Automatic bid adjustments for electronic advertising
First Claim
1. A method in a computer system for generating a bid price for an electronic advertisement, comprising:
- under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions,selecting a keyword and a provider with which to place an advertisement, the provider operable to generate a page including content associated with the keyword;
determining a first set of bidding data components related to the advertisement, each bidding data component containing data stored at a different level in a bidding data hierarchy related to an aspect of the advertisement;
determining a minimum number of data points needed to determine a significant bidding result;
selecting a second set of bidding components including a bidding data component at a lowest level in the first set of bidding components and including a number of data points at least meeting the minimum number of data points, the second set of bidding components including at least one bidding component at a next highest level in the bidding data hierarchy when the bidding data component at the lowest level does not include the minimum number of data points, the bidding data component at the lowest level having a first targeted data definition, the at least one bidding data component at the next highest level having a second targeted data definition of which the first targeted data definition is a subset, the second targeted data definition being broader than the first targeted data definition;
selecting at least one time period over which to analyze data for each bidding component;
determining a base bid price by analyzing first bid data for each of the second set of bidding components for each selected time period;
determining a bid adjustment factor by analyzing second bid data for each of the second set of bidding components for each selected time period, the second bid data including previously submitted bid prices and actual costs incurred as a result of the previously submitted bid prices;
determining a bid result by adjusting the base bid price by the bid adjustment factor; and
submitting advertising information and the bid result to the provider for the keyword.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The accuracy of bid amounts for electronic advertising is improved by accounting for factors such as the cost-per-click (CPC) ratio for each ad. When a provider such as a search engine selects advertisements using automated auctions, it can be desirable for an advertiser to avoid underbidding for ads when the ads generate a significant amount of revenue or profit, or are otherwise performing well. Various algorithms can be used to generate a bid adjustment factor that allows bid values to be increased (or decreased) as appropriate, based on information such as CPC information. By calculating a separate adjustment factor, the amount of adjustment can be monitored and/or capped to avoid overspending. The algorithms also can utilize information at various levels of categorization, and at different time intervals, depending on the amount and type of information available, in order to provide an accurate and significant result.
39 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method in a computer system for generating a bid price for an electronic advertisement, comprising:
under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, selecting a keyword and a provider with which to place an advertisement, the provider operable to generate a page including content associated with the keyword; determining a first set of bidding data components related to the advertisement, each bidding data component containing data stored at a different level in a bidding data hierarchy related to an aspect of the advertisement; determining a minimum number of data points needed to determine a significant bidding result; selecting a second set of bidding components including a bidding data component at a lowest level in the first set of bidding components and including a number of data points at least meeting the minimum number of data points, the second set of bidding components including at least one bidding component at a next highest level in the bidding data hierarchy when the bidding data component at the lowest level does not include the minimum number of data points, the bidding data component at the lowest level having a first targeted data definition, the at least one bidding data component at the next highest level having a second targeted data definition of which the first targeted data definition is a subset, the second targeted data definition being broader than the first targeted data definition; selecting at least one time period over which to analyze data for each bidding component; determining a base bid price by analyzing first bid data for each of the second set of bidding components for each selected time period; determining a bid adjustment factor by analyzing second bid data for each of the second set of bidding components for each selected time period, the second bid data including previously submitted bid prices and actual costs incurred as a result of the previously submitted bid prices; determining a bid result by adjusting the base bid price by the bid adjustment factor; and submitting advertising information and the bid result to the provider for the keyword. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method in a computer system for adjusting a bid price in an electronic environment, comprising:
under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, selecting a set of bidding components from a bidding data hierarchy, the set of bidding components including a bidding data component at a lowest level in the bidding data hierarchy and a number of bidding data components at next highest levels in the bidding data hierarchy needed to at least meet a minimum number of data points, the bidding data component at a lowest level having a data definition, the bidding data components at a next highest level in the hierarchy having a broader data definition of which lower level data definitions in the hierarchy are a subset; selecting at least one time period over which to analyze data for each bidding component in the set; determining a bid adjustment factor by analyzing bid data for each of the set of bidding components for each selected time period, the bid data including previously submitted bid prices and actual costs incurred as a result of the previously submitted bid prices; determining a bid result by adjusting a base bid price by the bid adjustment factor; and submitting the bid result to a provider operable to receive bids electronically. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A system for adjusting a bid price in an electronic environment, comprising:
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a processor; and a memory device including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to; select bidding data components from a hierarchy of bidding data, including a bidding data component at a first level in the hierarchy and a number of bidding data components at next highest levels in the hierarchy needed to at least meet a specified number of data points for significance, the bidding data component at the first level having a data definition, the bidding components at next highest levels having subsequently broader data definitions of which lower level data definitions are a subset of a next highest level data definition in the hierarchy; select at least one time period over which to analyze data for each selected bidding data component; determine a bid adjustment factor by analyzing bid data for each of the bidding data components for each selected time period, the bid data including previously submitted bid prices and corresponding actual costs; determine a bid result by multiplying the base bid price by the bid adjustment factor; and submit the bid result to a provider operable to receive bids electronically. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. A computer program product embedded in a computer readable storage medium for adjusting a bid price for an advertisement in an electronic environment, comprising:
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program code executable by one or more processors for selecting bidding data components from a hierarchy of bidding data, including a bidding data component at a first level in the hierarchy and a number of bidding data components at next highest levels in the hierarchy needed to at least meet a specified number of data points for significance, the bidding data component at a first level having a data definition, the bidding components at a next highest level having broader data definitions than lower level data definitions, the lower level data definitions forming a subset of the next highest level in the hierarchy; program code executable by the one or more processors for selecting at least one time period over which to analyze data for each selected bidding data component; program code executable by the one or more processors for determining a bid adjustment factor by analyzing bid data for each of the bidding data components for each selected time period, the bid data including previously submitted bid prices and corresponding actual costs; program code executable by the one or more processors for determining a bid result by multiplying the base bid price by the bid adjustment factor; and program code executable by the one or more processors for submitting the bid result to a provider operable to receive bids electronically. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification