Patent Publication Number: US-2011060646-A1

Title: Auction system for use of advertising areas on internet and method of operating the auction system

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates, in general, to an auction system for the use of advertising areas on the Internet and a method of operating the auction system. More particularly, the present invention relates to an auction system for the use of advertising areas on the Internet and a method of operating the auction system, in which the manager of an advertising area provides information about the advertising area over the Internet and the advertising area is used through auction-type competition between advertiser clients. Therefore the manager of the advertising area on the Internet can maximize advertisement profits, and the advertiser clients use the advertising area on the Internet, thereby achieving expected advertising effects. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     Hitherto, in order to use a specific advertising area of a specific web site on the Internet, a contract is made between advertiser clients and an Internet advertisement system in such a way that designated advertising fees, based on the size and location of the advertising area, are charged through the Internet advertisement system of a specific web site manager or the Internet advertisement system of an advertisement agency acting for a specific web site manager. Another contract may be made between the web site manager of the specific web site and the Internet advertisement system, and then an advertisement is posted, with the result that it is impossible to maximize the acceptance of orders for advertisement. Furthermore, even when one or more advertiser clients who have specific purposes and desire to use the specific advertising area of a web page of the specific web site manager are selected using the above-described advertiser client selection method and then advertisements are posted therein, the advertiser clients advertisements may not be posted exclusively or may not be posted at frequencies desired by the advertiser clients, with the result that it is difficult to achieve the advertising effects expected by the advertiser clients. 
     As a result, a more practical and useful scheme for enabling the manager of a specific advertising area on the Internet to maximize advertisement profits using his or her advertising area on the Internet and enabling one or more advertiser clients to use the specific advertising area, even if the advertiser clients pay slightly higher advertising fees than competing advertiser clients pay as a result of the auction, thereby achieving expected advertising effects, is keenly required. 
     DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION 
     Technical Problem 
     Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and the present invention is intended to provide a system and method that is configured such that an auction for the use of an advertising area on the Internet is performed between advertiser clients, and the advertising area on the Internet is provided to one or more advertiser clients selected according to their bidding price. Therefore, a web-site manager who provides the advertising area on the Internet can maximize advertisement profits using his or her own advertising area on the Internet, and the advertiser clients use the desired advertising area on the Internet through the auction, thereby achieving expected advertising effects and enabling the strategic management of advertising. 
     Technical Solution 
     In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides an auction system for the right to use an advertising area on the Internet, the auction system selecting one or more advertiser clients, who have subscribed as members, have participated in bidding and will post advertisements, through an auction. The auction system includes an auction server located on the Internet, a database unit, a bidding processing unit, and an advertisement transmission unit. 
     The auction server includes a bidding interface unit for providing a plurality of advertising areas to the advertiser clients, providing detailed information including a number of exposures, a number of clicks, a lowest bidding price, and an average click rate (where the average click rate is calculated based on a rate of the number of exposures to the number of clicks, that is, a number of times Internet users select an advertisement exposed in the advertising area) for a past unit period for each of the plurality of advertising areas to the advertiser clients, and providing and receiving bidding details. 
     The bidding details include bidding prices of the remaining advertiser clients participating in an auction for the right to use the advertising area selected by the advertiser client, a click rate, which was obtained during a specific period in which an advertisement had been posted, to the advertiser clients, a bidding price for an advertising area and location information of the advertising area. 
     The database unit is configured to store bidding details, corresponding to the advertising area selected by the advertiser clients, input to the bidding interface unit. 
     The bidding processing unit is configured to select one or more advertiser clients who will post advertisements in the advertising area in an order based on the advertiser clients bidding price recorded in the bidding details, which is stored in the database unit; and a maximum profit rate (where maximum profit rate=bidding price click rate), which is stored in the database unit and which is a numerical value that is calculated using a click rate obtained during a specific period in which the advertiser clients had posted advertisements. 
     The advertisement transmission unit is configured to send advertiser clients advertisements, selected by the bidding processing unit, to the advertising area. 
     In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a method of operating an auction system for the right to use an advertising area on the Internet, the auction system selecting one or more advertiser clients, who have subscribed as members, have participated in bidding and will post advertisements, through an auction, the auction system including an auction server located on the Internet. The method includes a first step of a bidding interface unit of the auction server providing a plurality of advertising areas to the advertiser clients, providing detailed information including a number of exposures, a number of clicks, a lowest bidding price, and an average click rate (where the average click rate is calculated based on a rate of the number of exposures to the number of clicks, that is, a number of times Internet users select an advertisement exposed in the advertising area) for a past unit period for each of the plurality of advertising areas to the advertiser clients, and providing bidding details, including bidding prices of the remaining advertiser clients who participate in an auction for the right to use the advertising area selected by the advertiser client, and a click rate, which was obtained during a specific period in which an advertisement had been posted, to the advertiser clients; a second step of the advertiser clients selecting any one from among the plurality of advertising areas provided by a bidding interface unit of the auction server, and a bidding interface unit of the auction server receiving bidding details, including bidding prices, entered for the selected advertising area by the advertiser clients, and location information of the selected advertising area; a third step of a database unit of the auction server storing bidding details input to the bidding interface unit; a fourth step of a bidding processing unit of the auction server checking whether the end of an auction period has been reached, and selecting one or more advertiser clients to post advertisements in the advertising area in an order based on a bidding price of the bidding details, which is stored in the database unit and which corresponds to the advertising area selected by the advertiser clients, and a maximum profit rate (where maximum profit rate=bidding price click rate), which is stored in the database unit and which is a numerical value that is calculated using a click rate obtained during a specific period in which the advertiser clients had posted advertisements; and a fifth step of an advertisement transmission unit of the auction server sending advertiser clients advertisements, selected by the bidding processing unit, to the advertising area. 
     ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS 
     According to the present invention, an auction for the right to use an advertising area on the Internet is performed between advertiser clients, and the advertising area on the Internet is provided to one or more advertiser clients selected according to their bidding price, with the result that a manager, who provides the advertising area on the Internet, can maximize advertisement profits using his or her own advertising area on the Internet, and the advertiser clients use a desired advertising area on the Internet, thereby achieving expected advertising effects and enabling the strategic management of advertising. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram showing the configuration of an auction system for the right to use an advertising area on the Internet according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram showing an example of the display of a web site and web page list that is performed in the bidding process of the auction system shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram showing an example of the display of the advertising areas of a web page that is selected in the bidding process of the auction system shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIGS. 4 and 5  are diagrams showing an example of the display of bidding details for an advertising area that is selected in the bidding process of the auction system according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a flowchart showing a method of operating the auction system for the right to use an advertising area on the Internet according to another embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a detailed flowchart showing the step of checking the deposit account of an advertiser client in the auction system operation method shown in  FIG. 6 ; and 
         FIG. 8  is a detailed flowchart showing the step of selecting an advertiser client who will post an advertisement in an advertising area in the auction system operation method shown in  FIG. 6 . 
     
    
    
     MODE FOR THE INVENTION 
     Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 1  is a diagram showing the configuration of an auction system for the right to use an advertising area on the Internet according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     The auction system for the right to use an advertising area on the Internet according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an auction server  100  configured to be installed on the Internet, provide a plurality of advertising areas  300  to each member who has subscribed to post an advertisement, and select one or more members who will post an advertisement from among the members who participate in an auction in order to use each of the plurality of advertising areas  300  and post an advertisement therein; and a plurality of advertiser clients  200  configured to connect with the auction server  100 , subscribe as members for the posting of advertisements, search the plurality of advertising areas  300 , select one from among the plurality of advertising areas  300 , and enter bidding prices for the selected advertising area. 
     In greater detail, the auction server  100  includes a bidding interface unit  110 , a database unit  120 , a bidding processing unit  130 , and an advertisement transmission unit  140 . The auction server  100  further includes a web log processing unit  150 , an account management unit  160  and a fee processing unit  170 . 
     The bidding interface unit  110  provides the plurality of advertising areas to an advertiser client  200  so that the advertiser client  200  can select any one advertising area  300  from among the plurality of advertising areas, and receives a bidding price for the advertising area  300  that is selected and entered by the advertiser client  200 . 
       FIG. 2  is a diagram showing an example of the display of a web site and web page list that is performed in the bidding process of the auction system according to the present invention, and  FIG. 3  is a diagram showing an example of the display of the advertising areas of a web page that is selected in the bidding process of the auction system according to the present invention. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the bidding interface unit  110  further provides a web site and web page list corresponding to the plurality of advertising areas  300  to the advertiser client  200 . The web site and web page list corresponding to the plurality of advertising areas  300  is provided in the form of a tree structure similar to that of Windows Explorer, and thus the advertiser client  200  can easily search for desired web sites and web pages. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the bidding interface unit  110  further provides detailed information, such as the number of exposures, number of clicks, lowest bidding price and average click rate per period, for each of the plurality of advertising areas  300  and each of the Internet advertiser clients  200  determines whether to participate in an auction based on the detailed information. 
     The number of exposures is the number of times one or more advertisements are exposed to Internet users through the advertising area  300  per period. 
     The lowest bidding price is the lowest of the bidding prices of advertiser clients  200  who have posted advertisements in the advertising area  300  in the above-described auction period. 
     The average click rate is the rate of the number of exposures, that is, the number of times one or more advertisements are exposed to Internet users through the advertising area  300  per period, to the number of clicks, that is, the number of times Internet users select the exposed advertisements. 
     When the advertiser client  200  selects a specific web site, web page and advertising area  300  and determines to make a bid, the bidding interface unit  110  enables a bidding price for the advertising area  300 , selected by the advertiser client  200 , to be entered. 
       FIGS. 4 and 5  are diagrams showing examples of the display of bidding details for an advertising area that is selected in the bidding process of the auction system according to the present invention. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the bidding interface unit  110  further provides the bidding details of the other advertiser clients  200  who have participated in an auction for the selected advertising area  300  to the advertiser client  200 , such as a bidding price, maximum profit rate and click rate. 
     Furthermore, when a selection is performed in an auction, the bidding interface unit  110  receives the advertisement that will be posted in the advertising area  300 . 
     The database unit  120  stores bidding details, including the bidding price, the click rate and the maximum profit rate, received from the bidding interface unit  110 , and the location information of the selected advertising area  300 , and stores the detailed information of each advertising area  300 . 
     Furthermore, the database unit  120  stores the number of exposures and the number of clicks for the advertisement posted in the advertising area  300 , which are collected by the web log processing unit  150 . The exposure information includes the number of exposures for the advertisement, and the click information includes the number of clicks for the advertisement. The exposure and click information is provided to the advertiser client  200  through the bidding interface unit  110 . 
     The database unit  120  also stores an advertisement that will be posted in the advertising area  300 . 
     The bidding processing unit  130  selects an advertiser client  200  who will post an advertisement in the advertising area  300  based on the bidding details stored in the database unit  120 . 
     The bidding processing unit  130  selects an advertiser client  200  to post an advertisement in the advertising area  300  in the order of any one of the bidding price and the maximum profit rate, which is calculated based on bidding details including the bidding price and the click rate. 
     In the case where an advertiser client is selected based on the maximum profit rate, the maximum profit rate is a numerical value that is calculated based on the click rate and the bidding price in a specific period in which the advertiser client  200  has posted an advertisement, and the click rate is a numerical value that is calculated based on the rate of the number of exposures for the advertisement to the number of clicks for the advertisement (the maximum profit rate=bidding price click rate). If there is a history in which the same advertisement was posted in the advertising area  300  selected by the advertiser client  200 , the maximum profit rate is calculated using the click rate that was obtained during the period in which the advertisement had been posted. 
     Alternatively, the advertiser client may be selected based on the bidding price. 
     The bidding processing unit  130  selects one or more advertiser clients based on the bidding details. 
     The bidding processing unit  130  periodically selects again one or more advertiser clients  200  to post one or more advertisements in the advertising area  300  for every specific period set in the auction server  100 . 
     The advertisement transmission unit  140  sends the advertisement of the advertiser client  200 , selected by the bidding processing unit  130 , to the advertising area  300 . The advertisement transmission unit  140  sends the advertisement, stored in the database unit  120 , to the designated advertising area  300 . In the case where two or more advertiser clients  200  are selected for the advertising area  300 , the advertisement transmission unit  140  sends advertisements to the advertising area  300  at the different rates of exposure of the advertisements in the order of the bidding price or of the maximum profit rate. 
     The web log processing unit  150  collects the number of exposures and the number of clicks for the advertisement, sent by the advertisement transmission unit  140 , and stores the information in the database unit  120 . 
     The account management unit  160  checks the balance of the deposit account of the advertiser client  200 , and requests the advertiser client  200  to deposit advertising fees if the balance is less than the minimum balance previously set in the auction server  100 . 
     The fee processing unit  170  performs the settlement of advertisement costs for the advertiser client  200  based on the number of exposures and the number of clicks for the advertisement, which is collected by the web log processing unit  150 . 
       FIG. 6  is a flowchart showing a method of operating the auction system for the use of an advertising area on the Internet according to another embodiment of the present invention. The method of operating the auction system for the use of advertising area on the Internet, which includes the auction server for providing advertising areas to an advertiser client over the Internet, will be described below. 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , the method of operating the auction system for the right to use at least one advertising area  300  on the Internet according to an embodiment of the present invention includes, in the method operating the auction system for the use of the advertising area on the Internet, the auction system including an auction server for providing the advertising area to each of a plurality of advertiser clients over the Internet, step S 40  of the bidding interface unit  110  of the auction server  100  providing a plurality of advertising areas  300  on the Internet to an advertiser client  200 , step S 50  of the advertiser client selecting any one from among the plurality of advertising areas  300  provided by the bidding interface unit  110  of the auction server  100 , step S 60  of the bidding interface unit  110  of the auction server  100  receiving a bidding price for the selected advertising area  300  from the advertiser client  200 , step S 70  of the bidding processing unit  130  of the auction server  100  selecting one advertiser client  200  to post an advertisement in the advertising area  300 , and step S 80  of the advertisement transmission unit of the auction server  100  sending the advertisement of the selected advertiser client  200  to the advertising area  300 . 
     The method further includes, before step S 40 , step S 10  of the bidding interface unit  110  of the auction server  100  receiving subscriptions for membership from each of the advertiser clients  200  who connect to the auction server  100 , step S 20  of the account management unit  160  of the auction server  100  checking the balance of the deposit account of each of the advertiser clients  200 , and step S 30  of the bidding interface unit  110  of the auction server  100  receiving an advertisement from each of the advertiser clients  200 . Furthermore, the method further includes, after step S 80 , step S 90  of the web log processing unit  150  of the auction server  100  collecting the number of exposures and the number of clicks for the advertisement sent to the advertising area  300 , and step S 100  of the fee processing unit  170  of the auction server  100  performing the settlement of the advertising fees for the advertiser client  200  based on the number of exposures and the number of clicks for the advertisement collected by the web log processing unit  150 . 
     In more detail, at step S 10  each advertiser client  200  connects to the auction server  100  and then subscribes as a member at the bidding interface unit  110  in order to participate in an auction for the advertising area  300 . In the case of an advertiser client  200  who is registered as a member, step S 20  is performed, while, in the case of an advertiser client who is not registered as a member, step S 20  is performed after a subscription for membership is completed in step s 10 . Step S 20 , as shown in  FIG. 7 , includes the account management unit  160  of the auction server  100  checking whether an amount of money equal to or greater than the minimum balance for the posting of an advertisement is deposited in the deposit account of the advertiser client  200  at step S 21 . If an amount of money equal to or larger than the minimum balance designated by the auction server is not deposited in the deposit account, the advertiser client  200  is requested to deposit advertising fees equal to or greater than the minimum balance at steps S 22  and S 23 . 
     At step S 30 , the bidding interface unit  110  of the auction server  100  receives the advertisement to be posted in the advertising area  300  from the advertiser client  200 , when an advertiser client  200  is selected as the advertiser client who will post an advertisement at step S 70 . 
     At step S 40 , the bidding interface unit  110  of the auction server  100  provides a plurality of advertising areas  300  on the Internet to the advertiser client  200 . Furthermore, a list of a plurality of web sites and web pages corresponding to the plurality of advertising areas  300  is provided. The list of the plurality of web sites and web pages is provided in the form of a tree structure similar to that of Windows Explorer, and thus the advertiser client  200  can easily search for desired web sites and web pages. Detailed information, including the number of exposures, the number of clicks, the lowest bidding price and average click rate per period for an advertisement for each of the advertising areas  300  is further provided, and each of the advertiser clients  200  determines whether to makes a bid based on the detailed information. 
     Furthermore, the bidding details, including bidding price and the maximum profit rate, of the other advertiser clients who participate in an auction for the selected advertising area  300  is provided to the advertiser client  200 . 
     At step S 50 , the advertiser client  200  selects a desired advertising area  300  with reference to the list of a plurality of web sites and web pages and the detailed information of advertising areas  300  designated for each web page, which is provided by the bidding interface unit  110 . 
     At step S 60 , when each of the advertiser clients  200  selects a desired web site, web page and advertising area  300 , the advertiser client  200  inputs a bidding price for the selected advertising area  300  with reference to the bidding details of the other advertiser clients  200 , such as a bidding price and the maximum profit rate, which are provided by the bidding interface unit  110 . 
     At step S 70 , the bidding processing unit  130  selects the advertiser client  200  in the order of the maximum profit rate or bidding price, which is calculated from the bidding details, including the bidding price and the click rate. 
     Step S 70  includes step S 71  of the bidding processing unit  130  of the auction server  100  checking whether the end of an auction period has been reached, step S 72  of the bidding processing unit  130  of the auction server  100  selecting the advertiser client  200  in the order of the maximum profit rate, and step S 73  of the bidding processing unit  130  of the auction server  100  selecting the advertiser client  200  in the order of the bidding price. 
     At step S 70 , the advertiser client who will post an advertisement in the advertising area  300  is periodically selected again by periodically repeating step S 71 , step S 72 , and step S 73 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 8 , the bidding processing unit  130  of the auction server  100  checks whether or not an auction period has begun at step S 71 . If the auction period has not been begun, the bidding processing unit  130  returns to the start step and then enters a standby state. If the auction period has begun, the bidding processing unit  130  selects an advertiser client  200  to post an advertisement in the advertising area  300 . 
     The selection of the advertiser client  200  is divided into two steps according to a method of calculating advertising fees: step S 72  of the bidding processing unit  130  of the auction server  100  selecting an advertiser client  200  in the order of the maximum profit rate, and step S 73  of the bidding processing unit  130  of the auction server  100  selecting an advertiser client  200  in the order of the bidding price. 
     Step S 72  is the case in which Cost per Click (CPC) is applied. The maximum profit rate is a numerical value that is calculated using the click rate and the bidding price in a specific period in which the advertiser client  200  has posted an advertisement, and the click rate is a numerical value that is calculated using the rate of the number of exposures for an advertisement to the number of clicks (maximum profit rate=bidding price click rate). 
     In the case where there is a history in which the same advertisement had been posted in the advertising area  300  selected by the advertiser client  200 , the maximum profit rate is calculated using the click rate for the period in which the advertisement had been posted. 
     One or more advertiser clients  200  are selected from among a plurality of advertiser clients participating in an auction based on the bidding details so that they alone can post an advertisement in the advertising area  300 . 
     A process of selecting an advertiser client  200  at step S 72  of the bidding processing unit  130  of the auction server  100  selecting the advertiser client  200  in the order of the maximum profit rate will be described in detail below. 
     There are six advertiser clients A, B, C, D, E and F who desire to use a specific advertising area  300  on the Internet and post an advertisement on the specific advertising area  300 . Currently, in the advertisement system of the present invention, four advertiser clients are intended to be selected for the advertising area  300 . Of the six advertiser clients, advertiser clients A, B, C and D have posted advertisements in the advertising area  300 , while advertiser clients E and F desire to post advertisements in the advertising area  300  for the first time. The average click rate of the advertising area  300  is 0.1. An auction is currently underway to select an advertiser client for the next period, and the bidding details of each of the advertiser clients are listed in the following Table 1: 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
                   
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 A 
                 B 
                 C 
                 D 
                 E 
                 F 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Bidding 
                 1000 
                 300 
                 200 
                 100 
                 500 
                 100 
               
               
                 price 
               
               
                 Click rate 
                 0.005 
                 0.1 
                 0.3 
                 0.4 
                 0.1 
                 0.1 
               
               
                 Maximum 
                 5 
                 30 
                 60 
                 40 
                 50 
                 10 
               
               
                 profit rate 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     The maximum profit rate is calculated with 0.1, that is, the average click rate of the advertising area  300 , assigned as the click rate of the advertiser clients E and F who are participating in the auction for the first time. 
     As a result, advertiser clients C, E, D and B are selected in the order of the maximum profit rate. 
     Although advertiser client A presents a bidding price higher than those of the other advertiser clients, because advertiser client A has an advertisement click rate that is considerably lower than those of the other advertiser clients for some reason, advertiser client A was not selected. This indicates that this method can increase the sales of the manager of the web site as compared to the method of selecting an advertiser client in the order of the bidding price. 
     Step S 73  of the bidding processing unit  130  of the auction server  100  selecting an advertiser client  200  in the order of the bidding price is the case in which Cost Per Thousand impressions (CPM) is applied. One or more advertiser clients  200  are selected from among a plurality of advertiser clients  200  participating in the auction in the order of the bidding price so that they can post advertisements in the advertising area  300 . 
     A process of selecting an advertiser client at step S 73  of the bidding processing unit  130  of the auction server  100  selecting the advertiser client  200  in the order of the bidding price will be described in detail below using Table 1. At step S 73 , the advertiser client  200  is selected simply in the order of the bidding price, with the result that advertiser clients A, E, B and C are selected in the order of the bidding price if four advertiser clients are intended to be selected. 
     At step S 80  of the advertisement transmission unit of the auction server  100  sending the advertisement of the selected advertiser client  200  to the advertising area  300 , the advertisement transmission unit  140  sends the advertisement of the advertiser client  200 , selected at step S 70  of the bidding processing unit  130  of the auction server  100  selecting the advertiser client  200  who will post the advertisement in the advertising area  300 , to the advertising area  300 . The advertisement transmission unit  140  sends the advertisement, stored in the database unit  120 , to the advertising area  300 . The reason why two or more advertiser clients are selected such that they can post advertisements in the advertising area  300  is that the advertisements can be sent at different exposure rates in the order of the maximum profit rate or bidding price. 
     At step S 90  of the web log processing unit  150  of the auction server  100  collecting the number of exposures and the number of clicks for an advertisement sent to the advertising area  300 , the web log processing unit  150  of the auction server  100  collects the number of exposures and the number of clicks for the advertisement sent to the advertising area  300  on the Internet by the advertisement transmission unit  140 , and stores it in the database unit  120 . 
     At step S 100 , the fee processing unit  170  performs the settlement of advertising fees for the advertiser client  200  based on the number of exposures and the number of clicks for the advertisement collected by the web log processing unit  150 . 
     Step S 100  is divided into a case using CPC and a case using CPM depending on the method of calculating advertising fees used at the time of selecting the advertiser client  200 . 
     First, in the case using CPC, advertising fees may be calculated using the number of clicks and the bidding price for the relevant advertising area  300  for a period in which the advertisement has been posted, and, in the case using CPM, advertising fees may be calculated using the number of exposures and the bidding price for the relevant advertising area  300  for a period in which the advertisement has been posted. 
     As a result, according to the present invention, an auction for the right to use an advertising area  300  of a specific web site is performed between advertiser clients who desire to post advertisements on the Internet, and the advertising area  300  on the Internet is provided to one or more advertiser clients  200  selected according to the bidding price. Accordingly, the manager of the advertising area on the Internet can maximize advertisement profits, and the advertiser clients  200  use the desired advertising area  300  on the Internet thereby achieving expected advertising effects and enabling the strategic management of advertising. 
     Although the present invention has been described in detail hitherto, it is clearly noted that the embodiments given in the description are only illustrative, and are not limitative. The replacement of elements with equivalent elements within a range that does not depart from the technical spirit or scope of the present invention provided by the accompanying claims falls within the range of the present invention.