System and method for optimizing advertisement campaigns using a limited budget

Abstract

The present invention relates to methods, systems, and computer readable media comprising instructions for generating a media plan for the distribution of one or more advertisements comprising a campaign. The method of the present invention comprises retrieving one or more advertiser specified advertising metric target values and analytics data associated with the campaign. The actual performance of the campaign with respect to one or more advertising metrics associated with the one or more advertiser specified advertising metric target values is determined. A modification is performed of one or more advertiser specified values based upon a comparison of the actual performance of the campaign and the one or more advertiser specified advertising metric target values. A media plan is thereafter generated for the campaign through use of the one or more modified advertiser specified values.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is illustrated in the figures of the accompanying drawings which are meant to be exemplary and not limiting, in which like references are intended to refer to like or corresponding parts, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram presenting a system for generating media plans for one or more advertisements within advertiser specified constraints, according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a screen diagram presenting a value funnel for collecting one or more advertising events associated with an advertisement, according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram presenting a method for modifying one or more advertiser specified values associated with a campaign according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram presenting a method for generating media plans according to one embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram presenting a method for executing and monitoring a media plan, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for generating a media plan for the distribution of one or more advertisements comprising a campaign, the method comprising: retrieving one or more advertiser specified advertising metric target values associated with the campaign;retrieving analytics data associated with the campaign;determining an actual performance of the campaign with respect to one or more advertising metrics associated with the one or more advertiser specified advertising metric target values;performing a modification of one or more advertiser specified values based upon a comparison of the actual performance of the campaign and the one or more advertiser specified advertising metric target values; andgenerating a media plan for the campaign through use of the one or more modified advertiser specified values.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein retrieving one or more advertiser specified advertising metric target values comprises retrieving a value indicating a desired cost per acquisition of a conversion.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein retrieving one or more advertiser specified advertising metric target values comprises retrieving a value indicating a desired return on advertisement spend.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein retrieving one or more advertiser specified advertising metric target values comprises retrieving a value indicating a desired cost per impression of an advertisement in the campaign.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein retrieving one or more advertiser specified advertising metric target values comprises retrieving a value indicating a desired cost per selection of an advertisement in the campaign.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein retrieving analytics data comprises retrieving data indicating the frequency with which the one or more advertisements in the campaign were selected by one or more users.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein retrieving analytics data comprises retrieving data indicating the frequency with which the one or more advertisements in the campaign were displayed to one or more users.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein retrieving analytics data comprises retrieving data indicating the frequency with which the one or more advertisements in the campaign resulted in one or more users browsing an advertiser web site.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein retrieving analytics data comprises retrieving data indicating the frequency with which the one or more advertisements in the campaign resulted in one or more users adding one or more items to a shopping cart on an advertiser web site.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein retrieving analytics data comprises retrieving data indicating the frequency with which the one or more advertisements in the campaign resulted in one or more conversions.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein retrieving analytics data comprises retrieving data indicating revenue generated by the one or more conversions.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein determining an actual performance of the campaign comprises calculating one or more advertising metric values through use of the analytics data associated with the campaign.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein performing a modification of one or more advertiser specified values comprises: determining a difference between the actual performance of the campaign and the one or more advertiser specified advertising metric target values; andmodifying the one or more advertiser specified values based upon the determined difference.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein an advertiser specified value comprises a funnel value.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein a funnel value comprises an indication of a value of displaying a given advertisement in the campaign.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein a funnel value comprises an indication of a value of a user selection of an advertisement in the campaign.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein a funnel value comprises an indication of a value of a given user selecting an advertisement in the campaign and browsing an advertiser web site associated with the selected advertisement.

18. The method of claim 14 wherein a funnel value comprises an indication of a value of a given user selecting an advertisement and adding one or more items to a shopping cart on an advertiser web site.

19. The method of claim 14 wherein a funnel value comprises an indication of a value of a given user performing a purchase in response to a given advertisement in the campaign.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein a funnel value comprises an indication of the value of revenue generated by a given user performing a purchase in response to a given advertisement in the campaign.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein an advertiser specified value comprises a budget indicating a maximum dollar amount to be spent on the campaign.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein an advertiser specified value comprises a constraint.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein a constraint comprises an indication of a minimum position at which the one or more advertisements in the campaign may be displayed in a ranked list of advertisements.

24. The method of claim 22 wherein a constraint comprises a maximum bid amount.

25. The method of claim 1 wherein performing a modification of one or more advertiser specified values comprises increasing one or more of the advertiser specified values.

26. The method of claim 1 wherein performing a modification of one or more advertiser specified values comprises decreasing one or more of the advertiser specified values.

27. The method of claim 1 wherein generating a media plan comprises identifying one or more execution parameters for distributing the one or more advertisements in the campaign through use of the modified advertiser specified values.

28. A computer readable media comprising program code that when executed instructs a processor to perform a method for generating a media plan for the distribution of one or more advertisements comprising a campaign, the method comprising: retrieving one or more advertiser specified advertising metric target values associated with the campaign;retrieving analytics data associated with the campaign;determining an actual performance of the campaign with respect to one or more advertising metrics associated with the one or more advertiser specified advertising metric target values;performing a modification of one or more advertiser specified values based upon a comparison of the actual performance of the campaign and the one or more advertiser specified advertising metric target values; andgenerating a media plan for the campaign through use of the one or more modified advertiser specified values.

29. The computer readable media of claim 28 wherein the instructions for retrieving comprise instructions for retrieving a value indicating a desired cost per acquisition of a conversion.

30. The computer readable media of claim 28 wherein the instructions for retrieving comprise instructions for retrieving a value indicating a desired return on advertisement spend.

31. The computer readable media of claim 28 wherein the instructions for retrieving comprise instructions for retrieving a value indicating a desired cost per impression of an advertisement in the campaign.

32. The computer readable media of claim 28 wherein the instructions for retrieving comprise instructions for retrieving a value indicating a desired cost per selection of an advertisement in the campaign.

33. The computer readable media of claim 28 wherein the instructions for retrieving analytics data comprise instructions for retrieving data indicating the frequency with which the one or more advertisements in the campaign were selected by one or more users.

34. The computer readable media of claim 28 wherein the instructions for retrieving analytics data comprise instructions for retrieving data indicating the frequency with which the one or more advertisements in the campaign were displayed to one or more users.

35. The computer readable media of claim 28 wherein the instructions for retrieving analytics data comprise instructions for retrieving data indicating the frequency with which the one or more advertisements in the campaign resulted in one or more users browsing an advertiser web site.

36. The computer readable media of claim 28 wherein the instructions for retrieving analytics data comprise instructions for retrieving data indicating the frequency with which the one or more advertisements in the campaign resulted in one or more users adding one or more items to a shopping cart on an advertiser web site.

37. The computer readable media of claim 28 wherein the instructions for retrieving analytics data comprise instructions for retrieving data indicating the frequency with which the one or more advertisements in the campaign resulted in one or more conversions.

38. The computer readable media of claim 37 wherein the instructions for retrieving analytics data comprise instructions for retrieving analytics data indicating revenue generated by the one or more conversions.

39. The computer readable media of claim 28 wherein the instructions for determining comprise instructions for calculating one or more advertising metric values through use of the analytics data associated with the campaign.

40. The computer readable media of claim 28 wherein the instructions for performing a modification of one or more advertiser specified values comprises: instructions for determining a difference between the actual performance of the campaign and the one or more advertiser specified advertising metric target values; andinstructions for modifying the one or more advertiser specified values based upon the determined difference.

41. The computer readable media of claim 28 wherein an advertiser specified value comprises a funnel value.

42. The computer readable media of claim 41 wherein a funnel value comprises an indication of a value of displaying a given advertisement in the campaign.

43. The computer readable media of claim 41 wherein a funnel value comprises an indication of a value of a user selection of an advertisement in the campaign.

44. The computer readable media of claim 41 wherein a funnel value comprises an indication of a value of a given user selecting an advertisement in the campaign and browsing an advertiser web site associated with the selected advertisement.

45. The computer readable media of claim 41 wherein a funnel value comprises an indication of a value of a given user selecting an advertisement and adding one or more items to a shopping cart on an advertiser web site.

46. The computer readable media of claim 41 wherein a funnel value comprises an indication of a value of a given user performing a purchase in response to a given advertisement in the campaign.

47. The computer readable media of claim 46 wherein a funnel value comprises an indication of the value of revenue generated by a given user performing a purchase in response to a given advertisement in the campaign.

48. The computer readable media of claim 28 wherein an advertiser specified value comprises a budget indicating a maximum dollar amount to be spent on the campaign.

49. The computer readable media of claim 28 wherein an advertiser specified value comprises a constraint.

50. The computer readable media of claim 49 wherein a constraint comprises a maximum bid amount.

51. The computer readable media of claim 49 wherein a constraint comprises a minimum position at which advertisements in the campaign may be displayed in a ranked list of advertisements.

52. The computer readable media of claim 28 wherein the instructions for performing a modification of one or more advertiser specified values comprise instructions for increasing one or more of the advertiser specified values.

53. The computer readable media of claim 28 wherein the instructions for performing a modification of one or more advertiser specified values comprise instructions for decreasing one or more of the advertiser specified values.

54. The computer readable media of claim 28 wherein the instructions for generating a media plan comprise instructions for identifying one or more execution parameters for distributing the one or more advertisements in the campaign through use of the modified advertiser specified values.

55. A system for generating a media plan for the distribution of one or more advertisements comprising a campaign, the system comprising: an actual performance component operative to determine an actual performance of the campaign with respect to one or more advertising metrics associated with one or more advertiser specified advertising metric target values;an extend campaign optimizer operative to perform a modification of one or more advertiser specified values based upon a comparison of the actual performance of the campaign and the one or more advertiser specified advertising metric target values; anda campaign optimizer operative to generate a media plan for the campaign through use of the one or more modified advertiser specified values.

56. The system of claim 55 wherein the actual performance component is operative to determine an actual performance of the campaign through use of analytics data associated with the campaign.

57. The system of claim 56 wherein analytics data comprises data indicating the frequency with which the one or more advertisements in the campaign were selected by one or more users.

58. The system of claim 56 wherein analytics data comprises data indicating the frequency with which the one or more advertisements in the campaign were displayed to one or more users.

59. The system of claim 56 wherein analytics data comprises data indicating the frequency with which the one or more advertisements in the campaign resulted in one or more users browsing an advertiser web site.

60. The system of claim 56 wherein analytics data comprises data indicating the frequency with which the one or more advertisements in the campaign resulted in one or more users adding one or more items to a shopping cart on an advertiser web site.

61. The system of claim 56 wherein analytics data comprises data indicating the frequency with which the one or more advertisements in the campaign resulted in one or more conversions.

62. They system of claim 61 wherein analytics data comprises data indicating revenue generated by the one or more conversions.

63. Thy system of claim 55 wherein an advertising metric target value comprises a value indicating a desired cost per acquisition of a conversion.

64. The system of claim 55 wherein an advertising metric target value comprises a value indicating a desired return on advertisement spend.

65. The system of claim 55 wherein an advertising metric target value comprises a value indicating a desired cost per impression of an advertisement in the campaign.

66. The system of claim 55 wherein an advertising metric target value comprises a value indicating a desired cost per selection of an advertisement in the campaign.

67. The system of claim 55 wherein the extended campaign optimizer is operative to: determine a difference between the actual performance of the campaign and the one or more advertiser specified advertising metric target values; andmodify the one or more advertiser specified values based upon the determined difference.

68. The system of claim 55 wherein an advertiser specified value comprises a funnel value.

69. The system of claim 68 wherein a funnel value comprises an indication of a value of displaying a given advertisement in the campaign.

70. The system of claim 68 wherein a funnel value comprises an indication of a value of a user selection of an advertisement in the campaign.

71. The system of claim 68 wherein a funnel value comprises an indication of a value of a given user selecting an advertisement in the campaign and browsing an advertiser web site associated with the selected advertisement.

72. The system of claim 68 wherein a funnel value comprises an indication of a value of a given user selecting an advertisement and adding one or more items to a shopping cart on an advertiser web site.

73. The system of claim 68 wherein a funnel value comprises an indication of a value of a given user purchasing one or more products in response to a given advertisement in the campaign.

74. They system of claim 73 wherein a funnel value comprises an indication of the value of revenue generated by a given user performing a purchase in response to a given advertisement in the campaign.

75. The system of claim 55 wherein an advertiser specified value comprises a budget indicating a maximum dollar amount to be spent on the campaign.

76. The system of claim 55 wherein an advertiser specified value comprises a constraint.

77. The system of claim 76 wherein a constraint comprises an indication of a minimum position at which the one or more advertisements in the campaign may be displayed in a ranked list of advertisements.

78. The system of claim 76 wherein a constraint comprises a maximum bid amount.

79. The system of claim 55 wherein the extended campaign optimizer is operative to increase one or more of the advertiser specified values.

80. The system of claim 55 wherein the extended campaign optimizer is operative to decrease one or more of the advertiser specified values.

81. The system of claim 55 wherein the campaign optimizer is operative to generate a media plan identifying one or more execution parameters for distributing the one or more advertisements in the campaign through use of the one or more modified advertiser specified values.