Abstract:
Presentation of media of a particular campaign via a network, to which a plurality of client computers are connectable, is managed. The particular campaign is to present media of the campaign to the client computers for response evocation. An event is received indicating that media of the campaign is to be provided to a particular client computer via the network. Indications of responses to primary media of the campaign are processed and, based thereon and in response to receiving the event indicating that media of the campaign is to be provided to the particular client computer, one of primary media of the campaign and secondary media of the campaign is selected to provide to the particular client computer via the network. The indications of responses are automatically maintained based at least in part on whether the particular client computer responds to the primary media of the campaign.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    Much effort is being put into targeting advertising to internet users who are most likely to have interest in what is being advertised. Typically, the more targeted an advertisement can be shown to be, the more an advertising provider can charge for that advertisement. 
         [0002]    In one conventional example, indications of responders (e.g., those who clicked on advertisements of a particular original advertising campaign) are processed during a subsequent advertising campaign much later (e.g., months later) for what is deemed to be a related product. For example, the first advertising campaign may be for a first movie, and the subsequent advertising campaign may be for another movie in which those interested in the first movie may also be interested. 
         [0003]    In another conventional example, a first phase of an advertising campaign is run for a set period of time (such as one day), then the indications of responders are processed during a subsequent period of time (such as three days) and subsequent advertising is targeted at those who indicated an interest in the advertised product and/or service. 
         [0004]    Interestingly, in both examples, the goal is to sell subsequent advertising targeted at initial responders, rather than accentuating the success of the original advertising campaign. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    A method and system is provided to manage presentation of media of a particular campaign via a network to which a plurality of client computers are connectable. The particular campaign is to present media of the campaign to the client computers for response evocation. An event is received indicating that media of the campaign is to be provided to a particular client computer via the network. For example, the event may be a result of a search query that corresponds to the advertising campaign or may be a result of action by the client computer to cause a browser to display a page whose content includes keywords that correspond to the advertising campaign. 
         [0006]    Indications of responses to primary media of the campaign are processed and, based thereon and in response to receiving the event indicating that media of the campaign is to be provided to the particular client computer, one of primary media of the campaign and secondary media of the campaign is selected to provide to the particular client computer via the network. The indications of responses are automatically maintained based at least in part on whether the particular client computer responds to the primary media of the campaign. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing to selectively display primary advertisements and secondary advertisements of an advertising campaign. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a timeline illustrating an example result of the  FIG. 1  processing. 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating an example architecture of a system in which the  FIG. 1  method may operate. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0010]    One goal of an advertising campaign is to obtain conversions—for example, converting a user viewing an advertisement into a buyer by obtaining completion of a purchase of an item being advertised. There are numerous other examples of converting, and the determination of whether a user has converted with respect to a particular advertising campaign is a function of how conversion is defined with respect to that particular advertising campaign. Merely clicking on or otherwise exhibiting preliminary interest in the primary material being displayed is not converting, however. 
         [0011]    It is desired to efficiently handle responder targeting to, for example, target individual responders (i.e., users who respond) to advertisements based on characteristics of those responders and/or their response. Users who respond to primary advertising material, but who do not convert, are appropriately targeted with subsequent secondary advertising material. The secondary advertising material is typically more focused on obtaining a conversion, with respect to the subject matter of the primary advertising material, from that user. 
         [0012]    Leads (i.e., responders to initial advertisements) can quickly cool off. Thus, in accordance with an aspect, a method is provided to log responders to primary media (such as primary advertisements) of a particular campaign, and to present secondary media for the campaign to such logged responders, as appropriate, based on characteristics of that individual responder and of that individual responder&#39;s response. The log may be automatically maintained in a manner appropriate to each particular advertising campaign. 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a flow chart illustrating a responder targeting method at a high level. Referring to  FIG. 1 , a log of responders is shown implemented as responder list  102 . For example, the responder list  102  may include an entry, for each responder, that indicates an identification of that responder and also indicates properties of the responder&#39;s response (such as the time of the response). Information about a user, including information that can be used to uniquely identify the user (even if the user remains anonymous) is typically obtained from the user (using a client computing device such as a personal computer or other computing device) by means of browser cookies although other methods of obtaining such information may be used as well. As is discussed later, the processing shown in the left side of  FIG. 1  is processing to populate the responder list  102  and to process entries of the responder list to determine whether to present primary advertising material or secondary advertising material, or perhaps no advertising at all, based on an advertising display event  104 . The processing shown in the right side of  FIG. 1  is to selectively delete responders from the responder list  102  (or to otherwise indicate not to provide secondary advertising material to particular responders). 
         [0014]    In some examples, the responder list  102  is maintained in a decentralized manner, with information for a particular user being maintained at the computing device. For example, the information about a particular responder user may be contained within a cookie at that user&#39;s computer, and maintenance on the information may be performed when there is an opportunity to consider the cookie (such as when another event is provided for that user, or when a “related” web page is being viewed, such that the maintenance can be performed based on processing associated with that related web page). 
         [0015]    Turning now to  FIG. 1  in detail, reference numeral  104  refers to an event to initiate display, to a user, of an advertisement of an advertising campaign. Such an event may be, for example, a result of “sponsored search” processing by which a user requests a search engine to generate search results based on search query keywords provided by the user. In addition to causing search results to be displayed, the search engine (or software associated with or otherwise in communication with the search engine) also causes one or more sponsored advertisements to be displayed to the user based on the search query keywords provided by the user. Typically, the advertisements are displayed visually, although other examples include “display” for sensory perception other than visual. In the following description, the search query keywords are considered to result in the search engine causing display of advertisements of particular advertising campaigns, rather than of particular advertisements. In another example, the event is a result of processing a displayed web page for particular keywords, similar to the sponsored search processing. As another example, the event may be a result of action by the client computer to cause a browser to display a page whose content includes keywords that correspond to the advertising campaign 
         [0016]    At step  106 , it is determined if the user to whom the display of an advertisement is to be initiated is on the responder list  102  (or, for example, by referring to a locally maintained indication for that user). If the user is on the responder list  102 , then the user has already responded to primary advertising material of the advertising campaign. If it is determined that the user is not on the responder list  102 , then at step  108 , primary advertising material is caused to be presented to the user. 
         [0017]    At step  110 , it is determined whether the user responded to the primary material caused to be presented at step  108 . Typically, the determination as to whether the user responded to the primary material is a determination of whether the user indicated the primary material by clicking on the primary material displayed to the user via a browser program executing on one of many client computers to which the advertising campaign is being served. (Other user-initiated events that, in some examples, are considered to be the user responding to the material include downloading an instant messaging environment and viewing a movie trailer.) That is, a user would typically click on the primary material displayed to cause other material to be displayed, in the hopes (by the advertiser) of the user eventually “converting.” 
         [0018]    If it is determined at step  110  that the user did not respond to the primary material caused to be presented at step  108 , then processing exits at step  114 . However, if it is determined at step  110  that the user did respond to the primary material caused to be presented at step  108 , then processing continues at step  112 . At step  112 , it is determined if the user has converted with respect to the advertising campaign. If it is determined at step  112  that the user has converted with respect to the advertising campaign, then processing exits at step  114 . 
         [0019]    On the other hand, if it is determined at step  112  that the user has not converted with respect to the advertising (remembering that, at step  110 , it was determined that the user responded to the primary material caused to be presented at step  108 ), then at step  116  the user is added to the responder list  102 . As will be seen, upon subsequent events  104  to initiate display of an advertisement, of the advertising campaign, to the user, the presence of an indication of the user in the responder list  102  affects the processing that is carried out. 
         [0020]    In particular, if it is determined at step  106  (after an event  104  to initiate display of an advertisement) that the user is on the responder list  102 , then it is determined at step  118  if criteria is satisfied to cause secondary material of the advertising campaign to be presented to the user. In one example, the criteria that the user has not responded to the primary material less than a particular amount of time before the event  104  that would otherwise result in causing display of the secondary material, then processing exits at step  114 . That is, in this example, it is deemed that at least the particular amount of time should pass between displaying the primary material and displaying the secondary material, to minimize irritation to users. 
         [0021]    In many examples, then, the responder list  102  includes, in a record for each responder, information indicating properties of the responder user and of her activities relative to the advertising campaign. For example, the record for a particular responder user may include a time associated with the response to the primary material that caused a record for the responder user to be added to the responder list  102 . This information can be used, for example, in the step  118  processing to determine if criteria is satisfied to cause secondary material of the advertising campaign to be presented. This information can also be used in the process of maintaining the responder list  102 . 
         [0022]    Returning again to the discussion of step  118 , if it is determined at step  118  that the particular criteria is satisfied to cause display of the secondary material, then processing continues at step  120 , where the secondary material is caused to be displayed. In addition to including an indication of a time associated with the response to the primary material that caused a record for the responder user to be added to the responder list  102 , the record for a particular responder user may also include, for example, one or more times at which secondary material was presented to the responder user. After step  120  processing, processing exits at step  114 . 
         [0023]    The discussion thus far of  FIG. 1  has illustrated an example process to track responses by users to primary material of an advertising campaign and, based thereon, to selectively present secondary material of the advertising campaign to responder users. This tracking and processing makes extensive use of the responder list  102 . In some examples, it is desirable to maintain or otherwise process the responder list  102  “in the background” and not directly in processing that is carried out based on receipt of an event  104  to initiate display of an advertisement of the advertising campaign. 
         [0024]    In some examples, the processing of step  120  (to cause the secondary material to be presented) may be entered independently of an advertisement display event  104 . This is shown in  FIG. 1  as a dashed arrow  122 . For example, even if the user does not perform a search with keywords to cause the advertisement display event  104  corresponding to the advertising campaign, or does not browse to a web page with keywords to cause the advertisement display event  104  corresponding to the advertising campaign, the secondary material may be cause to be displayed at an appropriate time (e.g., a certain amount of time after the initial response). For example, the record in the responder list  102 , for the particular responder user, indicates the time at which the responder user responded to the primary advertisement of the campaign. The responder list may be processed such that, after a particular amount of time has passed since the response to the primary material, the secondary material is caused to be displayed. 
         [0025]    As another example, as mentioned above, the processing shown in the right side of  FIG. 1  is to selectively delete responders from the responder list  102  (or to otherwise indicate not to provide secondary advertising material to particular responders). This is an example only, and other types of processing may be carried out in a similar manner. Turning back to  FIG. 1 , processing at step  124  is to determine if a particular responder user indicated in the responder list  102  should be removed from the responder list  102  due to the responder user being characterized as outside the “warm” period for the campaign. 
         [0026]    That is, in the step  124  processing, it is determined if the present time (i.e., the time that the step  124  processing is taking place) is after the time at which the responder user responded to the primary advertisement by a particular amount of time. The particular amount of time may be configurable on an advertising campaign basis, and may reflect a judgment as to an amount of time after which a lead (i.e., the responder user who responded to the primary advertisement) is unlikely to ever respond to the secondary advertisements. While not shown in  FIG. 1 , other conditions may also be used to determine that the indication of the responder user is to be deleted from the responder list  102 . 
         [0027]    Using the specific  FIG. 1  example, if it is determined at step  124  that the present time is after the “warm” time for the particular responder user, then processing continues at step  126 , where the indication of the particular responder user is removed from the responder list  102 ; processing then continues at step  124  for another responder user indicated in the responder list  102 . If it is determined at step  124  that the present time is not after the “warm” time period for the particular responder user, then step  124  processing is repeated for another responder user indicated in the responder list  102 . 
         [0028]    It can be seen, then, that an advertising campaign may be controlled to coordinate the display of primary material and of secondary material, as appropriate, to users that respond to the primary material. In addition, as mentioned above, the responder indications may be maintained in a decentralized manner, e.g., as cookies associated with each user client. Thus, the maintenance may be more opportunistic, taking place for a particular user when the cookie for that user is accessible, such as when an event  104  occurs, or when a related web page is being viewed. 
         [0029]    Having broadly described an example processing flow for responder targeting in an advertising campaign, we now discuss some simplistic examples with reference to  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 2  illustrates some simplistic example timelines for processing of an advertising campaign. We describe the  FIG. 2  example in the context of the  FIG. 1  flowchart. Some of the parameters of the  FIG. 2  example advertising campaign are that the primary portion of the campaign (i.e., the time during which primary advertisements may be displayed) is three days. There is a wait period of one day (block  118  in  FIG. 1 ), after a response to a primary advertisement, to present the secondary advertisement to the responder. Finally, the secondary portion of the campaign (i.e., the time during which secondary advertisements may be displayed to a particular responder user) is three days. 
         [0030]    Turning now to  FIG. 2 , block  202  represents a primary advertisement being displayed to a particular user (roughly corresponding to step  108  of the  FIG. 1  flowchart). For example, as discussed above, the primary advertisement (as well as the secondary advertisement) may be a result of processing a search query or a result of processing content caused to be displayed by user action with respect to a browser program of a client computer. Blocks  204  and  206  represent the different paths the user may take. Block  204  represents the user responding to the primary advertisement (roughly corresponding to the “no” path from step  110  in  FIG. 1 ), whereas block  206  represents the user not responding to the primary advertisement (roughly corresponding to the “yes” path from step  110  in  FIG. 1 ). 
         [0031]    Block  208  in  FIG. 2  represents a secondary advertisement being displayed, based on the user responding to the primary advertisement (block  204 ). Note that the secondary advertisement is displayed (block  208 ) not less than one day after the user responds to the primary advertisement (block  204 ). Thereafter, whether the user responds to the secondary advertisement (blocks  210 ,  212  and  214 ) or not (blocks  216  and  218 ), the secondary advertisement is displayed (blocks  222  and  224 ). Block  226  represents the user being dropped from the responder list, given the three days (the three day “warm” time period in this example) that have passed since the user responded to the primary advertisement (block  204 ). 
         [0032]    Going back to block  206 , as discussed above, this block represents the user not responding to the primary advertisement. As a result, the primary advertisement is displayed again (block  228 ). Like blocks  204  and  206 , blocks  230  and  232  respectively represent the responding to the primary advertisement (block  230 ) and not responding to the primary advertisement (block  232 ). 
         [0033]    Blocks  234 ,  236  and  238 , resulting from the user responding to the primary advertisement at block  230 , parallel the blocks  208 ,  222  and  224  resulting from the user responding to the primary advertisement at block. Similarly, blocks  240 ,  246 ,  242 ,  248 ,  244  and  250  parallel the blocks  210 ,  216 ,  212 ,  218 ,  214  and  220 . In addition, block  252  parallels block  226 . 
         [0034]    Finally, going back to block  232 , the blocks that follow—collectively, indicated by reference numeral  254 —parallel the blocks collectively indicated by reference numeral  256 . 
         [0035]    Having described a method and an example of the method for an advertising campaign having particular parameters, we now describe, with reference to  FIG. 3 , an example architecture of a system in which the method may operate. Turning now to  FIG. 3 , a plurality of client devices  302  are connected to a communication network  304  such as the internet. It is the client devices  302  on which the primary and secondary advertisements are ultimately caused to be displayed and via which a user responds to the advertisements. Block  306  generically represents functionality that initiates display of an advertisement, such as resulting from a sponsored search or context-based advertising display on a web page. A signal indicating initiating display of an advertisement is provided to the advertising service  308 . 
         [0036]    In general, in the  FIG. 3  example, the processing at the left side of  FIG. 1  takes place within advertising service  308 . The advertising service  308  provides a signal to one or more client devices  302  to cause display of a primary advertisement or a secondary advertisement of the advertising campaign. Block  310  includes functionality to process responses, provided from client devices  302 , to advertisements that are displayed on the client devices. The storage icon  312  represents the responder list ( 102 , in  FIG. 1 ). The responder list  312  is updated based on the response processing at block  310 . Block  314  represents functionality to maintain the responder list, such as the processing at the right side of  FIG. 1 . Finally, block  316  represents functionality to collect conversion data (used, for example, at the decision step  112  in  FIG. 1 ). 
         [0037]    In can be seen, then, that a method and system has been described in which, by selectively targeting responders to primary media of an advertising campaign, according to particular criteria relative to the response to the primary media, with secondary media of the advertising campaign, the success of the advertising campaign may be accentuated.