Suggesting and/or providing targeting criteria for advertisements

• US 20050228797A1
• Filed: 12/31/2003
• Published: 10/13/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Shazeer, Noam, Koningstein, Ross, Harik, Georges R., Spitkovsky, Valentin
• Granted Patent: US 8,392,249 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/316 Indexing structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3322 using system suggestions G06F16/3325 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/334 Query execution G06F16/335 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/355 Class or cluster creation or modification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/686 using information manually generated, e.g. tags, keywords, comments, title or artist information, time, location or usage information, user ratings
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement

Abstract

Keyword suggestions that are category-aware (and field-proven) may be used to help advertisers better target the serving of their ads, and may reduce unused ad spot inventory. The advertiser can enter ad information, such as a creative, a landing Webpage, other keywords, etc. for example. A keyword facility may use this entered ad information as seed information to infer one or more categories. It may then request that the advertiser confirm or deny some basic feedback information (e.g., categories, Webpage information, etc.). For example, an advertiser may be provided with candidate categories and may be asked to confirm (e.g., using checkboxes) which of the categories are relevant to their ad. Keywords may be determined using at least the categories. The determined keywords may be provided to the advertiser as suggested keywords, or may automatically populate ad serving constraint information as targeting keywords. The ad server system can run a trial on the determined keywords to qualify or disqualify them as targeting keyword.

Claims

1. A method for determining one or more ad targeting keywords, the method comprising:

a) accepting at least one category;

b) determining one or more keywords using the accepted at least one category; and

c) providing at least some of the determined one or more keywords as one or more ad targeting keywords.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the one or more ad targeting keywords is a negative keyword.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of determining at least one category uses ad creative information.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of determining at least one category uses information from a landing Webpage of an ad.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of determining one or more keywords uses an inverted keyword index in which categories are provided as lookup keys to keywords.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

performing qualification testing of the determined one or more keywords to determine if a keyword is qualified or unqualified for use as an ad targeting keyword,

wherein each of the at least some of the determined one or more keywords provided as one or more ad targeting keywords are qualified keywords.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the act of performing qualification testing of the determined one or more keywords tracks a performance of ads served using the keyword as an ad targeting keyword.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the performance of ads is tracked in general, across all categories.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the performance of ads is tracked across one or more specific categories.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the one or more specific categories include the at least one category accepted.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein the ads served using the keyword as an ad targeting keyword during the act of performing qualification testing of the determined one or more keywords, are only served on ad spots that otherwise would be unused.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of providing at least some of the determined one or more keywords as one or more ad targeting keywords provides the determined one more keywords in an order determined using unused inventory information.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of providing at least some of the determined one or more keywords as one or more ad targeting keywords provides the determined one more keywords in an order determined using unused inventory information such that a keyword corresponding to a larger number of unused ad spots is provided before another keyword corresponding to a smaller number of unused ad spots.

14. A method for determining one or more ad targeting keywords, the method comprising:

a) accepting at least one category;

b) determining one or more keywords using the accepted at least one category;

c) providing the determined one or more keywords as suggested targeting keywords to an advertiser;

d) accepting advertiser input in response to the suggested targeting keywords; and

e) determining whether or not to provide at least some of the determined one or more keywords as targeting keywords for an ad using the accepted advertiser input.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein at least one of the one or more ad targeting keywords is a negative keyword.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the act of determining at least one category uses ad creative information.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein the act of determining at least one category uses information from a landing Webpage of an ad.

18. The method of claim 14 wherein the act of determining one or more keywords uses an inverted keyword index in which categories are provided as lookup keys to keywords.

19. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

performing qualification testing of the determined one or more keywords to determine if a keyword is qualified or unqualified for use as an ad targeting keyword,

wherein each of the at least some of the determined one or more keywords provided as suggested targeting keywords to an advertiser are qualified keywords.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the act of performing qualification testing of the determined one or more keywords tracks a performance of ads served using the keyword as an ad targeting keyword.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the performance of ads is tracked in general, across all categories.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the one or more specific categories include the at least one category accepted.

23. The method of claim 20 wherein the performance of ads is tracked across one or more specific categories.

24. The method of claim 20 wherein the ads served using the keyword as an ad targeting keyword during the act of performing qualification testing of the determined one or more keywords, are only served on ad spots that otherwise would be unused.

25. The method of claim 14 wherein the act of providing the determined one or more keywords as suggested targeting keywords to an advertiser provides the determined one more keywords in an order determined using unused inventory information.

26. The method of claim 14 wherein the act of providing the determined one or more keywords as suggested targeting keywords to an advertiser provides the determined one more keywords in an order determined using unused inventory information such that a keyword corresponding to a larger number of unused ad spots are provided before another keyword corresponding to a smaller number of unused ad spots.

27. A method for generating one or more serving constraints for targeting an ad, the method comprising:

a) accepting ad information;

b) determining one or more categories using the accepted ad information;

c) determining one or more serving constraints from the one or more categories determined.

28. The method of claim 83 wherein at least one of the one or more ad targeting keywords is a negative keyword.

29. The method of claim 27 wherein the act of determining at least one category uses ad creative information.

30. The method of claim 27 wherein the act of determining at least one category uses information from a landing Webpage of an ad.

31. The method of claim 83 wherein the act of determining one or more keywords uses an inverted keyword index in which categories are provided as lookup keys to keywords.

32. The method of claim 83 further comprising:

performing qualification testing of the determined one or more keywords to determine if a keyword is qualified or unqualified for use as an ad targeting keyword,

wherein each of the at least some of the determined one or more keywords provided as candidate targeting keywords are qualified keywords.

33. The method of claim 83 wherein the act of performing qualification testing of the determined one or more keywords tracks a performance of ads served using the keyword as an ad targeting keyword.

34. The method of claim 27 wherein the performance of ads is tracked in general, across all categories.

35. The method of claim 27 wherein the performance of ads is tracked across one or more specific categories.

36. The method of claim 27 wherein the one or more specific categories include the at least one category accepted.

37. The method of claim 33 wherein the ads served using the keyword as an ad targeting keyword during the act of performing qualification testing of the determined one or more keywords, are only served on ad spots that otherwise would be unused.

38. The method of claim 83 wherein the act of providing the determined one or more keywords as candidate targeting keywords provides the determined one more keywords in an order determined using unused inventory information.

39. The method of claim 83 wherein the act of providing the determined one or more keywords as candidate targeting keywords provides the determined one more keywords in an order determined using unused inventory information such that a keyword corresponding to a larger number of unused ad spots are provided before another keyword corresponding to a smaller number of unused ad spots.

40. The method of claim 83 further comprising:

d) populating serving constraints of an ad with the candidate keywords.

41. The method of claim 83 further comprising:

d) providing the candidate keywords to an advertiser as ad targeting keyword suggestions;

e) accepting advertiser input in response to the suggested targeting keywords; and

f) determining whether or not to provide at least some of the candidate keywords as targeting keywords for an ad using the accepted advertiser input.

83. The method of claim 27 wherein the one or more serving constraints are one or more ad targeting keywords.

42. Apparatus for determining one or more ad targeting keywords, the apparatus comprising:

a) an input for accepting at least one category;

b) means for determining one or more keywords using the accepted at least one category; and

c) means for providing at least some of the determined one or more keywords as one or more ad targeting keywords.

43. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein at least one of the one or more ad targeting keywords is a negative keyword.

44. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein the means for determining at least one category use ad creative information.

45. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein the means for determining at least one category use information from a landing Webpage of an ad.

46. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein the means for determining one or more keywords use an inverted keyword index in which categories are provided as lookup keys to keywords.

47. The apparatus of claim 42 further comprising:

means for performing qualification testing of the determined one or more keywords to determine if a keyword is qualified or unqualified for use as an ad targeting keyword,

wherein each of the at least some of the determined one or more keywords provided as one or more ad targeting keywords are qualified keywords.

48. The apparatus of claim 47 wherein the means for performing qualification testing of the determined one or more keywords track a performance of ads served using the keyword as an ad targeting keyword.

49. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the performance of ads is tracked in general, across all categories.

50. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the performance of ads is tracked across one or more specific categories.

51. The apparatus of claim 50 wherein the one or more specific categories include the at least one category accepted.

52. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the ads served using the keyword as an ad targeting keyword by the means for performing qualification testing of the determined one or more keywords, are only served on ad spots that otherwise would be unused.

53. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein the means for providing at least some of the determined one or more keywords as one or more ad targeting keywords provide the determined one more keywords in an order determined using unused inventory information.

54. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein the means for providing at least some of the determined one or more keywords as one or more ad targeting keywords provide the determined one more keywords in an order determined using unused inventory information such that a keyword corresponding to a larger number of unused ad spots is provided before another keyword corresponding to a smaller number of unused ad spots.

55. Apparatus for determining one or more ad targeting keywords, the apparatus comprising:

a) an input for accepting at least one category;

b) means for determining one or more keywords using the accepted at least one category;

c) means for providing the determined one or more keywords as suggested targeting keywords to an advertiser;

d) means for accepting advertiser input in response to the suggested targeting keywords; and

e) means for determining whether or not to provide at least some of the determined one or more keywords as targeting keywords for an ad using the accepted advertiser input.

56. The apparatus of claim 55 wherein at least one of the one or more ad targeting keywords is a negative keyword.

57. The apparatus of claim 55 wherein the means for determining at least one category use ad creative information.

58. The apparatus of claim 55 wherein the means for determining at least one category use information from a landing Webpage of an ad.

59. The apparatus of claim 55 wherein the means for determining one or more keywords uses an inverted keyword index in which categories are provided as lookup keys to keywords.

60. The apparatus of claim 55 further comprising:

means for performing qualification testing of the determined one or more keywords to determine if a keyword is qualified or unqualified for use as an ad targeting keyword,

wherein each of the at least some of the determined one or more keywords provided as suggested targeting keywords to an advertiser are qualified keywords.

61. The apparatus of claim 60 wherein the means for performing qualification testing of the determined one or more keywords track a performance of ads served using the keyword as an ad targeting keyword.

62. The apparatus of claim 61 wherein the performance of ads is tracked in general, across all categories.

63. The apparatus of claim 62 wherein the one or more specific categories include the at least one category accepted.

64. The apparatus of claim 61 wherein the performance of ads is tracked across one or more specific categories.

65. The apparatus of claim 61 wherein the ads served using the keyword as an ad targeting keyword by the means for performing qualification testing of the determined one or more keywords, are only served on ad spots that otherwise would be unused.

66. The apparatus of claim 55 wherein the means for providing the determined one or more keywords as suggested targeting keywords to an advertiser provide the determined one more keywords in an order determined using unused inventory information.

67. The apparatus of claim 55 wherein the means for providing the determined one or more keywords as suggested targeting keywords to an advertiser provide the determined one more keywords in an order determined using unused inventory information such that a keyword corresponding to a larger number of unused ad spots are provided before another keyword corresponding to a smaller number of unused ad spots.

68. Apparatus for generating one or more keywords as candidates for use as ad targeting keywords, the apparatus comprising:

a) an input for accepting ad information;

b) means for determining one or more categories using the accepted ad information;

c) means for determining one or more keywords from the one or more categories determined.

69. The apparatus of claim 68 wherein at least one of the one or more ad targeting keywords is a negative keyword.

70. The apparatus of claim 68 wherein the means for determining at least one category uses ad creative information.

71. The apparatus of claim 68 wherein the means for determining at least one category uses information from a landing Webpage of an ad.

72. The apparatus of claim 68 wherein the means for determining one or more keywords uses an inverted keyword index in which categories are provided as lookup keys to keywords.

73. The apparatus of claim 68 further comprising:

means for performing qualification testing of the determined one or more keywords to determine if a keyword is qualified or unqualified for use as an ad targeting keyword,

wherein each of the at least some of the determined one or more keywords provided as candidate targeting keywords are qualified keywords.

79. The apparatus of claim 68 wherein the means for providing the determined one or more keywords as candidate targeting keywords provide the determined one more keywords in an order determined using unused inventory information.

80. The apparatus of claim 68 wherein the means for providing the determined one or more keywords as candidate targeting keywords provide the determined one more keywords in an order determined using unused inventory information such that a keyword corresponding to a larger number of unused ad spots are provided before another keyword corresponding to a smaller number of unused ad spots.

81. The apparatus of claim 68 further comprising:

d) means for populating serving constraints of an ad with the candidate keywords.

82. The apparatus of claim 68 further comprising:

d) means for providing the candidate keywords to an advertiser as ad targeting keyword suggestions;

e) means for accepting advertiser input in response to the suggested targeting keywords; and

f) means for determining whether or not to provide at least some of the candidate keywords as targeting keywords for an ad using the accepted advertiser input.

74. The apparatus of claim 74 wherein the means for performing qualification testing of the determined one or more keywords track a performance of ads served using the keyword as an ad targeting keyword.

75. The apparatus of claim 74 wherein the performance of ads is tracked in general, across all categories.

76. The apparatus of claim 74 wherein the performance of ads is tracked across one or more specific categories.

77. The apparatus of claim 76 wherein the one or more specific categories include the at least one category accepted.

78. The apparatus of claim 74 wherein the ads served using the keyword as an ad targeting keyword by the means for performing qualification testing of the determined one or more keywords, are only served on ad spots that otherwise would be unused.

84. A method comprising:

a) accepting ad information;

b) determining one or more categories using the accepted ad information;

c) recommending at least one of the one or more categories determined to an advertiser.

85. The method of claim 84 further comprising:

d) accepting advertiser feedback with respect to the recommended one or more categories.