Method and system for placement and pricing of internet-based advertisements or services
First Claim
1. An Internet-based system for pricing advertisements (“
- ads”
) provided by advertisers to be displayed on web pages of Internet properties operated by publishers, the system comprising;
a classification system including a server interconnected with at least one data store, the server having a processor operated by stored executable instructions, the data store containing ad performance criteria based on at least one metric, and the executable instructions instructing the processor to access the ad performance criteria in order to classify requests made by the publishers to publish ads on the web pages into performance groups, wherein each performance group is associated with a minimum effective cost per thousand impressions (eCPM);
an ad inventory associated with a rule base having rules operable to associate one or more ads in the inventory with at least one performance group, and further operable to associate each of the one or more ads with a minimum price set as a function of the minimum eCPM and an expected ad performance set for the performance group, and a maximum price set by one of the advertisers associated with the ad;
an ad server in communication with at least one computer having a display screen, the ad server being configured to receive a publisher'"'"'s ad request transmitted by the computer for delivery of an ad to one of the web pages, wherein the ad server executes operating instructions programmed to consult the classification system to determine that the at least one performance group corresponds to parameters of the ad request, to apply the rules in the rules base to ads in the ad inventory associated with the at least one performance group, to select one or more associated ads, and to deliver the one or more selected ads for display on the Internet property page;
a historical statistics repository which includes historical performance data for the ads in the inventory; and
a pricing and optimization engine configured to apply the historical performance data to establish a current performance of at least one ad associated with the at least one performance group, to compare the current performance of the at least one ad to the expected ad performance for the at least one performance group, and upon determining from the comparison that the current ad performance of the at least one ad is less than the expected ad performance for the at least one performance group, to adjust an actual price of the at least one ad by an increment set by the one advertiser, the increment having a value less than the difference between the minimum price and the maximum price and the adjusted price having a value between the minimum price and the maximum price for the ad.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Presented are embodiments of methods and systems that provide for Internet advertisement pricing and placement to be variably based on the advertisement'"'"'s performance within a given category of Internet media, while at the same time achieving predictable delivery and pricing for both advertisers and publishers. Techniques are presented where an advertiser'"'"'s online campaign will be pre-empted only for underperformance on its own merits, and not for its relative performance or price versus other advertisers. Further, techniques are presented for allowing publishers of advertisements to realize increased revenue from their high value media while using tag passbacks to secure a minimum reserve pricing of their choice.
-
Citations
18 Claims
-
1. An Internet-based system for pricing advertisements (“
- ads”
) provided by advertisers to be displayed on web pages of Internet properties operated by publishers, the system comprising;a classification system including a server interconnected with at least one data store, the server having a processor operated by stored executable instructions, the data store containing ad performance criteria based on at least one metric, and the executable instructions instructing the processor to access the ad performance criteria in order to classify requests made by the publishers to publish ads on the web pages into performance groups, wherein each performance group is associated with a minimum effective cost per thousand impressions (eCPM); an ad inventory associated with a rule base having rules operable to associate one or more ads in the inventory with at least one performance group, and further operable to associate each of the one or more ads with a minimum price set as a function of the minimum eCPM and an expected ad performance set for the performance group, and a maximum price set by one of the advertisers associated with the ad; an ad server in communication with at least one computer having a display screen, the ad server being configured to receive a publisher'"'"'s ad request transmitted by the computer for delivery of an ad to one of the web pages, wherein the ad server executes operating instructions programmed to consult the classification system to determine that the at least one performance group corresponds to parameters of the ad request, to apply the rules in the rules base to ads in the ad inventory associated with the at least one performance group, to select one or more associated ads, and to deliver the one or more selected ads for display on the Internet property page; a historical statistics repository which includes historical performance data for the ads in the inventory; and a pricing and optimization engine configured to apply the historical performance data to establish a current performance of at least one ad associated with the at least one performance group, to compare the current performance of the at least one ad to the expected ad performance for the at least one performance group, and upon determining from the comparison that the current ad performance of the at least one ad is less than the expected ad performance for the at least one performance group, to adjust an actual price of the at least one ad by an increment set by the one advertiser, the increment having a value less than the difference between the minimum price and the maximum price and the adjusted price having a value between the minimum price and the maximum price for the ad. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
- ads”
-
13. A method for delivering advertisements (“
- ads”
) provided by advertisers to web pages by an ad server, comprising the steps of;classifying the web pages by a classification system in communication with the ad server and at least one data store, the at least one data store containing ad performance criteria based on at least one metric, and the server operable to access the ad performance criteria in order to classify requests made by publishers to publish ads on the web pages into performance groups, wherein each performance group is associated with a minimum effective cost per thousand impressions (eCPM); applying rules, populated in a rule base accessible to the ad server, to an inventory of ads classified in one of the performance groups to determine a set of available ads to show on web pages associated with publishers'"'"' ad requests classified in the one performance group; assigning prices by a pricing and optimization engine in communication with the ad server to members of the set of available ads in the one performance group as a function of the minimum eCPM for the one performance group and an expected ad performance for the one performance group, the expected ad performance determined as a function of a historical performance of the members of the set of available ads in the one performance group; comparing the historical performance of at least one of the available ads to the expected ad performance for the at least one performance group by the pricing and optimization engine; determining from the comparison that the current ad performance of the at least one ad is less than the expected ad performance for the at least one performance group, and adjusting the price assigned by the pricing and optimization engine for at least one of the members of the set of available ads in one of the performance groups when a current ad performance for the one ad is less than the expected ad performance, wherein; the adjusted price is set within a range defined by a minimum price and a maximum price, the minimum price is set as a function of the minimum eCPM of the one performance group and the expected ad performance for the one performance group, the maximum price is set by an advertiser providing the at least one ad, and the adjustment to the price is made in an amount equal to a price incremental step set by the one advertiser, the price incremental step having a value less than the difference between the minimum price and the maximum price. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
- ads”
Specification