Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US10169765B2/en
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 16:06:08+00:00

Document:
2017-01-05 Assigned to JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT reassignment JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT SECURITY INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: REACHLOCAL, INC.
Disclosed are methods and apparatus, including computer program products, implementing and using techniques for generating advertisement information for performing a marketing campaign on behalf of an advertiser. The advertiser has an associated computer in communication with a data network. A plurality of electronic publishers in communication with the data network are used. In one aspect, the method includes receiving, over the data network, information describing subject matter of the marketing campaign. Advertisement information is generated based on the received information describing the marketing campaign subject matter. A plurality of instantiations of the advertisement information are generated using publisher parameters associated with the electronic publishers. Each instantiation is in a format appropriate for a respective one of the electronic publishers. At least one of the generated instantiations is provided to the respective electronic publisher over the data network.
The present application relates to commonly assigned, copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/956,554, filed concurrently herewith, for METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING A MARKETING CAMPAIGN ON BEHALF OF AN ADVERTISER, U.S. patwnt application Ser. No. 10/956,558, filed concurrently herewith, for METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ALLOCATING A CAMPAIGN BUDGET AMONG PUBLISHERS FOR A MARKETING CAMPAIGN, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/956,553, filed concurrently herewith, for METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRACKING AND REPORTING CAMPAIGN STATUS INFORMATION FOR A MARKETING CAMPAIGN, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/956,824, filed concurrently herewith, for METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DYNAMICALLY RENDERING AN ADVERTISER WEB PAGE AS A PROXIED WEB PAGE. The disclosures of the above-listed applications are all incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.
Aspects of the present invention relate to methods and apparatus, including computer program products, implementing and using techniques for generating advertisement information for performing a marketing campaign on behalf of an advertiser. The advertiser has an associated computer in communication with a data network. A plurality of electronic publishers in communication with the data network are used. In one aspect, the method includes receiving, over the data network, information describing subject matter of the marketing campaign. Advertisement information is generated based on the received information describing the marketing campaign subject matter. A plurality of instantiations of the advertisement information are generated using publisher parameters associated with the electronic publishers. Each instantiation is in a format appropriate for a respective one of the electronic publishers. At least one of the generated instantiations is provided to the respective electronic publisher over the data network.
FIG. 5 shows an organizational structure 500 of a processor-readable storage medium such as a database, providing geographic territories for targeting a marketing campaign. The processor-readable storage medium in which data structure 500 is stored can be a component of advertising platform 120, or a separate component in communication with advertising platform 120. In one embodiment, the data is organized in a hierarchical structure of categories providing a taxonomy for targeting the marketing campaign. In the data structure 500 of FIG. 5, a top-level category indicates whether the geographic territory for the marketing campaign should occur on a national level 505. Under the national level are lower level categories including DMA level 510, city level 515, SCF level 520, and zip code level 525. In one embodiment, each lower level category provides sub-geographic categories within the upper level category to which the lower level category belongs, as shown in FIG. 5. As used herein, upper level categories refer to those in the hierarchy that are above any lower level category in the data structure. For instance, national level 505 is an upper level with respect to DMA level 510, and both national level 505 and DMA level 510 are upper levels with respect to city level 515. Similarly, zip code level 525 is a lower level with respect to SCF level 520, and both SCF level 520 and zip code level 525 are lower levels with respect to city level 515. In another embodiment, lower level categories are not always sub-categories of an upper level category.
In FIGS. 2A and 2B, the advertising platform 120 includes a publisher interface engine 230 which interfaces with publishers to submit keywords, advertisements, and otherwise interact with the publishers on behalf of advertisers of the advertising platform 120. In one embodiment, application programming interfaces (APIs) are generated by publisher interface engine 230 and used as needed to interface with the publishers. Categories selected by the advertiser can be mapped to publisher-specific taxonomies. The publisher interface engine 230 takes into account publisher-specific business rules, publisher-specific ad requirements, and publisher-specific account creation requirements, all of which are considered “publisher parameters.” Other publisher parameters are used by the advertising platform 120, as described below. The advertiser does not to need to interact directly with any one publisher. The APIs provided by publisher interface engine 230 receive information provided by the advertiser, e.g., categories, advertisements, keywords, format that information based on the specific requirements of the publisher, and submit that information to the publisher on behalf of the advertiser.
In FIG. 10, the publisher allocation table includes the following entries: publisher 1 1002, publisher 2 1005, and possibly additional publisher fields which identify all of the publishers available to receive the advertisement by name or identification number or code. Preferably, each row in the table has IDs for every publisher so that a 100 percent allocation can be enforced row by row. A category ID 1010 provides a category in each row, as described above, with respect to FIGS. 5 and 6. When an advertiser has selected multiple categories, a weighted average allocation can be made across the relevant rows. In addition, the table 1000 includes a Geo ID 1015, which identifies a geographic area for targeting the marketing campaign, selected by the advertiser, as described above with respect to FIG. 5. In addition, the table includes daily campaign budget amounts minimum 1020 and maximum 1025 for each publisher. Preferably, the indicated daily campaign budget minimum and maximum “amounts” in columns 1020 and 1025 are actually bands providing a range of amounts for which the allocation will apply. In one embodiment, the specific allocation performed in step 910 is an interactive process in which the campaign allocation engine 210 provides recommended allocations to the advertiser which can be adjusted as desired. In another embodiment, the allocation is determined entirely by campaign allocation engine 210 based on the information in table 1000 and possible additional historical data assessing the likelihood of obtaining leads using each publisher and the designated categories and keywords.
“Ad type” refers to the nature of the advertisement used in the marketing campaign. Several advertisements can be used, including keywords, paid inclusions, referring to any advertiser whose site is submitted for listing on major search engines that offer paid inclusion, and generic and customized banners. Other ad types include directory listings and other sponsored listings.
In one example, as shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B, the dynamic editing includes filtering the content of the advertiser web page 1510. For instance, contact information on that page can be identified using conventional pattern recognition techniques. Examples of such identified contact information include phone numbers, email addresses, images, and other numbers including fax numbers, cell phone numbers, and any other means for contacting the advertiser. The numbers on the advertiser web page are characterized herein as “target” numbers, referring to the actual number at which the advertiser can respond to a customer. The identified contact information is replaced with appropriate tracking numbers. These tracking numbers are intermediary numbers through which the customer interaction will be routed to gather information about the customer interaction. For instance, in FIG. 15B, the “phone” number “Contact: ReachLocal.com” number shown on advertiser web page 1510 of FIG. 15A have been replaced on the proxied web page 1520. The email address “sales@reachlocal.com” has been replaced with a tracking email link, “send E-Mail to Sales,” which generates a tracking email. In other examples, the dynamic editing includes replacing a price on the advertiser web page. For instance, the price can be associated with an item in inventory that is displayed only to customers accessing the page via an advertisement from the marketing campaign. Another example of dynamic editing the advertiser web page is inserting or replacing electronic coupons.
at a reporting and optimization engine, using data received from two or more of publishers, proxy activity, consumer history, link tracking and phone call tracking to produce regular optimal refinement of selection of publishers, bids, keyword selection and prices and budget or other marketing activity for the yield benefit of the advertiser across the multiple publishers and publisher types to optimize leads.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic publishers include a search engine.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic publishers include an online directory.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic publishers include an online yellow pages.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic publishers include an online shopping service.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic publishers include an e-commerce provider.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertisement information includes a textual advertisement.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertisement information includes a graphical advertisement.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertisement information includes an item for sale.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the item for sale is a product.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one generated instantiation includes duration information.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one generated instantiation includes one or more categories describing subject matter of the marketing campaign.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one generated instantiation includes a publisher bid amount associated with at least one of the categories.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one generated instantiation includes one or more keywords for the marketing campaign.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one generated instantiation includes a publisher bid amount associated with at least one of the keywords.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one generated instantiation includes one or more geographic areas for targeting the marketing campaign.
17. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one generated instantiation includes one or more demographics for targeting the marketing campaign.
18. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one generated instantiation includes one or more psychographics for targeting the marketing campaign.
19. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one generated instantiation includes a budget amount.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the budget amount is a maximum spend amount.
21. The method of claim 19, wherein the budget amount is a fixed cost per lead amount.
22. The method of claim 19, wherein the budget amount is a maximum spend per lead amount.
the information describing the marketing campaign subject matter includes the selected upper level category.
receiving, through the user interface and over the data network, a selection of at least one of the lower level categories for association with the advertiser, the information describing the marketing campaign subject matter further including the selected at least one lower level category.
25. The method of claim 23, wherein the upper level category describes the marketing campaign.
26. The method of claim 23, wherein the upper level category describes the advertiser.
27. The method of claim 24, wherein the selected at least one lower level category describes the marketing campaign.
28. The method of claim 24, wherein the selected at least one lower level category describes the advertiser.
29. The method of claim 24, wherein the selected at least one lower level category describes a specialty of the advertiser.
30. The method of claim 24, wherein the selected at least one lower level category describes a service provided by the advertiser.
31. The method of claim 24, wherein the selected at least one lower level category describes a product provided by the advertiser.
32. The method of claim 24, wherein the selected at least one lower level category describes an item in an inventory.
33. The method of claim 24, wherein the selected at least one lower level category describes a geographic territory for the marketing campaign.
34. The method of claim 23, wherein the upper level category designates a geographic territory for the marketing campaign.
35. The method of claim 34, wherein the lower level categories designate sub-geographic territories within the geographic territory.
36. The method of claim 23, wherein the upper level category designates a national territory.
37. The method of claim 23, wherein the upper level category designates a designated marketing area (DMA) territory.
38. The method of claim 23, wherein the upper level category designates a city territory.
39. The method of claim 23, wherein the lower level categories include a plurality of DMAs.
40. The method of claim 23, wherein the lower level categories include a plurality of cities.
41. The method of claim 23, wherein the lower level categories include a plurality of Sectional Center Facilities (SCF).
42. The method of claim 23, wherein the lower level categories include a plurality of zip codes.
(ii) outputting the retrieved keyword or keywords.
(ii) outputting the retrieved value with the retrieved keyword or keywords.
45. The method of claim 44, wherein the retrieved value is a publisher bid amount representing an amount to spend on the associated keyword at each electronic publisher.
46. The method of claim 43, wherein the outputted keyword or keywords represent search terms for the electronic publishers.
wherein the selection of the at least one category is received through the user interface and over the data network.
identifying, in the keyword table, the keyword or keywords as associated with the category ID.
selecting the identified keyword or keywords based on values associated with the keywords.
(ii) outputting the retrieved group of groups of keywords.
identifying, in the keyword table, the group or groups of keywords as associated with the category ID.
selecting the identified group or groups of keywords based on values associated with the keywords.
mapping the advertisement information to publisher categories associated with the respective one electronic publisher.
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