisements are willing to pay to display their associated advertisements, and presentation costs associated with the other advertisements in the set, wherein the presentation costs describe an impact on a visual appearance of the online map as a result of including the other advertisements in the online map.

29. The computer system of claim 28, wherein the calculated price to charge the advertiser is always less than the bid price by the advertiser.

30. The computer system of claim 27, wherein the instructions when executed by the computer processor further cause the processor to:

receive from each advertiser a bid for an auction, the bid comprising an associated advertisement, a geographic location associated with the advertisement, and the bid price that the advertiser is willing to pay to include the advertisement at the geographic location represented in the online map.

31. The computer system of claim 27, wherein a plurality of the advertisers have collocated candidate advertisements.

32. The computer system of claim 31, wherein collocated candidate advertisements are associated with a common geographic location.

33. The computer system of claim 31, wherein collocated candidate advertisements are associated with geographic locations proximate to each other in the online map.

34. The computer system of claim 31, wherein the instructions when executed by the computer processor further cause the processor to:

determine which advertisements from the collocated candidate advertisements can be displayed together at a geographic location associated with advertisement based on the bid price and the presentation cost associated with each collocated candidate advertisement.

35. The computer system of claim 27, wherein each of the advertisements in the selected set of advertisements is placed at a location in the online map corresponding to a business associated with the advertisement.

36. The computer system of claim 27, wherein the overlap describes a visual overlap between each candidate advertisement and one or more map features.

37. The computer system of claim 27, wherein the instructions when executed by the computer processor further cause the processor to:

transmit the online map including the set of selected advertisements to a client that requested the online map.