Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090043648 | PAY-PER-ACTION SYSTEM FOR SELLING ADVERTISEMENTS - A system is disclosed for a pay-per-action (PPA) advertising model. An advertiser reports actions and pays an advertising provider for each action that is reported. The payment may be based on the rate at which the actions are reported. The action rate may be updated based on each reported action, which may modify the payment for that action and may modify the payment for previous actions. A one-time premium may be charged to advertisers and a minimum action rate may be established to encourage advertisers to accurately report actions. | 02-12-2009 |
20090112740 | CHARITY AUCTIONS ON SOCIAL NETWORKS - Methods, systems, and apparatuses for performing a fundraising campaign are provided. A charity is determined to receive contributions from a plurality of entities. With regard to the charity, contribution constraints are received from each entity of the plurality of entities. The contribution constraints for an entity may include a contribution budget and at least one conditional contribution conditioned on a contribution amount of at least one other entity contributing to the charity. Contribution amounts are calculated for the plurality of entities based on the contribution constraints. Each entity is informed of a corresponding contribution amount of the calculated contribution amounts, so that the entities can provide their respective contribution amounts to the charity. | 04-30-2009 |
20090254397 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPTIMIZING ONLINE KEYWORD AUCTIONS SUBJECT TO BUDGET AND ESTIMATED QUERY VOLUME CONSTRAINTS - An improved system and method for optimizing online keyword auctions subject to budget and estimated query volume constraints is provided. A linear programming model of slates of advertisements may be created using estimates of the query volume for multiple time periods for use in generating a slate of advertisements that may represent a candidate set of advertisements in order of optimal revenue to an auctioneer. Upon receiving a query request, the slate generated by the linear program or a slate generated by dynamic programming may be chosen based on whether the weighted sum of prices for the slate of advertisements computed by dynamic programming may be within a factor of the weighted sum of the prices for the slate of advertisements computed by the linear program. The chosen slate of advertisements may then be served to accompany the search results of a query request to the web browser. | 10-08-2009 |
20090319288 | SUGGESTING CONTACTS FOR SOCIAL NETWORKS - A social network is managed by applying connectivity and similarity measures to social network information to identify possible new relationships between social network users, and then automatically suggest those identified relationships to the social network users. The social network information can include user profile information and indicate existing social relationships between the users in the social network. Users can provide feedback regarding the suggestions, including indications whether the relationship was accepted, consummated, or declined. The social network information can be updated using the feedback. Similarity measures can be based on one or more of shared contacts, or common interests or activities, or content associated with social network users, or ratings within the social network of users and/or their content. Possible relationships having similarity measures that suggest the users likely to already know each other, can be omitted and not suggested. | 12-24-2009 |
20100023414 | ALLOCATION AND PRICING OF INFORMATION DISTORTION FOR SPECIFYING A DISPLAY - A method of determining a display specification, includes: specifying business parameters for calculating a business value for the display specification, wherein the display specification includes a plurality of display locations and corresponding display values that are associated with business entities; specifying user parameters for calculating a user value for the display specification; selecting the display specification to improve a combination of the business value and the user value; and saving one or more values for the display specification (e.g., saving values for the display specification directly or through some related characterization.). | 01-28-2010 |
20100228745 | SYSTEM, METHOD, AND APPARATUS FOR SORTING AT LEAST PARTIALLY DYNAMIC DATA - Embodiments of methods, apparatuses, devices and systems associated with sorting candidate values are disclosed. | 09-09-2010 |
20100306210 | CLUSTERING IDENTICAL OR DISJOINT KEYWORD SETS FOR USE WITH AUCTIONS FOR ONLINE ADVERTISING SPACE - Embodiments of methods, apparatuses, or systems relating to clustering identical or disjoint keyword sets for use with auctions for online advertising space. | 12-02-2010 |
20110035276 | Automatic Campaign Optimization for Online Advertising Using Return on Investment Metrics - A method for optimizing quantitative return-on-investment performance in an online advertising campaign. The advertising campaign has a finite campaign period and a finite spending budget within a system that includes a bidding facility for bidding on a plurality of advertising slots. The method seeks to optimize performance of the campaign according to an objective function that includes a marginal return on investment variable, which variable is maintained throughout a series of iterations. Techniques are disclosed for capturing campaign parameters and constraints from advertisers, and mathematical techniques are used in determining a selected advertising slot upon which to bid at each iteration. A tracking system provides a history of winning bids and forecast of inventory. After bidding, the value of the marginal return on investment variable is changed based on the results of the bidding. The next bidding operations are based on the value of the marginal return on investment variable. | 02-10-2011 |
20110055132 | IDENTIFICATION AND MEASUREMENT OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND CORRELATION - Techniques for detecting social influence between users in a set of users with regard to an activity are provided. Data for each user of the set of users is received that includes a time value at which the user became active with regard to the activity, and includes at least one indication of another user in the set of users associated with the user. A first estimate of social correlation in the set of users is determined based on the data. The data is modified. For instance, the data may be modified according to a shuffle test and/or an edge reversal test. A second estimate of social correlation in the set of users is determined based on the modified data. The first estimate is compared to the second estimate to determine a degree of social influence in the set of users. | 03-03-2011 |
20110191167 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EXPLORING NEW SPONSORED SEARCH LISTINGS OF UNCERTAIN QUALITY - According to some example embodiments, a method includes calculating learning values associated with a plurality of listings, at least one of said learning values associated with one of said listings representing a value based, at least in part, on a probability distribution of selections of said listing. The method further includes applying said learning values to ranking scores associated with said listings to provide an updated ranking, and electronically auctioning advertising inventory to purchasers associated with said listings based, at least in part, on said updated ranking. | 08-04-2011 |
20120030035 | PAY-PER-ACTION SYSTEM FOR SELLING ADVERTISEMENTS - A system is disclosed for a pay-per-action (PPA) advertising model. An advertiser reports actions and pays an advertising provider for each action that is reported. The payment may be based on the rate at which the actions are reported. The action rate may be updated based on each reported action, which may modify the payment for that action and may modify the payment for previous actions. A one-time premium may be charged to advertisers and a minimum action rate may be established to encourage advertisers to accurately report actions. | 02-02-2012 |
20130085868 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING AN EFFECTIVE BID PER IMPRESSION BASED ON MULTIPLE ATTRIBUTION OF PAY-PER-CONVERSION ADVERTISING - A system and method for calculating an effective bid per impression are disclosed. The system and method may receive a price per conversion bid of an advertiser and information from at least one user. The information may comprise a user state of the user. In some embodiments, the user state may comprise a number of times that the user has previously viewed the advertisement. The user state may be input into a user behavioral model to determine predictive values of the user behavior. An effective bid per impression may then be calculated based on the predictive values of the user and the advertiser's bid per conversion. | 04-04-2013 |
20130100818 | METHOD FOR DETERMINING PLACEMENT OF INTERNET TAPS IN WIRELESS NEIGHBORHOOD NETWORKS - Disclosed is a method for determining the placement of ITAPs in wireless neighborhood networks. The method disclosed provides for efficient integration of multi-hop wireless networks with the Internet by placing ITAPs at strategic locations. Initially the method provides for the formulation of the ITAP placement problem under three wireless models. For each model, methods are developed to efficiently place ITAPs in the networks. The methods aim to minimize the number of required ITAPs while guaranteeing users' bandwidth requirements. Next, a fault tolerance version of the placement method is presented that provides bandwidth guarantees in the presence of failures. Finally the methods are extended to take into account variable traffic demands by developing an approximation algorithm to simultaneously optimize ITAP placement based on demands over multiple periods. | 04-25-2013 |
20140006141 | METHODS INCORPORATING PACING CONSTRIANTS FOR BIDDING ONLINE ADVERTISEMENT DISPLAY AND APPARATUS CONDUCTING THE SAME | 01-02-2014 |
20140006144 | METHOD OF CALCULATING A RESERVE PRICE FOR AN AUCTION AND APPARATUS CONDUCTING THE SAME | 01-02-2014 |
20140089106 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FORMULATING BIDS FOR INTERNET ADVERTISING USING FORECAST DATA - A system and method for formulating a bid on an impression for an Internet advertising campaign using market forecast data are provided. The system and method comprise determining a bid policy using an advertiser goal type, an advertiser payment type, and a budget parameter. Historical impression data pertaining to the advertising campaign is sampled using any applicable sampling technique. The sampled data is used to derive forecast data that predicts the future state of the market. The bid policy and the forecast data are used to derive a spend curve, from which an optimal bid is formulated that results in a proper and efficient allocation of the advertiser's budget. | 03-27-2014 |
20140095323 | Method of Second Price Auction with Monopoly Reserve Price and Apparatus Conducting the Same - The present application relates to systems and computer-implemented methods for conducting a second price auction associated with an opportunity to realize an online advertisement. In some implementations, advertisers may be informed with the opportunity to realize the online advertisement, and may be provided with information associated with a user that may view the opportunity to realize the online advertisement; an individual reserve price may then be determined for each advertiser, based on the advertiser's individual bidding preference and the information associated with the user; and then the auction may be conducted to determine a winning bidder among candidate advertisers whose bidding price is higher than the individual reserve price associated therewith, using second price method. | 04-03-2014 |
20140122221 | OPTIMIZING BIDDING WITH MULTIPLE CAMPAIGN TYPES - A method, system, and computer program product for optimizing bidding over multiple advertising campaigns having a least two campaign types. The optimization is subjected to at least one constraint quantifying a multiple campaign spending limit amount. The method commences by identifying a collection of the multiple advertising campaigns, then evaluating each of the constituent member advertising campaigns to determine its respective optimized spending amount. Then the method calculates (e.g., sums) an aggregate spending amount by aggregating the individual campaign spending amounts. When the aggregate spending amount is greater than the multiple campaign constraint, then the method apportions the multiple campaign spending limit amount to the constituent member advertising campaigns which is in turn used to determine a reduced spending limit. The time period under which the spending is optimized can be any time period suited for forming bids to bid on inventory of impressions into which advertisements can be placed. | 05-01-2014 |
20140122253 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMPLEMENTING BID ADJUSTMENTS IN AN ONLINE ADVERTISEMENT EXCHANGE - 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. | 05-01-2014 |