SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMPLEMENTING BID ADJUSTMENTS IN AN ONLINE ADVERTISEMENT EXCHANGE

• US 20140122253A1
• Filed: 10/30/2012
• Published: 05/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Vassilvitskii, Sergei, Bax, Eric, McAfee, R. Preston, Mahdian, Mohammad
• Granted Patent: US 10,217,118 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.71
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0275 Auctions

Abstract

A system and method for implementing bid adjustments in an online advertisement exchange are disclosed. A plurality of bids from a plurality of advertisers may be received for an online advertisement opportunity. A first advertiser may be associated with a first bid bias value. In some embodiments, if the first advertiser is associated with a first bid bias value, then the bid received from the first advertiser may be adjusted based on the first bid bias value. For example, an adjusted bid may be calculated based on the bid received from the first advertiser and the first bid bias value. The online advertisement exchange may conduct an online auction with the adjusted bid from the first advertiser. If the first advertiser wins the auction based on the adjusted bid, then the first advertiser may be charged the value of the bid received from the first advertiser instead of the adjusted bid value.

Claims

1. A method to conduct an online auction, the method comprising:

receiving a first bid from a first advertiser for an online advertisement opportunity, wherein the first bid indicates a first bid value;

receiving a second bid from a second advertiser for the online advertisement opportunity, wherein the second bid indicates a second bid value;

determining if the first advertiser is associated with a first bid bias value;

adjusting, if the first advertiser is associated with the first bid bias value, the first bid value of the first bid from the first advertiser based on the first bid bias value to calculate a first adjusted bid value;

awarding, by a computer, the online advertisement opportunity to the first advertiser if the first adjusted bid value is higher than the second bid value; and

charging the first advertiser the first bid value if the first advertiser is awarded the online advertisement opportunity based on the first adjusted bid value.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first adjusted bid value is calculated by increasing or decreasing the first bid value by a factor specified by the first bid bias value.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination of the first advertiser being associated with the first bid bias value comprises determining if the first advertiser matches at least one predefined advertiser attribute.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the predefined advertiser attribute comprises an advertising budget associated with the first advertiser.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the predefined advertiser attribute comprises an identification of the first advertiser as being associated with an advertiser group that identifies a plurality of advertisers.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the predefined advertiser attribute comprises targeting information associated with the first advertiser.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first bid value is lower than the first adjusted bid value and the first bid bias value comprises a discount for the first advertiser such that the charging of the first advertiser with the first adjusted bid value is lower than charging the first advertiser with the first bid value.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium carrying one or more instructions to conduct an online auction, wherein the one or more instructions, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

receiving a first bid from a first advertiser for an online advertisement opportunity, wherein the first bid indicates a first bid value;

receiving a second bid from a second advertiser for the online advertisement opportunity, wherein the second bid indicates a second bid value;

determining if the first advertiser is associated with a first bid bias value;

adjusting, if the first advertiser is associated with the first bid bias value, the first bid value of the first bid from the first advertiser based on the first bid bias value to calculate a first adjusted bid value;

awarding the online advertisement opportunity to the first advertiser if the first adjusted bid value is higher than the second bid value; and

charging the first advertiser the first bid value if the first advertiser is awarded the online advertisement opportunity based on the first adjusted bid value.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the first adjusted bid value is calculated by increasing or decreasing the first bid value by a factor specified by the first bid bias value.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the determination of the first advertiser being associated with the first bid bias value comprises determining if the first advertiser matches at least one predefined advertiser attribute.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the predefined advertiser attribute comprises an advertising budget associated with the first advertiser.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the predefined advertiser attribute comprises an identification of the first advertiser as being associated with an advertiser group that identifies a plurality of advertisers.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the predefined advertiser attribute comprises targeting information associated with the first advertiser.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the first bid value is lower than the first adjusted bid value and the first bid bias value comprises a discount for the first advertiser such that the charging of the first advertiser with the first adjusted bid value is lower than charging the first advertiser with the first bid value.

15. A system, comprising at least one processor and memory, to conduct an online auction, the system comprising:

a module to receive a first bid from a first advertiser for an online advertisement opportunity on a website, wherein the first bid indicates a first bid value;

a module to receive a second bid from a second advertiser for the online advertisement opportunity, wherein the second bid indicates a second bid value;

a module to determine if the first advertiser is associated with a first bid bias value and if the second advertiser is associated with a second bid bias value;

a module to adjust, if the first advertiser is associated with the first bid bias value, the first bid value of the first bid from the first advertiser based on the first bid bias value to calculate a first adjusted bid value;

a module to adjust, if the second advertiser is associated with the second bid bias value, the second bid value of the second bid from the second advertiser based on the second bid bias value to calculate a second adjusted bid bias value.

a module to award the online advertisement opportunity to the first advertiser if the first adjusted bid value is higher than the second adjusted bid value; and

a module to charge the first advertiser the first bid value if the first advertiser is awarded the online advertisement opportunity based on the first adjusted bid value.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the first adjusted bid value is calculated by increasing or decreasing the first bid value by a factor specified by the first bid bias value.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the determination of the first advertiser being associated with the first bid bias value comprises determining if the first advertiser matches at least one predefined advertiser attribute.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the predefined advertiser attribute comprises an advertising budget associated with the first advertiser.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the advertisement text and the advertisement phone number are further based on a geographic location of the second user.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the first bid value is lower than the first adjusted bid value and the first bid bias value comprises a discount for the first advertiser such that the charging of the first advertiser with the first adjusted bid value is lower than charging the first advertiser with the first bid value.