U.S. patent application number 15/204892 was filed with the patent office on 2017-06-15 for automated script-based rule execution filtering.
The applicant listed for this patent is Google Inc.. Invention is credited to Nikhil Bakshi, Prabhu Balasubramanian, Varouj A. Chitilian, Alena R. Fong, Alison B. Miller, Bhanu Narasimhan, Ilya Netchitailo, Chetan Patel, Jiaqi Yu.
Application Number | 20170169466 15/204892 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 55487384 |
Filed Date | 2017-06-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170169466 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Balasubramanian; Prabhu ; et
al. |
June 15, 2017 |
AUTOMATED SCRIPT-BASED RULE EXECUTION FILTERING
Abstract
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs
encoded on a computer storage medium, for automated management of
campaigns using scripted rules.
Inventors: |
Balasubramanian; Prabhu;
(Mountain View, CA) ; Narasimhan; Bhanu; (Los
Gatos, CA) ; Miller; Alison B.; (San Franciso,
CA) ; Fong; Alena R.; (Fremont, CA) ; Bakshi;
Nikhil; (Mountain View, CA) ; Netchitailo; Ilya;
(Mountain View, CA) ; Yu; Jiaqi; (Hayward, CA)
; Chitilian; Varouj A.; (Hillsborough, CA) ;
Patel; Chetan; (Fremont, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Google Inc. |
Mountain View |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
55487384 |
Appl. No.: |
15/204892 |
Filed: |
July 7, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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13476075 |
May 21, 2012 |
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15204892 |
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61525459 |
Aug 19, 2011 |
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61555092 |
Nov 3, 2011 |
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61555086 |
Nov 3, 2011 |
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61555068 |
Nov 3, 2011 |
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61555071 |
Nov 3, 2011 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 9/46 20130101; G06Q
30/0275 20130101; G06F 9/541 20130101; G06F 9/448 20180201; G06Q
10/06 20130101; G06Q 30/0251 20130101; G06F 9/547 20130101; G06Q
30/0241 20130101; G06Q 30/0244 20130101; G06F 9/542 20130101; G06Q
30/0263 20130101; G06Q 30/0242 20130101; G06Q 30/0243 20130101;
G06Q 30/0258 20130101; G06Q 30/0276 20130101; G06Q 30/0277
20130101; G06F 9/5005 20130101; G06F 16/24552 20190101 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 30/02 20060101
G06Q030/02 |
Claims
1. (canceled)
2. A script-based rule execution system, comprising: a data store
that stores: an automatically executed rule that defines (i) an
adjustment that is performed on parameters of a set of keywords and
(ii) an event that, when detected, triggers the adjustment defined
by the rule; and a filter that limits the adjustment defined by the
rule to fewer than all of the keywords based on fewer than all of
the keywords having a respective parameter that meets a parameter
threshold of the filter; a rule execution server that: detects the
event that triggers the adjustment defined by the rule; and in
response to detecting the event that triggers the adjustment
defined by the rule: identifies the set of keywords defined by the
rule; determines, for inclusion in a subset of the identified set
of keywords, each keyword for which the respective parameter of the
keyword meets the parameter threshold of the filter, wherein the
subset includes fewer than all of the keywords in the set of
keywords; and performs the adjustment defined by the rule on the
respective parameter of each keyword in the subset of keywords,
while not performing the adjustment defined by the rule on the
respective parameters of the identified keywords defined by the
rule for which the respective parameters do not meet the parameter
threshold of the filter.
3. The system of claim 2, wherein the rule execution server:
updates a user interface of a user device to present a set of
previously defined filters; receives, for the rule, a selection of
the filter from the set of previously defined filters; receives,
for the rule, a selection of one or more filter parameters;
customizes the filter for the rule based on the one or more filter
parameters; and associates the customized filter with the rule such
that the filter is applied to the set of keywords when the
adjustment defined by the rule is triggered.
4. The system of claim 3, wherein each filter parameter comprises
at least one of (i) a selection of a subset of keywords or (ii) a
threshold value for parameters of the keywords.
5. The system of claim 3, wherein the set of previously defined
filters are selected for presentation based on a type of the
parameters on which the adjustment defined by the rule is
performed.
6. (canceled)
7. The system of claim 2, wherein the adjustment defined by the
rule comprises changing a value of the parameters of the set of
keywords.
8. The system of claim 2, wherein the rule execution server
generates the filter by importing previously developed logic.
9. A method performed by data processing apparatus, the method
comprising: detecting an event that triggers an adjustment defined
by an automatically executed rule, the rule defining (i) the
adjustment that is performed on parameters of a set of keywords and
(ii) the event that, when detected, triggers the adjustment defined
by the rule; and in response to detecting the event that triggers
the adjustment defined by the rule: identifying the set of
distribution parameters defined by the rule; identifying a filter
that limits the adjustment defined by the rule to fewer than all of
the keywords based on fewer than all of the keywords having a
respective parameter that meets a parameter threshold of the
filter; determining, for inclusion in a subset of the identified
set of keywords, each keyword for which the respective parameter of
the keyword meets the parameter threshold of the filter, wherein
the subset includes fewer than all of the keywords in the set of
keywords; and performing the adjustment defined by the rule on the
respective parameter on each keyword in the subset of keywords,
while not performing the adjustment defined by the rule on the
respective parameters of the identified keywords defined by the
rule for which the respective parameters do not meet the parameter
threshold of the filter.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: updating a user
interface of a user device to present a set of previously defined
filters; receiving, for the rule, a selection of the filter from
the set of previously defined filters; receiving, for the rule, a
selection of one or more filter parameters; customizing the filter
for the rule based on the one or more filter parameters; and
associating the customized filter with the rule such that the
filter is applied to the set of keywords when the adjustment
defined by the rule is triggered.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein each filter parameter comprises
at least one of (i) a selection of a subset of keywords or (ii) a
threshold value for parameters of the keywords.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein the set of previously defined
filters are selected for presentation based on a type of the
parameters on which the adjustment defined by the rule is
performed.
13. (canceled)
14. The method of claim 9, wherein the adjustment defined by the
rule comprises changing a value of the parameters of the set of
keywords.
15. The method of claim 9, further comprising generating the filter
by importing previously developed logic.
16. A computer program product, encoded on one or more
non-transitory computer storage media, comprising instructions that
when executed by one or more computers cause the one or more
computers to perform operations comprising: detecting an event that
triggers an adjustment defined by an automatically executed rule,
the rule defining (i) the adjustment that is performed on
parameters of a set of keywords and (ii) the event that, when
detected, triggers the adjustment defined by the rule; and in
response to detecting the event that triggers the adjustment
defined by the rule: identifying the set of distribution parameters
defined by the rule; identifying a filter that limits the
adjustment defined by the rule to fewer than all of the keywords
based on fewer than all of the keywords having a respective
parameter that meets a parameter threshold of the filter;
determining, for inclusion in a subset of the identified set of
keywords, each keyword for which the respective parameter of the
keyword meets the parameter threshold of the filter, wherein the
subset includes fewer than all of the keywords in the set of
keywords; and performing the adjustment defined by the rule on the
respective parameter on each keyword in the subset of keywords,
while not performing the adjustment defined by the rule on the
respective parameters of the identified keywords defined by the
rule for which the respective parameters do not meet the parameter
threshold of the filter.
17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the
operations further comprise: updating a user interface of a user
device to present a set of previously defined filters; receiving,
for the rule, a selection of the filter from the set of previously
defined filters; receiving, for the rule, a selection of one or
more filter parameters; customizing the filter for the rule based
on the one or more filter parameters; and associating the
customized filter with the rule such that the filter is applied to
the set of keywords when the adjustment defined by the rule is
triggered.
18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein each filter
parameter comprises at least one of (i) a selection of a subset of
keywords or (ii) a threshold value for parameters of the
keywords.
19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the set of
previously defined filters are selected for presentation based on a
type of the parameters on which the adjustment defined by the rule
is performed.
20. (canceled)
21. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the
adjustment defined by the rule comprises changing a value of the
parameters of the set of keywords.
Description
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.
No. 13/476,075, filed on May 21, 2012, entitled "ADVERTISER SERVICE
SCRIPTING," which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119(e)
of U.S. Patent Application No. 61/525,459, entitled "Advertiser
Campaign Scripting," filed Aug. 19, 2011; U.S. Patent Application
No. 61/555,092, entitled "Advertiser Campaign Script Execution
Management," filed Nov. 3, 2011; U.S. Patent Application No.
61/555,086, entitled "Advertiser Service Scripting," filed Nov. 3,
2011; U.S. Patent Application No. 61/555,068, entitled "Application
Program Interface Script Caching And Batching," filed Nov. 3, 2011;
and U.S. Patent Application No. 61/555,071, entitled "Advertising
Campaign Script Execution Management," filed Nov. 3, 2011. The
disclosures of each of the foregoing applications are incorporated
herein by reference in their entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] This specification relates on-line advertising.
[0003] The Internet enables access to a wide variety of content
items, e.g., video and/or audio files, web pages for particular
subjects, news articles, etc. Such access to these content items
likewise enables opportunities for targeted advertising. For
example, advertisements can be provided with search results in
response to a search query provided by a user; provided for web
pages of third party online publishers that have content related to
the advertisement; or provided in response to a specific request
from a user, such as when a user requests information for
particular products or services.
[0004] An advertising management system can be used to facilitate
the value exchange between advertisers and publishers. Advertisers
provide advertisements, specify targeting criteria for ad
campaigns, and offer bids for the opportunities to have their
advertisements presented on publishers' webpages. Online
advertisers use advertising management tools to manage their
advertising campaigns. These management tools include an account
interface that allows an advertiser to create and define various
aspects of advertising campaigns and ad groups, such as keywords,
targeting criteria, budgets, bids for ad placement, duration,
different types of advertisements, and so on. After the advertiser
has specified the campaign and ad group data and activated the
advertising campaigns and/or ad groups, advertisements can be
dynamically selected and served on publishers' webpages according
to the various keywords and other targeting criteria specified by
the advertiser.
[0005] Once an advertising campaign is launched, and advertiser
uses the advertising management tools to monitor the performance of
the advertising campaign. Depending on the performance of the
advertising campaign, the advertiser may desire to change
targeting, bids, budgets, advertisements, etc., of the advertising
campaign. However, the advertising campaign may have hundreds of
bids, time sensitive budgets, and thousands of targeting criteria.
Furthermore, the changing of any one of these parameters may be
dependent on various conditions. Thus, the monitoring of an
advertising campaign and changing of multiple parameters at various
times during the life of the advertising campaign can be a
labor-intensive task.
SUMMARY
[0006] In general, one innovative aspect of the subject matter
described in this specification can be embodied in methods that
include the actions of accessing advertising campaign data
including a plurality of campaign management entities that include:
an advertising campaign entity that defines an advertising
campaign, a plurality of advertisement group entities associated
with the advertising campaign entity, each advertisement group
entity defining an advertisement group and specifying respective
advertisement entities, a budget entity, targeting entities, and
bid entities, wherein each respective advertisement entity defines
an advertisement, the budget entity defines a budget, each
targeting entity defines a targeting criterion, and each bid entity
defines a bid, and each are associated with the advertisement group
entity, and a filtering entity defining a filter that filters
instances of a particular campaign management entity based on or
more filtering criteria; defining a rule associated with the
particular campaign management entity, the filtering entity, and a
user identifier, the rule defining an operation and a corresponding
event, the operation being executed in response to the detection of
the corresponding event and specifying an entity change for only
filtered campaign management entities that are filtered instances
of the particular campaign management entity resulting from an
application the filter, and wherein the user identifier is an
identifier of user that defined the rule; and storing the rule in a
rules data store. Other embodiments of this aspect include
corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs, configured
to perform the actions of the methods, encoded on computer storage
devices.
[0007] Particular embodiments of the subject matter described in
this specification can be implemented to realize one or more of the
following advantages. The invocation of various rules based on
detected events allows advertisers to automate the changing of many
features of an advertising campaign. The automation of such changes
allows advertisers to focus more time on the effects of the change
and less time on manual processes to implement changes. This shift
in focus, in turn, allows advertisers to devote more time to
achieving the goals of their campaign, and this leads to better
campaign management.
[0008] The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter
described in this specification are set forth in the accompanying
drawings and the description below. Other features, aspects, and
advantages of the subject matter will become apparent from the
description, the drawings, and the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1A is a block diagram of an example online advertising
environment.
[0010] FIG. 1B is a flow diagram of an example process for
executing rules associated with a campaign.
[0011] FIG. 2A is an illustration of a user interface through which
rules associated with an advertising campaign can be accessed.
[0012] FIGS. 2B and 2C are illustrations of automation menus for
different campaign entities at different campaign levels.
[0013] FIG. 3 is an example user interface for keyword rules at an
ad group level.
[0014] FIG. 4 is an example user interface for ad group rules at an
ad group level.
[0015] FIG. 5 is an example user interface for campaign rules at an
ad group level.
[0016] FIGS. 6A and 6B are example user interfaces for setting and
applying filtering entities to filter campaign management
entities.
[0017] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of an example process for
associating a filtering entity with a rule and executing the
rule.
[0018] FIGS. 8A and 8B are illustrations of permission dialogs.
[0019] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a data processing apparatus
system.
[0020] Like reference numbers and designations in the various
drawings indicate like elements.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Example Environment
[0021] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example online advertising
environment 100. The online advertising environment 100 utilizes an
advertising management system 102 to facilitate the sale and
purchase of online advertising opportunities between publishers and
advertisers.
[0022] The online advertising environment 100 includes a computer
network 104, such as a local area network (LAN), wide area network
(WAN), the Internet, or a combination thereof, connecting publisher
websites 106, publisher client devices 108, advertiser websites
110, advertiser client devices 112, user client devices 114, and
the advertising management system 102. The advertising management
system 102 further has access to an advertising content store 124,
a campaign data store 126, and a campaign statistics store 128.
Each publisher website 106 has one or more webpage resources
associated with a domain name, and each publisher website 106 is
hosted by one or more servers. An example website is a collection
of webpages formatted in hypertext markup language (HTML) that can
contain text, images, multimedia content, and programming elements.
Each publisher website 106 is maintained by a publisher, e.g., an
entity that manages and/or owns the website.
[0023] Publisher client devices 108, advertiser client devices 112,
and user client devices 114 are electronic devices that are under
the control of users. In particular, the publisher client devices
108 are under control of users that are agents of the publishers,
the advertiser client devices 112 are under the control of users
that are agents of the advertisers, and user client devices 114 are
under the control of users that are not associated with the
publishers or advertisers. A client device typically includes a
user application, such as a web browser, to facilitate the sending
and receiving of data over the network 104.
[0024] The advertising management system 102 facilitates the sale
and purchase of advertising opportunities between publishers 106
and advertisers 110. The advertising management system 102 includes
components such as a management system 116, a scripting system 118,
an advertising serving system 120, and a reporting system 122.
[0025] The advertiser management system 116 provides user
interfaces for advertisers (e.g., using advertiser client devices
112) to define advertising campaigns and ad groups, submit
advertising content, and specify various targeting and/or ad
placement criteria for the advertising content in each advertising
campaign and/or ad group. The advertising content is stored in the
advertising content store 124 and the targeting and ad placement
criteria are stored in the campaign data store 126. For each ad
group or campaign, the advertisers can also specify bids for ad
slots associated with particular keywords through the interface
provided by the advertiser management system 116. Advertisers'
bids, budgets, as well as other campaign related preferences are
also stored in the campaign data store 126.
[0026] An account management tool can be employed by an advertiser
to create and manage a large number of online advertising campaigns
for various products and services that the advertiser offers. The
account management tool can be made available to the advertiser
either through an online interface provided by the advertiser
management system 116 or as a account management software
application installed and executed locally at the advertiser's
client devices 112. The online interface and/or the locally
executed account management software application can be used for
downloading existing account data from the advertiser management
system 116 and for uploading new and/or modified account data to
the advertiser management system 116.
[0027] The advertiser can create and manage multiple advertising
campaigns using the account management tool offered by the
advertiser management system 116. The advertiser can further
specify multiple ad groups under each ad campaign, and specify
respective advertisements, budgets, keywords, and other targeting
and/or ad placement criteria for each of the ad groups. Typically,
the advertising account can be abstracted into a hierarchical
structure. For example, the advertising account can include one or
more ad campaigns, each ad campaign can include one or more ad
groups, and each ad group can include one or more advertisements
and keywords.
[0028] Each advertising campaign is represented in the campaign
data stores as a collection of associated campaign entities. Each
particular advertising campaign is represented by an advertising
campaign entity for the advertising campaign, and each advertising
campaign entity can be associated with one or more advertisement
group entities, each of which defines an advertisement group. Each
advertising group entity, in turn, is associated with respective
advertisement entities, a budget entity, targeting entities, and
bid entities. Each respective advertisement entity defines an
advertisement, the budget entity defines a budget, each targeting
entity defines a targeting criterion, and each bid entity defines a
bid. Other entity associations are also possible, e.g., an
advertising campaign entity can be associated with a budget entity
defining an overall budget, etc.
[0029] To create a new ad campaign, a user can first specify values
for the campaign level advertising parameters of the ad campaign.
The campaign level advertising parameters include, for example, a
campaign name, a preferred content network for placing ads, a
budget for the ad campaign, start and end dates for the ad
campaign, a schedule for ad placements, a to targeted language, and
targeted geographical locations. Other campaign level advertising
parameters includes, for example, a payment scheme such as a
cost-per-click (CPC), cost per thousand impressions (CPM),
cost-per-action (CPA), and so on.
[0030] For the ad campaign, the user can further define one or more
ad groups. An ad group contains one or more advertisements, which
target a particular set of keywords, ad placements, or both. Ad
groups under the same campaign can share the same campaign level
advertising parameters, but have tailored specifications for
particular ad group level advertising parameters, such as keywords,
bids for keywords, budget, and so on.
[0031] Generally, an advertiser can create different ad groups to
have more focused targeting on different product lines or services.
For example, different sets of keywords specific to the different
product lines or services can be used for the different ad groups.
Sometimes, different ad groups can also target different market
segments and/or demographic characteristics. Keywords specific for
the different market segments and/or demographic characteristics
can be included in the different ad groups.
[0032] To create a new ad group, the user can first specify values
for the ad group level advertising parameters of the ad group. The
ad group level advertising parameters include, for example, an ad
group name, and various bids for different ad placement
opportunities (e.g., automatic placement, advertiser managed
placement, etc.) or outcomes (e.g., clicks, impressions,
conversions). An ad group name can be one or more terms that the
user can use to concisely capture a topic or subject matter that
the ad group is targeting. For example, a car dealership can create
a different ad group for each type of vehicles it carries, and may
further create a different ad group for each model of vehicles it
carries. Examples of the ad group themes that the car dealership
can use include, for example, "sports car," "sedan," "truck,"
"hybrid," and so on.
[0033] After creating the campaign and one or more ad groups under
the campaign, the advertiser can specify one or more keywords and
advertisements to each ad group. The keywords are typically terms
that are relevant to the product or services that the user wishes
to promote for the ad group. Each keyword can include one or more
terms. For example, the car dealership may include "automobile",
"sports car," "V-6 engine," "four-wheel drive," "fuel efficiency,"
and so on as keywords for its ad groups and ad campaigns. The
advertiser can also specify whether exact match of keywords are
required for ad placements on the content network.
[0034] In addition to keywords, for each ad group, the advertiser
can also specify a number of advertisements for selection by the ad
server when an advertising opportunity becomes available that
matches the budget, ad schedule, maximum bids, keywords, and other
targeting criteria specified for the ad group. Different types of
ads can be included in an ad group, such as a text ad, an image ad,
a local business ad, a mobile ad, and so on.
[0035] Other aspects of the ad group can be defined in terms of
various advertising parameters and specified by user-entered values
or default values for those various advertising parameters. After
the advertiser has specified all the required advertising
parameters for each level and aspect of the ad campaign(s), the
advertising campaign entity data (e.g., including the campaign
structure and the advertising parameters on each level within the
campaign structure) can be uploaded to the advertiser management
system 116, and the data are persisted to the campaign data store
126. The advertising campaign can be created and activated
according to the advertising campaign data specified by the
advertiser.
[0036] The management system 116 also provides an interface for
publishers (e.g., using publisher client devices 108) to specify ad
slots available on the publisher's online properties. For example,
the publishers can specify the cost, type, dimensions, and
targeting criteria (e.g., keywords associated with the content of
the online properties) for each ad slot. The publisher management
server 118 provides scripts or references to scripts to the
publishers according to the specifications of the ad slots.
[0037] Each publisher 106 can insert instructions into its webpages
or content items. When the webpages and content items are
downloaded to user client devices 114, the instructions are
executed to generate one or more ad requests to the advertising
management system 102. The advertising serving system 120 of the
advertising management system 102 responds to the ad requests by
sending advertisements to the requesting user client device 114 for
insertion into appropriate ad slots in the publisher's webpages or
content items as rendered on the requesting user client device 114.
The advertisements can include embedded links to landing pages
(e.g., webpages on the advertisers' websites 110) that a user is
directed to when the user clicks on the advertisements presented on
the publisher's webpages or in the content items.
[0038] The ad requests are optionally associated with user
characteristics (e.g., user's age, gender, income, language
preferences, and so on) and advertising context (e.g., keywords
associated with webpage content, location, local time of ad
request, and so on).
[0039] Various user privacy measures are implemented to remove
personally identifiable information from the user characteristics
data. The advertising serving system 120 can select advertisements
from the advertising content store 124 for each ad request based on
a match between an advertiser's campaign criteria in the campaign
data store 126 and the user characteristics and advertising context
associated with the ad request.
[0040] The advertisements provided after a successful match, and
optionally user responses (e.g., click-throughs, conversions, and
so on) to the advertisements, can be tracked by various tracking
mechanisms (e.g., tracking cookies, pixel callbacks, etc.), sent
back to the advertising management system 102, and stored in the
campaign statistics store 128. The tracking is enabled by various
user opt-in processes. The reporting system 122 provides user
interfaces for advertisers and publishers to review reports on the
campaign statistics in various formats. Performance of particular
keywords, ad groups, and campaigns can be measured based on various
performance metrics, such as cost per action (e.g., click or
conversion), conversion length (e.g., number of clicks between
initial impression and conversion), and so on.
Scripting System
[0041] The advertising management system 102 also includes a
scripting system 118 that facilitates advertising server scripting
for automated management of an online advertising campaign. In some
implementations, the scripting system 118 can be a part of the
advertisement management system 116, and be realized by series of
online user interfaces or a user interfaces generated from locally
executed account management software.
[0042] Each advertiser, by means of user interface provided by the
scripting system 118, can define scripted rules 130 and associate
the rules with their advertising campaigns. The scripting system
118 facilitates the automation of actions that allow advertisers to
associate campaign management operations with events that trigger
the automations. The combination of one or more events and one or
more operations is defined as a rule. The advertisement management
system 102 monitors for the events, and upon the occurrence of
events associated with a particular rule, the operations associated
with that rule are executed.
[0043] In some implementations, the scripting system 118
pre-authorizes the operation of a rule based on the credentials of
a particular user that is generating the rule. For example, if a
particular advertising executive of an advertiser generates a rule
by use of the scripting system 118, and the user is authorized to
manually perform the operations defined by the rule, then the
scripting system pre-authorizes the execution of the rule on behalf
of the user. In addition, changes made to the campaign according to
the specified changes of the rule are attributed to the user.
Conversely, if the user is not authorized to manually perform the
operations defined by the rule, then the scripting system does not
pre-authorize the execution of the rule on behalf of the user.
[0044] Each rule is associated with an advertising campaign entity
(e.g., directly associated with an advertising campaign entity or
associated with a child entity of the advertising campaign entity)
and defines an operation and a corresponding event. As used in this
specification, an event is the occurrence of a condition defined
for the advertising campaign(s) (or child entities of the
advertising campaign) by the advertiser. The condition can be
budget related, performance related, date related, targeting
related, user device type related, etc., and combinations of one or
more of these conditions. Events are described in more detail
below.
[0045] The scripting system 118 executes the operation in response
to the detection of the corresponding event. Each operation
specifies an entity change for a campaign management entity
associated with the advertising campaign entity and the rule.
[0046] FIG. 1B is a flow diagram of an example process 150 for
executing rules associated with a campaign. The process 150 can be
implemented by the scripting system 118.
[0047] The scripting system 118 accesses advertising campaign data
that includes campaign entities and rules (152). For example, the
scripting system 118 accesses the campaign data store 126 of the
advertising management system 102, and scripted rules 130 that are
associated with the campaign data and defined by the
advertisers.
[0048] The scripting system 118 detects events defined by the rules
(154). For example, the scripting system 118, for each rule,
determines the condition defined by the rule and checks to
determine if the condition has occurred. If the condition has
occurred, then the event is detected. An example of a condition is
a click through rate associated with an ad group exceeding a
threshold percentage defined by the advertiser. The conditions can
be checked periodically, e.g., according to a frequency parameter
associated with the rule. Conditions and frequencies are described
in more detail below.
[0049] The scripting system 118 executes operations associated with
the detected event for a rule (156). For example, scripting system
118 will change values associated with corresponding campaign
entities affect by the operation and persist the changes to the
campaign data store 126. An example of an operation is a changing
of the cost per click bid associated with a particular ad group by
a predefined percentage. Operations are described in more detail
below.
[0050] In some implementations, each rule is also associated with
the user identifier of the user that defined the rule. When the
operations associated with the event by the rule are executed, the
campaign management entity changes that occur are attributed to the
user identifier. This allows the advertiser to track responsible
parties that authorized the change to particular campaign entities,
and, in some implementations, precludes the execution of the
operation if authorization privileges associated with the user
identifier have been revoked.
Example Scripting User Interfaces
[0051] The scripting system 118 provides a variety of user
interfaces that facilitate the creation of rules for campaigns.
FIG. 2A illustrates a user interface 200 through which rules
associated with an advertising campaign can be accessed. As shown
by the path 202 in FIG. 2A, campaign entities associated with a
campaign identified by the advertising campaign entity "stamp
classes" and an advertising group identified by the advertising
group entity "cards" are displayed. The particular campaign
entities that are shown are keyword targeting entities, as
indicated by the selected tab of the tab list 204.
[0052] Various keywords and associated parameters are identified by
data shown in the columns 206. For example, the keywords "stamping
classes", "stampin up classes", etc., are associated with the ad
group cards of the advertising campaign stamp classes. Thus,
advertisements that are associated with this ad group are targeted
using the keywords shown. The user may select specific keywords
shown in the columns.
[0053] The user interface 200 includes an automate menu button 208
that can be used to access and manage rules associated with the
advertising group "cards." In response to a selection of the
automate menu button 208, the user interface 200 generates an
automation menu 210. The menu includes multiple submenus 212, 214,
216, 218, and 222.
[0054] In some implementations, the submenus 212, 220, and 222 are
static menus that are shown each time an automate menu button 208
is selected, and each additional submenu (e.g., submenus 214, 216,
and 218) are contextual menus that are dependent on the particular
campaign entity to which the user interface 200 corresponds. In
FIG. 2A, for example, the user interface 200 presents keywords at
an advertising group level. The contextual submenu 214 corresponds
to keywords, and can be used to access an environment for creating
rules for keywords. For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, rules with
three different types of operations can be created--pausing
keywords, changing a max cost per click (CPC) bid, and raising bids
to a first page CPC. Likewise, the contextual submenu 216
corresponds to ad groups, and can be used to access an environment
for creating rules for ad groups. Here, rules with two different
types of operations can be created--pausing an ad group, and
changing an ad group max CPC. Similarly, the contextual submenu 218
can be used to access environment for creating rules for campaigns.
From the submenu 218, rules with two different types of operations
can be created--pausing the campaign, and changing a daily
budget.
[0055] The rule creation options shown in FIG. 2A are an example
default set of rule creation options that available to all
advertisers. As will be describe in more detail below, advertisers
may also define customized operations for creating rules, and
associate the customized rules with particular campaign entities.
If such customized operations are defined, they are shown in the
automation menu 210 if the user interface from which the automation
menu is invoked is at a campaign level that corresponds to an
associated customized operation.
[0056] In general, an automation menu for a particular user
interface corresponds to particular campaign level and campaign
entities to which the user interface corresponds. FIGS. 2B and 2C
are illustrations of automation menus for different campaign
entities at different campaign levels. The automation menus 230 and
240 of FIG. 2B are automation menus that are generated at the
campaign level for user interfaces that respectively present ad
groups and keywords at the campaign level. The automation menu 230
includes contextual submenus 234 and 236. The contextual submenu
234 corresponds to advertising groups, and can be used to create
rules for advertising groups. Likewise, the contextual submenu 236
corresponds to campaigns, and can be used to create rules for
campaigns. The automation menu 240 is similar to the automation
menu 230, including two contextual submenus 244 and 246. The
contextual submenu 244 corresponds to keywords, and the contextual
submenu 246 corresponds to campaigns.
[0057] The automation menus 250, 260, and 270 of FIG. 2C are
automation menus that are generated for user interfaces that
present all advertising campaigns associated with an advertiser.
The automation menu 250 is generated in the user interface from
which the user may select multiple campaigns, and includes
contextual submenus 254, 256, and 258, that are respectively
associated with campaigns, ad groups, and keywords. Likewise, the
contextual submenu 260 is generated in a user interface in which a
user may select multiple advertising groups from multiple
campaigns, and includes contextual submenus 264, 266, and 268 that
are respectively associated with advertising groups, campaigns, and
keywords. The contextual submenu 270 is generated in a user
interface in which a user may select multiple keywords for multiple
campaigns, and includes contextual submenus 274, 276, and 278 that
are respectively associated with keywords, advertising groups, and
campaigns.
[0058] FIG. 3 is an example user interface 300 for keyword rules at
an ad group level. The user interface 300, for example, can be
accessed through an automation menu, or through another user
interface element that can be used to invoke a rule creation
environment. The user interface 300 is being used to create a rule
titled "Raise bids to first page CPC."
[0059] An apply menu 302 is used to select campaign entities to
which the rule will be associated. As shown in FIG. 3, the rule is
currently selected to be applied to all keywords in a selected
advertisement group. An alternative application selection could be,
for example, a subset of keywords within an advertisement
group.
[0060] The rule defines a corresponding operation 304 that, when
executed, results in an increase in keyword bids for all keywords
in the ad group, up to a maximum bid of $10, or some other value
specified by the advertiser. For example, if the operation were to
be executed, and a current first page cost per click for certain
keywords is $4.50 and current keyword bids in the ad group are
$3.25, then bid entities for the current keyword bids are increased
to $4.50.
[0061] Also associated with the rule are conditions that define the
event that will result in execution of the operation. The
conditions are defined by requirements 306, each with different
corresponding condition thresholds. The example condition shown are
a keyword click through rate of 3.25% or higher, and an
advertisement group spent budget of 90% or less. Accordingly,
provided the budget for the advertisement group is not almost
exhausted (e.g., less than 90% spent), bids for high-performing
keywords (e.g., keywords with the click through rate of 3.25% or
higher) will be increased up to a maximum of $10. Additional
requirements can be added by the user in response to the user
selecting the "+ Add requirement" link.
[0062] Frequency menu items 308 are used to define one or more
frequency parameters for the rule. Frequency parameters are used to
define the frequency and frequency conditions at which the rule is
executed. As shown in FIG. 3, the rule is to be executed daily at
1:00 PM using performance data from the prior day. Other
frequencies can also be used, such as weekly, monthly, or even a
one-time frequency. Likewise, different times can be used, and
performance data can be used from other time periods, such as data
from the last week, or even data from the last month. In some
implementations, rules can be defined with frequency parameters,
and each rule defined with the default frequency parameters are
executed at the same frequency.
[0063] The user interface 300 includes a name input field 310 in
which a user may type the name of the rule, and a reporting menu
item 312 through which a user may specify an e-mail reporting
frequency.
[0064] The user interface 300 also includes a preview rule button
314. In some implementations, such as the implementation shown in
FIG. 3, the rule must be previewed before the rule can be persisted
to the scripted rules 130 for use in the automated management of an
advertising campaign. Previewing the rule is described in more
detail with respect to FIGS. 6A-6D.
[0065] A save button 316 and a cancel button 318 are also included
in the user interface 300. As depicted in FIG. 3, the save button
316 is currently disabled, indicating that the rule has not been
previewed. Once the rule is previewed, the rule may be saved by use
of the save button 316. Once the rule is saved, the rule will be
available in the application menu for user interfaces that
correspond to campaign entities to which the rule is to be applied
as specified by the apply menu 302. Accordingly, by creating
multiple rules and associating each with different campaign
entities, the scripting system 118 creates a context-based rule
application environment.
[0066] The options available in the apply menu 302 can, in some
implementations, differ depending upon the particular campaign
entity level from which a user invoked the user interface 300. The
options vary because the campaign management entities are
associated according to a hierarchy in which the advertisement
entities, budget entities, targeting entities, and bid entities are
subordinate to the advertisement group entities, and the
advertisement group entities are subordinate to the campaign
management entities. Thus, in some implementations, a rule applied
to any campaign entity at a particular node in a hierarchy may also
be selectively applied to other campaign entities of the same type
but at different nodes in the hierarchy.
[0067] For example, as described above, the user interface was
invoked at an advertisement group level (i.e., invoked from a user
interface in which keywords for a particular advertisement group
are shown). Accordingly, the available options to which the rule
may be applied are all keywords within the advertisement group, and
selected keywords within the advertisement group. In some
implementations, if the user interface were invoked at a campaign
level (i.e., invoked from a previous user interface in which
keywords for a particular advertisement campaign are shown), then
the available options to which the rule may be applied are all
keywords in the particular campaign, and a subset selected keywords
within the advertisement campaign. Likewise, if the user interface
were invoked from user interface in which keywords were shown for
all advertising campaigns for a particular advertiser (e.g., an
"all campaigns" level), then the available options to which the
rule may be applied are all keywords for all campaigns, and a
subset of selected keywords from the advertisement campaigns.
[0068] Accordingly, any one rule associated with an advertising
campaign entity can further be associated with all campaign
entities subordinate to the advertising campaign entity (e.g.,
targeting entities such as keywords). Likewise, the condition for
the rule can also be defined for a campaign management entity
subordinate to the advertising campaign entity (e.g., the targeting
entities that are subordinate to the advertising campaign
entity).
[0069] In some implementations, the user interface 300 is a default
user interface for one of several default rules that are available
to all advertisers. Other default rules at the keyword level
include, for example, changing the max CPC bid, and pausing
particular keywords. For example, the contextual submenu 214 of
FIG. 2 includes a respective menu item for each of the user
interfaces. Conditions necessary for defining events for the
execution of particular operations to change the max CPC bid of
keywords, and pausing particular keywords, can be defined by users
in the respective user interfaces.
[0070] FIG. 4 is an example user interface 400 for ad group rules
at an ad group level. The user interface 400 can, for example, be
accessed through an automation menu, or through another user
interface element that can be used to invoke a rule creation
interface. The user interface 400 is being used to create a rule
titled "Raise bids to first page CPC." The user interface
environment is similar to the user interface 300 of FIG. 3. The
rule being defined by the user interface 400 results in a 50%
increase in the maximum cost per click for an advertisement group
if two conditions are met. The first condition is that the
advertisement group is a low performing advertisement group (e.g.,
with the click through rate less than 1%), and the second condition
is that the budget for the advertisement group is not almost
exhausted (e.g., less than 90% of the daily budget has been
spent).
[0071] Thus, the condition of the rule is a click through rate
threshold for the advertisement group defined by the advertisement
group entity meeting a first threshold. The operation of the rule
is adjusting a bid defined by a bid entity associated with the
advertisement group entity so that the bid meets a cost per click
value that increases the likelihood that an advertisement of the
advertisement group is displayed.
[0072] The options available in the apply menu 402 can, in some
implementations, differ depending upon the particular campaign
entity level from which a user invoked the user interface 400. As
shown in FIG. 4, the user interface 400 was invoked at an
advertisement group level. Accordingly, the available options to
which the rule may be applied to are selected advertisement group,
all advertisement groups in a selected campaign, and all
advertisement groups in all campaigns. In some implementations, if
the user interface were invoked at a campaign level, then the
available options to which the rule may be applied are selected
advertisement groups, or all advertisement groups in a particular
campaign. Likewise, if the user interface were invoked from an all
campaigns level, then the available options to which the rule may
be applied are selected advertisement groups, all advertisement
groups, and all campaigns.
[0073] In some implementations, the user interface 400 is a default
user interface for one of several default rules that are available
to all advertisers. Other default rules at the advertising group
level include, for example, pausing an advertisement group. For
example, the contextual submenu 216 of FIG. 2 includes a respective
menu item for each of the user interfaces. Conditions necessary for
defining events for the execution of the particular operations
associated with the advertising groups can be defined by users in
the respective user interfaces.
[0074] FIG. 5 is an example user interface for campaign rules at an
ad group level. In FIG. 5, the campaign management entity is an
advertising campaign entity, and the conditions of the rule are a
click through rate threshold for the campaign identified by the
campaign entity not meeting a first threshold and a traffic
parameter (impressions) of the campaign not meeting a second
threshold. The operation, upon execution, results in a pausing of
the campaign provided the event defined by the conditions occur to
preclude the serving of advertisements associated with the
campaign.
[0075] The options available in the apply menu 502 can, in some
implementations, differ depending upon the particular campaign
entity level from which a user invoked the user interface 500. As
shown in FIG. 5, the user interface 500 was invoked at an
advertisement group level for a selected campaign. Accordingly, the
available options to which the rule may be applied are currently
selected campaign, and all campaigns. In some implementations, if
the user interface were invoked at an all campaigns level for
advertising campaigns, then the available options are selected
campaigns and all campaigns. Otherwise, the only available option
to which the rule may be applied is all campaigns.
[0076] In some implementations, the user interface 500 is a default
user interface for one of several default rules that are available
to all advertisers. Other default rules at the advertising group
level include, for example, changing a daily budget. For example,
the contextual submenu 218 of FIG. 2 includes a respective menu
item for each of the user interfaces. Conditions necessary for
defining events for the execution of the particular operations
associated with the advertising groups can be defined by users in
the respective user interfaces.
Using Externally Defined Filters in Scripts
[0077] As described above, conditions can be defined for rule
requirements (e.g., example requirements 306, 406 and 506 of FIGS.
3, 4 and 5, respectively). For campaign management entities that
meet these requirements, the operation of the rule is executed on
these entities. The rule menus described above are also accessed
through a campaign management user interface environment that a
user may use to monitor the progress of an advertising campaign.
The user interface also includes a filtering control that allows a
user to filter entities based on one or more filtering criteria.
Filtering of entities allows a user to search for data that is of
particular interest to the user, such as low performing keywords,
campaigns with low click-through rates, etc. The filters that are
available depend on the particular advertising campaign entity and
level being viewed.
[0078] In some implementations, the filters are stored as another
campaign management entity and associated with particular
advertising campaigns. FIGS. 6A and 6B are example user interfaces
600 for setting and applying filtering entities to filter campaign
management entities.
[0079] In FIG. 6A, a filtering control 602 has been selected,
resulting in the display of a filter application menu that includes
a create filter menu option 604, and several filters 606 that have
been created previously.
[0080] Selecting the create filter menu option 604 allows a user to
choose parameters for a filter in the panel that appears in
response to the selection. The parameters that are available depend
on the underlying campaign entity and level being viewed. Each
filter can have one or more filtering criteria for filtering
instances of a particular campaign management entity. For example,
the three filters that are available are "All non-active ad
groups," "All enabled ad groups," and "Default max CPC<3.00."
The first two filters respectively filter enabled ad groups and
non-active ad groups from the display area in which the ad groups
610 and 612 are displayed. The last filter filters ad groups with a
CPC>3.00 from the display area in which the ad groups 610 and
612 are displayed. For example, in FIG. 6B, the filter "Default max
CPC<3.00" has been selected, resulting in the display on only
the ad group 612, which has a default max CPC of 1.00.
[0081] The particular instances of the campaign entities that are
displayed are referred to as filtered campaign management entities.
Often users have defined and saved multiple filters that they use
to filter campaign management entities when reviewing and managing
advertising campaigns. Additionally, it is these filtered campaign
management entities that users may often desire to change.
[0082] In some implementations, the scripting system 118 can
associate a filtering entity with a rule to define the campaign
management entities for which an entity change is specified. For
example, in any of the user interfaces of FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the
requirements menus 306, 406 and 506 may include a drop down list of
existing filters that are currently available for filtering
particular campaign management entities. Thus, each of the filters
"All non-active ad groups," "All enabled ad groups," and "Default
max CPC<3.00," which are applied at the ad group level in FIGS.
6A and 6B, can be selected as a requirement 406 of the rule user
interface 400 that is invoked at an advertisement group level. For
example, selecting one of the drop-down menus for a particular
requirement 406 may generate, among other requirements, three
separately selectable requirements for the filters "All non-active
ad groups," "All enabled ad groups," and "Default max CPC<3.00."
Selection of one of these requirements will associate the filter
with the rule such that an entity change will occur for only
filtered campaign management entities.
[0083] Using externally defined filters in rule scripts allows
users to import existing business logic they have already
developed. Accordingly, the process of setting up a rule is
simplified, and rules can be further modified by merely adjusting
an existing filter after the rule is created.
[0084] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of an example process 700 for
associating a filtering entity with a rule and executing the rule.
The process 700 can be implemented by the scripting system 118.
[0085] The scripting system 118 accesses advertising campaign data
that includes campaign management entities (702). For example, the
scripting system accesses the campaign data store 126 of the
advertising management system 102.
[0086] The scripting system 118 defines a rule associated with a
particular campaign management entity, a filtering entity, and a
user identifier (704). For example, the scripting system 118 may
receive commands from a particular user that is logged into the
system and associate a filter (e.g., "Default max CPC<3.00")
with a particular campaign management entity (e.g., "ad
groups").
[0087] The scripting system 118 applies the filter to instances of
the particular campaign management entity to determine filtered
campaign management entities (706). For example, for the particular
instances of "Ad Group 1" for "Campaign 1" and "Ad Group 1" for
"Campaign 2" of FIG. 6A, the filter "Default max CPC<3.00" is
applied, and the scripting system 118 determines that "Ad Group 1"
of "Campaign 2" is the filtered campaign management entity.
[0088] The scripting system 118 changes only the filtered campaign
management entities according to the specified entity change (708).
For example, changes for an ad group specified by a rule associated
with the filter "Default max CPC<3.00" will be applied only to
the filtered campaign management entity of "Ad Group 1" of
"Campaign 2."
User Authorization
[0089] FIGS. 8A and 8B are illustrations of permission dialogs 802.
In some implementations, the scripting system 118 associates each
rule with the user identifier that identifies the user to define
the rule. When the rule is executed, changes to campaign entities
according to the specified entity change of the rule are attributed
to the user identifier. Furthermore, by associating rules with user
identifiers, the scripting system 118 can be required to be granted
access to make changes to the advertising campaign
automatically.
[0090] In operation, the scripting system 118 determines a
permission status associated with the user identifier. The
permission status is indicative of whether a user identified by the
user identifier has permission to perform the operation of the
rule. The scripting system 118 allows execution of the operation
only if the permission status associated with the user identifier
indicates that the user identified by the user identifier has
permission to perform the operation of the rule.
[0091] The permission dialog 802 is generated first time a user
attempts to define a rule. Provided the user grants access to the
scripting system 118, and provided the user is authorized to make
changes to an advertising campaign, the grant access button 804 is
enabled. Selecting the grant access button 804 allows the user to
proceed with defining a rule and performing the subsequent
operations described above.
[0092] At a later time, the user's access privileges for automated
rules may be revoked. In the event of this happening, the dialogue
806 is generated. The dialogue 806 informs the user that the
automated rules are not authorized to run in the user's
account.
Additional Implementation Details
[0093] Embodiments of the subject matter and the operations
described in this specification can be implemented in digital
electronic circuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or
hardware, including the structures disclosed in this specification
and their structural equivalents, or in combinations of one or more
of them. Embodiments of the subject matter described in this
specification can be implemented as one or more computer programs,
i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions, encoded
on computer storage medium for execution by, or to control the
operation of, data processing apparatus. Alternatively or in
addition, the program instructions can be encoded on an
artificially-generated propagated signal, e.g., a machine-generated
electrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal, that is generated
to encode information for transmission to suitable receiver
apparatus for execution by a data processing apparatus. A computer
storage medium can be, or be included in, a computer-readable
storage device, a computer-readable storage substrate, a random or
serial access memory array or device, or a combination of one or
more of them. Moreover, while a computer storage medium is not a
propagated signal, a computer storage medium can be a source or
destination of computer program instructions encoded in an
artificially-generated propagated signal. The computer storage
medium can also be, or be included in, one or more separate
physical components or media (e.g., multiple CDs, disks, or other
storage devices).
[0094] The operations described in this specification can be
implemented as operations performed by a data processing apparatus
on data stored on one or more computer-readable storage devices or
received from other sources.
[0095] The term "data processing apparatus" encompasses all kinds
of apparatus, devices, and machines for processing data, including
by way of example a programmable processor, a computer, a system on
a chip, or multiple ones, or combinations, of the foregoing The
apparatus can include special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an
FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC
(application-specific integrated circuit). The apparatus can also
include, in addition to hardware, code that creates an execution
environment for the computer program in question, e.g., code that
constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database
management system, an operating system, a cross-platform runtime
environment, a virtual machine, or a combination of one or more of
them. The apparatus and execution environment can realize various
different computing model infrastructures, such as web services,
distributed computing and grid computing infrastructures.
[0096] A computer program (also known as a program, software,
software application, script, or code) can be written in any form
of programming language, including compiled or interpreted
languages, declarative or procedural languages, and it can be
deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a
module, component, subroutine, object, or other unit suitable for
use in a computing environment. A computer program may, but need
not, correspond to a file in a file system. A program can be stored
in a portion of a file that holds other programs or data (e.g., one
or more scripts stored in a markup language document), in a single
file dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple
coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules,
sub-programs, or portions of code). A computer program can be
deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers
that are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites
and interconnected by a communication network.
[0097] The processes and logic flows described in this
specification can be performed by one or more programmable
processors executing one or more computer programs to perform
actions by operating on input data and generating output. The
processes and logic flows can also be performed by, and apparatus
can also be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry, e.g.,
an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC
(application-specific integrated circuit).
[0098] Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program
include, by way of example, both general and special purpose
microprocessors, and any one or more processors of any kind of
digital computer. Generally, a processor will receive instructions
and data from a read-only memory or a random access memory or both.
The essential elements of a computer are a processor for performing
actions in accordance with instructions and one or more memory
devices for storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer
will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from
or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for
storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical
disks. However, a computer need not have such devices.
[0099] Devices suitable for storing computer program instructions
and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, media and memory
devices, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices,
e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks,
e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto-optical
disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and the memory
can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic
circuitry.
[0100] To provide for interaction with a user, embodiments of the
subject matter described in this specification can be implemented
on a computer having a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray
tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor, for displaying
information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device, e.g.,
a mouse or a trackball, by which the user can provide input to the
computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for
interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to
the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g., visual
feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from
the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech,
or tactile input. In addition, a computer can interact with a user
by sending documents to and receiving documents from a device that
is used by the user; for example, by sending web pages to a web
browser on a user's client device in response to requests received
from the web browser.
[0101] Embodiments of the subject matter described in this
specification can be implemented in a computing system that
includes a back-end component, e.g., as a data server, or that
includes a middleware component, e.g., an application server, or
that includes a front-end component, e.g., a client computer having
a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user
can interact with an implementation of the subject matter described
in this specification, or any combination of one or more such
back-end, middleware, or front-end components. The components of
the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital
data communication, e.g., a communication network. Examples of
communication networks include a local area network ("LAN") and a
wide area network ("WAN"), an inter-network (e.g., the Internet),
and peer-to-peer networks (e.g., ad hoc peer-to-peer networks).
[0102] The computing system can include clients and servers. A
client and server are generally remote from each other and
typically interact through a communication network. The
relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer
programs running on the respective computers and having a
client-server relationship to each other. In some embodiments, a
server transmits data (e.g., an HTML page) to a client device
(e.g., for purposes of displaying data to and receiving user input
from a user interacting with the client device). Data generated at
the client device (e.g., a result of the user interaction) can be
received from the client device at the server.
[0103] An example of computing system in which the above-described
techniques can be implemented is shown in FIG. 9, which shows a
block diagram of a data processing apparatus system. The system
2000 can be utilized to implement the systems and methods described
herein. The architecture of the system 2000 can, for example, be
used to implement a computer client, a computer server, or some
other computer device.
[0104] The system 2000 includes a processor 2010, a memory 2020, a
storage device 2030, and an input/output device 2040. Each of the
components 2010, 2020, 2030, and 2040 can, for example, be
interconnected using a system bus 2050. The processor 2010 is
capable of processing instructions for execution within the system
2000. In one implementation, the processor 2010 is a
single-threaded processor. In another implementation, the processor
2010 is a multi-threaded processor. The processor 2010 is capable
of processing instructions stored in the memory 2020 or on the
storage device 2030.
[0105] The memory 2020 stores information within the system 2000.
In one implementation, the memory 2020 is a computer-readable
medium. In one implementation, the memory 2020 is a volatile memory
unit. In another implementation, the memory 2020 is a non-volatile
memory unit.
[0106] The storage device 2030 is capable of providing mass storage
for the system 2000. In one implementation, the storage device 2030
is a computer-readable medium. In various different
implementations, the storage device 2030 can, for example, include
a hard disk device, an optical disk device, or some other large
capacity storage device.
[0107] The input/output device 2040 provides input/output
operations for the system 2000. In one implementation, the
input/output device 2040 can include one or more of a network
interface device, e.g., an Ethernet card, a serial communication
device, e.g., and RS-232 port, and/or a wireless interface device,
e.g., an 802.11 card. In another implementation, the input/output
device can include driver devices configured to receive input data
and send output data to other input/output devices, e.g., keyboard,
printer and display devices 2060.
[0108] While this specification contains many specific
implementation details, these should not be construed as
limitations on the scope of any inventions or of what may be
claimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to
particular embodiments of particular inventions. Certain features
that are described in this specification in the context of separate
embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single
embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the
context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple
embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover,
although features may be described above as acting in certain
combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more
features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised
from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed
to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.
[0109] Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in
a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that
such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in
sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed,
to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances,
multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover,
the separation of various system components in the embodiments
described above should not be understood as requiring such
separation in all embodiments, and it should be understood that the
described program components and systems can generally be
integrated together in a single software product or packaged into
multiple software products.
[0110] Thus, particular embodiments of the subject matter have been
described. Other embodiments are within the scope of the following
claims. In some cases, the actions recited in the claims can be
performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results.
In addition, the processes depicted in the accompanying figures do
not necessarily require the particular order shown, or sequential
order, to achieve desirable results. In certain implementations,
multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.
* * * * *