Patent Application
20060122889
Not Applicable.
The present invention relates to computing environments. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods for managing a plurality of content items, e.g., advertisements, images, and/or other creatives, designated by a content provider for placement in a particular position on a rendered page, e.g., a web page. Additionally, the present invention relates to systems and methods for automatically managing a plurality of content items to be displayed in a particular position on a rendered page such that value to the content provider may be maximized.
Searching and choosing products and services through computer-based search engines has become increasingly prolific in recent years. As such, content providers, i.e., those companies and/or individuals desiring content specific to their product(s) and/or service(s) to be displayed on particular web pages, e.g., advertisers, have begun to understand the value that placement of content items (e.g., descriptors or advertisements of their products or services, images, and/or other creatives) on a page rendered according to a given context can have on their sales. However, a content provider often may not know which of a variety of content items will offer the best performance based upon the context of the rendered page and, thus, may wish to have more than one content item designated to a particular placement position so that performance of one content item relative to another may be determined.
In such circumstances, a content provider may place a multiple-creative bid, that is a bid for placement of any of a variety of content items in a particular placement position on a rendered page and subsequently collect data indicative of the performance of the content items relative to one another to determine which content item or items they wish to display more often. However, this process is time-consuming and inefficient for the content provider. Additionally, it can often take a prolonged period of time for such data to be collected and analyzed and, thus, content items offering little value to a content provider may be displayed at a frequency that significantly diminishes the content provider's realized value.
Accordingly, a method for automatically managing a plurality of content items designated by a content provider for placement in a particular position on a rendered page would be desirable. Additionally, a method for managing a plurality of content items such that value to the content provider may be maximized and poorer performing content items may be automatically shown less frequently would be advantageous.
The present invention relates to systems and methods for managing a plurality of content items designated by a content provider for placement in a particular position on a rendered page, e.g., a web page, such that value to the content provider may be maximized. Accordingly, in one aspect, the present invention is directed to a computer-implemented method for allocating placement of a plurality of content items in a particular position on a page, e.g., a web page, rendered according to a given context. The method includes receiving the content items, determining an initial placement allocation frequency for each of the content items (e.g., advertisements, images, and/or other creatives), and randomly allocating placement of each of the content items in the particular position on the page in accordance with its determined initial placement allocation frequency. The method may further include collecting performance data for one or more of the content items, e.g., determining a click-through-rate (CTR) for one or more of the content items, determining at least one additional placement allocation frequency for the one or more of the content items in accordance with the performance data collected, and randomly allocating placement of the plurality of content items in the particular position on the page in accordance with one of its initial placement allocation frequency and its determined at least one additional placement allocation frequency.
The method may further include determining an initial value for placement of the plurality of content items on the page based upon the initial placement allocation frequency and determining at least one additional value for placement of the content items on the page based upon the at least one additional placement allocation frequency, wherein each additional value is greater than or equal to the initial value, thus maximizing the value to the content provider.
Computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions for performing the methods disclosed herein are also provided.
Additionally, the present invention provides a computer system for managing a plurality of content items (e.g., advertisements, images, and/or other creatives) designated for placement in a particular position on a rendered page, e.g., a web page. Accordingly, in one aspect, the computer system includes a receiving component for receiving the plurality of content items, a first determining component for determining an initial placement allocation frequency for the content items, and a first allocating component for randomly allocating placement of each of the content items in the particular position on the page in accordance with its determined initial placement allocation frequency. The method may further include a performance data collection component for collecting performance data, e.g., CTR, for one or more of the plurality of content items, a second determining component for determining at least one additional placement allocation frequency for one or more of the content items in accordance with the performance data collected, and a second allocating component for randomly allocating placement of the plurality of content items in the particular position on the page in accordance with one of its initial placement allocation frequency and its determined at least one additional placement allocation frequency.
The method may further include an initial value determining component for determining a first value for placement of the plurality of content items on the page based upon the respective initial placement allocation frequency of each content item and an additional value determining component for determining at least one additional value for placement of the content items on the page based upon one of the initial allocation frequency and the at least one additional allocation frequency of each content item, wherein each additional value is greater than or equal to the initial value, thus maximizing value to the content provider.
The present invention is described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:
The present invention provides systems and methods for managing a plurality of content items, e.g., advertisements, images, and/or other creatives, designated by a content provider for placement in a particular position on a rendered page, e.g., a web page. Additionally, the present invention relates to systems and methods for automatically managing a plurality of content items to be displayed in a particular position on a rendered page such that value to the content provider may be maximized and better performing content items are automatically displayed more frequently than poorer performing content items.
Having briefly described an overview of the present invention, an exemplary operating environment for the present invention is described below.
Exemplary Operating Environment
Referring to the drawings in general and initially to
The invention is operational with numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples of well known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with the invention include, but are not limited to, personal computers, server computers, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, and the like.
The invention may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer storage media including memory storage devices.
With reference to
Computer 110 typically includes a variety of computer-readable media. Computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by computer 110 and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes both volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by computer 110. Communication media typically embodies computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.
The system memory 130 includes computer storage media in the form of volatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM) 131 and random access memory (RAM) 132. A basic input/output system (BIOS) 133, containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computer 110, such as during start-up, is typically stored in ROM 131. RAM 132 typically contains data and/or program modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presently being operated on by processing unit 120. By way of example, and not limitation,
The computer 110 may also include other removable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. By way of example only,
The drives and their associated computer storage media discussed above and illustrated in
The computer 110 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer 180. The remote computer 180 may be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described above relative to the computer 110, although only a memory storage device 181 has been illustrated in
When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 110 is connected to the LAN 171 through a network interface or adapter 170. When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 110 typically includes a modem 172 or other means for establishing communications over the WAN 173, such as the Internet. The modem 172, which may be internal or external, may be connected to the system bus 121 via the network interface 170, or other appropriate mechanism. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 110, or portions thereof, may be stored in a remote memory storage device. By way of example, and not limitation,
Although many other internal components of the computer 110 are not shown, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that such components and the interconnection are well known. Accordingly, additional details concerning the internal construction of the computer 110 need not be disclosed in connection with the present invention.
When the computer 110 is turned on or reset, the BIOS 133, which is stored in the ROM 131, instructs the processing unit 120 to load the operating system, or necessary portion thereof, from the hard disk drive 141 into the RAM 132. Once the copied portion of the operating system, designated as operating system 144, is loaded in RAM 132, the processing unit 120 executes the operating system code and causes the visual elements associated with the user interface of the operating system 134 to be displayed on the monitor 191. Typically, when an application program 145 is opened by a user, the program code and relevant data are read from the hard disk drive 141 and the necessary portions are copied into RAM 132, the copied portion represented herein by reference numeral 135.
The subject matter of the present invention is described with specificity herein to meet statutory requirements. However, the description itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent. Rather, the inventors have contemplated that the claimed subject matter might also be embodied in other ways, to include different steps or combinations of steps similar to the ones described in this document, in conjunction with other present or future technologies. Moreover, although the terms “step” and/or “block” may be used herein to connote different elements of methods employed, the terms should not be interpreted as implying any particular order among or between the various steps herein disclosed unless and except when the order of individual steps is explicitly described.
As previously mentioned, the present invention relates to systems and methods for managing a plurality of content items designated by a content provider for placement in a particular position on a rendered page, e.g., a web page, such that value to the content provider may be maximized. Accordingly, in one embodiment of the present invention, a content provider (e.g., an advertiser) may be permitted to designate more than one content item (e.g., an advertisement, image, and/or other creative) for placement in a particular placement position on a rendered page. Subsequently, each of the content items designated for the particular placement position will be displayed in the particular position at a frequency proportional to the performance of that content item relative to the performance of the other content items designated for the same placement position, as more fully described below.
With reference to
Subsequently, as shown at block 212, the system determines which content provider placed the winning bid for the particular placement position, i.e., the “winning” content provider, and awards that content provider the particular placement position. The winning content provider may be determined by any number of criteria including, by way of example only, determining which content provider placed the highest bid for each time any of its content items are displayed on the page, that is, the highest cost-per-impression (CPI) bid. A number of other criteria for determining which content provider is the winning content provider are disclosed in commonly assigned application U.S. application Ser. No. 10/977,824, filed on Oct. 29, 2004, entitled “Systems and Methods for Determining Bid Value for Content Items to be Placed on a Rendered Page”, which was hereinabove incorporated by reference herein.
Subsequently, as shown at block 214, the system receives a plurality of content items, each of which the winning content provider desires to have placed in the particular placement position at a dynamically varying frequency, as more fully described below.
Next, as shown at block 216, an initial placement allocation frequency is determined for each of the plurality of content items, the initial placement allocation frequency for each of the plurality of content items being greater than zero. In one embodiment, the allocation frequency for each content item may be initially determined based upon a performance history of the content provider and/or the content items being placed. That is, a content item having a performance history which is indicative of, for instance, a high click-through-rate relative to the other content items received for placement, may be determined to have an initial placement allocation frequency that is greater than the other designated content items.
Alternatively, the allocation for each content item may be initially determined equivalently until performance of the content items with respect to one another may be determined, as more fully described below. By way of example only, contemplate a scenario wherein a content provider has four advertisements that it desires to rotate through placement in the position of a banner advertisement on a particular web page—Advertisement A, Advertisement B, Advertisement C, and Advertisement D. Each of the four advertisements may be related to the same product and/or service or different products and/or services, if desired. In accordance with this embodiment of the present invention, the initial frequency for each of the four advertisements may be equivalently allocated at 25%.
It will be understood and appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that initial allocation frequencies may be determined by any of a variety of methods, including either of the above-described methods (or any combination thereof), and that all such alternatives are contemplated to be within the scope of the present invention.
One way in which the allocation methodology of the present invention may be thought of is to contemplate that lottery tickets are awarded to each of the content items, the number of lottery tickets awarded being initially determined based upon the respective initial placement allocation frequencies, and a simulated random lottery drawing is performed to choose which content item is designated for placement in the particular placement position each time a content item is to be displayed to a user. In the above-described scenario, the number of lottery tickets awarded each content item based upon an equivalent initial placement allocation frequency for each would also be equivalent, as shown in Table I. Table I contemplates that a total of 65,000 lottery tickets are awarded.
In this example, each content item has been allocated a number of tickets proportional to its value relative to the whole. When a winning ticket is chosen randomly, each content item will have an equivalent chance of being selected. Thus, each content item that was designated for placement in the particular position may be subsequently randomly displayed in that position in accordance with its initial placement allocation frequency, as shown at block 218. Accordingly, in the above-described scenario, each of Advertisements A, B, C, and D may be randomly displayed in the banner advertisement position of the web page 25% of the time.
It will be understood and appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention is not intended to be limited to the above-described initial allocation methods. Rather, any number of initial placement allocation determinations may be made, each of which is contemplated to be within the scope of the present invention. For instance, the content provider may designate the initial placement allocation frequencies that it desires.
Next, as shown at block 220, the system may collect performance data on one or more of the plurality of content items displayed in the particular position. Performance data may be collected based upon a variety of criteria one of which may be, by way of example only, click-through-rate (CTR). Thus, the performance of one or more of the content items displayed in the particular position may be collected based upon the rate at which users select the content item when it is displayed and, accordingly, access additional information associated therewith. It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, however, that performance may be collected other than on the basis of CTR, for instance, it may be collected on the basis of sales completed as a result of the content item being displayed or the like, and, accordingly, the criteria for collection of performance data is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention in any way.
Subsequently, as shown at block 222, at least one additional placement allocation frequency is determined for each of the one or more of the plurality of content items based upon the performance data collected. That is, if performance data was collected on the basis of CTR, at least one additional placement allocation frequency may be determined for one or more of the plurality of content items displayed based upon the rate at which users selected the content item when it was displayed and, accordingly, accessed additional information associated therewith.
In accordance with the present invention, the at least one additional placement allocation frequency is determined based upon the performance of each content item relative to the performance of all content items designated for placement in the same placement position. That is, the at least one additional placement allocation frequency may be determined according to following formula:
Additional placement allocation frequency of content item X=(Performance of content item X)/sum (performance of all content items designated for placement).
Thus, if CTR is the performance criteria upon which allocation frequencies are to be determined, the at least one additional placement allocation frequency for content item X may be determined as:
wherein i represents all content items designated for placement in the particular position on the web page. Note that if no performance data was collected for a particular content item, its CTR may be equal to zero.
With reference back to the lottery ticket analogy hereinabove described, contemplate that performance data was collected for each of the advertisements on the basis of CTR and that the CTR of Advertisement A was 0.1, the CTR of Advertisement B was 0.2, the CTR of Advertisement C was 0.3 and the CTR of Advertisement D was 0.4. The additional placement allocation frequency and corresponding number of lottery tickets awarded each content item (based on a total of 65,000 tickets) would be as shown in Table II.
In this example, each content item has been allocated a number of tickets proportional to its value relative to the whole. Thus, each content item that was designated for placement in the particular position may be randomly displayed in that position in accordance with one or its initial allocation frequency and its additional placement allocation frequency, as shown at block 224. Accordingly, in the above-described scenario, Advertisement A may be randomly displayed in the banner advertisement position of the web page 10% of the time, Advertisement B may be randomly displayed 20% of the time, Advertisement C may be randomly displayed 30% of the time and Advertisement D may be randomly displayed 40% of the time.
As can be understood, the present invention provides systems and methods for automatically managing a plurality of content items to be displayed in a particular position on rendered page such that value to the content provider may be maximized. Thus, in a currently preferred embodiment, the method of the present invention further includes determining an initial value for placement of the plurality of content items on the page based upon the initial placement allocation frequency (that is, the total value to the content provider for placement of the designated content items in accordance with the respective initial placement allocation frequency for each of the content items) and determining at least one additional value for placement of the plurality of content items on the page based upon the at least one additional placement allocation frequency of the one or more the plurality of content items (that is, the total value to the content provider for placement of the designated content items in accordance with one of its initial placement allocation frequency and its at least one additional placement allocation frequency for each of the content items), wherein each additional value is greater than or equal to the initial value. In this way, value to the content provider may be maximized.
Additionally, in a currently preferred embodiment, additional placement allocation frequencies may be determined for one or more of the plurality of content items dynamically in near real-time such that the allocation frequencies are recurrently determined over the course of a given time frame. This dynamic allocation is automatically performed by the system without user intervention such that value to the content provider is continuously automatically maximized and better performing content items are automatically displayed more frequently than poorer performing content items. Thus, as shown in
In one embodiment of the present invention, one or both of the initial and additional placement allocation frequencies may be determined in a manner that is tailored to the user viewing the displayed content item. In this embodiment, the method further comprises receiving at least one user-specific data item, e.g., the user's demographic location, and tailoring one or both of the initial and additional placement allocation frequencies accordingly. For instance, returning to the above-described scenario, if it is known that a user in Chicago is twice as likely to respond to Advertisement A than to any of Advertisements B, C or D, a respective initial placement allocation frequency for a Chicago user may be 40% for Advertisement A and 20% for each of Advertisements B, C, and D. Similarly, if it is determined through performance data collection that a user from Los Angeles is four times as likely to respond to either Advertisement A or Advertisement B than to either of Advertisements C or D, the respective additional placement allocation frequency for a Los Angeles user may be 40% for Advertisements A and B and 10% for Advertisements C and D.
It will be understood and appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a variety of user-specific data items other than demographics may be used to tailor the initial and/or additional placement allocation frequencies. By way of example only, the gender of the user or time of day the content item is being displayed may affect the behavior of the user with respect to the content item. Thus, all variations wherein data items specific to one or more users are known and may be utilized to tailor the initial and/or additional placement allocation frequencies are contemplated to be within the scope of the present invention.
In summary, the present invention provides systems and methods for managing a plurality of content items, e.g., advertisements, images, and/or other creatives, designated by a content provider for placement in a particular position on a rendered page, e.g., a web page. Additionally, the present invention provides systems and methods for automatically managing a plurality of content items to be displayed in a particular position on a rendered page such that value to the content provider may be maximized and better performing content items may be automatically displayed more frequently than poorer performing content items. Using the lottery-like analogy described hereinabove, content items will not be eliminated from display until their performance relative to the other content items designated for placement in the same position falls below one divided by the total number of total lottery tickets awarded. Additionally, content items that may have poor performance initially will automatically be displayed more often if their performance improves.
The present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments, which are intended in all respects to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from its scope.
From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all the ends and objects set forth above, together with other advantages which are obvious and inherent to the system and method. It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated and within the scope of the claims.
This application is related by subject matter to the invention disclosed in the commonly assigned application U.S. application Ser. No. 10/977,824, filed on Oct. 29, 2004, entitled “Systems and Methods for Determining Bid Value for Content Items to be Placed on a Rendered Page”, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
