Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20040267612
Timestamp: 2018-04-27 04:52:24
Document Index: 288127009

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4']

US20040267612A1 - Using enhanced ad features to increase competition in online advertising - Google Patents
US20040267612A1
US20040267612A1 US10610350 US61035003A US2004267612A1 US 20040267612 A1 US20040267612 A1 US 20040267612A1 US 10610350 US10610350 US 10610350 US 61035003 A US61035003 A US 61035003A US 2004267612 A1 US2004267612 A1 US 2004267612A1
US10610350
US8595071B2 (en )
Regardless of the strategy, Website-based ads (also referred to as “Web ads”) are often presented to their advertising audience in the form of “banner ads”—i.e., a rectangular box that includes graphic components. When a member of the advertising audience (referred to as a “viewer” or “user” in the Specification without loss of generality) selects one of these banner ads by clicking on it, embedded hypertext links typically direct the viewer to the advertiser's Website. This process, wherein the viewer selects an ad, is commonly referred to as a “click-through” (“Click-through” is intended to cover any user selection.). The ratio of the number of click-throughs to the number of impressions of the ad (i.e., the number of times an ad is displayed) is commonly referred to as the “click-through rate” of the ad. A “conversion” is said to occur when a user consummates a transaction related to a previously served ad. What constitutes a conversion may vary from case to case and can be determined in a variety of ways. For example, it may be the case that a conversion occurs when a user clicks on an ad, is referred to the advertiser's Web page, and consummates a purchase there before leaving that Web page. Alternatively, a conversion may be defined as a user being shown an ad, and making a purchase on the advertiser's Web page within a predetermined time (e.g., seven days). In yet another alternative, a conversion may be defined by an advertiser to be any measurable/observable user action such as, for example, downloading a white paper, navigating to at least a given depth of a Web site, viewing at least a certain number of Web pages of a Website, spending at least a predetermined amount of time on a Website or Web page, etc. Often, if they don't indicate a consummated purchase, such user actions may indicate a sales lead, although user actions constituting a conversion are not limited to this. Indeed, many other definitions of what constitutes a conversion are possible. The ratio of the number of conversions to the number of impressions of the ad (i.e., the number of times an ad is displayed) is commonly referred to as the conversion rate. If a conversion is defined to be able to occur within a predetermined time since the serving of an ad, one possible definition of the conversion rate might only consider ads that have been served more than the predetermined time in the past.
[0014]FIG. 1 is a high-level diagram showing parties or entities that can interact with an advertising system.
[0015]FIG. 2 is a bubble chart of an advertising environment in which the present invention may operate.
[0016]FIG. 3 is a bubble chart illustrating operations that may be performed in a manner consistent with the present invention.
[0017]FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an exemplary method that may be used to apply, selectively, one or more enhanced presentation features to one or more ads, in a manner consistent with the present invention.
[0018]FIG. 5 illustrates exemplary ad information that may be associated with an ad.
[0019]FIG. 6 illustrates exemplary document information that may be associated with a document with which one or more ads are to be served.
[0020]FIG. 7 is a high-level block diagram of apparatus that may be used to effect at least some of the various operations that may be performed, and store various information that may be used and/or generated in a manner consistent with the present invention.
In the following, environments in which the present invention may operate are described in § 4.1. Then, exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described in § 4.2. An example of operations of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is then provided in § 4.3. Finally, some conclusions regarding the present invention are set forth in § 4.4.
[0024]FIG. 1 is a high level diagram of an advertising environment. The environment may include an ad entry, maintenance and delivery system 120. Advertisers 110 may directly, or indirectly, enter, maintain, and track ad information in the system 120. The ads may be in the form of graphical ads such as so-called banner ads, text only ads, image ads, audio ads, video ads, ads combining one of more of any of such components, etc. The ads may also include embedded information, such as a link, meta information, and/or machine executable instructions. Ad consumers 130 may submit requests for ads to, accept ads responsive to their request from, and provide usage information to, the system 120. Although not shown, other entities may provide usage information (e.g., whether or not a conversion or click-through related to the ad occurred) to the system 120. This usage information may include measured or observed user behavior related to ads that have been served.
[0034]FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary ad system 120′ in which, or with which, the present invention may be used. The exemplary ad system 120′ may include an inventory system 210 and may store ad information 205 and usage information 245. The exemplary system 120′ may support ad information entry and management operations 215, campaign (e.g., targeting) assistance operations 220, accounting and billing operations 225, ad serving operations 230, relevancy determination operations 235, optimization operations 240, relative presentation attribute assignment (e.g., position ordering) operations 250, fraud detection operations 255, and result interface operations 260.
(iii) U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/449,483 (incorporated herein by reference), entitled “AUTOMATICALLY GENERATING ADVERTISING CREATIVES”, filed on Feb. 24,2003 and listing Craig Nevill-Manning, Christopher Rohrs, Thorsten Brants, Steve Lawrence and Ross Koningstein as inventors;
(viii) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/112,654 (incorporated herein by reference), entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ORDERING ADVERTISEMENTS BASED ON PERFORMANCE INFORMATION AND PRICE INFORMATION”, filed on Mar. 29,2002 and listing Salar Kamangar, Ross Koningstein and Eric Veach as inventors.
(xii) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/445,376 (incorporated herein by reference), entitled “SCORING, MODIFYING SCORES OF, AND/OR FILTERING ADVERTISEMENTS USING ADVERTISER
INFORMATION”, filed on May 23, 2003, and listing Jane Manning, Salar Arta Kamangar and Eric Veach as inventors.
Content from a document may be rendered on a “content rendering application or device”. Examples of content rendering applications include an Internet browser (e.g., Explorer or Netscape), a media player (e.g., an MP3player, a Realnetworks streaming audio file player, etc.), a viewer (e.g., an Abobe Acrobat pdf reader), etc.
[0062]FIG. 3 is a bubble chart illustrating operations that may be performed in a manner consistent with the present invention. Enhanced feature (“EF”) eligibility score generation operations 310 may be used to generate one or more enhanced feature eligibility scores 330 for each of one or more ads based on information 320 about the ads. Enhanced feature application operations 340 may accept one or more ads (or ad identifiers), each having one or more enhanced feature eligibility scores 330, and may determine whether or not to apply various enhanced features to each of the ads based on their scores using an enhanced feature application policy 350. It 340 may also use information 360 about a document with which the ads will be served in its determination.
[0065]FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an exemplary method 400 that may be used to determine whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to an ad, in a manner consistent with the present invention. One or more enhanced feature eligibility scores for the ad is determined (or accepted if already determined). (Block 410) Then, it is determined whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features using, at least, one or more of the determined enhanced feature eligibility score(s) (Block 420) before the method 400 is left (Node 430).
[0067]FIG. 5 illustrates exemplary ad information 500 that may be associated with an ad. As shown, the ad information may include ad content information (e.g., one or more of text information, image information, video information, audio information, executable information, link information, etc.) 510, ad targeting (i.e., ad serving constraints such as keywords, geolocation, etc., for example) information 520, advertiser information 530, price information 540, ad performance information 550, and/or enhanced feature preferences 560. Such information 520, 530, 540, 550 and/or 560 may be associated with an ad, but alternatively may be associated with some set of ads such as an ad group, or an ad campaign for example.
[0070]FIG. 6 illustrates exemplary document information 600 that may be associated with a document with which one or more ads are to be served. The document information may include, among other things, a total number of ad spots available, restrictions, if any, on enhanced features to be applied to ads served with the document, etc.
[0085]FIG. 7 is high-level block diagram of a machine 700 that may perform one or more of the operations discussed above. The machine 700 basically includes a processor(s) 710, an input/output interface unit(s) 730, a storage device(s) 720, and a system bus or network 740 for facilitating the communication of information among the coupled elements. An input device(s) 732 and an output device(s) 734 may be coupled with the input/output interface(s) 730.
§ 4.2.7 Alternatives and Refinements
§ 4.2.7.1 Normalizing Performance Information to Remove Influence of Enhanced Features
§ 4.2.7.2 Considering Advertiser Preferences with Respect to Different Enhanced Features
§ 4.2.7.3 Permitting Content Provider Control
§ 4.2.7.4 Using Ad Features to Signal Ad Usefulness
§ 4.2.7.5 Enhanced Ad Features with Respect to a Set of Expected ad Serves
§ 4.2.7.6 Use with Ads Provided as “Search Results”
§ 4.3 Exemplary Operations in an Exemplary Embodiment
In this example, ad B would be rendered with a larger ad size (since its score was higher than that of ad A and its remaining score (150) is>75), with a larger font size (since its remaining score (150-60)>75), and with bold font type (since its score>100). However, ad B would not have more text (since its score<200 and since its remaining score (150-60-60)<100). Although ad B would be eligible to have a vivid color scheme (since its score>50), it would not have such a vivid color scheme applied due to a document restriction. Although ad A would be eligible to have a larger font size, since ad B already has this feature and a document restriction limits the number of larger ads to one, ad A would not have a larger ad size enhanced feature applied. Ad A would be rendered with a traditional color scheme (since its score>50). Ad C would be rendered with a larger font size (since its score>75).
a) accepting price information associated with an advertisement; and
b) determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement using, at least, the accepted price information.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement includes determining at least one enhanced feature eligibility score using, at least, the accepted price information,
wherein the determination of whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features uses at least the at least one enhanced feature eligibility score and a policy.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the act of determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses information about a document with which the advertisement will be served.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein the information about the document includes enhanced feature restrictions.
5. The method of claim 2 wherein the act of determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses at least one enhanced feature eligibility score of at least one other advertisement.
6. The method of claim 2 wherein the act of determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses (i) at least one enhanced feature eligibility score of at least one other advertisement, and (ii) information about a document with which the advertisement will be served.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one enhanced feature includes at least one of (A) increasing a size of the advertisement, (B) increasing a font size of text in the advertisement, (C) changing a font type of text in the advertisement, (D) increasing an amount of text shown in the advertisement, (E) providing enhanced color schemes to the advertisement, (F) providing the advertisement with animation, (G) providing the advertisement with video, (H) providing the advertisement with sound, (I) providing the advertisement with sound effects, (J) providing the advertisement with persistence, (K) providing the advertisement in a pop-up window, (L) providing the advertisement in a way that occludes document content, (M) providing the advertisement in a pop under window, (N) providing the advertisement with a border, (O) providing the advertisement with an enhanced border, (P) providing the advertisement at a desired location on the document, (Q) providing the advertisement in a desired shape, and (R) providing the advertisement with programmed interactivity.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the price information includes at least one of (A) an amount that an advertiser has agreed to pay each time the ad is rendered, (B) a maximum amount that an advertiser has expressed that it is willing to pay each time the ad is rendered, (C) an amount that an advertiser has agreed to pay each time the ad is rendered and selected, (D) a maximum amount that an advertiser has expressed that it is willing to pay each time the ad is rendered and selected, (E) an average over time of the amount that the advertiser has agreed to pay each time the ad is rendered and selected, (F) an average over time of the maximum amount that the advertiser has expressed that it is willing to pay each time the ad is rendered and selected, (G) an amount that the advertiser has agreed to pay each time the ad is rendered and a conversion, associated with the ad, occurs, (H) a maximum amount that the advertiser is willing to pay each time the ad is rendered and a conversion, associated with the ad, occurs, (I) cost per selection information, (J) cost per conversion information, (K) an average of cost per selection information over a period of time, (L) an average cost per conversion information overtime.
a) accepting performance information associated with an advertisement; and
b) determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement using, at least, the accepted performance information.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein the act of determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement includes determining at least one enhanced feature eligibility score using, at least, the accepted performance information,
wherein the determination of whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement uses at least the at least one enhanced feature eligibility score and a policy.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein the act of determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses information about a document with which the advertisement will be served.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the information about the document includes enhanced feature restrictions.
13. The method of claim 10 wherein the act of determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses at least one enhanced feature eligibility score of at least one other advertisement.
14. The method of claim 10 wherein the act of determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses (i) at least one enhanced feature eligibility score of at least one other advertisement, and (ii) information about a document with which the advertisement will be served.
15. The method of claim 9 wherein the at least one enhanced feature includes at least one of (A) increasing a size of the advertisement, (B) increasing a font size of text in the advertisement, (C) changing a font type of text in the advertisement, (D) increasing an amount of text shown in the advertisement, (E) providing enhanced color schemes to the advertisement, (F) providing the advertisement with animation, (G) providing the advertisement with video, (H) providing the advertisement with sound, (I) providing the advertisement with sound effects, (J) providing the advertisement with persistence, (K) providing the advertisement in a pop-up window, (L) providing the advertisement in a way that occludes document content, (M) providing the advertisement in a pop under window, (N) providing the advertisement with a border, (O) providing the advertisement with an enhanced border, (P) providing the advertisement at a desired location on the document, (Q) providing the advertisement in a desired shape, and (R) providing the advertisement with programmed interactivity.
16. The method of claim 9 wherein the performance information includes at least one of (A) a click-through rate of the associated advertisement, (B) user ratings of the advertisement, (C) focus group ratings of the advertisement, (D) a measure of user interest for the advertisement weighted for a size of the advertisement relative to that of other advertisements, (E) a measure of user interest for the advertisement weighted for past positions of the advertisement relative to those past positions of other advertisements, (F) a measure of user interest for the advertisement weighted for enhanced features applied to the advertisement in the past, (G) expected user interest in the advertisement, (H) a time needed to render the advertisement relative to that needed to render other advertisements, (I) a measure of user interest for the advertisement weighted for a media type of the advertisement, (J) a conversion rate associated with the advertisement.
17. The method of claim 9 wherein the performance information has been adjusted to reduce the influence of enhanced features previously applied to the advertisement.
a) accepting advertiser information associated with an advertisement; and
b) determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement using, at least, the accepted advertiser information.
19. The method of claim 18 wherein the act of determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement includes determining at least one enhanced feature eligibility score using, at least, the accepted advertiser information,
20. The method of claim 19 wherein the act of determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses information about a document with which the advertisement will be served.
21. The method of claim 20 wherein the information about the document includes enhanced feature restrictions.
22. The method of claim 19 wherein the act of determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses at least one enhanced feature eligibility score of at least one other advertisement.
23. The method of claim 19 wherein the act of determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses (i) at least one enhanced feature eligibility score of at least one other advertisement, and (ii) information about a document with which the advertisement will be served.
24. The method of claim 18 wherein the at least one enhanced feature includes at least one of (A) increasing a size of the advertisement, (B) increasing a font size of text in the advertisement, (C) changing a font type of text in the advertisement, (D) increasing an amount of text shown in the advertisement, (E) providing enhanced color schemes to the advertisement, (F) providing the advertisement with animation, (G) providing the advertisement with video, (H) providing the advertisement with sound, (I) providing the advertisement with sound effects, (J) providing the advertisement with persistence, (K) providing the advertisement in a pop-up window, (L) providing the advertisement in a way that occludes document content, (M) providing the advertisement in a pop under window, (N) providing the advertisement with a border, (O) providing the advertisement with an enhanced border, (P) providing the advertisement at a desired location on the document, (Q) providing the advertisement in a desired shape, and (R) providing the advertisement with programmed interactivity.
25. The method of claim 18 wherein the advertiser information includes at least one of (A) charge-back information, (B) a quality metric of the advertiser's Web page, (C) conversion information, (D) customer ratings of the advertiser, (E) third party ratings of the advertiser; (F) complaints logged against the advertiser; (G) information about repeat visits to the advertiser; (H) information about repeat purchases from the advertiser; (I) abnormally high price information; and (J) abnormally high advertising budget.
a) accepting at least two of
price information associated with an advertisement,
performance information associated with an advertisement, and
advertiser information associated with an advertisement; and
b) determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement using, at least, the accepted at least two of price information, performance information, and advertiser information.
27. The method of claim 26 wherein the act of determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement includes determining at least one enhanced feature eligibility score using, at least, the accepted at least two of price information, performance information, and advertiser information,
28. The method of claim 27 wherein the act of determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses information about a document with which the advertisement will be served.
29. The method of claim 28 wherein the information about the document includes enhanced feature restrictions.
30. The method of claim 27 wherein the act of determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses at least one enhanced feature eligibility score of at least one other advertisement.
31. The method of claim 27 wherein the act of determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses (i) at least one enhanced feature eligibility score of at least one other advertisement, and (ii) information about a document with which the advertisement will be served.
32. The method of claim 26 wherein the at least one enhanced feature includes at least one of (A) increasing a size of the advertisement, (B) increasing a font size of text in the advertisement, (C) changing a font type of text in the advertisement, (D) increasing an amount of text shown in the advertisement, (E) providing enhanced color schemes to the advertisement, (F) providing the advertisement with animation, (G) providing the advertisement with video, (H) providing the advertisement with sound, (i) providing the advertisement with sound effects, (J) providing the advertisement with persistence, (K) providing the advertisement in a pop-up window, (L) providing the advertisement in a way that occludes document content, (M) providing the advertisement in a pop under window, (N) providing the advertisement with a border, (O) providing the advertisement with an enhanced border, (P) providing the advertisement at a desired location on the document, (Q) providing the advertisement in a desired shape, and (R) providing the advertisement with programmed interactivity.
b) determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement using, at least, the accepted price information, performance information, and advertiser information.
34. The method of claim 33 wherein the act of determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement includes determining at least one enhanced feature eligibility score using, at least, the accepted price information, performance information, and advertiser information,
35. The method of claim 34 wherein the act of determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses information about a document with which the advertisement will be served.
36. The method of claim 35 wherein the information about the document includes enhanced feature restrictions.
37. The method of claim 36 wherein the act of determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses at least one enhanced feature eligibility score of at least one other advertisement.
38. The method of claim 34 wherein the act of determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses (i) at least one enhanced feature eligibility score of at least one other advertisement, and (ii) information about a document with which the advertisement will be served.
39. The method of claim 33 wherein the at least one enhanced feature includes at least one of (A) increasing a size of the advertisement, (B) increasing a font size of text in the advertisement, (C) changing a font type of text in the advertisement, (D) increasing an amount of text shown in the advertisement, (E) providing enhanced color schemes to the advertisement, (F) providing the advertisement with animation, (G) providing the advertisement with video, (H) providing the advertisement with sound, (I) providing the advertisement with sound effects, (J) providing the advertisement with persistence, (K) providing the advertisement in a pop-up window, (L) providing the advertisement in a way that occludes document content, (M) providing the advertisement in a pop under window, (N) providing the advertisement with a border, (O) providing the advertisement with an enhanced border, (P) providing the advertisement at a desired location on the document, (Q) providing the advertisement in a desired shape, and (R) providing the advertisement with programmed interactivity.
a) an input for accepting price information associated with an advertisement; and
b) means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement using, at least, the accepted price information.
41. The apparatus of claim 40 wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement includes means for determining uses at least one enhanced feature eligibility score using, at least, the accepted price information,
wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features uses, at least, the at least one enhanced feature eligibility score and a policy.
42. The apparatus of claim 41 wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses information about a document with which the advertisement will be served.
43. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein the information about the document includes enhanced feature restrictions.
44. The apparatus of claim 41 wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses at least one enhanced feature eligibility score of at least one other advertisement.
45. The apparatus of claim 41 wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses (i) at least one enhanced feature eligibility score of at least one other advertisement, and (ii) information about a document with which the advertisement will be served.
46. The apparatus of claim 40 wherein the at least one enhanced feature includes at least one of (A) increasing a size of the advertisement, (B) increasing a font size of text in the advertisement, (C) changing a font type of text in the advertisement, (D) increasing an amount of text shown in the advertisement, (E) providing enhanced color schemes to the advertisement, (F) providing the advertisement with animation, (G) providing the advertisement with video, (H) providing the advertisement with sound, (I) providing the advertisement with sound effects, (J) providing the advertisement with persistence, (K) providing the advertisement in a pop-up window, (L) providing the advertisement in a way that occludes document content, (M) providing the advertisement in a pop under window, (N) providing the advertisement with a border, (O) providing the advertisement with an enhanced border, (P) providing the advertisement at a desired location on the document, (Q) providing the advertisement in a desired shape, and (R) providing the advertisement with programmed interactivity.
47. The apparatus of claim 40 wherein the price information includes at least one of (A) an amount that an advertiser has agreed to pay each time the ad is rendered, (B) a maximum amount that an advertiser has expressed that it is willing to pay each time the ad is rendered, (C) an amount that an advertiser has agreed to pay each time the ad is rendered and selected, (D) a maximum amount that an advertiser has expressed that it is willing to pay each time the ad is rendered and selected, (E) an average over time of the amount that the advertiser has agreed to pay each time the ad is rendered and selected, (F) an average over time of the maximum amount that the advertiser has expressed that it is willing to pay each time the ad is rendered and selected, (G) an amount that the advertiser has agreed to pay each time the ad is rendered and a conversion, associated with the ad, occurs, (H) a maximum amount that the advertiser is willing to pay each time the ad is rendered and a conversion, associated with the ad, occurs, (I) cost per selection information, (J) cost per conversion information, (K) an average of cost per selection information over a period of time, (L) an average cost per conversion information over time.
a) an input for accepting performance information associated with an advertisement; and
b) means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement using, at least, the accepted performance information.
49. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement includes means for determining at least one enhanced feature eligibility score using, at least, the accepted performance information,
wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features uses, at least, the least one enhanced feature eligibility score and a policy.
50. The apparatus of claim 49 wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses information about a document with which the advertisement will be served.
51. The apparatus of claim 50 wherein the information about the document includes enhanced feature restrictions.
52. The apparatus of claim 49 wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses at least one enhanced feature eligibility score of at least one other advertisement.
53. The apparatus of claim 49 wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses (i) at least one enhanced feature eligibility score of at least one other advertisement, and (ii) information about a document with which the advertisement will be served.
54. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the at least one enhanced feature includes at least one of (A) increasing a size of the advertisement, (B) increasing a font size of text in the advertisement, (C) changing a font type of text in the advertisement, (D) increasing an amount of text shown in the advertisement, (E) providing enhanced color schemes to the advertisement, (F) providing the advertisement with animation, (G) providing the advertisement with video, (H) providing the advertisement with sound, (I) providing the advertisement with sound effects, (J) providing the advertisement with persistence, (K) providing the advertisement in a pop-up window, (L) providing the advertisement in a way that occludes document content, (M) providing the advertisement in a pop under window, (N) providing the advertisement with a border, (O) providing the advertisement with an enhanced border, (P) providing the advertisement at a desired location on the document, (Q) providing the advertisement in a desired shape, and (R) providing the advertisement with programmed interactivity.
55. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the performance information includes at least one of (A) a click-through rate of the associated advertisement, (B) user ratings of the advertisement, (C) focus group ratings of the advertisement, (D) a measure of user interest for the advertisement weighted for a size of the advertisement relative to that of other advertisements, (E) a measure of user interest for the advertisement weighted for past positions of the advertisement relative to those past positions of other advertisements, (F) a measure of user interest for the advertisement weighted for enhanced features applied to the advertisement in the past, (G) expected user interest in the advertisement, (H) a time needed to render the advertisement relative to that needed to render other advertisements, (I) a measure of user interest for the advertisement weighted for a media type of the advertisement, (J) a conversion rate associated with the advertisement.
56. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the performance information has been adjusted to reduce the influence of enhanced features previously applied to the advertisement.
57. Apparatus comprising:
a) an input for accepting advertiser information associated with an advertisement; and
b) means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement using, at least, the accepted advertiser information.
58. The apparatus of claim 57 wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement includes means for determining at least one enhanced feature eligibility score using, at least, the accepted advertiser information,
wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement uses, at least, the at least one feature eligibility score and a policy.
59. The apparatus of claim 58 wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses information about a document with which the advertisement will be served.
60. The apparatus of claim 59 wherein the information about the document includes enhanced feature restrictions.
61. The apparatus of claim 58 wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses at least one enhanced feature eligibility score of at least one other advertisement.
62. The apparatus of claim 58 wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses (i) at least one enhanced feature eligibility score of at least one other advertisement, and (ii) information about a document with which the advertisement will be served.
63. The apparatus of claim 57 wherein the at least one enhanced feature includes at least one of (A) increasing a size of the advertisement, (B) increasing a font size of text in the advertisement, (C) changing a font type of text in the advertisement, (D) increasing an amount of text shown in the advertisement, (E) providing enhanced color schemes to the advertisement, (F) providing the advertisement with animation, (G) providing the advertisement with video, (H) providing the advertisement with sound, (I) providing the advertisement with sound effects, (J) providing the advertisement with persistence, (K) providing the advertisement in a pop-up window, (L) providing the advertisement in a way that occludes document content, (M) providing the advertisement in a pop under window, (N) providing the advertisement with a border, (O) providing the advertisement with an enhanced border, (P) providing the advertisement at a desired location on the document, (Q) providing the advertisement in a desired shape, and (R) providing the advertisement with programmed interactivity.
64. The apparatus of claim 57 wherein the advertiser information includes at least one of (A) charge-back information, (B) a quality metric of the advertiser's Web page, (C) conversion information, (D) customer ratings of the advertiser, (E) third party ratings of the advertiser; (F) complaints logged against the advertiser; (G) information about repeat visits to the advertiser; (H) information about repeat purchases from the advertiser; (I) abnormally high price information; and (J) abnormally high advertising budget.
a) an input for accepting at least two of
b) means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement using, at least, the accepted at least two of price information, performance information, and advertiser information.
66. The apparatus of claim 65 wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement includes means for determining at least one enhanced feature eligibility score using, at least, the accepted at least two of price information, performance information, and advertiser information,
wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced ad features to the advertisement uses, at least, the at least one enhanced feature eligibility score and a policy.
67. The apparatus of claim 66 wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses information about a document with which the advertisement will be served.
68. The apparatus of claim 67 wherein the information about the document includes enhanced feature restrictions.
69. The apparatus of claim 66 wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses at least one enhanced feature eligibility score of at least one other advertisement.
70. The apparatus of claim 66 wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses (i) at least one enhanced feature eligibility score of at least one other advertisement, and (ii) information about a document with which the advertisement will be served.
71. The apparatus of claim 65 wherein the at least one enhanced feature includes at least one of (A) increasing a size of the advertisement, (B) increasing a font size of text in the advertisement, (C) changing a font type of text in the advertisement, (D) increasing an amount of text shown in the advertisement, (E) providing enhanced color schemes to the advertisement, (F) providing the advertisement with animation, (G) providing the advertisement with video, (H) providing the advertisement with sound, (I) providing the advertisement with sound effects, (J) providing the advertisement with persistence, (K) providing the advertisement in a pop-up window, (L) providing the advertisement in a way that occludes document content, (M) providing the advertisement in a pop under window, (N) providing the advertisement with a border, (O) providing the advertisement with an enhanced border, (P) providing the advertisement at a desired location on the document, (Q) providing the advertisement in a desired shape, and (R) providing the advertisement with programmed interactivity.
b) means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement using, at least, the accepted price information, performance information, and advertiser information.
73. The apparatus of claim 72 wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement includes means for determining at least one enhanced feature eligibility score using, at least, the accepted price information, performance information, and advertiser information,
74. The apparatus of claim 73 wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses information about a document with which the advertisement will be served.
75. The apparatus of claim 74 wherein the information about the document includes enhanced feature restrictions.
76. The apparatus of claim 36 wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses at least one enhanced feature eligibility score of at least one other advertisement.
77. The apparatus of claim 73 wherein the means for determining whether or not to apply one or more enhanced features to the advertisement further uses (i) at least one enhanced feature eligibility score of at least one other advertisement, and (ii) information about a document with which the advertisement will be served.
78. The apparatus of claim 72 wherein the at least one enhanced feature includes at least one of (A) increasing a size of the advertisement, (B) increasing a font size of text in the advertisement, (C) changing a font type of text in the advertisement, (D) increasing an amount of text shown in the advertisement, (E) providing enhanced color schemes to the advertisement, (F) providing the advertisement with animation, (G) providing the advertisement with video, (H) providing the advertisement with sound, (I) providing the advertisement with sound effects, (J) providing the advertisement with persistence, (K) providing the advertisement in a pop-up window, (L) providing the advertisement in a way that occludes document content, (M) providing the advertisement in a pop under window, (N) providing the advertisement with a border, (O) providing the advertisement with an enhanced border, (P) providing the advertisement at a desired location on the document, (Q) providing the advertisement in a desired shape, and (R) providing the advertisement with programmed interactivity.
US10610350 2003-06-30 2003-06-30 Using enhanced ad features to increase competition in online advertising Active 2027-07-11 US8595071B2 (en)
US10610350 US8595071B2 (en) 2003-06-30 2003-06-30 Using enhanced ad features to increase competition in online advertising
CA 2530367 CA2530367C (en) 2003-06-30 2004-06-30 Using enhanced ad features to increase competition in online advertising
PCT/US2004/021006 WO2005006141A3 (en) 2003-06-30 2004-06-30 Using enhanced ad features to increase competition in online advertising
US14070838 US20140058829A1 (en) 2003-06-30 2013-11-04 Using enhanced ad features to increase competition in online advertising
US14070838 Continuation US20140058829A1 (en) 2003-06-30 2013-11-04 Using enhanced ad features to increase competition in online advertising
US20040267612A1 true true US20040267612A1 (en) 2004-12-30
US8595071B2 US8595071B2 (en) 2013-11-26
US10610350 Active 2027-07-11 US8595071B2 (en) 2003-06-30 2003-06-30 Using enhanced ad features to increase competition in online advertising
US14070838 Abandoned US20140058829A1 (en) 2003-06-30 2013-11-04 Using enhanced ad features to increase competition in online advertising
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