Systems and methods for optimizing distribution of advertisement information

• US 8,824,649 B2
• Filed: 11/25/2013
• Issued: 09/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAS Institute Incorporated
• Original Assignee: SAS Institute Incorporated
• Inventors: Gopalakrishnan, Balaji, Inman, William Elliot, Lehman, Thomas Robert, Brocklebank, John Clare
• Primary Examiner(s): TIEU, BINH KIEN
• Application Number:
  US14/089,235
• Publication Number:
  US 20140156382A1
• Time in Patent Office: 281 Days
• Field of Search: 379/111, 379/112.01, 379/112.05, 379/112.06, 379/133, 379/134, 379/139, 705/14.4, 705/14.41, 705/14.43, 705/14.45, 705/14.5, 705/14.57, 705/14.58, 705/14.72
• US Class Current: 379/133
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0244 Optimization
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal

Abstract

In accordance with the teachings described herein, systems and methods are provided for optimizing distribution of advertisement information. In one example, call tracking data may be generated from a plurality of telephone calls made to a business entity, where the call tracking data includes geographical information to identify locations from which the plurality of telephone calls originated. A call distribution may be determined from the call tracking data, where the call distribution groups the call tracking data based at least in part on distances between the business entity and the locations from which the plurality of telephone calls originated. A probability density function may be generated from the call distribution, where the probability density function is for determining a probability that a telephone call will be received by the business entity in response to advertisement information delivered to a call location, and wherein the probability density function expresses the probability as a function of distance between the call location and the business entity. The probability density function may then be used in the generation of the advertisement distribution plan.

Claims

1. A system for optimizing the distribution of advertisement information, comprising:

a processor configured to perform operations including;

receiving call tracking data generated from telephone calls received by each of a plurality of businesses, the call tracking data including geographical information that identifies locations from which the telephone calls originated and associates each of the telephone calls with a particular one of the plurality of businesses that received the call;

for each of the plurality of businesses, generating a probability density function based on the call tracking data, the probability density function for determining a probability that a telephone call will be received by the business in response to advertisement information delivered to a call location, wherein the probability density function expresses probability as a function of distance between the call location and the business;

for each of the plurality of businesses, using the probability density function to perform a plurality of simulations that predict calls to be generated in response to a distribution of advertisement information to call locations within a geographic area; and

providing results of the plurality of simulations for use in generating an advertisement distribution plan for the geographic area.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further include:

for each of the plurality of businesses, determining a call distribution from the call tracking data that groups the call tracking data based at least in part on distances between one or more business locations and the locations from which the telephone calls originated, wherein the probability density function for each of the plurality of businesses is generated from the call distribution.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further include:

for each of the plurality of simulations, determining an optimal simulation result from each of the plurality of businesses, wherein the advertisement distribution plan is generated based, at least in part, on a combination of the optimal simulation results.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the operations further include:

for each of the plurality of simulations, summing the optimal simulation results to generate an optimal value;

determining a mean of the optimal values from each of the plurality of simulations;

identifying one of the plurality of simulations with optimal simulation results having a summation value that is closest to the mean; and

generating the advertisement distribution plan based on the identified one of the plurality of simulations.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further include:

receiving demographic information relating to the geographic area, wherein the demographic information is used in generating the advertisement distribution plan.

6. A computer-program product for optimizing the distribution of advertisement information for a plurality of businesses, the computer program product tangibly embodied in a non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium, the storage medium storing instructions configured to cause a data processing apparatus to perform operations including:

receiving call tracking data generated from telephone calls received by each of the plurality of businesses, the call tracking data including geographical information that identifies locations from which the telephone calls originated and associates each of the telephone calls with a particular one of the plurality of businesses that received the call;

for each of the plurality of businesses, generating a probability density function based on the call tracking data, the probability density function for determining a probability that a telephone call will be received by the business in response to advertisement information delivered to a call location, wherein the probability density function expresses probability as a function of distance between the call location and the business;

for each of the plurality of businesses, using the probability density function to perform a plurality of simulations that predict calls to be generated in response to a distribution of advertisement information to call locations within a geographic area; and

providing results of the plurality of simulations for use in generating an advertisement distribution plan for the geographic area.

7. The computer-program product of claim 6, wherein the operations further include:

for each of the plurality of businesses, determining a call distribution from the call tracking data that groups the call tracking data based at least in part on distances between one or more business locations and the locations from which the telephone calls originated, wherein the probability density function for each of the plurality of businesses is generated from the call distribution.

8. The computer-program product of claim 6, wherein the operations further include:

for each of the plurality of simulations, determining an optimal simulation result from each of the plurality of businesses, wherein the advertisement distribution plan is generated based, at least in part, on a combination of the optimal simulation results.

9. The computer-program product of claim 8, wherein the operations further include:

for each of the plurality of simulations, summing the optimal simulation results to generate an optimal value;

determining a mean of the optimal values from each of the plurality of simulations;

identifying one of the plurality of simulations with optimal simulation results having a summation value that is closest to the mean; and

generating the advertisement distribution plan based on the identified one of the plurality of simulations.

10. The computer-program product of claim 6, wherein the operations further include:

receiving demographic information relating to the geographic area, wherein the demographic information is used in generating the advertisement distribution plan.

11. A computer-program product for optimizing the distribution of advertisement information, the computer program product tangibly embodied in a non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium, the storage medium storing instructions configured to cause a data processing apparatus to perform operations including:

receiving call tracking data generated from a plurality of telephone calls made to a business entity, the call tracking data including geographical information that identifies locations from which the plurality of telephone calls originated;

determining a call distribution from the call tracking data that groups the call tracking data based at least in part on distances between the business entity and the locations from which the plurality of telephone calls originated;

generating a probability density function from the call distribution, the probability density function for determining a probability that a telephone call will be received by the business entity in response to advertisement information delivered to a call location, wherein the probability density function expresses probability as a function of distance between the call location and the business entity; and

providing the probability density function for generating an advertisement distribution plan.

12. The computer-program product of claim 11, wherein the call tracking data is received from a plurality of related business entities.

13. The computer-program product of claim 11, wherein the advertisement distribution plan identifies a predetermined distance from the business entity to distribute advertisement information.

14. The computer-program product of claim 12, wherein the advertisement distribution plan identifies a predetermined distance from each of the plurality of related business entities to distribute advertisement information.

15. The computer-program product of claim 11, wherein the geographical information includes information to identify geographical units from which the plurality of telephone calls originated, the call distribution is based at least in part on distances between the business entity and the geographical units from which the plurality of telephone calls originated, and the probability density function is for determining a probability that a telephone call will be received by the business entity in response to advertisement information delivered to a call location within a certain geographical unit.

16. The computer-program product of claim 15, wherein the geographical units are city blocks.

17. The computer-program product of claim 15, wherein the geographical units are based on postal codes.

18. The computer-program product of claim 16, wherein the operations further include:

receiving demographic information relating to the geographical units, wherein the demographic information is used in generating the advertisement distribution plan.

19. The computer-program product of claim 11, wherein the probability density function is generated by generating a step function based on the call distribution and fitting the step function to a curve.

20. The computer-program product of claim 11, wherein the call tracking data is generated from a sample of telephone call received by the business entity.