U.S. patent application number 17/396814 was filed with the patent office on 2021-11-25 for real-time online advertisement type overrides.
This patent application is currently assigned to Xandr Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Xandr Inc.. Invention is credited to Arel Ives Lidow, Michael William Stevenson McNeeley, Scott Daniel Menzer.
Application Number | 20210365997 17/396814 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005764716 |
Filed Date | 2021-11-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20210365997 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lidow; Arel Ives ; et
al. |
November 25, 2021 |
REAL-TIME ONLINE ADVERTISEMENT TYPE OVERRIDES
Abstract
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs
encoded on a computer storage medium, for receiving, from a client
device, a first notification of an ad space from a seller,
identifying ad conditions corresponding to an ad space inventory to
which the ad space belongs comprising a first condition that
identifies an allowed creative media type for the ad space
inventory, sending a second notification requesting a bid on the ad
space to bidders, each bidder representing a respective buyer,
receiving bids from the bidders, each bid corresponding to a
respective bid price, buyer, and a creative, determining that a
first bid of the bids corresponds to a first creative having a
media type different from the allowed creative media type, and
identifying a preexisting arrangement between the buyer
corresponding to the first bid and the seller and, based thereon,
allowing the first creative to be served to the ad space.
Inventors: |
Lidow; Arel Ives; (New York,
NY) ; Menzer; Scott Daniel; (Randolph, NJ) ;
McNeeley; Michael William Stevenson; (Brooklyn, NY) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Xandr Inc. |
New York |
NY |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Xandr Inc.
New York
NY
|
Family ID: |
1000005764716 |
Appl. No.: |
17/396814 |
Filed: |
August 9, 2021 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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14745884 |
Jun 22, 2015 |
11113729 |
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17396814 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0275
20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 30/02 20060101
G06Q030/02 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: receiving, by a processing system including
a processor, a first notification of an ad space from a seller over
a communication network; identifying, by the processing system, a
first plurality of ad conditions in a global ad profile
corresponding to an ad space inventory to which the ad space
belongs comprising a first condition that identifies an allowed
creative media type for the ad space inventory, wherein the allowed
creative media type comprises a first subject matter; identifying,
by the processing system, a second plurality of ad conditions in a
seller's ad profile corresponding to the seller; sending, by the
processing system, a second notification requesting a bid on the ad
space to a plurality of bidders over the communication network,
each bidder representing a respective buyer; receiving, by the
processing system, bids from the bidders over the communication
network; determining, by the processing system, that a first bid of
the bids corresponds to a first creative having a media type
comprising a second subject matter different from the first subject
matter; identifying, by the processing system, a preexisting
arrangement between a first buyer corresponding to the first bid
and the seller, wherein the preexisting arrangement and the second
plurality of ad conditions take priority over the first plurality
of ad conditions in the global ad profile, wherein the preexisting
arrangement and the second plurality of ad conditions allow the
first creative to be served to the ad space, and wherein the
preexisting arrangement includes a floor price between the first
buyer and the seller; determining, by the processing system, that a
first bid price of the first bid exceeds the floor price;
selecting, by the processing system, the first creative for the ad
space based on the second plurality of ad conditions taking
priority over the first plurality of ad conditions and the first
bid price exceeding the floor price; and storing, by the processing
system and based on the selecting of the first creative for the ad
space, a transaction record that includes the seller, the first
buyer, and a second bid price of a second bid included in the bids,
wherein the second bid price corresponds to a second buyer that is
different from the first buyer and the second bid price is
different from the first bid price.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein allowing the first creative to be
served to the ad space further comprises: identifying, by the
processing system, a second condition of the second plurality of ad
conditions; and determining, by the processing system, that one or
more attributes of the first creative satisfies the second
condition and, based thereon, allowing the first creative to be
served to the ad space.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second condition specifies
one or more requirements for creative dimensions, creative content
type, creative content language, creative landing page, buyer, or
brand.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the second condition specifies
creative dimensions and is satisfied if a size of the first
creative fits within the creative dimensions.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein the second condition specifies
allowed one or more creative content types and is satisfied if a
content type of the first creative belongs to the allowed creative
content types.
6. The method of claim 3, wherein the second condition specifies
one or more allowed creative content languages and is satisfied if
a content language of the first creative belongs to the allowed
creative content languages.
7. The method of claim 3, wherein the second condition specifies
one or more allowed landing pages and is satisfied if a landing
page of the first creative belongs to the allowed landing
pages.
8. The method of claim 3, wherein the second condition specifies
one or more allowed buyers and is satisfied if the first buyer of
the first creative belongs to the allowed buyers.
9. The method of claim 3, wherein the second condition specifies
one or more allowed brands and is satisfied if a brand of the first
creative belongs to the allowed brands.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the floor price is based on the
media type of the first creative.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the preexisting arrangement is
specified for at least the ad space inventory to which the ad space
belongs.
12. A system comprising: a processing system including a processor;
and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when
executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of
operations, the operations comprising: receiving, from a client
device, a first notification of an ad space from a seller over a
communication network; identifying a first plurality of ad
conditions in a global ad profile corresponding to an ad space
inventory to which the ad space belongs comprising a first
condition that identifies an allowed creative media type for the ad
space inventory wherein the allowed creative media type comprises a
first subject matter; identifying a second plurality of ad
conditions in a seller's ad profile corresponding to the seller;
sending a second notification requesting a bid on the ad space to a
plurality of bidders over the communication network, each bidder
representing a respective buyer; receiving bids from the bidders
over the communication network; determining that a first bid of the
bids corresponds to a first creative having a media type comprising
a second subject matter different from the first subject matter;
identifying a preexisting arrangement between a first buyer
corresponding to the first bid and the seller, wherein the
preexisting arrangement and the second plurality of ad conditions
take priority over the first plurality of ad conditions in the
global ad profile, wherein the preexisting arrangement and the
second plurality of ad conditions allow the first creative to be
served to the ad space, wherein the client device receives a
uniform resource locator (URL) for the first creative over the
communication network, and wherein the preexisting arrangement
includes a floor price between the first buyer and the seller;
determining that a first bid price of the first bid exceeds the
floor price; selecting the first creative for the ad space based on
the second plurality of ad conditions taking priority over the
first plurality of ad conditions and the first bid price exceeding
the floor price; and storing, based on the selecting of the first
creative for the ad space, a record that includes the seller, the
first buyer, and a second bid price of a second bid included in the
bids, wherein the second bid price corresponds to a second buyer
that is different from the first buyer and the second bid price is
different from the first bid price.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein allowing the first creative to
be served to the ad space further comprises: identifying a second
condition of the second plurality of ad conditions; and determining
that one or more attributes of the first creative satisfies the
second condition and, based thereon, allowing the first creative to
be served to the ad space.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein the second condition specifies
one or more requirements for creative dimensions, creative content
type, creative content language, creative landing page, buyer, or
brand.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein the second condition specifies
creative dimensions and is satisfied if a size of the first
creative fits within the creative dimensions.
16. The system of claim 14, wherein the second condition specifies
allowed one or more creative content types and is satisfied if a
content type of the first creative belongs to the allowed creative
one or more content types.
17. The system of claim 12, wherein the floor price is based on the
media type of the first creative.
18. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, comprising
executable instructions that, when executed by a processor,
facilitate performance of operations, comprising: receiving a first
notification of an ad space from a seller over a communication
network; identifying a first plurality of ad conditions in a global
ad profile corresponding to an ad space inventory to which the ad
space belongs comprising a first condition that identifies an
allowed creative media type for the ad space inventory wherein the
allowed creative media type comprises a first subject matter;
identifying a second plurality of ad conditions in a seller's ad
profile corresponding to the seller; sending a second notification
requesting a bid on the ad space to a plurality of bidders over the
communication network, each bidder representing a respective buyer;
receiving bids from the bidders over the communication network;
determining that a first bid of the bids corresponds to a first
creative having a media type comprising a second subject matter
different from the first subject matter; identifying a preexisting
arrangement between a first buyer corresponding to the first bid
and the seller, wherein the preexisting arrangement and the second
plurality of ad conditions take priority over the first plurality
of ad conditions in the global ad profile, wherein the preexisting
arrangement and the second plurality of ad conditions allow the
first creative to be served to the ad space, wherein the
preexisting arrangement includes a floor price between the first
buyer and the seller; determining that a first bid price of the
first bid exceeds the floor price; selecting the first creative for
the ad space based on the second plurality of ad conditions taking
priority over the first plurality of ad conditions and the first
bid price exceeding the floor price; and storing, based on the
selecting of the first creative for the ad space, a record that
includes the seller, the first buyer, and a second bid price of a
second bid included in the bids, wherein the second bid price
corresponds to a second buyer that is different from the first
buyer and the second bid price is different from the first bid
price.
19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 18,
wherein the second bid price is less than the floor price.
20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 18,
wherein the operations further comprise: selecting the second bid
price for the record based on determining that the second bid price
is greater than a third bid price of a third bid included in the
bids.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 14/745,884 filed on Jun. 22, 2015. All
sections of the aforementioned application are incorporated herein
by reference in their entirety.
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0002] This specification relates to online advertising and, more
particularly, real-time advertisement auctions.
[0003] Online display advertising delivers promotional messages to
consumers by using visual advertisements (or "ads") in web pages. A
publisher of a web page can insert an ad space in a web page. An ad
space is a region of a web page (or other electronic document)
where an advertisement can be placed. When the web page is
displayed in a browser, a visual advertisement (a "creative") of an
advertiser can be dynamically retrieved from an ad server for the
advertiser, and displayed in the ad space. The act of serving a
creative on a web page for displaying is often referred to as an
impression.
[0004] An ad space inventory is a collection of one or more ad
spaces on web pages served by a publisher's web sites. Publisher
can sell their ad space inventories to advertisers. Multiple
publishers and multiple advertisers can participate in auctions in
which selling and buying of ad space inventories take place.
Auctions can be conducted by an ad network or ad exchange that
brokers between a group of publishers and a group of
advertisers.
[0005] Selling and buying ad spaces can be based on pricing or
payment models such as cost per thousand impressions (CPM), cost
per click (CPC), and cost per action or acquisition (CPA). In the
CPM model, advertisers typically pay for every impression of their
advertisement; the price paid for each impression is measured in
price per 1000 ("mille") impressions. In the CPC model, advertisers
typically pay each time a viewer clicks on their advertisement. In
the CPA model, advertisers pay for every action, such as a sale or
registration, completed as a result of a viewer clicking on their
advertisement.
SUMMARY
[0006] In general, one aspect of the subject matter described in
this specification can be embodied in methods that include the
actions of receiving, from a client device, a first notification of
an ad space from a seller, the ad space being for presentation in a
user interface of an application executing on the client device;
identifying a plurality of ad conditions corresponding to an ad
space inventory to which the ad space belongs comprising a first
condition that identifies an allowed creative media type for the ad
space inventory; sending a second notification requesting a bid on
the ad space to a plurality of bidders, each bidder representing a
respective buyer; receiving bids from the bidders, each bid
corresponding to a respective bid price, buyer, and a creative;
determining that a first bid of the bids corresponds to a first
creative having a media type different from the allowed creative
media type; and identifying a preexisting arrangement between the
buyer corresponding to the first bid and the seller and, based
thereon, allowing the first creative to be served to the ad space.
Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding systems,
apparatus, and computer programs.
[0007] These and other aspects can optionally include one or more
of the following features. Allowing the first creative to be served
to the ad space can further comprise identifying a second condition
of the plurality of ad conditions; and determining that one or more
attributes of the first creative satisfies the second condition
and, based thereon, allowing the first creative to be served to the
ad space. The second condition can specify one or more requirements
for creative dimensions, creative content type, creative content
language, creative landing page, buyer, or brand. The second
condition can specify creative dimensions and can be satisfied if a
size of the first creative fits within the creative dimensions. The
second condition can specify allowed one or more creative content
types and can be satisfied if a content type of the first creative
belongs to the allowed creative content types. The second condition
can specify one or more allowed creative content languages and can
be satisfied if a content language of the first creative belongs to
the allowed specified creative content languages. The second
condition can specify one or more allowed landing pages and can be
satisfied if a landing page of the first creative belongs to the
allowed landing pages. The second condition can specify one or more
allowed buyers and can be satisfied if a buyer of the first
creative belongs to the allowed buyers. The second condition can
specify one or more allowed brands and can be satisfied if a brand
of the first creative belongs to the allowed brands. Allowing the
first creative to be served to the ad space can further comprise
determining that a bid price of the first bid meets a floor price
corresponding to the preexisting arrangement and, based thereon,
allowing the first creative to be served to the ad space. The floor
price can be based on a media type of the first creative. The
preexisting arrangement can be specified for at least the ad space
inventory to which the ad space belongs.
[0008] Particular implementations of the subject matter described
in this specification can be implemented to realize one or more of
the following advantages. The system described herein provides a
real-time ad space auction based on creative media type. The system
conducts an auction on an available ad space from a seller and
receives bids from respective buyers. For a highest bid from a
particular buyer, the system determines whether the highest bid's
creative has a media type that is allowed for the ad space. If the
highest bid's creative has a media type different from the
allowable media type, the system automatically allows the highest
bid's creative to be served to the ad space when the particular
buyer has a preexisting agreement with the seller. In addition, the
system determines whether the highest bid's bid price meets a
minimal price specified by the preexisting agreement. In this way,
the seller can ask for a premium (the minimal price) for a creative
with a media type different from the allowable media type.
[0009] The details of one or more implementations 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
[0010] FIG. 1 illustrates an example system for real-time online ad
auction based on creative media type.
[0011] FIG. 2 is a data flow diagram of an example method for
real-time online auction based on creative media type.
[0012] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example method for real-time
online auction based on creative media type.
[0013] Like reference numbers and designations in the various
drawings indicate like elements.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0014] FIG. 1 illustrates an example system for real-time online ad
auction based on creative media type. A server system 122 provides
functionality for real-time online ad space auction. The server
system 122 comprises software components and databases that can be
deployed at one or more data centers 121 in one or more geographic
locations, for example. The server system 122 software components
comprise a transaction manager 112, ad server 114, and one or more
bidders (e.g., bidder A 151, bidder B 152, and bidder C 153). The
server system 122 can also include one or more software components
for load balancing tools and security tools. The load balancing
tools manage traffic within a single data center or between
multiple data centers. The security tools manage data protection
and access privilege for tenants served by the data centers 121.
The software components can comprise subcomponents that can execute
on the same or on different individual data processing apparatus.
The server system 122 databases comprise a server-side user data
database 132, transaction data database 134, bid data database 136,
creative data database 137, ad profiles database 138, and deals
database 139. The databases can reside in one or more physical
storage systems. The software components and databases will be
further described below.
[0015] The transaction manager 112 ("impression bus" or simply "Imp
Bus") is a software component that facilitates the transaction
aspects of ad space inventory trading between buyers and sellers. A
buyer can be an advertiser (e.g., a credit card company, a
sportswear company), an ad network, or an advertising agency. Other
buyers are possible. A seller can be a publisher (e.g., newspaper
or social network), an online streaming or gaming service, or an ad
network. Other sellers are possible. The transaction manager 112
processes ad requests received from web browsers or other software
applications displaying content from publishers, send relevant
information to advertisers, conducts auctions (e.g., on behalf of
sellers), returns creatives to the browsers or other applications,
keeps track of billing and usage for advertisers and publishers,
returns auction-result data, and enforces quality standards, for
example. The transaction manager 112 stores in the transaction data
database 134 various transaction information for each ad space that
is transacted by the transaction manager 112 or other software
components of the server system 122.
[0016] The ad server 114 is a software component that serves
creatives to web pages. The ad server 114 can also make decisions
about what creatives to serve, and track clicks or other user
interactions with creatives, for example.
[0017] A bidder (e.g., bidder A 151) is a software component that,
on behalf of a buyer, performs bidding operations. The bidder takes
various pieces of bid-specific information (e.g., maximal bid
price, target user areas or segments, start and end dates, budget)
as input and generates a bid for a particular item of an ad space
inventory, for example. The bidder may store bid-specific
information in bid data database 136. In some implementations, a
bidder can be remote from the server system 122, such as bidder D
128.
[0018] The transaction manager 112 can conduct an auction when
receiving an ad request for filling an available ad space. By way
of illustration, a user interface 124 of an application 125
executing on a user's client device 120 can include an ad space 126
and a corresponding ad tag. For instance, a web page displayed in a
browser window of a web browser (e.g., running on a personal
computer) can include an ad space on the web page and a
corresponding ad tag. By way of illustration, the ad space can
appear at the bottom of the user interface (a "banner ad") with a
corresponding ad tag. Other examples of ad spaces are possible.
Here, the user's client device 120 can be a mobile phone, a
smartwatch, a tablet computer, a personal computer, a game console,
or an in-car media system. Other examples of a client device are
possible.
[0019] In some implementations, an ad tag comprises a Uniform
Resource Locator (URL) from which an ad will be requested (e.g., a
URL for the server system 122), Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
statements and/or JavaScript instructions for retrieving and
displaying a creative (e.g., displaying the creative in a
160.times.600 iframe). The application 125 running on the user's
client device 120 can retrieve content in the user interface 124
(e.g., a web page) through one or more data communication networks
113 such as the Internet, for example, from web servers 130 of a
publisher. The ad tag causes the application 125 to send (e.g.,
through the networks 113) a notification or an ad request to the
server system 122. The ad request can include information about the
available ad space 126 (e.g., a size for the ad space, an
identifier for the publisher), user information (e.g., an
identifier of the user, an IP address), and system information
(e.g., types of the browser and the client device), for
example.
[0020] In response to the ad request, the transaction manager 112
can access a server-side user data database 132 based on the user's
identifier (if available), and retrieve available information about
the user (e.g., user segment information such as age, gender,
interests, or location). The transaction manager 112 generates a
bid request including information about the ad space, the user, and
so on, and sends the bid request to multiple bidders such as bidder
A 151 and bidder B 152. The transaction manager 112 can also send
the bid request through the networks 113 to servers of bidder D
128, which is external to the server system 122.
[0021] Each bidder determines an appropriate bid based on its own
requirements (e.g., budget, targets in placements or user
demographics) and submit a bid response including a bid price and
an identifier of a creative to be served, for example, to the
transaction manager 112 (or not to respond at all). The transaction
manager 112 determines a winning bid (e.g., a highest bid) among
bid responses received within a specified time period (e.g., 10
milliseconds). The transaction manager 112 then returns a creative
of the winning bid to the user's client device 120, causing the
application 125 to display the creative in the ad space in the user
interface 124. The transaction manager 112 can also return a URL
for a creative of the winning bid to the user's client device 120,
causing the application 125 on the client device 120 to retrieve
the creative from an ad server (e.g., ad server 114, or ad servers
126 external to the server system 122), or from servers of a
content distribution network (CDN) 131. In various implementations,
the transaction manager 112 can store in the transaction data
database 134 transaction information such as an identifier of the
creative served to the user, an identifier of the winning buyer,
the user's identifier, the winning bid price, an identifier of the
ad space, an identifier of the seller of the ad space, and a time
stamp. Other transaction information of a transaction is
possible.
[0022] To ensure a better user experience, a seller (e.g., a
publisher or an ad network) can create an ad quality profile ("ad
profile") specifying one or more quality standards or conditions
that allow or prohibit a creative to be served to ad spaces of an
ad space inventory of the seller. A creative can be served to an ad
space of the ad space inventory if the creative satisfies the
conditions specified by the ad profile. Conditions specified in an
ad profile can be based on one or more attributes of a creative
such as creative media type, dimensions, content type, content
language, landing page, buyer, and brand, for example. An ad
profile for an ad space inventory can specify conditions in allowed
or prohibited attributes of creatives to be served to ad spaces of
the ad space inventory. A creative can be served to an ad space of
the ad space inventory if the creative has attributes that belong
to the allowed attributes (and do not belong to the prohibited
attributes).
[0023] An ad profile can specify creative content types that are
allowed or prohibited for ad spaces of an ad space inventory. For
instance, prohibited content types can be related to illegal or
questionable subjects (e.g., gambling, misappropriation of
copyright material) or actions (e.g., executing or downloading
files without user interaction).
[0024] An ad profile can specify one or more creative media types
that are allowed for ad spaces in an ad space inventory. Creative
media types can be image (e.g., a still image with fixed
dimensions) or rich-media. The rich-media creative media type
includes expandable (e.g., an image expandable in size), animation,
video, and audio. If a creative's media type does not belong to the
allowed creative media types specified by the ad profile, the
creative cannot to be served to ad spaces in the ad space
inventory.
[0025] An ad profile can specify creative dimensions for each ad
space in an ad space inventory. For instance, creative dimensions
for an ad space in the ad space inventory can be the same as (or
within plus ten percent from) the ad space's dimensions. A creative
is allowed to be served to the ad space if the creative's
dimensions can fit within the specified creative dimensions.
[0026] An ad profile can specify one or more creative content
languages (e.g., English and Spanish) that are allowed for ad
spaces in an ad space inventory. A creative can be served to ad
spaces of the ad space inventory if the creative's content language
belongs to the allowed creative content languages.
[0027] An ad profile can specify one or more allowed landing pages
for ad spaces of an ad space inventory. For instance, the ad
profile can specify for a creative that only web pages belong to
the creative's seller are allowed landing pages. A creative can be
served to ad spaces of the ad space inventory if the creative's
landing page belongs to the allowed landing pages. The ad profile
can also specify prohibited behaviors of a creative's landing page.
For instance, prohibited behaviors of a creative's landing page can
be that the landing page having no content, the landing page's
content being unrelated to the creative's buyer or brand, or the
landing page being only accessible from a mobile device.
[0028] An ad profile can specify one or more creative buyers (or
brands) that are allowed for ad spaces in an ad space inventory.
For instance, the ad profile can specify allowed buyers (or brands)
as only buyers that already have existing agreement with the ad
space inventory's seller. As for another example, the ad profile
can allow all buyers (or brands) except buyers representing
competitors to the ad space inventory's seller. A creative can be
served to ad space of the ad space inventory if the creative's
buyer (or brand) belongs to the specified buyers (or brands).
[0029] Ad profiles can be implemented as data objects and stored in
the ad profiles database 138, for example. Sellers can access the
server system 122 (e.g., through a web page, or an application
program interface or API) to create, update, or remove ad profiles
stored in the ad profiles database 138. A global ad profile (e.g.,
implemented as a data object) can be stored in the ad profile
database 138 for specifying standard conditions for creatives
processed by the transaction manager 112. For instance, the global
ad profile can specify conditions that are preferred by most ad
sellers (e.g., publishers) such as prohibiting creatives with
gambling related content. As for another example, the global ad
profile can specify that the only allowable creative media type is
image, since image creatives, as compared to rich-media creatives,
can be less intrusive in users' perception and require less network
bandwidth to transmit.
[0030] When the transaction manager 112 receives a bid on an ad
space from a seller, the transaction manager 112 identifies
attributes of the bid's creative, and determines whether the
attributes satisfy conditions specified by the global ad profile or
the seller's ad profile. The attributes of the bid's creative can
be included in the bid, for example. In various implementations,
the bid's buyer has previously registered the creative with the
server system 122 (e.g., through a web page or API provided by the
server system 122). The server system 122 stored attributes of the
creative in the creative data database 137 and provided the buyer a
unique identifier for the creative. When transaction manager 112
received the bid including the unique identifier, the transaction
manager 112 can access the creative data database 137 (based on the
unique identifier), and identify attributes of the bid's
creative.
[0031] After identifying attributes of the bid's creative, the
transaction manager 112 accesses the ad profiles database 138 for
the global ad profile and determine whether the attributes
satisfies conditions specified in the global ad profile. The
transaction manager 112 also accesses the ad profiles database 138
for the seller's ad profile (if any) for an ad space inventory
including the ad space. The transaction manager 112 determines
whether the attributes of the bid's creative satisfies conditions
specified by the seller's ad profile. The transaction manager 112
allows the bid's creative to sever the ad space when the creative's
attributes satisfies conditions specified by the global ad profile
or the seller's ad profile. For instance, the transaction manager
112 can allow the bid's creative to serve the ad space if the
creative attributes satisfy conditions specified by both the global
ad profile and the seller's ad profile. In various implementations,
the transaction manager 112 can allow the bid's creative to server
the ad space when the creative's attributes satisfy the seller's ad
profile but do not satisfy one or more conditions specified by the
global ad profile. That is, the transaction manager 112 allows the
seller's ad profile to overwrite the global ad profile, as will be
further described later.
[0032] A seller can negotiate with a buyer and reach an agreement
on pricing or other terms on an ad space inventory of the seller.
The seller can create (e.g., through an API or a web page provided
by the server system 122) a deal (e.g., implemented as a data
object) for the agreement and store the deal in the deals database
139. A deal stored in the deals database 139 can include an
identifier for seller, an identifier for a buyer, an identifier for
the deal, an identifier of an ad space inventory of the seller, and
a floor price for an ad space in the ad space inventory. The floor
price specifies a minimal bid price for the buyer. The deal can
also include flight dates (start and ending dates for the deal),
one or more user target segments, and an auction type. The auction
type specifies whether the deal is private or public. For the
private auction type, auctions for ad spaces of the deal are open
only to buyers having agreements with the seller on the deal's
corresponding ad space inventory. For the public auction type,
auctions for ad spaces of the deal are open to every eligible buyer
and not limiting to buyers having agreements with the seller on the
deal's corresponding ad space inventory.
[0033] Since a deal's seller already has a preexisting agreement
with the deal's buyer, the seller can instruct the server system
122 (e.g., the transaction manager 112) to, when processing the
seller's creatives, skip examining the seller's creatives against
the global ad profile stored in the ad profiles database 138. For
instance, the global ad profile can specify prohibited content
types (e.g., gambling) and one allowable creative media type in the
image media type. Since the seller already has the preexisting
agreement with the buyer and trusts the buyer's actions, it is not
necessary for the server system 122 to determine whether the
seller's creatives do not belong to the prohibited content types
specified in the global ad profile. The seller can also instruct
the server system 122 to skip examining whether the seller's
creatives belong to the image media type specified by the global ad
profile and, additionally, charge the seller a premium for the
seller's rich-media creatives (which media type is different from
the image media type specified by the global ad profile).
[0034] FIG. 2 is a data flow diagram of an example method for
real-time online auction based on creative media type. In FIG. 2,
the transaction manager 112 receives, from the client 120, an ad
request (202) for an ad space 126 that is presented in the user
interface 124. Here, the ad space is part of an ad space inventory
of a seller. The transaction manager 112 sends a bid request (204)
requesting for a bid on the ad space to bidders, for example,
bidder A (e.g., representing buyer A), bidder C (e.g., representing
buyer C), and bidder D (e.g., representing buyer D). Bidders A, C,
and D send respective bids back to the transaction manager 112
(206). Each bid includes a respective bid price, buyer, and
creative. Each bid may also include a respective deal (if any)
between the respective buyer and the seller.
[0035] Here, assume that the bid from buyer C has a bid price of
$0.06 (CPM), an image creative, and no existing deal with the
seller. The bid from buyer A has a bid price of $0.08 (CPM), an
animation creative, and an existing deal (with a corresponding deal
identifier #1532). The bid from buyer D has a bid price of $0.03
(CPM), an image creative, and no existing deal with the seller.
[0036] To examine ad quality of the creatives from the buyers, the
transaction manager 112 access the ad profiles database 138 (208)
for the global ad profile that specifies one or more standard
conditions for creative processed by the transaction manager 112.
The transaction manager 112 also access the ad profile database 138
(210) for the seller's ad profile that specifies one or more
conditions for the ad space inventory including the ad space 126
being auctioned by the transaction manager 112.
[0037] The transaction manager 112 also accesses the deals database
139 based on the deal identifier (#1532) for the deal between buyer
A and the seller (212), and obtains a floor price $0.07 (CPM) for
the deal that buyer A and the seller has previously agreed upon
(214).
[0038] By way of illustration, assume that the global ad profile
specifies the allowable creative media type is image. Assume that
the seller's ad profile specifies that both image and rich-media
creative media types are allowable, if a bid's buyer has an
existing deal with the seller and the bid's bid price meets a floor
bid price of the existing deal.
[0039] Given the global ad profile only, the transaction manager
112 does not select the bid from buyer A since the bid's creative
(an animation) is not of the image creative media type, even that
the bid's bid price is highest among the three bids. The
transaction manager 112 would select the next highest bid from
buyer C ($0.06), and cause the image creative from buyer C to be
served to the ad space. However, since buyer A has a deal (deal
#1532) with the seller, and buyer A's bid price ($0.08) meets and
exceeds the deal's floor bid price ($0.07), the transaction manager
112 selects the buyer A's bid as the winning bid (220). That is,
the transaction manager 112, based on the seller's ad profile and
the existing deal between the seller and buyer A, automatically
overwrites the global ad profile for this particular bid from buyer
A. The transaction manager 112 automatically overwrites the global
ad profile for this particular bid from buyer A "on the fly" during
auctioning the ad space 126 in real time, without user manual input
or interruption from the seller or buyer A.
[0040] After selecting buyer A's bid as the winning bid, the
transaction manager 112 sends a message to the ad server 114 (222)
and instructs the ad server to serve the buyer A's creative to the
ad space. The ad server 114 sends the buyer A's creative to the
client device 120 to be presented in the user interface 124 (224).
The transaction manager 112 also stores in the transaction data
database 134 a transaction record including the seller, the buyer
A, and the buyer A's bid price $0.08--i.e., the transaction price
(226). The buyer A will pay the transaction price to the seller for
winning the bid on the ad space. In some implementations, the
transaction manager 112 uses the second-highest bid price ($0.06)
as the transaction price for this transaction record based on a
second-price auction rule. A second-price auction rule such as
Vickrey auction encourages bidders to submit true-valued bids.
Other auction rules are possible.
[0041] As described earlier, the global ad profile and a seller's
ad profile can each specify one or more conditions that allow or
prohibit a creative to be served to an ad space. The conditions can
be based on attributes such as creative media type, dimensions,
content type, content language, landing page, buyer, and brand. In
the example of FIG. 2 above, the seller A's ad profile overwrites
the global ad profile in the condition related to the creative
media type attribute. In some implementations, a seller's ad
profile can overwrite some but not all conditions specified by the
global ad profile. In this case, the transaction manager 112
determines whether a creative satisfies conditions of the global ad
profile that are not overwritten by the seller's ad profile, and
whether the creative satisfies all conditions specified by the
seller's ad profile.
[0042] In other implementations, a seller's ad profile can
overwrite all conditions specified by the global ad profile. In
this case, the transaction manager 112 determines whether a
creative satisfies conditions specified by the seller's ad profile,
and does not determine whether the creative satisfies conditions
specified by the global ad profile.
[0043] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example method for real-time
online auction based on creative media type. The method can be
implemented using software components executing on one or more data
processing apparatus that are part of the data center 121 described
earlier. The method begins by receiving, from a client device, a
first notification of an ad space from a seller, the ad space being
for presentation in a user interface of an application executing on
the client device (302). The method identifies a plurality of ad
conditions corresponding to an ad space inventory to which the ad
space belongs comprising a first condition that identifies an
allowed creative media type for the ad space inventory (304). The
method sends a second notification requesting a bid on the ad space
to a plurality of bidders, each bidder representing a respective
buyer (306). The method receives bids from the bidders, each bid
corresponding to a respective bid price, buyer, and a creative
(308). The method determines that a first bid of the bids
corresponds to a first creative having a media type different from
the allowed creative media type (310). The method identifies a
preexisting arrangement between the buyer corresponding to the
first bid and the seller and, based thereon, allowing the first
creative to be served to the ad space (312).
[0044] Implementations 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. Implementations 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).
[0045] 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.
[0046] 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.
[0047] 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 resource), 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.
[0048] 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).
[0049] 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. Moreover, a
computer can be embedded in another device, e.g., a mobile
telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile audio or
video player, a game console, a Global Positioning System (GPS)
receiver, or a portable storage device (e.g., a universal serial
bus (USB) flash drive), to name just a few. 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.
[0050] To provide for interaction with a user, implementations 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 resources to and receiving resources 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.
[0051] Implementations 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).
[0052] 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 implementations,
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.
[0053] A system of one or more computers can be configured to
perform particular operations or actions by virtue of having
software, firmware, hardware, or a combination of them installed on
the system that in operation causes or cause the system to perform
the actions. One or more computer programs can be configured to
perform particular operations or actions by virtue of including
instructions that, when executed by data processing apparatus,
cause the apparatus to perform the actions.
[0054] 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 implementations of particular inventions. Certain
features that are described in this specification in the context of
separate implementations can also be implemented in combination in
a single implementation. Conversely, various features that are
described in the context of a single implementation can also be
implemented in multiple implementations 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.
[0055] 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 implementations
described above should not be understood as requiring such
separation in all implementations, 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.
[0056] Thus, particular implementations of the subject matter have
been described. Other implementations 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.
* * * * *