U.S. patent application number 09/927981 was filed with the patent office on 2002-03-07 for internet advertising system.
Invention is credited to Roth, David William, Salisbury, Dylan.
Application Number | 20020029186 09/927981 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25143080 |
Filed Date | 2002-03-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020029186 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Roth, David William ; et
al. |
March 7, 2002 |
Internet advertising system
Abstract
A system for providing advertisements from a central server to
viewers who access web sites. The central server stores both
advertisements which are to be displayed and an information data
base. The data base includes information about viewers, information
about the characteristics of particular web sites and other
information relevant to which advertisements should be displayed
for particular viewers. Proposed bids submitted by different
advertisers are evaluated in real time in order to determine which
particular advertisement will be displayed to a viewer. Each
proposed bid can specify a price or amount that the advertiser is
willing to pay for the opportunity to display an advertisement (a)
to a viewer who has a particular set of characteristics and (b) on
a web site and web page that meets a particular set of criteria.
The system includes (a) a web server system which has data bases
stored therein, (b) bidding agents which compare the
characteristics of view-ops to the specifications in proposed bids
and which submit bids as appropriate, and (c) bid selection logic
which decides which bid to accept for each particular view-op.
Inventors: |
Roth, David William; (San
Francisco, CA) ; Salisbury, Dylan; (San Francisco,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Ropes & Gray
One International Place
Boston
MA
02110
US
|
Family ID: |
25143080 |
Appl. No.: |
09/927981 |
Filed: |
August 10, 2001 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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09927981 |
Aug 10, 2001 |
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08787979 |
Jan 22, 1997 |
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6285987 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/37 ;
705/14.71; 705/14.73 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0269 20130101;
G06Q 30/02 20130101; G06Q 30/0283 20130101; G06Q 30/0275 20130101;
G06Q 40/04 20130101; G06Q 30/0277 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/37 ;
705/14 |
International
Class: |
G06F 017/60 |
Claims
I claim:
1. A system for supplying advertisements for display during a
series of viewing opportunities (view-ops) which occur during the
display of web pages on the Internet world wide web, each of said
view-ops having specific characteristics, a plurality of bidding
agents, a server for providing information concerning each view-op
to said bidding agents, a bid input system for providing proposed
bids to said bidding agents, each proposed bid including, a
reference to a specific advertisement, specifications of a desired
view op and a monetary amount which will be paid for displaying
said specific advertisement in response to a view-op which meets
said specifications of a desired view-op, each of said bidding
agent including logic for submitting a bid and a reference to a
specific advertisement to said server if the information concerning
a view-op satisfies the specifications of a desired view-op
contained in a proposed bid, and said server including bid
selection logic for selecting the highest bid submitted by a
bidding agent and for transferring the advertisement referenced in
said highest bid to the web site presenting said view-op.
2. A server system for providing advertisements in response to HTML
references from a web page, each HTML reference includes
information identifying the source of said web page, said server
system including, a data base of advertisements, a data base of
viewer information including information concerning prior HTML
references, means for accepting proposed bids which specify a
monetary amount for providing a particular advertisement in
response to web page HTML references which satisfy specified
criteria, said specified criteria including information included in
said HTML reference and information from said data base of viewer
information, means for determining if a particular HTML reference
satisfies said specified criteria, means for selecting the highest
bid which satisfies said specified criteria, and means for
responding to said HTML reference with the particular advertisement
specified by said selected bid.
3. A system for placing advertisements on web pages on the world
wide web which are accessed by a viewer, a first server which
stores advertisements, said web pages having HTML references to
said first server, a data base of information on viewers, bid input
means for accepting bids to place advertisements on web pages which
have particular characteristics and which are accessed by viewers
having particular characteristics, and bid selection means for
selecting the highest bid for placement of an advertisement on a
particular web page.
4. A system for displaying advertisements to viewers who access a
web page comprising a web server which stores a plurality of
advertisements, bid input means for providing to said system bids
specifying characteristics of users and web sites where it is
desired to display advertisements and a dollar bid for the right to
display an advertisement on a site with the specified
characteristics a server system which includes means for evaluating
bids, for selecting one of said advertisements in response to said
bids and for designating to said web server which of said
advertisements should be displayed, whereby the particular
advertisement that is displayed to a viewer is determined by a
bidding process.
5. In an Internet which is operating according to the HTTP
protocol, and which includes a browser for viewing web pages and
for HTML referencing to remote servers, a server which has stored
therein a number of advertisements, means for providing to said
system bids for the opportunity to display advertisements on web
pages which have been accessed by a viewer having specified
characteristics, selection means for evaluating said bids and
comparing them to the characteristics of a viewer that accesses a
web page, said selection means including means for selecting the
highest bid for a particular view-opportunity.
6. A method of placing advertisements on web pages on the world
wide web which are accessed by a viewer utilizing a browser,
storing advertisements in a data base on a first server, said web
pages having HTML references to said first server, maintaining a
data base of information on viewers, accepting bids to place
advertisements on web pages which have particular characteristics
and which are accessed by viewers having particular
characteristics, selecting the highest bid for placement of an
advertisement on a particular web page.
7. A system for placing advertisements on web pages on the world
wide web, said web pages being accessed by viewers, each viewer
utilizing a browser, a first server which stores advertisements,
said web pages having HTML references to said first server, a data
base of information on viewers and on the web sites that have been
accessed by particular browsers, bid input means for accepting bids
to place advertisements on web pages which have particular
characteristics and which are accessed by particular browsers which
have been previously used to access web pages having particular
characteristics, bid selection means for selecting the highest bid
for placement of an advertisement on a particular web page which
has particular characteristics and which has been accessed by a
browser which previously has accessed particular web sites.
8. The system recited in claim 7 where said world wide web is
accessed by using HTTP protocol on the Internet.
9. A system for determining which advertisement to place on a web
page that has been accessed by a viewer using a browser, a first
web server which has stored thereon advertisements, said web page
having a HTML reference to said first web server, a client server
which provides means for entering bids to place particular
advertisements on particular web pages which have particular
characteristics and which are accessed by particular browsers which
have previously accessed particular web pages, a viewer data base
which has information concerning which web pages have been accessed
by particular browsers, a view server which evaluates the bids
which have been entered and selects the highest bid for displaying
an advertisement on a particular web page.
10. The system recited in claim 9 including a server which includes
means for checking bids to determine if web page meets the
specifications in a particular bid.
11. The system recited in claim 9 wherein a determination of which
advertisement to place on a particular web page in done in machine
real time and said bids are entered in human real time.
12. The system in claim 9 wherein said viewer data base includes
information about viewers.
13. A method for placing advertisements on web pages on the world
wide web, said web pages being accessed by viewers, each viewer
utilizing a browser, storing advertisements on a first server, said
web pages having HTML references to said first server, storing a
data base of information on viewers and on the web sites that have
been accessed by particular browsers, providing bids to place
advertisements on web pages which have particular characteristics
and which are accessed by particular browsers which have been
previously used to access web pages having particular
characteristics, selecting the highest bid for placement of an
advertisement on a particular web page which has particular
characteristics and which has been accessed by a browser which
previously has accessed particular web sites.
14. The system recited in claim 1 wherein each view-op has an
associated viewer and said server includes a data base of
information concerning viewers.
15. The system recited in claim 1 wherein said server includes a
data base with information about web sites.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to computer networks and more
particularly to a method and system for selecting and then
displaying advertisements on Internet World Wide Web sites.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Many web sites on the Internet World Wide Web regularly
display advertisements. The particular advertisement that is
displayed when a viewer accesses a web site can either be stored
locally on the web site or it can be stored on a central server.
(As used herein the term viewer refers to an individual who views
or looks at a web page using a program such as a web browser).
[0003] The Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and the Hyper Text
Mark Up Language (HTML) provide a mechanism whereby a web page can
easily-reference material located on a remote server. The HTTP
mechanisms for referencing and obtaining material from a remote
server is useful in providing advertising material for display to
viewers. There are commercially available systems which provide
advertising material for web sites from a central server and
various web pages have HTML references to this central server. With
such an arrangement, when a viewer accesses a web page which has an
appropriate HTML reference, the viewer sees advertisement that is
provided by the central server.
[0004] Using standard HTTP facilities it is possible to track when
a particular viewer accesses a web site and thus it is possible to
compile a data base which in essence provides a profile of the
sites a particular viewer has accessed. Furthermore, it is known
that particular categories of viewers generally access particular
types of web sites. The capabilities inherent in the World Wide Web
for tracking the sites that a viewer has seen provides a mechanism
for targeting particular advertisements to particular categories of
viewers.
[0005] There are prior art systems which provide advertisements
from a central server that has a data base of information
concerning characteristics of viewers. A data base of viewer
information can be compiled from a variety of sources including the
information about a viewer which is available when a viewer
accesses a server. In such prior art systems, the particular
advertisement which is displayed when a particular viewer accesses
a web site is determined by the characteristics of the viewer as
provided by the data base of viewer information and by other
information such as the characteristics of the web site which the
viewer has accessed. Using such systems advertisers can target
advertisements by criteria such as web site category, geographic
location of the viewer, the operating system of the viewer's
computer, the type of browser which the viewer is using, the
Internet domain type of the viewer, etc.
[0006] Advertisers who use such prior art systems must specify in
advance, the targeting-criteria they want to use for their
advertisements. The central server then provides advertisements to
viewers based upon (a) the targeting criteria provided by the
advertisers (b) the information which the central server has in its
data base concerning the particular viewer, (c) information about
the web site that has been accessed by the viewer and (d) other
information available to the central server such as the time of
day.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
[0007] The present invention provides an improved method and system
for providing advertisements from a central server to viewers who
access web sites. With the present invention the central server
system stores both advertisements which are to be displayed and an
information database. The data base includes information about
viewers, information about the characteristics of particular web
sites and other information relevant to which advertisements should
be displayed for particular viewers. In contrast to the prior art
systems, the present invention evaluates, in real time, bids
submitted by different advertisers in order to determine which
particular advertisement will be displayed to a viewer.
[0008] The fact that a viewer has accessed a web page which has an
HTML reference to the advertising server of the present invention,
is herein referred to as a view opportunity or view-op. The
characteristics of each view-op include the characteristics of the
particular web site and web page being accessed and the
characteristics of the viewer including demographic information
about the viewer and information as to what other sites this viewer
has accessed in various periods of time.
[0009] With the present invention each advertiser provides one or
more "proposed bids" which specify how much the advertiser is
willing to pay for displaying a particular advertisement in
response to a view-op with certain characteristics. Each proposed
bid can specify a price or amount that the advertiser is willing to
pay for the opportunity to display an advertisement (a) to a viewer
who has a particular set of characteristics and (b) on a web site
and web page that meets a particular set of criteria. Each proposed
bid can be dependent upon or require satisfaction of various
criteria which must be met in order for a bid of a particular
amount to be submitted. For example an advertiser might specify
that the first one thousand times that view-ops meeting certain
criteria occurs, a bid of five cents will be submitted and each
time thereafter that a view-op meeting the criteria occurs a bid of
one cent will be submitted. The amount bid for a view-op can be
dependent on as many criteria as the advertiser cares to specify.
Another example is that an advertiser might bid ten cents if the
view-op was by a viewer who had recently visited a particular web
page and one cent for the same view-op if the viewer had not
recently visited the particular web page. Yet another example of a
parameter which could be specified in a proposed bid is the
"click-through" rate for the particular site where the view-op
originated. The click-through rate is the rate at which viewers
click on an advertisement to access the advertiser's web site.
Thus, the bidding parameters can either be simple or complex.
[0010] The present invention includes (a) a web server system which
has data bases stored therein, (b) bidding agents which compare the
characteristics of view-ops to the specifications in proposed bids
and which submit bids as appropriate, and (c) bid selection logic
which decides which bid to accept for each particular view-op.
[0011] With the present invention, when a view-op arises, the
bidding agents evaluate the characteristics of the view-op compared
to the specifications in proposed bids and the bidding agents
submit bids to the bid selection logic where appropriate. Next, the
bid selection logic selects the highest bid from the various
available bids and the advertisement which is specified in the
highest bid is displayed. The novel aspect of the present invention
is the organization, operation and interaction between the bidding
agents, the server which provides information to the bidding
agents, the bid selection logic and the associated mechanisms for
presenting the advertisements.
[0012] The present invention provides a very flexible system
whereby advertisers can minimize cost and maximize effectiveness
while the owner of web sites can obtain the highest possible
revenue for displaying advertisements on their site.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 is a simplified system block diagram of a preferred
embodiment of the invention.
[0014] FIGS. 2A and 2B are simplified block flow diagrams of the
operation of the invention.
[0015] FIG. 3 is an overall block diagram of a preferred embodiment
of the invention.
[0016] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the organization of various
tables which are utilized by the present invention.
[0017] FIGS. 5A to 5C are flow diagrams showing how each view-op is
evaluated or tested to determine if a bid should be submitted.
[0018] FIGS. 6A to 6E are flow diagrams showing the operation of
the system.
[0019] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an alternate embodiment of the
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
[0020] In order to explain the principles of the invention, an
overall simplified diagram of a first preferred embodiment of the
invention is shown in FIG. 1 and a simplified block diagram of the
operation of the system is shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. After the
principles of the invention have been explained with reference to
FIGS. 1 and 2, the first preferred embodiment of the invention is
described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6.
[0021] As shown in FIG. 1, a human viewer 10 utilizes a client
browser 11 to access a web page 12 on a web site 14. The web page
12 is transmitted to browser 11 in a conventional manner. Web page
12 includes HTML reference to a file (i.e. an advertisement)
located on an advertising web server system 16. The client browser
11 has what is known in the art as a "cookie" 11A which provides
information from browser 11 to the web server system 16. The client
browser 11, the cookie 11A, the web site 14 and the web page 12 are
all conventional and in widespread use. For example, the client
browser 11 could be one of the commercially available web browsers,
for example, the commercially available and widely used web browser
marketed by Netscape Communications Corp. under the trademark
"Netscape Navigator". The web site 14 and the web page 12 could be
any of the thousands of web sites and web pages which are part of
the World Wide Web and which have HTML references to advertisements
which are located on a remote server.
[0022] Web page 12 includes an HTML reference to an advertisement
stored on advertising web server system 16. Each time client
browser 11 displays web page 12, the human viewer 10 will see an
advertisement which is provided by advertising web server system
16. Such HTML references are in widespread use and they are
implemented using conventional HTML tags. Advertising web server
system 16 includes a data base of advertisements 16A, a data base
of viewer information 16B, and a bid selection logic 16C. The bid
selection logic 16C receives bids from bidding agents 30A to 30Z
which in turn receive information concerning proposed bids from bid
input system 18. For purposes of illustration only three identical
bidding agents 30A, 30B and 30Z are specifically shown. The
reference number 30 will be used to refer to a typical bidding
agent. It should be understood that the system could include any
number of bidding agents. For example, a system could include
several thousand bidding agents 30. Bid input system 18 provides
bidding agents 30 with proposed bids which specify how much should
be bid for view-ops with particular characteristics. Each bidding
agents 30 evaluates each view-op to determine if the view-op meets
the criteria specified in a particular proposed bid and if so how
much should be bid.
[0023] Each bidding agent 30 evaluates a view-op with respect to
one proposed bid to determine if a bid should be submitted. Each
proposed bid includes a list of parameters which specify the
particular type of viewer which the advertiser wants to reach. For
example, a proposed bid might specify that the advertiser is
willing to pay five cents for the opportunity to place an
advertisement on a web page which is accessed by a viewer who has
accessed three financial web pages and an automotive web page
within the last week.
[0024] In general the system includes one bidding agent 30 for each
proposed bid (see later discussion about multi-level bids). Each
advertiser would have an associated bidding agent 30 for each ad
campaign the advertiser wants to conduct. Advertisers submit
proposed bids to their associated bidding agents for evaluation
against view-ops. Bidding agents 30 can be simple or complex and if
desired they can have the ability to evaluate more than one
proposed bid to determine what bid should be submitted to the bid
selection logic 16C.
[0025] When a view-op presents itself (i.e. when viewer 10 accesses
a web page 11 which contains an HTML reference to server system 16)
the advertising web server system 16 performs four operations:
[0026] (1) It updates the information about the viewer which is in
data base 16B.
[0027] (2) It sends information concerning the view-op to the
bidding agents 30. The information sent includes information that
the server system 16 received from browser 11 and information in
data base 16B. Bidding agents 30 in turn decide which bids to
submit to bid selection logic 16C.
[0028] (3) It compares various bids received from bidding agents 30
in order to determine which advertisement to display.
[0029] (4) It sends the appropriate advertisement from data base
16A to browser 11.
[0030] The operations performed by advertising web server system 16
are shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. FIG. 2A shows how server system 16
uses the information from cookie 11A to update the data base of
viewer information 16B to reflect the fact that this particular
viewer has accessed this particular web page. The operations
proceed as shown by blocks 201 to 203. Block 201 indicates that a
viewer has selected web page 12 and that the selected web page has
been transmitted to the viewer's browser 11. As indicated by block
202, web page 12 has an HTML reference to a file on server system
16 using conventional HTML techniques. Block 203 indicates that the
server 16 then obtains data from cookie 11A to update the data base
of viewer information 16B.
[0031] When a viewer 10 accesses web page 12, which has an HTML
reference to server system 16, the present invention determines
which advertisement from data base 16A to present to the viewer.
The manner in which the system performs these operations is shown
by block diagram 2B. For example, one advertiser might have
submitted a proposed bid to bidding agent 30A which specified that
he is willing to pay five cents for displaying an ad to a viewer
who has accessed at least three financially oriented data bases
within the last week. Another advertiser might have submitted a
proposed bid to bidding agent 30B specifying that he is willing to
pay six cents for displaying an advertisement to a viewer that has
accessed at least three financially oriented data bases with the
last five days. When a view-op occurs which is initiated by a
viewer 10 who has accessed three financially oriented data bases in
the last five days, bidding agents 30A and 30B would determine that
the particular view-op satisfies the criteria specified by both
advertisers. Both bids would be submitted to bid selection logic
16C and bid selection logic 16C would then select the highest bid
and the advertisement specified by that advertiser would be
displayed to the viewer. The criteria specified by the advertisers
may be much more complex and involve many more parameters than
those given in the simple example specified above. However,
notwithstanding the complexity of the proposed bids and the number
of parameters specified in each proposed bid, the operations
performed by bidding agents 30 and by bid selection logic 16C are
as explained in the above simple example.
[0032] As shown in FIG. 2B, a cycle of operation begins (block 210)
when a viewer 10 selects a web page 12 which has a HTML reference
to web server system 16, that is, when a view-op occurs. It is
noted that this occurs in real time and it can take place thousands
of times per minute. Block 211 indicates that the web server system
16 sends information concerning the view-op and related information
in the data base 16B to the bidding agents 30. The bidding agents
30 compare the information about the view-op to the proposed bids
that have been submitted by advertisers. That is, the bidding
agents 30 determine if the characteristics of the view-op meet the
criteria in the proposed bids and if so they submit bids to bid
selection logic 16C (block 213). As shown by block 214, the bid
selection logic 16C compares various bids and selects the highest
bid and therefore an advertisement for display. The appropriate
advertisement called for by the winning bid is then sent from data
base 16A to browser 11 (block 215).
[0033] Block 212 indicates that each advertiser submits proposed
bids, each of which includes various parameters which, for example,
specify the type of web page on which the advertiser wants to
advertise and an amount, (i.e. the dollar amount) which the
advertiser is willing to pay for having a particular advertisement
displayed. Details of the various paramaters which can be included
in a proposed bid are explained later.
[0034] In order to understand the power of the present system and
its differences from the prior art, it is important to realize that
the bidding agents 30 evaluate proposed bids in microseconds, that
is, in real time. The rate at which "hits" on web pages occur (i.e.
the rate at which viewers access web pages that have HTML reference
to server system 16) can be in the order of thousands per second.
Thus, the evaluation of proposed bids is performed very quickly in
real time. Proposed bids can contain parameters which specify that
a proposed bid will in effect change in real time. For example a
proposed bid might specify that for the first 1000 matching
view-ops, the proposed bid will be five cents and for the next 1000
matching view-ops the proposed bid will be four cents. The actual
submission of proposed bids by advertisers and the rate at which
advertisers can change their proposed bids is measured in minutes
compared to the rate at which the system evaluates proposed bids
which is in the order of microseconds.
[0035] The operation of the browser 11, the operation of the web
server 14, and the manner in which web pages produce HTML
references to web server system 16 using the HTTP protocol and HTML
mark up language are described in numerous published books such as
"HTML Source Book A Complete Guide to HTML" by IAN S. Graham,
published by John Wiley and Sons (ISBN 0 471-11849-4) or "The
Internet Compete Reference" by Harley Hahn and Rick Stout,
published by Osborne McGraw-Hill, ISBM 0 07-881980-6. Numerous
other books are also available which describe the HTTP protocol.
Such books describe how a browser, such as 11, can access a web
page, such as web page 12, which in turn has an HTML reference to a
file (i.e. an advertisement) stored on a server such as advertising
server system 16.
[0036] A more detailed block diagram of the preferred embodiment of
the invention is shown in FIG. 3. Numerous additions and changes
can be made in the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 3 without
departing from the spirit of the invention. As will be explained
later with reference to FIG. 7, a number of systems, each identical
to the system shown in FIG. 3, (and each of which is at a different
geographic location) can be interconnected into a network so as to
more efficiently service view-op requests.
[0037] As shown in FIG. 3, the preferred embodiment is composed of
five main units, namely, web server 310, view server 320 (servers
310 and 320 together comprise the advertising web server system 16
shown in FIG. 1), identical bidding agents 30A, 30B and 30Z, bid
input server 18 and log and billing unit 320A. As stated with
respect to FIG. 1, a system can include any number of bidding
agents. A typical system could include a thousand or more bidding
agents. For clarity of illustration only three bidding agents 30A,
30B and 30Z are specifically shown in FIG. 3. Hereinafter the term
bidding agent 30 will refer to one representative bidding agent. It
should be understood that there could be many bidding agents 30 in
a system.
[0038] Bidding agents 30 evaluate bids to determine if a particular
view-op meets the criteria of a particular bid. That is, bidding
agents 30 compare the specifications in a proposed bid to the
characteristics of a view-op. An example of the comparison process
is explained later with reference to FIG. 5. Bid selection logic
16C in view server 320 determines which advertisement will be
displayed, that is, which is the highest bid for each particular
view-op.
[0039] The web client browser 11 accesses web sites (such as site
14) using the conventional HTTP protocol. The present invention
begins to function when the web page which is accessed by browser
11 contains a conventional Internet HTML reference to web server
310.
[0040] The web server 310 provides an advertisement to web client
browser 11 in response to an HTML reference. Such an operation is
conventional. The function of the present invention is to determine
which particular advertisement from data base 16A will be provided
in response to each HTML reference from web client browser 11 to
web server 310.
[0041] The web server 310, view server 320, bidding agents 30 and
bid input server 18 can all be implemented by computer programs
that are all resident in and executed by one single physical
computer. Alternatively, each of the components may be implemented
in separate physical computers connected by a conventional
inter-computer network. The decision concerning implementation is a
single computer or in a group of interconnected computers depends
upon the cost, capacity and speed of the available computers. With
respect to the explanation of the operation of the present
invention, it is not relevant as to whether or not the various
components are implemented in a single computer or in a network of
interconnected computers.
[0042] The web server 310 can be implemented using conventional
commercially available web server technology. For example, the
commercially available web server marketed under the tradename Zeus
can be used to implement web server 310. The operating system used
in web server 310 is conventional and is not described herein. It
could for example be the conventional Unix operationg system
Likewise view server 320 and bid input server 18 have a
conventional operating system such as the Unix operating system.
The processes and programs described herein run as application
programs under such a conventional and commercially available
operating system.
[0043] When web server 310 receives an HTTP request or HTML
reference (a view-op), it delivers the contents the view-op to the
view server 320. View server 320 in turn sends information
concerning the view-op to bidding agents 30. Bidding agents 30 in
turn evaluate the characteristics of the view-op (which includes
information supplied by server 320) against the criteria specified
in each proposed bid. If the characteristics of a view-op meet the
criteria in a proposed bid, a bidding agent 30 will submit a bid to
view server 320. After receiving input from bidding agents 30 (that
is from all the bidding agents 30 that submit bids) the bid
selection logic 16C in view server 320 selects the highest bid and
indicates to web server 310 which advertisement should be displayed
in response to the view-op. In response to the input from view
server 320, the web server 310 delivers the appropriate
advertisement to the web client 11
[0044] Bidding agents 30 must be programmed to evaluate proposed
bids in a certain amount of time and to submit actual bids to
server 320 within pre-established time limits. If server 320 does
not receive a bid from a particular bidding agent 30 within a
certain time, it assumes that it will not receive a bid from that
bidding agent and it selects the highest bid from the bids received
from the other bidding agents.
[0045] The main functionality or the "kernel" of the system is
implemented in the view server 320 and in bidding agents 30. View
server 320 has a number of tables, and conventional data base
functionality for querying, inserting, updating and deleting data
from the tables. The data base capabilities may be implemented
using a conventional commercially available Structured Query
Language (SQL) data base such as one of the data bases marketed by
Oracle Corp. or the data base marketed by Microsoft Corp. under the
tradename "Access". Alternatively, these tables can be implemented
using specially written programming which optimizes the speed of
certain operations.
[0046] View server 320 and bidding agents 30 are each objects (in
the CORBA or Common Object Request Broker Request sense), they are
persistent, and they can be moved across machine or network
boundaries. Naturally performance is impacted depending upon
whether or not these objects are implemented in one computer or in
a network of connected computers. As is conventional, indexing
techniques can be used in order to increase speed of operation
related to the various tables.
[0047] The following terms are used herein with the following
meaning:
[0048] Ad-Serve: Placing or "pumping" advertising content in an
HTTP reply to a view-op. Note, putting advertising content in an
HTTP reply results in an advertisement being displayed by a browser
so that it can be seen by a Viewer.
[0049] Ad-Script: A script or mark up language for establishing
bidding logic.
[0050] Bidding Agent A unit, computer program or agent (in the
programming sense) that evaluates the characteristics of a view-op
to determine if the criteria or parameters set out in a particular
proposed bid meets the specifications of a particular view-op.
[0051] Click-through: The event that occurs when a Viewer clicks on
an advertisement and is hyperlinked to new content.
[0052] Exposure: The number of ad serves for a particular
advertisement.
[0053] Frequency: Number of times each viewer (on average) will be
exposed to an advertisement. In general the frequency is equal to
the total number of exposures divided by the reach number.
[0054] I/CODE: A standard identifier assigned to individual
viewers. I/Codes are used as registration information by many web
sites. Interact Profiles Corporation offers a commercial service
which collects in-depth demographic information about viewers for
whom it issues or assigns I/Codes. This information or other
similar information about viewers is stored in table 16B.
[0055] Internet: The global information system that is logically
linked together by a globally unique address space based on the
Internet Protocol (IP). The Internet is able to support
communications using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol (TCP/IP) suite.
[0056] IP Data: Data about the viewer which is specified using the
Internet protocol. The IP data about a viewer is presented to the
system at view-op time in accordance with standard HTTP
conventions. The IP data is defined by standard HTTP conventions
and it includes: CGI (common graphic interface) variables, Browser
type (e.g. Netscape), viewers URL, high-level domain (.edu, .gov,
.com,, OS of viewer (MAC, Windows, etc.), host, IP address, and URL
of referring Web page.
[0057] Maximum Bid Price: This is the maximum amount that can be
specified when placing bids on behalf of a bidding agent. (see
Minimize Bid).
[0058] Minimize Bid: This is an option that the media buyer (i.e.
the person who buys the advertising) can set on or off (it is set
for each media buy). If the option is set "on" then the system will
try to bid the minimum amount necessary to maintain the level of
buying that will ensure the desired number of impressions during
the time allotted to the media buy. The amount bid will be
increased as need to maintain the desired level of buying; however,
it will never be increased beyond the maximum bid.
[0059] Pre-buy: The purchase of the right to display an
advertisement in response to particular view-ops for a specified
amount.
[0060] Proposed Bid: This is an offer to pay a particular amount
for the opportunity to provide an advertisement in response to a
view-op that has certain characteristics. If a view op satisfies
the criteria specified in a proposed bid an actual bid (called a
bid) is submitted to the bid selection logic 16C.
[0061] Reach: The total number of unique viewers the advertiser
wants to reach with the media buy. Cannot exceed the total number
of exposures.
[0062] Recently Seen Ad Data: Information relating to the most
recent advertisements served to a unique or particular viewer.
[0063] Spot Buy: A decision to purchase a particular view-op for a
specified amount which is made in real time.
[0064] View-op: The opportunity to serve an advertisement to a
viewer that occurs when a web browser makes a request for content
by referencing to a server. This is the basic unit of "perishable
inventory" that advertisers buy.
[0065] View-time: The length of time that a viewer looks at an
advertisement.
[0066] Viewer: A person who accesses a page on a web site and
receives an Ad-Serve.
[0067] Viewer History Data: Historical data about a unique or
particular viewer. This may include such information as previous
viewing habits, purchases, click-throughs, etc.
[0068] Viewer Registration Data: Data collected by a web site (at
viewer registration time) including age, sex, income, etc. The
uploading of this data to the server data base is performed in
non-real-time.
[0069] Web Avail: Seller's inventory, that is, a slot for
advertising content. "Avail" is an advertising term. Web avail is
the equivalent term applied to the world wide web.
[0070] Web Page Data: Data concerning a web page such as: keywords,
stock categorizations. Also includes (non-real time) third
party-supplied data, as well as data provided by the system
operator with respect to traffic, pricing, etc. concerning a
particular site.
[0071] Web Site Demographic Data: This is data about a specific web
site.
[0072] Web Site: A term conventionally used in connection with the
World Wide Web. Usually an Ad space provider (seller).
[0073] The system utilizes a number of data tables 16B which are
stored in the view server 320. The structure of tables 16B are
shown in normalized form in FIG. 4. The system also utilizes an
area of memory for temporarily storing certain information. This
area of memory is called the VOD area of memory. It should be
understood, that as is conventional, some of the data in the tables
16B can be stored in program structures and indexes which can then
be used to access the data in order to increase speed. For best
performance all of the tables 16B must be located in RAM.
[0074] As shown in FIG. 4, there are four tables referred to as
HUD, SOD, CUD, AAD and one special area of memory referred to as
VOD. The four tables and the special area of memory are:
[0075] HUD table 408: This table stores Historic Viewer Data. It
indicates which sites each viewer has previously accessed.
[0076] SOD table 409: This table identifies the previously "sold"
view-ops. This table tells who previously bought which
view-ops.
[0077] CUD table 410: This table identifies viewers and their
characteristics. .
[0078] AAD table 412: This table identifies every active
advertiser. There is a record in this table for every active
advertiser.
[0079] VOD area of memory 415: This area temporarily holds data
which is being transferred to the bidding agents.
[0080] A conventional notation system is used to identify fields
herein. Substructures of a main structure are designated by using
the name of the main structure, followed by a period, followed by
the name of the substructure. For example CUD.LST means the LST
field of the CUD table.
[0081] The fields in the tables shown in FIG. 4 are identified
using the following abbreviations:
1 HUD TABLE 408 (Historic Viewer Data, which sites each viewer has
previously accessed) 1) WS Web Site ID Site where ad was placed 2)
SP Site Page ID Page where ad was placed 3) CU Current Viewer ID,
this is, who saw the particular web site, the I/Code. 4) TI Time
Interval 5) N Number of time the viewer CU visited the site in the
time interval TI
[0082]
2 SOD TABLE 409: (who previously bought which view-ops) 1) AA An
identification of the bidding agent who purchased a view-op. 2) PP
Purchase Price Purchase price for this view-op 3) CU Current Viewer
ID I/Code of who saw the ad 4) WS Web Site ID where ad was placed
5) SP Site Page ID where ad was placed 6) TS TimeStamp when placed
7) AC Agent Content ID of ad that was placed 8) AJ Agent Jump ID of
where click-throughs go 9) TSC TimeStamp when click-through
happened, (0 for none) 10) VO View-op ID each view-op has a unique
ID..
[0083]
3 CUD TABLE 410 (viewers and their characteristics) 1) LTS Last
Seen Time Stamp, that is, time this viewer was last seen by the
system 2) IP Internet Protocol address (from REMOTE_HOST) 3) DN
Domain name Full Domain name (from REMOTE_ADDR) 4) CO Cookie 5) EA
Email Address 6) BT Browser 7) CU I/CODE data 8) ZC Zipcode, 9) PDC
Parsed Domain Items 1.sup.st level, 2.sup.nd level, 3.sup.rd level
parse domain items
[0084]
4 AAD TABLE 412 (identifies active advertisers) 1) BL BudgetLeft
Current agent's budget remaining 2) CTL ClickThrusLeft Current
click-through count remaining (number) 3) VL ViewsLeft Current
exposure count remaining (number) 4) TE Time Expired Time expired
(i.e. agent is "dead" or expired if not 0) 5) AA An identification
of the bidding agent
[0085] VOD memory area 415: This is a data communication structure
in memory that facilitates passing data between objects.. When a
view-op is received, data is placed in the VOD area and then
transmitted to the bidding agents. As an example, the following
data can be placed in the VOD for transmission to the bidding
agents.
[0086] 1) Current Viewer Data
5 CO Cookie--gives information about the viewer that initiated the
view-op. EA Email Addr. of viewer that initiated the view-op. C
I/Code of viewer that initiated the view-op. TS TimeStamp Last Seen
Time Stamp IP Internet Protocol information Full Domain Name (e.g.
"sales.gm.uk") Parsed Domain Name (e.g. Top = "uk", 2.sup.nd =
"gm", 3.sup.rd = "sales") I/CODE plus associated data Zipcode* BT
Browser type (e.g. "Mozilla / Unix 4.0") VO View Op ID CT Content
Type, Identifies a particular type of ad that site will accept.
[0087] 2) Data About Advertisers
[0088] Original and Current budget
[0089] Original and Current Views budget
[0090] Original and Current Click thru budget
[0091] Time-Start/End
[0092] advertiser ID
[0093] 3) Site Data
[0094] Keywords which appear on site
[0095] Site Page Ad Minimum Price
[0096] Accepts content List (what will site accept e.g. java, gif;
sizes)
[0097] Site Owner Name
[0098] Site URL
[0099] Site Title
[0100] Site Intra Page Title
[0101] 4) Historic and other data from data base 16B: This is the
VODX area 415A: This is a subset of the VOD structure and it is a
subset of data that is in the CUD, AAD, HUD and SOD. The data in
the VODX is transmitted to the bidding agents on each view-op. The
data placed in the VODX can for example be:
[0102] a) CUD Record Portions: Portions of CUD that exist such as
domain, browser, I/code relative to a viewer associated with a
view-op.
[0103] b) 100 SOD records where SOD.WS.SP=VOD.WS.SP That is, where
site page and web site in SOD equal site page and web site in the
VOD.
[0104] c) 100 SOD records where Customer ID (i.e. I/Code) in SOD
equals Customer ID in VOD That is, sold view-op records for this
Viewer.
[0105] d) 100 HUD records: most recent records for this CU, WS and
SP.
[0106] In the above example, the historical data is in units of one
hundred records. It should be understood that the number of
historical records sent to the bidding agents, is established by
determining the type of specification which advertisers want to put
in proposed bids. If advertisers want to base the decision on
whether or not to submit an actual bid on the data in more than 100
historical records, the number of historical records placed in the
VOD must be larger than 100. Alternatively, in a low cost system
which has a limited amount of memory, and relatively slow speed
communication, the data selected for inclusion in the VOD could be
less than the data listed above.
[0107] The data in the VOD is provided to the bidding agent 30 at
every view-op. The bidding agents 30 can use this information to
make a buy decision by comparing the criteria specified in a
proposed bid with the characteristics of a view-op. All of the data
that is listed above will not be available for each view-op. If
certain data (i.e. data in a particular field) is not available
relative to a particular view-op and a proposed bid requires that
the data in the particular field have a particular value, no actual
bid will be submitted by the bidding agent when the proposed bid is
evaluated. The list of information or data in the VOD as given
above is illustrative and any available information which
advertisers feel is relevant to making buy decisions can be
provided.
[0108] Some of the data in tables 16B is collected as the system
operates. Other information such as information about viewers can
be purchased from commercial information providers and periodically
inserted into the tables 16B from an external connection.
[0109] On each view-op, that is, when each view-op occurs, bidding
information is presented to each of the bidding agents 30. When a
bidding agent 30 receives information about a view-op, it evaluates
the view op with respect to the criteria specified in a particular
proposed bid and the bidding agent then either does nothing or
returns to server 320 a bid with a price and an identification of
an ad to display if the bid is accepted. When a bidding agent
receives information about a view-op each bidding agent 30 performs
comparison operations such as those shown in block diagram form in
FIG. 5.
[0110] The bidding agents may be computer programs written in
conventional computer languages. For example a bidding agent 30 may
be a program in interpreted form, in script language (for
evaluating proposed bids that are in Ad Script form) or a bidding
agent may be a previously compiled program. The exact form of the
bidding agents is not particularly relevant to the present
invention provided that the bidding agent perform comparison
operations such as those shown in FIG. 5. It is also noted that the
bidding agents may be complex computer programs that perform
various complex comparison operations in addition to or in place of
the operations shown in FIG. 5. However, in the preferred
embodiment of the invention, the bidding agents are simple
conventional computer programs that perform the type of comparison
operations shown in FIG. 5.
[0111] During the normal operation of the system, the process
begins upon receipt of a view-op from the browser 11. Upon receipt
of a view-op the system does the following:
[0112] 1) An attempt is made to identify the viewer via HTTP
connect information. The system seeks to determine if this viewer
has been seen before. This is done using conventional and well know
HTTP protocol techniques, the data in data base 16B and
conventional data base technology.
[0113] 2) The data concerning the viewer is used to update the
table's Current Viewer Data (table 410) relative to this view-op's
viewer.
[0114] 3) A view-op object (VOD 415) is transmitted to each bidding
agent 30.
[0115] 4) The bidding agents 30 determine if the view-op meets the
requirements of various proposed bids.
[0116] 5) Bids are collected from the bidding agents 30 and a
determination is made as to the winning bid.
[0117] 6) The winning bid includes an ad index identifying the ad
to be displayed. This ad index which identifies an ad in table 16A
is transmitted to the web server 310 and the appropriate ad is sent
to the browser 11.
[0118] 7) The tables 16B are updated as to the view-op just bought
(as to all view-op data of the just sold item including Historic
Viewer Data such as Site, Viewer, Time seeing this exposure,
etc.).
[0119] 8) Log and billing information is transmitted to a log and
billing unit.
[0120] Time Path: The following describes the time sequence of
operations that occur when a HTTP view-op request arrives from the
web server 310. This can be a multi-threaded operation, that is,
multiple requests might be processed simultaneously; they each
maintain their own context and depend on the basic operating system
(OS) for time slicing. This describes the time sequence for
processing one view-op request. The following description uses
symbolic values for time.
[0121] Time0:
[0122] HTTP view-op request packet received
[0123] Extract HTTP variables from HTTP request:
6 HTTP Query String (PATH_INFO) WS SP HTTP_VIEWER_AGENT HTTP_ACCEPT
REMOTE_HOST == domain REMOTE_ADDR (IP) REMOTE_VIEWER REMOTE_DENT
HTTP_REFER
[0124] Time1:
[0125] Lookup in CUD and try to match viewer
[0126] If success save CU and update Last Seen TimeStamp
[0127] If failure
[0128] Create new CU;
[0129] insert a new CUD record
[0130] Time2:
[0131] Create & build VOD object (contains view-op data for
bidding agents) for the view-op.
[0132] Time3:
[0133] Lookup last N (i.e. 100) SOD records for CU, and save in
VOD
[0134] Time4:
[0135] Lookup last N (i.e. 100) HUD records for CU.SW.SP, save in
VOD
[0136] Time5:
[0137] Remember VO ID and initiate a time-out.
[0138] Time 6:
[0139] Transmit VOD to all bidding agents.
[0140] After the VOD data is transmitted to the bidding agents 30,
the bidding agents 30 evaluate proposed bids and if appropriate
sent messages (bids) to view server 320. These messages will be bid
object data (bid price and ad ID). View server 320 collects the
bids and selects the highest bid. (This is done by bid selection
logic 16C in view server 320 which compares each bid received with
the current winner of the bid compete process until no further bids
are received).
[0141] Time7:
[0142] Transmit winning ad index (that is the ad index from the
winning bid) to web server 310. The ad-index indicates which of the
ads in table 16A is to be transmitted to browser 11.
[0143] Time8:
[0144] Update table 16B (as to the view-op just bought);
[0145] Time9:
[0146] Insert in SOD view-op Data (as to all view-op data of the
just sold item);
[0147] Time 10:
[0148] Update or Insert Historic Viewer Data (as to Site, Viewer,
Time seeing this exposure).
[0149] Time 11:
[0150] Transmit Log/Billing information to the Log and billing unit
320A.
[0151] Proposed bids are submitted to bidding agents 30 by bid
input unit 18. Each proposed bid, which is submitted in the form of
a programming Form Object, contains data fields such as the data
fields listed below. A particular proposed bid may not have data in
each of the fields of the associated Form Object. Furthermore one
proposed bid may contain multiple Form Objects. That is, an
advertiser may submit multiple form objects at multiple levels. For
example, an advertiser may specify a level one proposal of five
cents if one particular set of criteria are met and a level two
proposal of four cents if other criteria are met. Each proposed bid
(i.e. each form object) may contain a wide range of criteria that
must be satisfied if an actual bid is to be placed. The criteria
may be very stringent in a situation where the proposed bid is high
and the advertiser wants to reach only a very select group of
viewers. On the other hand the criteria may be loose if the bid is
low and the advertiser wants to reach a large number of viewers who
meet only a minimum set of criteria. For example, a proposed bid
might have the single criteria such as that the view-op is from a
viewer that is using the "Netscape browser". Alternatively a
proposed bid might specify values for items "a", "b", "c", "e",
"g", "h" and "i" listed below and specify that these values must be
met before a bid is submitted for this advertiser.
[0152] Another example is that a bid might specify a set of
criteria and a list of ads that are to be displayed in sequence
each time a particular viewer who meets the criteria is
encountered. Such a list is referred to as a "rotation" of ads. A
proposed bid might also specify that after all the ads in a
rotation are displayed to a viewer, there should be a specified
delay before the viewer is again shown the ads in the rotation.
[0153] As an example, each form object may have the following
fields (naturally it should be understood that these are merely
illustrative and the number and description of actual fields is
merely limited by the advertiser's desires concerning what criteria
the advertiser cares to specify in a proposed bid.):
[0154] a) Frequency: that is, the number of Ad serves for one
unique viewer of this ad
[0155] b) Include sites list (those sites that are acceptable to
the advertiser)
[0156] c) Exclude sites list (those sites that are not acceptable
to the advertiser)
[0157] d) Maximum bid . . . (in no event can the bid be larger than
this amount)
[0158] e) Keywords for site (words that must be in the site if a
bid is to be submitted)
[0159] f) Keywords for site-page (words that must be on the
page)
[0160] g) Times: Dayparts/Weekparts (when can ad be placed)
[0161] h) Viewer OS (operating system viewer must have)
[0162] i) Viewer Zipcode
[0163] j) Viewer US State
[0164] k) Viewer Domain (.com, .edu, .gov, mil, .org)
[0165] I) Viewer ISP
[0166] m) Viewer Country
[0167] n) Viewer SIC code
[0168] o) Viewer # of employees
[0169] p) Viewer Annual Revenues.
[0170] q) Viewer Browser (what browser viewer must have)
[0171] r) Inter-ad Delay (minimum time between placement of ads to
a particular viewer)
[0172] s) Rotation Delay (delay between placement of ads which are
part of a series)
[0173] t) List of ads in a rotation . . . (a list of ads that are
placed in sequence see example below)
[0174] u) Other (Other criteria that advertiser may care to
specify. Naturally, the bidding agent which receives a proposed bid
must be programmed to compare the criteria specified in a bid to
the data available concerning a view-op)
[0175] Bidding input server 18 includes a conventional data input
program that allows entry of proposed bids with fields such as
those listed the above. Each proposed bid is transmitted to a
bidding agent 30. There is one bidding agent 30 for each proposed
bid that is submitted. A system may include thousands of bidding
agent programs 30. It should be understood that bidding agents 30
are conventional computer programs that evaluate proposed bids
against the characteristics of a view-op to determine if a bid
should be submitted to view server 320.
[0176] Bid input system 18 also transmits information to view
server 320. For example the budget and identity of each advertiser
is transmitted from bid input server 18 to AAD table 412. Entry,
transfer and storage of such information is done using conventional
data base techniques.
[0177] In the particular embodiment of the invention shown herein,
the bidding agent programs 30 perform the operations shown in FIG.
5 relative to each level of each proposed bid. As previously
indicated each proposed bid may include several bid levels. All of
the above elements are repeated in each element. The process shown
in FIG. 5 is executed for each level of each proposed bid. The
Level 0 level is "run" first, the Level 1 next, and so on. This
means that level 0 requirements are evaluated first. If they
succeed, the bid is placed as dictated in that level's data.
Otherwise Level 1 requirements are checked, and so on. Each level's
requirements can be totally independent, but preferably they should
get successively less strict, such that the proposed bid value
decreases.
[0178] The program shown in FIG. 5 is executed for every view-op.
It first uses the specifications for Level 0, then on "NEXT," or a
failure to meet criteria for a level, it starts over with the next
level's criteria. The proposed bid evaluation program shown in FIG.
5 performs tests such as the tests shown below upon a proposed bid
prior to submitting an actual bid to view server 320. It should be
understood that the test below are merely illustrative and any
variety of tests can be performed in comparing the characteristics
of a view-op with the specifications in a proposed bid. The tests
required is limited solely by the desires of the advertiser.
Programming for performing such tests and comparisons between
specified characteristics of a view-op and specifications in a
proposed bid is conventional programming. In the illustration given
in FIG. 5, the following tests are performed by the bidding agent
program.
[0179] Block 501: If Include site List is specified and WS (Web
Site ID) is not in Include site List go to DONE, if not go to next
test.
[0180] Block 502: If Exclude site List specified and WS (Web Site
ID) in Exclude site List go to DONE, if not go to next test.
[0181] Block 503: If Browser specified and no match with Browser
being used, go to DONE, if not go to next test.
[0182] Block 504: If MIN site bid<MAX Agent bid go to DONE, if
not go to next test (note that a web site can specify a minimum
amount (Min site bid) that the site will accept for displaying an
advertisement).
[0183] Block 505: If Viewer OS specified and no match go to DONE,
if not go to next test.
[0184] Block 506: If Viewer Zipcode specified and no match go to
DONE, if not go to next test.
[0185] Block 507: If Viewer US State specified and no match go to
DONE, if not go to next test.
[0186] Block 508: If Viewer Domain specified and no match go to
DONE, if not go to next test.
[0187] Block 509: If Viewer ISP specified and no match go to DONE,
if not go to next test.
[0188] Block 510: If Viewer Country specified and no match go to
DONE, if not go to next test.
[0189] Block 511: If Viewer SIC code specified and no match go to
DONE, if not go to next test.
[0190] Block 512: If Viewer# of employees specified and no match go
to DONE, if not go to next test.
[0191] Block 513: If Viewer Annual Revenues specified and no match
go to DONE, if not go to next test.
[0192] Block 514: If Time List specified and current time not in
Time List go to DONE, if not go to next test.
[0193] Block 515: If Keywords list specified and Keywords not in
Site Keywords List go to DONE, if not go to next test.
[0194] Block 516: If MAX Agent click-through bid specified and MIN
site click-through bid then if MIN site click-through bid<MAX,
Agent click-through bid go to DONE, if not go to next test.
[0195] Block 517: If No CT (content type) match in Ad list go to
DONE, if not go to next test.
[0196] Block 518: If InterAd Time Interval specified then Compute
(block 519) (scan for) LastAdViewer for this CU (Last time this
viewer saw an ad fulfilled from this agent) from SOD List of
100.
[0197] Block 520: If InterAd Time Interval and if TimeStamp of
LastAdViewer<Inter Ad Time Interval go to done, if not go to
next test.
[0198] Block 521: If Frequency specified perform block 522, that
is, Count (scan) SOD per CU for ads sold by this agent. (Block
522A) If this count>Frequency go to DONE, if not go to next
test.
[0199] Block 523 If no LastAdViewer (no record of serving this
Viewer) go to done, if not go to next test.
[0200] Block 523A if InterAdTimeInterval specified then if
TimeStamp of Last Ad Serve<Inter Ad Time Interval go to DONE, if
not go to next step.
[0201] Block 524: TRY TO BUY AD with the following steps:
[0202] Block 525: Select Next Ad to Serve based on CT match,
LastAdViewer or Last Ad Served
[0203] Block 526: Submit BID: Include in the bid submitted to view
server 320, the ad ID in the form of an index that can be used by
web server 310 to select a bid from ad table 16A for display.
[0204] Block 528: The process is DONE
[0205] The process that the web server 320 follows when it receives
a view-op is shown in FIGS. 6A to 6E. The process includes the
following steps:
[0206] Begin Process FIG. 6A:
[0207] Block 601: The process begins when the view server 320
receives aViewOpDrive.sub.() call. That is when Raw view-op Data is
sent to view server 320.
[0208] Block 605: Establish an area in memory for VOD structure (we
will write to this area)
[0209] Block 606: Parse the Domain
[0210] Block 607: Parse Accepts (map this to CT)
[0211] Block 608: Parse the Browser field
[0212] Block 609: Write SP, WS, and Cookie to the VOD
[0213] Block 610: Create New view-op record in SOD
[0214] Block 611: Write available information about view-op to new
record in SOD
[0215] Block 612: Write TS to SOD
[0216] Block 614: Check to see If Cookie=0 (Is there a Cookie in
the request)
[0217] Block 615: If Cookie=0 select on CUD where there is a Cookie
match
[0218] Block 616: If Cookie not=0 Select on CUD using other
heuristics of viewer
[0219] Block 617: Set (or clear) VOD.CU
[0220] Block 620: check if there is a current viewer.
[0221] Block 621: if CU=0 Insert new viewer in CUD
[0222] Block 623 Insert the new CUD rec. in CUD
[0223] Block 622: Write CUD record to VOD
[0224] Block 630: Select from SOD where CU=VOD.CU for 100 order by
TS into VOD and go to next procedure. This selects the 100 most
current purchases that were presented to the particular viewer.
Write to VOD
[0225] Block 631: Select from HUD where CU,SP,SW all match for 100
most recent records in VOD. Write to VOD
[0226] Block 632: Select from AAD for every active budget. Write to
VOD (Write any other data needed by bidding agents to VOD)
[0227] Block 634 Send VOD data to Bidding Agents. Each bidding
agent run its logic (see FIG. 5)
[0228] Block 635: Bidding agents send result to View Server 320
(This following is the process where bid selection logic 16C in
view server 620 picks the best bid)
[0229] Block 641: Pick maximum bid
[0230] Block 642: Update AAD data
[0231] Block 643 Check for expiration of bidding agent in AAD
table
[0232] Block 644: Set VOD info to winner and go to next
procedure.
[0233] Block 645: check if CUD exceeds its maximum.
[0234] Block 646 if block 645 answer is yes, Select oldest CUD
record, Post it to a CUD archive file.
[0235] Block 650: check if CUD>MAXSIZE.
[0236] Block 651: If block 650 answer is yes, Delete oldest CUD
record and proceed.
[0237] Block 653: Compose the SOD record from VOD data.
[0238] Block 654: Insert SOD record.
[0239] Block 655: check if count of SOD records>MAXSIZE: if no
go to next procedure.
[0240] Block 656: If block 655 answer is yes, Select oldest SOD
record, POST it to an archive file and go to next procedure.
[0241] Block 660: check if count of SOD records>MAXSIZE, if
answer is no, go to next procedure
[0242] Block 661: If answer to block 660 is yes, delete oldest SOD
record.
[0243] Block 662: Select from HUD for CU, SP, SW, current time
interval. That is, select for this current viewer, for this bidding
agent, on this web site, for this time interval.
[0244] Block 663: Write data to VOD and go to next procedure.
[0245] Block 664, Check if HUD Rec==0 That is, if HUD record was
found
[0246] Block 665, If no HUD record found, Insert New HUD rec.
[0247] Block 666: If HUD record was found, Update existing HUD
rec.
[0248] Block 670: check if new Hud Rec was inserted and
count>MAXSIZE.
[0249] Block 671: If answer to block 670 is yes, Delete oldest HUD
rec.
[0250] Block 672: Create Accounting Rec. from VOD data.
[0251] Block 673: POST the data to an archive file
[0252] Block 674: Post ad info to web server 310. That is, tell web
server 310 which ad to display.
[0253] Block 675: Dequeue, Delete the VOD. This is the end of the
procedure. It starts again at the next view-op.
[0254] The series of steps shown in FIGS. 6A to 6S are the
procedural operation performed by the view server 320. These can be
programmed using any of the conventional programming languages such
as SQL. The particular computer used to perform the program is of
no particular consequence so long as it is fast enough to provide a
reasonable degree of performance. In order to speed the operation
of the system if there is a large number of bidding agents 30, the
bid selection logic 16C may be implemented using hard wired logical
circuitry rather than by utilizing a computer program. The
programming or circuitry in bid selection logic 16C is
conventional. It merely receives the bids from each of the bidding
agents 30 and selects the highest bid and then transfers the ad
index for this bid to web server 310 and transfers other
information about the bid to the data tables 16B and to log and
billing unit 320A.
[0255] Web Server 310: The web server 310 is a conventional web
server which is programmed to provide two main functions:
[0256] 1) Answer and hold the state of each HTTP request; deliver
the view-op to the system kernel in view server 320; receive the
system kernel reply and deliver the content. This is a multi-task
operation. The contents (the IP data) of each view op, along with
its type (either a request for content or a click-through) are
delivered to the view server 320. This communication is through
shared memory or alternatively it may be through a conventional
inter-computer network.
[0257] 2) Install and remove Ad content separately, and
asynchronously. Service requests to install (store) and remove
(delete) ads from data base 16A. On an install, the web server
returns a WC, a handle or index to the location of the ad. WCs
should be unique for the life of the system. This is done by a
conventional data base program.
[0258] Bid input server 18 is a conventional data base server which
accepts information and delivers it to the tables in view server
320 and to bidding agents 30. Bid input server 18 provides a data
input mechanism for the system. Data table 18-T in bid input server
18 stores the identity of each of the advertisers and the
particular bidding agents 30 to which bids from that advertiser
should be sent. Bidding agents 30 can all be identical or
alternatively some may have capability for evaluating more complex
criteria in proposed bids. The data table 18T stores information
which indicates which bidding agent should receive proposed bids
from which advertisers. Bid input Server 18 is a conventional data
base input unit.
[0259] The log and billing unit 320A is a conventional data base
program that provides conventional log and billing functions. As
concerning users and web sites becomes old and stale, it is
transmitted to an archive in log and billing unit 320A. A log of
all transactions that takes place in the system is also maintained
by unit 320A. This is done using conventional programming
techniques.
[0260] In the figures, only one web browser 11 is shown. It should
be understood that web browser 11 is merely representative of the
web browsers connected to the Internet world wide web. Web server
310 is connected to the Internet and hence it can receive HTML
references from any of the millions of browsers connected to the
Internet. Web browser 11 is merely illustrative of one of the
browsers connected to the Internet.
[0261] The specifics of the various data bases, the specifics of
the various fields in the data bases, and the specifics of the form
used to submit a bid, the parameters that are considered in
evaluating bids, as shown herein are illustrative only and various
changes in the data bases, the fields and the parameters along with
changes in the operation of these details of the system could be
made without departing from the spirit and scope of the
invention.
[0262] Specific data can be introduced into data base 16B in a
number of ways. Some of the data is collected as previously
described as the system operates. Other data can be viewer
registration data, that is data obtained when viewer register at
related web sites. Likewise viewer history data in data base 16B
can be collected as the system operates or it can be purchased from
commercial sources and entered into data base 16B as a batch of
information. Web site demographic data can be collected from
commercially available sources and entered into data base 16D.
[0263] The specific data collected in data base 16B is determined
by the criteria that advertisers want to establish in proposed
bids. Data base 16B can store any type of information that
advertisers care to specify in proposed bids. Any data that
advertisers want to us in setting specifications in proposed bids
can be stored in tables 16B using conventional data base
technology. This data is transferred to the VOD area of memory and
to the bidding agents 30 when a view-op occurs. Bidding agents 30
must be programmed to compare the data received from the VOD to the
specifications in a proposed bid to determine if an actual bid
should be submitted.
[0264] It is herein assumed that a viewer always accesses the world
wide web using the same browser, so that the cookie in a browser
accurately reflects what a viewer has done. It is also assumed that
only one viewer uses a particular browser, again so that the cookie
in the browser accurately reflects what the particular viewer has
done. If different individuals use different sign-on names with the
same browser, or if different individuals who use the same browser
otherwise identify themselves to the system, they can be assigned
separate I/codes even though they use the same browser..
[0265] It is also noted that a system could combine the operation
of the present invention with the operation of the prior art type
of system where access to advertising on particular web sites is
sold for a specified amount. An operator of the system could sell
"pre-buys", that is, access to the view-ops that occur on a
particular site and the operator could insure that a particular
advertiser always has access to these view-ops as done by the prior
art systems. This could be done by merely entering into the system
proposed bids with a value that is the maximum allowed by the
system for those particular view-ops that are sold as pre-buys.
[0266] An alternative embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.
7. The system shown in FIG. 7 is designed to minimize latency due
to Internet topographical distance between units.
[0267] The embodiment shown in FIG. 7 is a geographically
distributed system which includes three systems 716A, 716B and 716C
each of which are identical to systems 16 shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.
Each of the systems 716A, 716B, and 716C have associated bidding
agents 730A, 730B and 730C. Each of the systems 716A, 716B and
7126C is located a different geographic area.
[0268] Client browser 711 sends web HTML references (such as those
sent from browser 11 to web server 310) to a commercial Internet
service provider (an ISP) 712. The ISP in turn sends an HTML
reference to the system 716A, 716B or 716C which is
"topographically" closest to the browser 711. For example, the
three systems 716A, 716B and 716C could be located on different
continents, one in the U.S., one in Europe and one in Japan. With
the system shown in FIG. 7, HTML references from browsers in Europe
would be directed to the system in Europe, HTML references from
browsers in the U.S. would be directed to the system in the U.S.
etc. The bid input unit 718 sends each proposed bid to bidding
agents 730 associated with each system. Thus, the systems 716A,
716B and 716C evaluate each proposed bid against the particular
view-ops that are directed to each particular system. While for
purposes of illustration, three systems 716A, 716B and 716C are
shown, any number of such systems could be connected in an overall
network of systems.
[0269] While the invention has been shown and described with
reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it should be understood
that other embodiments are possible and that various changes in
form and detail may be made without departing from the spirit of
the invention. The scope of the invention is limited solely by the
appended claims.
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