Patent Application
20170083951
The present disclosure relates to online advertising techniques and, more particularly, relates to techniques for ad serving and intelligent impression throttling techniques implemented in electronic data networks.
A significant quantity of content published on the Internet is supported by advertisements (“ads”). Publishers of Internet-based content often make use of a robust infrastructure of ad networks and/or exchanges that handles the selection, placement, and insertion of ads in web pages. These ad networks and/or exchanges generally select from a set of available ads, based on various factors such as geographic location, subject matter, and the like, in an effort to present ads that are most likely to be maximize revenue in a given context. Advertisers pay the ad networks and/or exchanges for ad exposures based on, among other factors, expected or actual performance of the ad determined, for example, by counting the number of times users click on the ad. Accordingly, revenue can be increased by placing ads to maximize response and effectiveness.
As the online advertising industry continues to grow, the amount of control that publishers (entities who have an inventory of advertising space to sell) want with respect to selling this ad space inventory also grows. As a result, there is an increasing desire among publishers to carve out specific inventory buckets for their ad space inventory. On the advertiser side, advertisers are now increasingly particular about how much they will pay to place their ads on Web pages.
Various mechanisms for measuring performance and effectiveness of advertisements are available. One well-known measurement of ad performance is effective cost per mille (e-CPM), which indicates a cost (or price) of showing an ad one thousand times. e-CPM is therefore a measurement of revenue that a publisher can expect to receive from an ad network based on the number of impressions, or page views, of the content. e-CPM is often determined on an estimated basis. Revenue for an Internet publisher is maximized when an advertisement having high e-CPM is shown. Higher e-CPM means that an ad network is willing to pay more because of an expectation that an ad will be more effective.
In many situations, Internet publishers use several different ad networks and/or exchanges for their online advertising needs. Existing techniques for selecting advertisements often fail to perform effective comparisons among multiple ad networks and/or exchanges. Without comparisons among multiple ad networks, existing techniques fail to provide Internet publishers with sufficient information to most effectively monetize their inventory.
In addition, existing techniques often fail to provide Internet publishers with sufficiently detailed information concerning the effects of various factors that can affect the money that they earn. Such factors include, for example, user frequency, geography, context/vertical, rate of ads that are defaulting to another network, demographic data, and the like.
Without a systematic approach to optimize ad network and/or exchange selection, including selection among multiple ad networks and/or exchanges and effective handling of defaults, publishers can lose a significant amount of advertising revenue.
As described in greater detail herein, various aspects are disclosed for enabling an Advertising Service Provider System (e.g., which includes one or more ad servers) to improve profitability by selectively and dynamically discriminating between the various ad server resources which are to be allocated towards servicing different incoming impressions. Additional aspects are disclosed herein for enabling an ad server to dynamically evaluate the parameters of each incoming impressions in order to assess the likelihood of that incoming impression being successfully filled by demand partners and/or advertising networks. At various times when conditions warrant, the ad server may selectively and dynamically choose to throttle or drop the servicing of selected incoming ad requests/impressions in order to minimize losses which may occur as a result of servicing ad requests/impressions which result in defaults.
One aspect disclosed herein is directed to different methods, systems, and computer program products for facilitating servicing of ad requests over an electronic data network. In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and computer program product(s) may be operable to cause at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions for: receiving, at a first ad server, a first ad request from a remote device, the first ad request including information relating to a first ad impression to be displayed in connection with a display of a first web page at an end user's device, the first web page being associated with a first publisher, the first ad request further including information relating to a first set of impression parameters associated with the first ad impression; identifying, at the first ad server, a first impression parameter value relating to a first impression parameter of the first set of impression parameters; dynamically determining, using the first impression parameter value, a first historical fill rate value representing an aggregate fill rate of a first set of previously processed impressions each having a respective impression parameter value which matches the first impression parameter value; determining if the first historical fill rate value meets or exceeds a first set of minimum threshold fill rate criteria; if it is determined that the first historical fill rate value does not meet the first set of minimum threshold fill rate criteria, processing the first ad impression at the first ad server in accordance with a first set of Impression Throttling procedures; and wherein the processing of the first ad impression in accordance with a first set of Impression Throttling procedures causes the first ad server to dynamically reduce an amount of ad server resources allocated for processing the first ad impression.
In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions for: causing the first ad server to perform at least one action selected from a group comprising: (a) omitting performance of a real-time bid (RTB) auction in connection with the first ad impression; (b) reducing a timeout parameter associated with RTB ad solicitation request calls to thereby reduce an amount of time spent in waiting for responses to the RTB ad solicitation request calls to be received at the first ad server during servicing of the first ad impression; (c) omitting performance of one or more ad solicitation request calls to one or more mobile advertising networks during servicing of the first ad impression; (d) reducing a timeout parameter associated with mobile advertising network ad solicitation request calls to thereby reduce an amount of time spent in waiting for responses to the mobile advertising network ad solicitation request calls to be received at the first ad server during servicing of the first ad impression; (e) reducing a Call Threshold value to thereby reduce a number of mobile advertising network ad solicitation request calls or hops to be performed by the first ad server in servicing the first ad impression; and (f) rejecting or dropping the first ad impression.
In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions for: processing the first ad impression at the first ad server in accordance with a second set of procedures if it is determined that the first historical fill rate value meets or exceeds the first set of minimum threshold fill rate criteria; and wherein the processing of the first ad impression in accordance with a second set of Impression Throttling procedures does not causes the first ad server to dynamically reduce an amount of ad server resources allocated for processing the first ad impression.
In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions for: tracking, at the ad server, occurrences of timeout events which are detected during a first time interval, the timeout events relating to advertising network calls initiated by the ad server; if it is determined that the detected occurrences of timeout events meets or exceeds a first set of threshold criteria, configuring the first set of Impression Throttling procedures to include a first set of Strict Throttling procedures; and if it is determined that the detected occurrences of timeout events meets or exceeds a second set of threshold criteria, configuring the first set of Impression Throttling procedures to include a first set of Lenient Throttling procedures.
In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions for: detecting, at the ad server, an occurrence first set of events and conditions; determining if the first set of events and conditions conforms with a first set of criteria; determining if the first set of events and conditions conforms with a second set of criteria; if it is determined that the first set of events and conditions conforms with the first set of criteria, enabling use of Impression Throttling procedures at the ad server in connection with processing of incoming ad impressions; and if it is determined that the first set of events and conditions conforms with the second set of criteria, disabling use of Impression Throttling procedures at the ad server in connection with processing of incoming ad impressions.
In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions for: identifying, at the first ad server, a second impression parameter value relating to a second impression parameter of the second set of impression parameters; dynamically determining, using the second impression parameter value, a second historical fill rate value representing an aggregate fill rate of a second set of previously processed impressions each having a respective impression parameter value which matches the second impression parameter value; determining if the second historical fill rate value meets or exceeds a second set of minimum threshold fill rate criteria; if it is determined that the second historical fill rate value does not meet the second set of minimum threshold fill rate criteria, processing the first ad impression at the first ad server in accordance with a second set of Impression Throttling procedures; and wherein the processing of the first ad impression in accordance with a second set of Impression Throttling procedures causes the first ad server to dynamically reduce an amount of ad server resources allocated for processing the first ad impression.
Another aspect disclosed herein is directed to different methods, systems, and computer program products for facilitating servicing of ad requests over an electronic data network. In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and computer program product(s) may be operable to cause at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions for: receiving, at a first ad server, a first ad request from a remote device, the first ad request including information relating to a first ad impression to be displayed in connection with a display of a first web page at an end user's device, the first web page being associated with a first publisher, the first ad request further including information relating to a first set of impression parameters associated with the first ad impression; identifying, at the first ad server, a first impression parameter value relating to a first impression parameter of the first set of impression parameters; dynamically determining, using the first impression parameter value, a first historical fill rate value representing an aggregate fill rate of a first set of previously processed impressions each having a respective impression parameter value which matches the first impression parameter value; determining if the first historical fill rate value satisfies a first set of minimum threshold fill rate criteria; determining, using historical fill rate information relating to the first impression parameter, a first fill rate dispersion indicator relating to the first impression parameter, the first fill rate dispersion indicator being indicative of an amount of variation or dispersion relating to a distribution of historical fill rate values associated with the first impression parameter; determining if the first fill rate dispersion indicator satisfies minimum dispersion threshold criteria; if it is determined that the first fill rate dispersion indicator satisfies the minimum dispersion threshold criteria, and if it is determined that the first historical fill rate value does not satisfy the first set of minimum threshold fill rate criteria, processing the first ad impression at the first ad server in accordance with a first set of Impression Throttling procedures; and wherein the processing of the first ad impression in accordance with a first set of Impression Throttling procedures causes the first ad server to dynamically reduce an amount of ad server resources allocated for processing the first ad impression.
In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions for performing a first set of activities in response to determining that the first fill rate dispersion indicator does not satisfy the minimum dispersion threshold criteria, the first set of activities including causing the at least one processor to execute additional instructions for: identifying, at the first ad server, a second impression parameter value relating to a second impression parameter of the second set of impression parameters; dynamically determining, using the second impression parameter value, a second historical fill rate value representing an aggregate fill rate of a second set of previously processed impressions each having a respective impression parameter value which matches the second impression parameter value; determining if the second historical fill rate value satisfies the first set of minimum threshold fill rate criteria; determining, using historical fill rate information relating to the second impression parameter, a second fill rate dispersion indicator relating to the second impression parameter, the second fill rate dispersion indicator being indicative of an amount of variation or dispersion relating to a distribution of historical fill rate values associated with the second impression parameter; determining if the second fill rate dispersion indicator satisfies the minimum dispersion threshold criteria; and if it is determined that the second fill rate dispersion indicator satisfies the minimum dispersion threshold criteria, and if it is determined that the second historical fill rate value does not satisfy the first set of minimum threshold fill rate criteria, processing the first ad impression at the first ad server in accordance with the first set of Impression Throttling procedures.
Various objects, features and advantages of the various aspects described or referenced herein will become apparent from the following descriptions of its example embodiments, which descriptions should be taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Various techniques will now be described in detail with reference to a few example embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of one or more aspects and/or features described or reference herein. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more aspects and/or features described or reference herein may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known process steps and/or structures have not been described in detail in order to not obscure some of the aspects and/or features described or reference herein.
One or more different inventions may be described in the present application. Further, for one or more of the invention(s) described herein, numerous embodiments may be described in this patent application, and are presented for illustrative purposes only. The described embodiments are not intended to be limiting in any sense. One or more of the invention(s) may be widely applicable to numerous embodiments, as is readily apparent from the disclosure. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice one or more of the invention(s), and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural, logical, software, electrical and other changes may be made without departing from the scope of the one or more of the invention(s). Accordingly, those skilled in the art will recognize that the one or more of the invention(s) may be practiced with various modifications and alterations. Particular features of one or more of the invention(s) may be described with reference to one or more particular embodiments or figures that form a part of the present disclosure, and in which are shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments of one or more of the invention(s). It should be understood, however, that such features are not limited to usage in the one or more particular embodiments or figures with reference to which they are described. The present disclosure is neither a literal description of all embodiments of one or more of the invention(s) nor a listing of features of one or more of the invention(s) that must be present in all embodiments.
Headings of sections provided in this patent application and the title of this patent application are for convenience only, and are not to be taken as limiting the disclosure in any way.
Devices that are in communication with each other need not be in continuous communication with each other, unless expressly specified otherwise. In addition, devices that are in communication with each other may communicate directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries.
A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. To the contrary, a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of one or more of the invention(s).
Further, although process steps, method steps, algorithms or the like may be described in a sequential order, such processes, methods and algorithms may be configured to work in alternate orders. In other words, any sequence or order of steps that may be described in this patent application does not, in and of itself, indicate a requirement that the steps be performed in that order. The steps of described processes may be performed in any order practical. Further, some steps may be performed simultaneously despite being described or implied as occurring non-simultaneously (e.g., because one step is described after the other step). Moreover, the illustration of a process by its depiction in a drawing does not imply that the illustrated process is exclusive of other variations and modifications thereto, does not imply that the illustrated process or any of its steps are necessary to one or more of the invention(s), and does not imply that the illustrated process is preferred.
When a single device or article is described, it will be readily apparent that more than one device/article (whether or not they cooperate) may be used in place of a single device/article. Similarly, where more than one device or article is described (whether or not they cooperate), it will be readily apparent that a single device/article may be used in place of the more than one device or article.
The functionality and/or the features of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices that are not explicitly described as having such functionality/features. Thus, other embodiments of one or more of the invention(s) need not include the device itself.
Techniques and mechanisms described or reference herein will sometimes be described in singular form for clarity. However, it should be noted that particular embodiments include multiple iterations of a technique or multiple instantiations of a mechanism unless noted otherwise.
According to different embodiments, at least some Advertising Network(s) and Advertising System(s) disclosed herein may be configured, designed, and/or operable to provide a number of different advantages and/or benefits and/or may be operable to initiate, and/or enable various different types of operations, functionalities, and/or features, such as, for example, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.
According to different embodiments, at least a portion of the various functions, actions, operations, and activities performed by one or more component(s) of the Advertising Network may be initiated in response to detection of one or more conditions, events, and/or other criteria satisfying one or more different types of minimum threshold criteria, such as, for example, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein. Further, according to different embodiments, at least a portion of the various types of functions, operations, actions, and/or other features provided by the various system(s) and component(s) of the Advertising Network may be implemented at one or more client systems(s), at one or more server systems (s), and/or combinations thereof.
According to different embodiments, the Advertising Network 100 may include a plurality of different types of components, devices, modules, processes, systems, etc., which, for example, may be implemented and/or instantiated via the use of hardware and/or combinations of hardware and software. For example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of
As illustrated in the example embodiment of
According to different embodiments, the Advertising Service Provider System 120 may include one or more ad servers which may communicate directly and/or indirectly with other entities of the Advertising Network(s). One goal of Publisher(s)/Content Provider(s) 140 is to obtain the highest CPM price (i.e., cost per thousand ad impressions) for each of its advertising segments. One goal of the Demand Partners/Advertising Networks 150 is to serve online ads that reach as narrow and targeted an audience as possible (e.g., serve ads that are most effective). As illustrated in the example embodiment of
In at least one embodiment, Demand Partners/Advertising Networks 150 may include, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof):
Generally, if the advertiser/ad serving entity is assured that their ad will be seen by the right audience, the advertiser/ad serving entity would be willing to pay more for placing the ad. One role of Advertising Service Provider System 120 is to facilitate reaching both these goals by acting as an ad serving broker between the two entities (e.g., Publisher(s)/Content Provider(s) 140 and Demand Partners/Advertising Networks 150).
Some publisher(s) and/or content provider(s) may desire to exercise more control in determining minimum (floor) e-CPM prices for their online advertising spots. Additionally, some publisher(s) and/or content provider(s) may desire to create, carve out, and/or allocate specific ad space inventory buckets. For example, an online publisher or content provider may have 100 ad spots that it wants to fill. A certain number of the spots, for example 40, are on web pages that are most likely viewed by viewers who earn above $80,000 annual income, live in metropolitan areas in the U.S., and may be either male or female. Another 35 spots are likely to be viewed by people between the ages of 18-35 who are interested in sports. Another 23 spots are likely viewed by people ages 55-70, male or female, and interested in travel, and so on. Of course, many more categories can be used to describe these buckets and they can be much more specific. Some publisher(s) and/or content provider(s) may desire to set a floor e-CPM for each bucket. The floor e-CPM for ad segments associated with the first bucket described in the above example (e.g., male or female viewers who earn above $80,000 annual income, live in metropolitan areas in the U.S.) may be higher than the floor e-CPM for ad spots associated with the second bucket (e.g., viewed by the 18-35 year old sports enthusiasts). The Publisher(s)/Content Provider(s) may be provided with the ability to exercise fine grained control over the pricing of their respective ad spots. For example, an online publisher or content provider may set floor e-CPMs which are more economically feasible for advertisers and/or may set floor e-CPMs which advertisers are more willing to pay.
From the advertiser/ad serving entity perspective, giving the Publisher(s)/Content Provider(s) more control over ad serving is also more appealing. An advertiser/ad serving entity such as Nike would be more willing to pay a higher floor e-CPM for placing an ad that is more likely to be viewed by people interested in sports and are of a certain age range. Similarly, a luxury brand advertiser/ad serving entity is also more likely to pay a higher e-CPM for placing an ad on a page that is more likely to be viewed by male or female viewers having a high annual salary, are between certain ages, and live in metropolitan areas where the luxury brand has stores. There is a wide variety of such advertiser/ad serving entities catering to audiences or markets having a specific demographic or socio-economic background, and having other characteristics. Accordingly, publisher(s) and/or content provider(s) may desire to create different tiers or types of advertising buckets, each with its own respective floor e-CPM that can cater to each of these groups.
However, because it may not be practical or desirable for Publisher(s)/Content Provider(s) to communicate directly with Advertiser/Ad Serving Entities to obtain the highest e-CPM floor price that the market is willing to pay, advertising service providers (such as, for example, Advertising Service Provider System 120) may be employed to facilitate communication between the Publisher(s)/Content Provider(s), web page viewer (e.g., client/mobile system end user), and the Advertiser(s)/AD Serving Entities. Some of the more larger and well-known Publishers/Content Providers may also set floor e-CPMs for specific advertiser/ad serving entities who are associated with specific Agency Trading Desks (ATDs) and/or Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) that would like to advertise to certain users which match specific demography and geography characteristics. For example, if a user is female, between the ages of 25-35 and lives in London, the Publisher(s)/Content Provider(s) will ask for a lower e-CPM if the advertiser/ad serving entity is Nike and is through DSP1 and an even lower e-CPM if it is Nike through DSP2.
As is well known in the industry, an ad is served after a user has downloaded a Web page into the web browser of the end user's computer or mobile device. The code comprising the Web page (most often HTML) is executed by the browser and the ads are served to the end user's computing device from the ad source. In at least one embodiment, the entity serving the ad may be the Advertising Service Provider System 120 which receives it from an Demand Partners/Advertising Networks 150. When the viewer goes to a web site or web page, and the HTML for the site is executed in the end user's browser, the end user's user identifier information is available to the publisher/content provider. In at least one embodiment, the user identifier information may be defined to include information which may be used to uniquely identify a specific user or a collection of users. A variety of different methods and/or techniques may be used to identify, acquire and/or store the user identifier information in one or more user identifier information files. An example of one type of user identifier information file is a cookie (also known as an HTTP cookie, web cookie, or browser cookie). The user identifier information file (herein, “UII File”) is interpreted by the code in the publisher/content provider's web page and then an HTTP call is made to the Advertising Service Provider System with certain UII File parameters. Certain information in the UII File is used by the publisher/content provider and the Advertising Service Provider System to enable serving the most appropriate ad for the ad segments on the web page(s) being loaded on the end user's computing device. In one embodiment, this information may include a user ID (UID) and a system ID (SID), as well as other information described and/or referenced herein.
In at least one embodiment, the Advertising Service Provider System may be operable to utilize and/or generate various different types of data and/or other types of information when performing specific tasks and/or operations. This may include, for example, input data/information and/or output data/information. For example, in at least one embodiment, the Advertising Service Provider System may be operable to access, process, and/or otherwise utilize information from one or more different types of sources, such as, for example, one or more local and/or remote memories, devices and/or systems. Additionally, in at least one embodiment, the Advertising Service Provider System may be operable to generate one or more different types of output data/information, which, for example, may be stored in memory of one or more local and/or remote devices and/or systems. Examples of different types of input data/information and/or output data/information which may be accessed and/or utilized by the Advertising Service Provider System may include, but are not limited to, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.
According to specific embodiments, multiple instances or threads of the Advertising Service Provider System may be concurrently implemented and/or initiated via the use of one or more processors and/or other combinations of hardware and/or hardware and software. For example, in at least some embodiments, various aspects, features, and/or functionalities of the Advertising Service Provider System may be performed, implemented and/or initiated by one or more of the various systems, components, systems, devices, procedures, processes, etc., described and/or referenced herein.
In at least one embodiment, one or more Advertising Service Provider Systems may access and/or utilize information from one or more associated databases. In at least one embodiment, at least a portion of the database information may be accessed via communication with one or more local and/or remote memory devices. Examples of different types of data which may be accessed by the Advertising Service Provider System may include, but are not limited to, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.
According to different embodiments, various different types of encryption/decryption techniques may be used to facilitate secure communications between devices in Advertising Service Provider System(s) and/or Advertising Service Provider System(s). Examples of the various types of security techniques which may be used may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): random number generators, SHA-1 (Secured Hashing Algorithm), MD2, MD5, DES (Digital Encryption Standard), 3DES (Triple DES), RC4 (Rivest Cipher), ARC4 (related to RC4), TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol, uses RC4), AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), RSA, DSA, DH, NTRU, and ECC (elliptic curve cryptography), PKA (Private Key Authentication), Device-Unique Secret Key and other cryptographic key data, SSL, etc. Other security features contemplated may include use of well known hardware-based and/or software-based security components, and/or any other known or yet to be devised security and/or hardware and encryption/decryption processes implemented in hardware and/or software.
It will be appreciated that the Advertising Network of
Generally, the advertising techniques described herein may be implemented in hardware and/or hardware+software. For example, they can be implemented in an operating system kernel, in a separate user process, in a library package bound into network applications, on a specially constructed machine, or on a network interface card. In a specific embodiment, various aspects described herein may be implemented in software such as an operating system or in an application running on an operating system.
Hardware and/or software+hardware hybrid embodiments of the advertising techniques described herein may be implemented on a general-purpose programmable machine selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in memory. Such programmable machine may include, for example, mobile or handheld computing systems, PDA, smart phones, notebook computers, tablets, netbooks, desktop computing systems, server systems, cloud computing systems, network devices, etc.
The advertising service provider then places the ad spot for real-time bidding (RTB) (that is, it starts a bidding process) among various selected Ad Network(s), which, for example, may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): selected Ad Network(s), Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) 222b, Agency Trading Desks (ATDs) 222c, ad campaign server(s), and/or other types of advertisers.
In some embodiments, audience segment level and ad type level may be used to derive permutations that can be used by publisher 206 to set floor e-CPMs. For example, these bidders may be notified that there is an ad spot available on a travel blog Web site that is being viewed by a user, for example, in the 45-55 age range, living in San Francisco, male, Asian, has an annual income above $55,000, and so on.
There are numerous types of data that can be offered about the end user. The advertising service provider 208 may also state some requirements of the publisher 206, such as the quality of the ad (pixels, creatives, etc.). The advertising entities (214-224) can then bid on the spot. One desirable objective may be to obtain a match between user demographic data and features with an ad spot on the Web page. The publisher is able to set floor e-CPMs on numerous permutations of which a few basic examples are described here. A person of skill in the art of online ad serving would know how to take the controls and preferences and create many other types of permutations and appropriate floor e-CPMs. There are also relationships that the publisher may have with DSPs, ATDs, etc. that can be used to set floor e-CPMs.
Typically, it is not efficient for most publishers to directly deal with advertisers or DSPs (or other ad serving entities), since publishers typically do not have the desire or capability to deal with 50 or a 100 ad serving entities and thousands of advertisers in real time to serve ads at e-CPMs that are acceptable to both sides. As a result, publishers typically rely upon ad service providers (e.g., ad servers) to facilitate this process.
Various aspects of advertising service provider techniques are described herein for enabling online publishers and content providers to have more granular control over setting e-CPM floor prices for ads served on their web sites and related web pages. In one embodiment, a Floor Rule Engine can be implemented, for example as a module of a system (referred to herein as an Advertising Service Provider Private Marketplace), which allows the publisher to set floor pricing at a granular level. The Floor Rule Engine allows the publisher to set the e-CPM floor price using any combination of different entities. Each such parameter is referred to as a rule. Rules can be prioritized as desired.
Without the advertising service provider, the publisher would not be able to effectively use these controls or use them at all to set e-CPM floors. However, this is now possible because the publisher has the benefit of the advertising service provider's ability to get a profile of the end user/audience viewing the Web site in real-time. Finally, the ad 228 by the winning ad serving entity is served to user Web browser 204 and displayed in the Web page which can then complete loading.
As noted above, the number of parameters and categories that may be used to sell online ads has increased significantly. The advertising service provider is able to obtain and has stored massive amounts of data on hundreds of millions of users in its databases. Because of this large volume of data on users that is now available, the advertising service provider can enable the publisher a level of control in filling its ad spots that was previously not available. This information can be searched and the bidding process can occur as a Web page is loading. Once an ad has been selected (i.e., there is a winning bid), the ad is served by the advertising service provider to the end user's browser and displayed on the Web page. That user is now presented with an ad that is very likely of high interest to him or her.
In one embodiment, browser software 305 runs on client machine 301 enabling user 308 to view content and interact with web pages available on the World Wide Web and delivered to client machine 301 via network 302. One example of browser 305 is Microsoft Internet Explorer, available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.
In one embodiment, an Advertising Service Provider System such as ad server 311 may be used for selecting an appropriate advertisement to be shown to user 308 along with the content provided by web server 303. According to different embodiments, ad server 311 may be configured as a single component or a plurality of separate components running at a single location or at one or more remote locations. Using browser 305, user 308 requests a web page from web server 303. Web server 303 may generate and send an ad request to ad server 311. The ad request may include a request for ad server 311 to provide an ad for placement with or alongside the content being provided to browser 305. As described in more detail below, ad server 311 makes a determination as to which ad network(s) 312 the ad should be requested from. Additional parameters may form part of the ad request, so that the selected ad network(s) 312 may each identify and provide one or more appropriate ad candidates based on context, user 308 characteristics, and/or other factors. According to different embodiments, the ad server 311 may obtains such information from data storage 304 and/or from one or more remote servers.
In at least one embodiment, the ad server 311 may send out one or more ad solicitation requests (herein referred to as “calls” or “hops”) to one or more ad network(s) 312 in order to solicit and select (from the various solicited ad networks) the most preferred ad for filling the ad request.
In one embodiment, the ad network 312 associated with the selected ad transmits the ad (or an identification of the ad) to ad server 311, and ad server obtains the ad and transmits it to browser 305 for display to user 308. In another embodiment, ad server 311 transmits the ad to web server 303, which integrates the ad with requested content and sends the integrated content to browser 305. In yet another embodiment, ad network 312 transmits the ad to browser 305 without relaying it through ad server 311. Whichever mechanism is used, the selected ad is displayed at output device 307 alongside requested content from web server 303.
The publisher of content at web server 303 can be compensated for the ad placement based on the relative effectiveness of the ad. Accordingly, it is advantageous for the ad selection process to yield ads that are more likely to be effective for a given user 308. In at least one embodiment, ad server 311 may be configured or designed to make an optimal selection among ad networks 312 so as to more effectively deliver ads that are of higher value.
In one embodiment, ad server 311 includes ad network selector 326, which may be implemented as software running on a processor at server 311 or on a different processor. Ad network selector 326 takes into account various factors in determining which ad network 312 to select for a particular website or content page being presented. Non-limiting examples of such factors may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof):
In one embodiment, in selecting an ad network 312, ad network selector 326 takes into account ad network data 327 such as pricing data (or e-CPM), frequency, and the like. For example, ad network selector 326 can extract ad network pricing data from data 327. In one embodiment, ad network selector 326 makes use of data mining process 330 to extract relevant data. Data mining process 330 sends data to machine learning server 329 to analyze data for trends, and to revise prediction models based on new user and network data. Machine learning server 329 thereby generates decision parameters for use by ad network selector 326, and transmits such updated decision parameters to ad network selector 326 to communicate changes in the prediction model. In one embodiment, data mining and machine learning can take place off-line, using data from ad server 311. The results of these processes can be stored in a database (not shown) for later use by ad network selector 326. Machine learning server 329 and data mining process 330 can be implemented as part of ad server 311, or as separate components.
Admin user interface 328 is provided, to allow administrator 331 to view data, to manage and control the operation of selector 326 and other components of ad server 311, to make any manual overrides to the algorithms or processes, and/or to set any specific parameters.
Once ad server 311 has selected an ad network 312, in one embodiment it obtains the ad-code to be presented, and transmits the ad-code to web server 303. Client machine 301 retrieves the ad-code along with the content of the web page and then integrates the ad-code with the requested content. The ad-code then retrieves the actual ad content (such as images, video, and/or text) directly from the ad network 312 for presentation to user 308 via output device 307.
In many situations, online publishers use several different ad networks and/or exchanges for their online advertising needs. Existing techniques for selecting advertisements often fail to perform effective comparisons among multiple ad networks and/or exchanges. Without comparisons among multiple ad networks, existing techniques fail to provide Internet publishers with sufficient information to most effectively monetize their inventory. In addition, existing techniques often fail to provide online publishers with sufficiently detailed information concerning the effects of various factors that can affect the money that they earn. Such factors may include, for example, user frequency, geography, context/vertical, rate of ads that are defaulting to another network, demographic data, and the like.
Many of today's currently existing ad servers are configured to service ad requests on a first-come, first serve basis, and are typically configured to allocate whatever resources are available at the ad server to attempt to monetize each incoming impression that is received at the ad server. However, at various different times, and depending upon the specific conditions and parameters associated with each incoming impression, a given ad server may observe relatively high or low percentages of timeouts when servicing different ad requests. For example, some impressions may have relatively high fill rates while others may have relatively low fill rates.
According to different embodiments. the relative success (or lack of success) of filling a given incoming impression may depend upon a variety of different factors, conditions, and/or parameters associated with the incoming impression, particularly those which are used in bidding by the demand partners or advertisers. Examples of such factors, conditions, and/or parameters may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof):
As described in greater detail herein, various aspects are disclosed for enabling an Advertising Service Provider System (e.g., which includes one or more ad servers) to improve profitability by selectively and dynamically discriminating between the various ad server resources which are to be allocated towards servicing different incoming impressions. Additional aspects are disclosed herein for enabling an ad server to dynamically evaluate the parameters of each incoming impressions in order to assess the likelihood of that incoming impression being successfully filled by demand partners and/or advertising networks. At various times when conditions warrant, the ad server may selectively and dynamically choose to throttle or drop the servicing of selected incoming ad requests/impressions in order to minimize losses which may occur as a result of servicing ad requests/impressions which result in defaults.
For example, in one embodiment, ad server may be configured or designed to analyze incoming impressions, and dynamically classify (e.g., in real-time) one or more of the incoming impressions as being either a “favored impression” (e.g., an impression which is deemed to have a relatively high likelihood of being filled by the demand partners/advertising networks) or a “non-favored impression” (e.g., an impression which is deemed to have a relatively low likelihood of being filled by the demand partners/advertising networks). In at least some embodiments, the ad server may use the dynamically generated impression classification information discriminate between the resources allocated to incoming impressions. For example, in at least one embodiment, the ad server may reduce (or even drop) the resources allocated to selected incoming impressions which the ad server has identified as having a relatively low likelihood of being filled (e.g., low fill rate). This may be referred to as “impression throttling.” Alternatively, the ad server may allocate its normal amount of resources (and/or may increase allocation of resources) to selected incoming impressions which the ad server has identified as having a relatively high likelihood of being filled (e.g., high fill rate).
According to different embodiments, the ad server may be configured or designed to implement such resource discrimination at times when specifically defined condition(s) and/or event(s) have been detected, such as, for example, at predefined time intervals, at times when the occurrence of ad request timeouts are relatively high (e.g., above 10%), and/or upon the detection of other specified event(s) and/or condition(s) such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof):
In at least one embodiment, one or more of the Impression Throttling-related procedures may be operable to perform and/or implement various types of ad serving functions, operations, actions, and/or other features such as one or more of those described and/or referenced herein. One or more of the Impression Throttling-related procedures may also be operable to utilize and/or generate various different types of data and/or other types of information when performing specific tasks and/or operations. This may include, for example, input data/information and/or output data/information. For example, in at least one embodiment, one or more of the Impression Throttling-related procedures may be operable to access, process, and/or otherwise utilize information from one or more different types of sources, such as, for example, one or more local and/or remote memories, devices and/or systems. Additionally, in at least one embodiment, one or more of the Impression Throttling-related procedures may be operable to generate one or more different types of output data/information, which, for example, may be stored in memory of one or more local and/or remote devices and/or systems. Examples of different types of input data/information and/or output data/information which may be accessed and/or utilized by one or more of the Impression Throttling-related procedures may include, but are not limited to, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.
In at least one embodiment, a given instance of at least one of the Impression Throttling-related procedures may access and/or utilize information from one or more associated databases. At least a portion of the database information may be accessed via communication with one or more local and/or remote memory devices. Examples of different types of data which may be accessed by one or more of the Impression Throttling-related procedures may include, but are not limited to, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.
According to specific embodiments, multiple instances or threads of one or more of the Impression Throttling-related procedures may be concurrently implemented and/or initiated via the use of one or more processors and/or other combinations of hardware and/or hardware and software. For example, in at least some embodiments, various aspects, features, and/or functionalities of one or more of the Impression Throttling-related procedures may be performed, implemented and/or initiated by one or more of the various systems, components, systems, devices, procedures, processes, etc., described and/or referenced herein. According to different embodiments, one or more different threads or instances of the Impression Throttling-related procedures may be initiated in response to detection of one or more conditions or events satisfying one or more different types of minimum threshold criteria for triggering initiation of at least one instance of one or more of the Impression Throttling-related procedures. Various examples of conditions or events which may trigger initiation and/or implementation of one or more different threads or instances of the Impression Throttling-related procedures may include, but are not limited to, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein. According to different embodiments, one or more different threads or instances of the Impression Throttling-related procedures may be initiated and/or implemented manually, automatically, statically, dynamically, concurrently, and/or combinations thereof. Additionally, different instances and/or embodiments of one or more of the Impression Throttling-related procedures may be initiated at one or more different time intervals (e.g., during a specific time interval, at regular periodic intervals, at irregular periodic intervals, upon demand, etc.).
In at least one embodiment, initial configuration of a given instance of at least one of the Impression Throttling-related procedures may be performed using one or more different types of initialization parameters. In at least one embodiment, at least a portion of the initialization parameters may be accessed via communication with one or more local and/or remote memory devices. In at least one embodiment, at least a portion of the initialization parameters provided to an instance of one or more of the Impression Throttling-related procedures may correspond to and/or may be derived from the input data/information.
For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that instances of one or more of the Impression Throttling-related procedures are running at an ad server of the Advertising Service Provider System (e.g., 120,
Similarly, as shown in the example embodiment of
Non-limiting examples of various triggering condition(s)/event(s) which may meet/exceed minimum threshold criteria for enabling and/or disabling use of Impression Throttling techniques may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof):
In some embodiments, the ad server may disable throttling for a specified percentage of the total traffic. This enables the ad server to dynamically learn the changes in the DSPs' priorities, and helps the ad server to dynamically retune the Impression Throttling-related procedures and/or algorithms By way of illustration, in some embodiments, the ad server may enable user of Impression Throttling techniques in one or more of the following ways (or combinations thereof):
In some embodiments, use of Impression Throttling may be dynamically controlled using Cache Pushback techniques, which, for example, enables immediate control of ad server settings at runtime.
In some embodiments, an ad server may be configured or designed to operate in different modes of Impression Throttling such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof):
By way of example, in one embodiment, the ad server may first start off operating in Lenient Throttling Mode to test current conditions, analyze the results, and then dynamically change the Impression Throttling operating mode based on the analyzed results. The timeout percentages and fill-rates for incoming impressions may be tracked (e.g., in real-time) on a periodic basis (e.g., hourly basis). The tracked information may be periodically analyzed by the ad server along with relevant tracked information which is shared by the Publisher. The analyzed information may then be used by the ad server to periodically determine whether the currently implemented Impression Throttling techniques/procedures should be dynamically changed or modified. For example, in one embodiment, the ad server may start off operating in Lenient Throttling Mode, may monitor and analyze the results for about 30 minutes, and then determine whether the currently implemented Impression Throttling techniques/procedures should be dynamically changed or modified.
By way of example, it is assumed at 602 that an incoming ad request is received at the ad server. According to different embodiments, the ad request may include various types of information about an identified impression and associated web page such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): URL, demographic info relating to the end user (who will be viewing the ad), geolocation of end user, information relating to the end user's device (e.g., phone model), user data, publisher information, and/or other parameters such as one or more of those described and/or referenced herein. The received ad request may be processed at the ad server, and may be supplemented with additional information retrieved from one or more local and/or remote database(s). Non-limiting examples of such additional information may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof):
In the specific example embodiment of
In at least one embodiment, the classifying of an identified impression as either a favored impression or non-favored impression may be accomplished, at least in part, using historical data relating to previously processed ad requests. For example, by analyzing historical impression parameter data and associated fill-rate information relating to previously processed ad requests and impressions, it is possible to detect and/or identify patterns and correlations between specific impression parameters and associated historical fill-rates.
For example,
In at least one embodiment, the recorded historical impression parameter data may be aggregated and analyzed for detection and/or identification of patterns and correlations between specific impression parameters and historical fill-rates. For example, in some embodiments, different historical fill rate values may be computed for one or more identified impression parameters across a range of values for each identified impression parameter. Various examples of this are described with respect to
In at least one embodiment, the ad server may generate, populate, and store a plurality of different historical fill rate data tables such as those illustrated in
As noted in the examples above, different historical fill rate values may be computed for one or more identified impression parameters across a range of values for each identified impression parameter. By using such historical impression parameter data and associated historical fill rate information, an ad server (and/or other components of the Advertising Service Provider System) may be able to identify the value(s) associated with one or more specific impression parameter(s) of an identified incoming impression, and use at least one of the identified impression parameter value(s) to estimate or predict the likelihood of successfully filling the identified incoming impression. Additional aspects and details relating to these concepts are further described herein with respect to
Returning to
For example, in one example embodiment, the ad server may determine that an incoming impression includes a “State” impression parameter which specifies a value of “TX” corresponding to the state of Texas. Using this information, the ad server may access the historical impression data from table 1200 (
For example, in one embodiment, while operating in Strict Throttling Mode, the identified impression may be determined to be a “favored impression” if it is determined that the identified historical fill rate value is greater than or equal to a first threshold value such as, for example, 70%. If the ad server determines that the identified historical fill rate value is less than the first threshold value (70%), the ad server may classify the identified impression as a “non-favored impression.” In this particular example, the ad server may classify the impression as a non-favored impression since the identified historical fill rate value of 52.57% is less than the “favored impression” threshold criteria value of 70%.
In another example embodiment, while operating in Lenient Throttling Mode, the identified impression may be determined to be a “favored impression” if it is determined that the identified historical fill rate value is greater than or equal to a second threshold value (e.g., 50%). If the ad server determines that the identified historical fill rate value is less than the second threshold value (50%), the ad server may classify the identified impression as a “non-favored impression.” In this particular example, the ad server may classify the impression as a favored impression since the identified historical fill rate value of 52.57% is greater than the “favored impression” threshold criteria value of 50%.
In at least some embodiments, alternative techniques may be employed for classifying the identified impression as either a “favored impression” or a “non-favored impression.” For example, in at least one embodiment, a RTB Price Prediction (RPP) technique may be used by the ad server for classifying the identified impression as either a “favored impression” or a “non-favored impression.” In one embodiment, the RTB Price Prediction (RPP) technique may be implemented as a module running at the ad server which is configured or designed to predict the e-CPM that the ad server may attain from RTB auctions for a given impression, based on the impression parameters and attributes.
As illustrated in the example embodiment of
In at least one embodiment, the full servicing of an ad request (e.g., without implementing Impression Throttling) may include sending out one or more consecutive sets of parallel calls to selected sets or groups of advertiser(s)/Ad Network(s). For example, the ad server may send out a first set of calls (e.g., ad solicitation requests) to a first selected set of advertiser(s)/Ad Network(s). If none of the received bids/responses from the first set of advertiser(s)/Ad Network(s) is higher than the e-CPM value of highest bidding Mobile Ad Network (herein referred to as Mobile Display Networks (“Adnet”) or Server-to-Server Networks (“S2S”)), then one or more consecutive sets of parallel calls may be sent to selected sets or groups of Mobile Ad Networks, which, for example, may include Beacon Based Ad Networks (BBCs) and/or Non-Beacon Based Ad Networks (NBBCs). In one embodiment, if either the RTB or ad campaign has a relatively higher e-CPM than the highest paying Mobile Ad Network, the impression may be awarded to the RTB or ad campaign which has the relatively highest e-CPM value. If neither the RTBs nor ad campaigns have relatively higher e-CPM than the highest responding Mobile Ad Network, then, in one embodiment, the highest responding Mobile Ad Network may be awarded the impression. Alternatively, in some embodiments, if the ad server determines that there are additional Mobile Ad Networks that may pay higher than the response currently identified as paying the highest e-CPM, the ad server may choose to initiate and send additional set(s) of parallel calls to additional sets of Mobile Ad Networks, based on the amount of time which the ad server determines is available.
Alternatively, if the ad server determines that the identified impression may be classified as a “non-favored impression” (606a), then the ad server may service (612) the received ad request using one or more Impression Throttling techniques. For example, according to different embodiments, the ad server may dynamically throttle resources allocated for servicing the “non-favored impression” ad request by performing one or more of the following activities (or combinations thereof):
It will be appreciated that in at least some embodiments, the classifying of the incoming impressions (e.g., as either favored or non-favored) may be omitted. In such embodiments, alternative triggering mechanisms and/or processes may be utilized by the ad server for causing and incoming impression to be processed using one or more Impression Throttling techniques. For example, in at least one embodiment, the ad server may be configured or designed to facilitate, enable, initiate, and/or perform one or more of the following operation(s), action(s), and/or feature(s) (or combinations thereof):
Additional examples of such other Impression Throttling triggering mechanisms are described in greater detail below with respect to
In the specific example embodiment of
As shown at 702, it is assumed that an incoming ad request is received at the ad server. According to different embodiments, the ad request may include various types of information about an identified impression and associated web page such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): URL, demographic info relating to the end user (who will be viewing the ad), geolocation of end user, information relating to the end user's device (e.g., phone model), user data, publisher information, and/or other parameters such as one or more of those described and/or referenced herein. The received ad request may be processed at the ad server, and may be supplemented with additional information retrieved from one or more local and/or remote database(s). Non-limiting examples of such additional information may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof):
As shown at 704, the ad server may determine or identify the values of the impression parameters associated with the identified impression. In at least one embodiment, the identified impression parameter values may preferably impression parameters which are used in bidding by various demand partners/advertising networks.
By way of example, and for purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the received ad request includes information identifying an impression (Impression A) which includes the following impression parameter values:
Impression A Parameter Values
As shown at 706, for each identified impression parameter value, the ad server may dynamically determine its associated historical fill rate value using historical fill rate information such as that illustrated, for example, in the historical data tables of
As shown at 708, a filtered set of the impression parameters associated with the identified impression (herein referred to as “Filtered Throttling Parameters”) may be automatically and/or dynamically selected based on specific filtering criteria.
For example, in at least one embodiment, the filtered set of the impression parameters may be automatically and/or dynamically selected based on each parameter's associated fill rate dispersion indicator.
More specifically, each different impression parameter may have associated with it a corresponding fill rate dispersion indicator which is indicative of the “spread” (e.g., amount of variation or dispersion) of the distribution of historical fill rate values associated with that particular impression parameter. According to different embodiments, the fill rate dispersion indicator for a given impression parameter may be dynamically calculated (e.g., by the ad server or other component(s) of the Advertising Service Provider System) using different statistical methods.
For example, in some embodiments, the fill rate dispersion indicator for a given impression parameter (e.g., Hour of Day) may be determined by calculating the standard deviation of the set of historical fill rate values (e.g., 910,
In other embodiments, the fill rate dispersion indicator for a given impression parameter may be determined by calculating the variance of the set of historical fill rate values which are associated with that impression parameter. Thus, for example, using the historical fill rate values (e.g., 910,
In at least one embodiment, the ad server may identify a filtered set of impression parameters (“Filtered Throttling Parameters”) which each have an associated fill rate dispersion indicator that meets or exceeds minimum dispersion threshold criteria. For example, in embodiments where the statistical standard deviation function is used as the fill rate dispersion indicator metric, the minimum dispersion threshold criteria may be set at a value within the range of 15-40 (e.g., 20, 22, 25, 30, etc.). Alternatively, in embodiments where the statistical variance function is used as the fill rate dispersion indicator metric, the minimum dispersion threshold criteria value may be set at a value within the range of 450-800 (e.g., 500, 525, 540, etc.).
In at least some embodiments it is preferable to select the set of Throttling Parameters which have the relatively highest fill rate dispersion indicators, since, for example, the higher the fill rate dispersion indicator for a given impression parameter, the greater the dispersion or variation of the fill rate values for that particular impression parameter; and the greater the dispersion of the fill rate values for a given impression parameter, the more effective that impression parameter may be for Impression Throttling purposes. Accordingly, in at least some embodiments, it may be preferable to set the minimum dispersion threshold criteria to an appropriate high value (e.g., some value greater than 20, for embodiments using the statistical standard deviation function).
By way of example, and for purposes of illustration, it is assumed in the example of
Using the example data shown in Table 2 (above), the ad server may identify and select a filtered set of the impression parameters (herein referred to as “Filtered Throttling Parameters”) which meet or exceed a specified minimum dispersion threshold criteria value (e.g., 20). Accordingly, in this specific example, the ad server may identify the Hour of Day parameter and State parameter as each having an associated fill rate dispersion indicator that exceeds the specified minimum dispersion threshold criteria value of 20. Thus, in this example, the set of Filtered Throttling Parameters for this particular impression are the Hour of Day and State parameters, as reflected in Table 3 (below).
In other embodiments, the specific filtering criteria which may be used to identify and select the filtered set of impression parameters may include one or more of the following types of filtering rules/criteria (or combinations thereof):
In at least one embodiment, as shown at 710, for each Filtered Throttling Parameter which is selected, the ad server may make a determination as to whether or not the fill rate associated with corresponding impression parameter value meets or exceeds minimum threshold fill rate criteria.
Thus, for example, using the example data shown in Table 3 (above), the ad server may:
As illustrated in the example embodiment of
Thereafter, as shown at 716, the results of the processed ad request/impression may be recorded, and data relating to the processed ad request/impression may be used to update one or more historical data tables such as those illustrated, for example, in
Alternatively, if it is determined that the respective fill rate value associated with at least one Filtered Throttling Parameter does not meet or exceed the minimum threshold fill rate criteria, then the ad server may service (712) the received ad request/impression using one or more Impression Throttling procedures.
For example, according to different embodiments, the ad server may dynamically throttle resources allocated for servicing “throttled” ad request/impressions by performing one or more of the following activities (or combinations thereof):
In some embodiments, the various Impression Throttling procedures/activities which are implemented may depend upon one or more concurrent conditions, events, and/or parameters such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof):
It will be appreciated that different embodiments of Impression Throttling-related Procedures described herein may include additional features and/or operations than those illustrated in the specific embodiments of
In at least one embodiment, storage device(s) 1370 may be configured or designed to store historical data relating to ad requests and/or impressions which have been processed by the ad server system 1380. In some embodiments, the storage device(s) 1370 may also be configured or designed to store historical data relating to ad requests and/or impressions which have been processed by other ad servers of the Advertising Service Provider System. Other data and information may be stored at one or more of the storage device(s) 1370 including at least a portion of the data, information, parameters and/or criteria disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the storage device(s) 1370 may include appropriate hardware and/or software for implementing database management functionality for defining, creating, querying, updating, and administrating one or more databases.
In according to one embodiment, network device 1360 may include a master central processing unit (CPU) 1362, interfaces 1368, and a bus 1367 (e.g., a PCI bus). When acting under the control of appropriate software or firmware, the CPU 1362 may be responsible for implementing specific functions associated with the functions of a desired network device. For example, when configured as a server, the CPU 1362 may be responsible for analyzing packets; encapsulating packets; forwarding packets to appropriate network devices; instantiating various types of virtual machines, virtual interfaces, virtual storage volumes, virtual appliances; etc. The CPU 1362 preferably accomplishes at least a portion of these functions under the control of software including an operating system (e.g. Linux), and any appropriate system software.
CPU 1362 may include one or more processors 1363 such as, for example, one or more processors from the AMD, Motorola, Intel and/or MIPS families of microprocessors. In an alternative embodiment, processor 1363 may be specially designed hardware for controlling the operations of ad server system 1380. In a specific embodiment, a memory 1361 (such as non-volatile RAM and/or ROM) also forms part of CPU 1362. However, there may be many different ways in which memory could be coupled to the system. Memory block 1361 may be used for a variety of purposes such as, for example, caching and/or storing data, programming instructions, etc.
The interfaces 1368 may be typically provided as interface cards (sometimes referred to as “line cards”). Alternatively, one or more of the interfaces 1368 may be provided as on-board interface controllers built into the system motherboard. Generally, they control the sending and receiving of data packets over the network and sometimes support other peripherals used with the ad server system 1380. Among the interfaces that may be provided may be FC interfaces, Ethernet interfaces, frame relay interfaces, cable interfaces, DSL interfaces, token ring interfaces, Infiniband interfaces, and the like. In addition, various very high-speed interfaces may be provided, such as fast Ethernet interfaces, Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, ATM interfaces, HSSI interfaces, POS interfaces, FDDI interfaces, ASI interfaces, DHEI interfaces and the like. Other interfaces may include one or more wireless interfaces such as, for example, 802.11 (WiFi) interfaces, 802.15 interfaces (including Bluetooth™) 802.16 (WiMax) interfaces, 802.22 interfaces, Cellular standards such as CDMA interfaces, CDMA2000 interfaces, WCDMA interfaces, TDMA interfaces, Cellular 3G interfaces, etc.
Generally, one or more interfaces may include ports appropriate for communication with the appropriate media. In some cases, they may also include an independent processor and, in some instances, volatile RAM. The independent processors may control such communications intensive tasks as packet switching, media control and management. By providing separate processors for the communications intensive tasks, these interfaces allow the master microprocessor 1362 to efficiently perform routing computations, network diagnostics, security functions, etc.
In at least one embodiment, some interfaces may be configured or designed to allow the ad server system 1380 to communicate with other network devices associated with various local area network (LANs) and/or wide area networks (WANs). Other interfaces may be configured or designed to allow network device 1360 to communicate with one or more direct attached storage device(s) 1370.
Although the system shown in
Regardless of network device's configuration, it may employ one or more memories or memory modules (such as, for example, memory block 1365, which, for example, may include random access memory (RAM)) configured to store data, program instructions for the general-purpose network operations and/or other information relating to the functionality of the various ad serving and ad auctioning techniques described herein. The program instructions may control the operation of an operating system and/or one or more applications, for example. The memory or memories may also be configured to store data structures, and/or other specific non-program information described herein.
Because such information and program instructions may be employed to implement the systems/methods described herein, one or more embodiments relates to machine readable media that include program instructions, state information, etc. for performing various operations described herein. Examples of machine-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM disks; magneto-optical media such as floptical disks; and hardware devices that may be specially configured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-only memory devices (ROM) and random access memory (RAM). Examples of program instructions include both machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher level code that may be executed by the computer using an interpreter.
Additional details relating to various aspects of online advertising technology are disclosed in the following references:
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/510,061, by Goel et al., titled “DYNAMIC SELECTION OF OPTIMAL ADVERTISING NETWORK”, filed Jul. 27, 2009, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/276,548, by SURA et al., titled “INTELLIGENT AD AUCTION AND SLA COMPLIANCE TECHNIQUES”, filed May 13, 2014, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/708,435, by KUMAR et al., titled “GRANULAR CONTROL APPLICATION FOR DELIVERING ONLINE ADVERTISING”, filed Dec. 7, 2012, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
Although several example embodiments of one or more aspects and/or features have been described in detail herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that aspects and/or features are not limited to these precise embodiments, and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of spirit of the invention(s) as defined, for example, in the appended claims.
This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/282,355, filed on May 20, 2014, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 14282355 | May 2014 | US |
| Child | 15365643 | US |
