Abstract:
Systems and methods for facilitating advertising for an advertiser are disclosed. In one example, a method comprises collecting retargeting information for the advertiser, the retargeting information comprising user-behavior information, assigning multiple identifiers for multiple publisher systems to be selectively authorized by the advertiser as retargeting channels in an advertising campaign, receiving a selection of an authorization of at least one publisher system from the advertiser, assigning an advertiser identifier to identify the advertiser, and identifying an advertisement, corresponding to the advertiser identifier, to be served to the user via at least one publisher system, conditioned on the at least one publisher system being an authorized publisher system.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/039,449, filed Feb. 28, 2008, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/891,995, filed Feb. 28, 2007, the benefit of each of which is claimed hereby, and each of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
       [0002]    Retargeting has emerged as an effective way of advertising via the Internet. Retargeting allows an advertiser to display an ad to a consumer after the consumer has left the advertiser&#39;s website. As the consumer proceeds to other websites, advertisements may be provided to the user by the advertiser on the other websites. 
         [0003]    To retarget potential customers, an advertiser stores information on a user&#39;s computer in the form of a cookie to indicate that the user visited a particular page. For example, if the user accesses a page relating to a particular DVD player, the advertiser&#39;s website may place a cookie corresponding to the web page on the user&#39;s computer. When the user leaves the web page, the cookie remains on the user&#39;s computer. 
         [0004]    The advertiser purchases ad space from a publisher or an ad network. When the user accesses a web page associated with the publisher or ad network, the cookie is read from the user&#39;s computer. The publisher or ad network may then select an ad to be shown to the user according to the cookie information. Thus, the publisher or ad network may present an ad for the previously viewed DVD player, which may be clicked by the user to return to the advertiser&#39;s web page to purchase the DVD player. 
         [0005]    While retargeting can be quite effective, its reach is limited by the popularity of the publisher and/or size of the ad network. To reach more consumers, the advertiser contracts with multiple publishers and ad networks, increasing the cost and complexity of the retargeting. Use of multiple, unrelated publishers and ad networks, however, creates additional problems, such as reduced control, overlapping reach among publishers and ad networks, and “overselling” due to a user receiving multiple ads for the same item via different publishers and ad networks. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    Methods and apparatus for advertising according to various aspects of the present invention operate in conjunction with a retargeting system, multiple publisher systems, at least one advertiser, and a user&#39;s computer. The retargeting system provides retargeting information to the advertiser for storage on the user computer. The retargeting information may comprise identifiers for publisher systems authorized for retargeting and an advertiser identifier. The retargeting information may also receive user behavior information from publisher system visited by the user after visiting the advertiser&#39;s web site. The retargeting system may then transmit an advertisement corresponding to the advertiser identifier to the visited publisher system for presentation via the user computer if the visited publisher system is an authorized publisher system. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    A more complete understanding of the present invention may be derived by referring to the detailed description and claims when considered in connection with the following illustrative figures. In the following figures, like reference numbers refer to similar elements and steps throughout the figures. 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a system for advertising via computer networks. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart of a publisher system setup process. 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart of an advertiser setup process. 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram of retargeting information being placed on a user computer. 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a flow chart of a process for placing retargeting information on the user computer. 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram of providing retargeted information to the user computer. 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a flow chart of a process for providing retargeted information to the user. 
       
    
    
       [0015]    Elements and steps in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been rendered according to any particular sequence. For example, steps that may be performed concurrently or in different order are illustrated in the figures to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
       [0016]    The present invention may be described in terms of functional block components and various processing steps. Such functional blocks may be realized by any number of hardware or software components configured to perform the specified functions and achieve the various results. For example, the present invention may employ various computers, networks, and servers, e.g., servers, databases, webservers, the Internet, local networks, and the like, which may carry out a variety of functions. In addition, the present invention may be practiced in conjunction with any number of networks, types of information, or participants, and the system described is merely one exemplary application for the invention. Further, the present invention may employ any number of conventional techniques for transferring data, presenting information, storing information, and the like. 
         [0017]    Methods and apparatus for delivering information via computer networks according to various aspects of the present invention operate in conjunction with computers connected via a network, such as the Internet. The computer may deliver retargeted advertisements or other selected information to users via the network. Referring to  FIG. 1 , a retargeting system  100  according to various aspects of the present invention operates in conjunction with an advertiser  110  and a publisher system  112  connected via a network  116 . The retargeting system  100  receives information for display to users  114  from the advertiser  110 , and provides the information to users  114  via the publisher system  112  to retarget the users  114  according to selected criteria. Retargeting permits the advertiser  110  to display an ad to a user  114  after the user  114  has left the advertiser&#39;s  110  website, for example on other websites associated with the publisher systems  112 . The present retargeting system  100  enables advertisers  110  to place retargeted ads to multiple users  114  across multiple publisher systems  112  through a single interface. 
         [0018]    The advertisers  110  provide information to be viewed by the users  114 . The advertisers  110  may comprise any appropriate systems or parties, such as political sources or vendors of commercial goods or services. Similarly, the information to be provided may comprise any suitable information, such as advertisements relating to goods or services or politically-oriented information. In the present embodiment, the information comprises advertisements encoded in an electronic format for transfer and presentation via the computer network  116 . 
         [0019]    The publisher system  112  receives the information and presents it to the user  114 . The publisher system  112  may comprise any suitable systems for receiving the information and presenting it to the users  114 . In one embodiment, the publisher systems  112  comprise commercial websites that present advertisements to users  114  in exchange for compensation. For example, the publisher system  112  may comprise search engines, Internet publications, electronic news outlets, commercial websites, personal websites, online matchmaking services, and the like. The publisher system  112  may also include any systems or elements for transferring the information to the user  114 , such as a conventional ad server. In the present embodiment, the publisher systems  112  may include web content publishers, such as operations that publish information for consumption by users  114  on the Internet. The publisher systems  112  may also include ad networks, such as conventional ad networks or other information mediaries, that serve as agencies between groups of web sites or other web content publishers desiring to host advertisements and advertisers  110  or groups wishing to run advertisements on those sites. 
         [0020]    The retargeting system  100  facilitates the transfer of information from the advertisers  110  to the users  114  via the publisher systems  112 . The retargeting system  100  may comprise any suitable system for providing the advertiser  110  information to the publisher system  112 , such as an automated system connected to the publisher systems  112  and the advertisers  110  through a medium like the Internet or other computer network  116 . The retargeting system  100  may provide information to users  114  based on behavioral marketing concepts. The retargeting system  100  may target users  114  for marketing efforts according to their behavior, as opposed to by the content of information they receive via the computer network  116  system, for example based on clickstream data and IP information. 
         [0021]    In particular, the retargeting system  100  may perform retargeting by observing a user  114 &#39;s behavior white receiving information from the publisher systems  112  or advertisers  110 , such as while visiting an advertiser&#39;s  110  website. The retargeting system  100  may then deliver targeted messages to the user  114  after the user  114  moves on to other subject matter, for example by visiting another publisher system&#39;s  112  website without buying a product at the original website. 
         [0022]    The retargeting system  100  may comprise any suitable systems to perform the retargeting. For example, the retargeting system  100  may comprise a server  118  having access to a database in a memory  120 , such as a conventional hard drive array, optical storage system, or the like. The server  118  communicates with the advertisers  110  and publisher systems  112  to set up the retargeting services and provide the retargeted information to the users  114  via the publisher systems  112 . In the present embodiment, the server  118  provides the retargeting information to the advertiser  110  to be placed on the user  114 &#39;s computer, receives behavior information regarding the user  114  from various publisher systems  112 , and transmits advertisements or other information to the publisher systems  112  visited by the user  114  for presentation to the user  114 . In addition, the server  118  may perform ancillary tasks, such as generating reports, invoices, and the like. 
         [0023]    The database accessed by the server  118  and may store any suitable information, such as advertisements, information regarding the various publisher systems  112  including identifiers, advertiser  110  and publisher system  112  account information, reports, and the like. The retargeting system  100  suitably operates in conjunction with software stored on a medium to cause the server  118  and other components of the retargeting system  100  to operate. 
         [0024]    The retargeting system  100  may provide retargeting according to any criteria, such as according to settings selected by multiple advertisers  110  and/or parameters set by the retargeting system  100 . Further, the retargeting system  100  may deliver the information from the advertisers  110  to the users  114  via multiple unrelated publisher systems  112 . Consequently, the retargeting system  100  can provide retargeting services to advertisers  110  across a broad range of networks and publishers through a single interface, such as an advertiser account interface provided to the advertiser  110  by the retargeting system  100 . In addition, the retargeting system  100  can increase the effectiveness of the retargeting services, for example by controlling the frequency with which users  114  are exposed to particular information, such as an advertisement. The retargeting system  100  may also reduce the overall cost of the retargeting process, reach more potential customers through the multiple publisher systems  112 , provide flexibility and ease of use to advertisers  110 , and/or improve its efficiency. 
         [0025]    To perform the retargeting operations, the retargeting system  100  may be configured according to parameters set by the advertisers  110 , default settings, an administrator of the retargeting system  100 , or other parties. For example, the retargeting system  100  may store and access information relating to one or more publisher systems  112  and advertisers  110 . In one embodiment, the retargeting system  100  database includes information relating multiple publisher systems  112  that agree to provide post advertisements for the advertisers  110 . The publisher systems  112  may be selected or otherwise associated with the retargeting system  100 , for example via ownership, subscription, contract, or other relationship. 
         [0026]    The publisher system  112  may provide advertising or other information transmission opportunities to the advertisers  110  via the retargeting system  100 . The publisher system  112  may be configured to identify retargeting opportunities and deliver appropriate information. In the present embodiment, referring to  FIG. 2 , the operator of the retargeting system  100  may procure advertising space from the publisher systems  112  ( 210 ), such as by directly purchasing from a publisher, purchasing through an advertising network, or other appropriate methods. For Internet web advertising, the advertising purchases may be represented by ad tags generated by the publisher system  112  and provided to the retargeting system  100 . The ad tags are unique for each publisher system  112 , and may correspond to particular electronic publications, websites, and/or advertising locations, types, and/or sizes. 
         [0027]    In the present embodiment, the ad tags comprise computer code, such as HTML code. Each ad tag may include any appropriate information, such as website information, ad types, and pixel data. For example, the ad tags may include the publisher system&#39;s  112  name, publisher system&#39;s  112  network ID, the ad type (e.g., skyscraper, popunders, etc.), an age or duration of the ad tag, and pricing information. 
         [0028]    The retargeting database may store the ad tags and any other information, such as identification information for the various publisher systems  112 , as well as terms and parameters for posting the advertisements ( 212 ). In the present embodiment, information relating to the publisher systems  112  is stored in the database and associated with a publisher system  112  ID for each publishing system. The publisher system  112  information may comprise any appropriate information, such as the name of the publisher or network, an identification code assigned to the publisher system  112 , one or more ad tags associated with the publisher system  112 , pricing terms and payment data, and the like. A unique network identifier may be assigned to each publisher system  112 . 
         [0029]    After purchasing ad tags from the various publisher systems  112 , the retargeting system  100  may generate a list of publisher systems  112  available for advertising ( 214 ). For example, the retargeting system  100  may generate a list of all publisher systems  112  available for advertising, such as identification information for the networks, publications, and websites, available ad tags, pixel identifications, advertisement types, sizes, and locations, and pricing terms. 
         [0030]    The publisher system  112  may also record the purchase or other association of the ad tags with the retargeting system  100  ( 216 ). For example, the publisher may note that an ad tag associated with a particular portion of a web page on a particular website has been purchased by the retargeting system  100 , and implement a process for presenting information according to various parameters. For example, the publisher system  112  may note that when a user  114  visits a page, the publisher system  112  should read information from the user  114 &#39;s computer, such as information associated with conventional cookies. The publisher system  112  may then present information to the user  114  according to the user  114  information, parameters set by the retargeting system  100 , or other criteria, such as default settings in the event that no relevant user  114  information is available. The publisher system  112  may also be set to perform any other relevant tasks, such as tracking impressions upon users  114 , click-through rates, and the like. To facilitate the retargeting process, the publisher system  112  may set up one or more accounts for the retargeting system  100  to record relevant information, such as contact information, retargeting processes and information, pricing information, and the like. 
         [0031]    The advertisers  110  may use the retargeting system  100  to provide information to users  114  via the publisher systems  112 . The advertisers  110  may provide the information to be presented to the users  114  and/or provide access to such information. The advertisers  110  may also provide parameters or settings for providing the information to the users  114 . 
         [0032]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , the advertiser  110  may access an advertiser interface, such as a conventional web page associated with the retargeting system  100 , to set up or adjust an account ( 310 ). Using information provided by the advertiser  110  or other parties, the retargeting system  100  may create an account for the advertiser  110 . The account may include any appropriate information, such as information relating to the advertiser  110 , the advertiser&#39;s  110  products or services, the information to be provided to users  114 , an advertiser password, and/or payment information. The retargeting system  100  may provide data and/or tools for use by the advertiser  110 , such as retargeting tools to identify users  114  that have visited the advertiser&#39;s  110  website and are to be selected for retargeting. 
         [0033]    The retargeting system  100  may assign the advertiser  110  a user  114  name and a password to give the advertiser  110  access to electronic account systems for providing relevant data. The retargeting system  100  may request or require any relevant data to facilitate the retargeting and related tasks, such as advertiser company information, payment information like credit card numbers or bank transfer numbers and amounts, and categories of goods and services to be provided. The retargeting system  100  may also provide relevant data to the advertiser  110 , such as balance information, retargeting and advertising reports and analyses, and account status. 
         [0034]    The advertiser  110  may also set up advertising information and parameters. For example, the advertiser  110  may identify domain names and websites from which retargeting efforts are to be launched, set up advertising campaigns for retargeting, select types of advertisements, and/or select particular publisher systems  112  for advertising. The advertiser  110  may provide and/or the retargeting system  100  may request or require any appropriate information to implement the retargeting. 
         [0035]    In one embodiment, the advertiser  110  provides information regarding the advertiser&#39;s  110  website from which the retargeting efforts are to be launched ( 312 ). For example, the advertiser  110  may identify one or more websites and/or webpages by URLs, and may select from one or more categories of users  114  that are to be visiting the URLs ( 314 ), such as users  114  shopping for pharmaceuticals, electronics, consumer goods, computer services, or the like. In the present embodiment, the advertiser  110  selects the appropriate category from a category tree for the website they want to retarget. 
         [0036]    The advertiser  110  may also set up campaigns for the various offerings at the listed websites ( 316 ). For example, a website for electronics products may set up one campaign for a particular DVD player and another campaign for a personal media player. Each campaign may be associated with various advertisers  110 , selections, parameters, or other settings. For example, the advertiser  110  may select desired types of ads, such as skyscraper, leaderboard, banners, etc. The advertiser  110  may also submit the information itself, such as to add or change an image to be used as the advertisement for each type of ad. Alternatively, the advertiser  110  may provide information for retrieving the information, such as a URL at the advertiser&#39;s  110  website for retrieving the information. In the present embodiment, the advertiser  110  provides an ad for each type of ad to be presented to users  114  for each product or service associated with the various campaigns and websites ( 318 ). The advertiser  110  may activate or deactivate the retargeting campaign as well via the advertiser interface. 
         [0037]    Each campaign may also be associated with pricing information ( 320 ). For example, the retargeting system  100  may facilitate flat payments, provide a bid system among multiple advertisers  110  for showing information at a particular website or other location, list average click prices, or other payment information. Various payment options may be made available to the advertisers  110  by the retargeting system  100 , and may vary according to any criteria, such as the size of the area, the page, publication, or publisher system  112  associated with a particular ad tag, the time of the presentation, or any other criteria or variables. 
         [0038]    The retargeting system  100  may also store any other appropriate information ( 320 ). For example, different types of pages may be associated with different retargeting strategies. For example, a default “landing page” for a campaign may be configured to retarget users  114  to purchase a particular product. A “success page”, corresponding to a user  114  purchasing the particular product, may be configured to retarget users  114  to purchase related products, such as accessories or improvements. The retargeting system  100  may provide a default setting to exclude retargeting of products that are associated with “success” page information on the user  114 &#39;s computer, for example to avoid showing an ad for a product that has already been sold to the user  114 . Instead, the retargeting system  100  may provide a different ad, such as for a related product or an improvement. 
         [0039]    The advertiser  110  may also provide any other information relating to the campaigns. For example, the advertiser  110  may request a list of all available ad tags, such as by publisher system  112  and ad unit and with corresponding prices, like average “click prices”. The advertiser  110  may then select which publisher systems  112 , such as particular ad networks and publications, on which to advertise, with what type of ad campaigns, and/or how many times to show a particular user  114  a particular ad. The advertiser  110  may also make selections according to available ad units. For example, the retargeting system  100  may not show skyscraper units if the advertiser  110  has not purchased any skyscraper ads. The retargeting system  100  may list all available ad tags by network and ad unit, or may limit the type of ad tags according to criteria selected by the advertiser  110 . 
         [0040]    In addition, the advertiser  110  may provide frequency capping parameters, for example to restrict the number of times a particular user  114  is shown a particular ad, either overall or within a selected time period. The present retargeting system  100  permits the advertiser  110  to control the frequency with which a user  114  is presented with the same information via multiple publisher systems  112 . Further, the advertiser  110  may request reports regarding the campaign, such as total cost of the campaign, total clicks by day per ad campaign, average cost per click, total conversions (whether a click resulted in a lead, sale, purchase, etc), total cost of conversions, and the like. The reports can provide information in any manner, such as by ad tag, website, or campaign. 
         [0041]    The retargeting system  100  may also provide retargeting information and/or tools to the advertiser  110  to track users  114  for retargeting purposes. The retargeting information and/or tools may perform any appropriate tasks and include any appropriate information, such as identifying users  114  that visit any publisher system  112  associated with the retargeting system  100  after visiting the advertiser&#39;s  110  website. The retargeting information and/or tools may further indicate which product, service, or the like was previously viewed by the user  114 , whether the user  114  purchased the viewed subject matter, how long ago the user  114  viewed the advertiser&#39;s  110  website, or any other information to facilitate retargeting the user  114 . 
         [0042]    In one embodiment, the retargeting system  100  provides retargeting information including computer code configured to place information on a user  114 &#39;s computer to indicate that the user  114  visited the particular web page. For example, the retargeting system  100  may provide one or more pixel drop codes (PDCs) to the advertiser  110  for each campaign to be placed on the advertiser&#39;s  110  web pages ( 324 ). The PDC places information on a user  114 &#39;s computer upon visiting a website. The PDC may be given a name, such as the name of the associated campaign, and may be encrypted to ensure security. The PDC may comprise include data unique to the retargeting system  100 , such as including an identifier for the retargeting system  100 , a unique identifier corresponding to the web site on which the PDC is placed, and/or any other appropriate components and data. 
         [0043]    For example, each PDC may have an advertiser identifier corresponding to the advertiser  110 , a product or service offered by the advertiser  110 , a web page of the advertiser  110 , or other identifier indicating that the user  114  computer received information relating to the advertiser  110 . In one embodiment, the advertiser identifier includes a name associated with a particular campaign and/or web page, and may be configured to place a “cookie” or other data file on a user  114 &#39;s computer. The cookie includes data referring to the retargeting system  100  and the advertiser  110 , such that when the cookie is identified by a publisher system  112 , the publisher system  112  may recognize the cookie as being associated with the retargeting system  100 , and contact the retargeting system  100  to retrieve the proper information to be provided to the user  114  according to the data and parameters for the particular advertiser  110 . 
         [0044]    After the advertiser  110  has set up the various campaigns on the retargeting system  100  and placed the PDCs from the retargeting system  100  on the appropriate webpages, users  114  may be retargeted via the retargeting system  100 . Generally, the user  114  visits the advertiser&#39;s  110  website, and the PDC places information on the user  114 &#39;s computer, indicating which information was viewed by the user  114  at the advertiser&#39;s  110  website, along with which publisher systems  112  should respond to the data placed by the PDC. The user  114  may then leave the advertiser&#39;s  110  website, either with or without making a purchase or otherwise successfully performing a transaction. 
         [0045]    When the user  114  visits a website connected with one of the publisher systems  112  associated with the retargeting system  100 , the publisher system  112  may determine whether it is among the publisher systems  112  selected by the advertiser  110  to respond to data placed by the PDC and proceed with retargeting. If so, the publisher system  112  may notify the retargeting system  100 , which may provide the retargeted information to the publisher system  112  for presentation to the user  114 . 
         [0046]    Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , for example, the user  114  may initially arrive at the advertiser&#39;s  110  website and view various products ( 510 ). When the user  114  downloads a page containing a PDC from the retargeting system  100 , the PDC places retargeting information, such as the advertiser identifier in the form of a cookie or other data, on the user  114 &#39;s computer ( 512 ). In the present embodiment, the cookie comprises an encrypted text file, and may include any suitable information, such as a website identifier corresponding to the web page visited by the user  114 , a retargeting system  100  identifier, and various other data, such as data corresponding to the selections and parameters provided by the advertiser  110  relating to the campaign and other parameters set by the retargeting system  100 . 
         [0047]    The PDC may place the information on the user  114 &#39;s computer in any suitable manner. For example, the PDC may comprise computer code to cause the user  114 &#39;s computer to download information from another source, such as by calling a pixel drop page (PDP) associated with the retargeting system  100  ( 514 ). The PDP may reside on the retargeting systems  100  server  118 , and may contain data provided by or relating to the various publisher systems  112 , such as network pixels corresponding to each publisher system  112  associated with the retargeting system  100 . The PDP may receive an identifier for the PDC that called the PDP, which corresponds to a database entry for the campaign and website associated with the PDC. 
         [0048]    The retargeting system  100  may check the database for information to be provided to the user  114 &#39;s computer, such as which publisher systems  112  have been selected to respond to perform retargeting for the advertiser  110  via the retargeting system  100 . The retargeting system  100  may then provide identification information for those publisher systems  112  authorized by the advertiser  110  to provide retargeting on users  114  visiting the advertiser&#39;s  110  web pages ( 516 ). Thus, the retargeting system  100  may include or exclude a particular publishing system&#39;s network pixel according to the information in the database regarding which publisher systems  112  were selected by the advertiser  110  to participate in the advertiser&#39;s  110  retargeting campaign. 
         [0049]    The identities of the selected publisher systems  112 , such as a set of network identifiers, may be placed on the user  114 &#39;s computer, along with any other data selected by the advertiser  110  and/or the retargeting system  100 , such as the advertiser category selected by the advertiser  110 , a website identifier, the PDC name, the type of PDC (like a “landing” or “success” PDC), the date the cookie was added, click-through rate information, an advertiser account identifier, a campaign identifier, an advertisement identifier, and/or any other desired or appropriate information. In the present embodiment, the PDC uses the information from the PDP to set the network pixels provided by the publisher systems  112  selected for participation by the advertiser  110  on the user  114 &#39;s computer. For example, the cookie information may include the advertiser category, the website ID for the website placing the cookie information, the PDC name (including whether the page is a “landing” page, “success” page, or the like), the date the cookie information was added to the user  114 &#39;s computer, click-through rate information, the advertiser account ID, the advertiser campaign ID, the ad ID, or other suitable information selected by the advertiser  110  and/or retargeting system  100 . 
         [0050]    Placing the information on the user  114 &#39;s computer facilitates tracking the pages viewed by user  114  or other actions for retargeting. The user  114 &#39;s action may be tracked in any appropriate manner, however, such as by saving the information and a user  114  identifier in the retargeting system  100  database to determine the user  114 &#39;s interactions with the advertisers  110  and the publisher systems  112 . 
         [0051]    More particularly, the PDCs associated with each of the web pages associated with the advertiser  110  place information on the user  114 &#39;s computer, including information relating to which publisher systems  112  have been selected to perform retargeting. Eventually, referring to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the user  114  may leave the advertiser&#39;s  110  web page and move to other websites ( 710 ). If another website later visited by the user  114  is associated with one of the publisher systems  112  from which the retargeting system  100  has acquired retargeting space, the publisher system  112  may retrieve the information placed by the advertiser  110  on the user  114 &#39;s computer. If the publisher system  112  is one of those named to participate in the retargeting, the publisher system  112  may retrieve an ad or other information associated with at least one of the advertiser  110  web pages visited by the user  114  from the retargeting system  100  and present it to the user  114 . The ad may be presented according to criteria set by the advertiser  110 , the retargeting system  100 , and/or the publisher system  112 . 
         [0052]    In the present embodiment, the publisher system  112  may check the user  114 &#39;s computer for user  114  behavior information, including the retargeting information placed by the advertiser&#39;s  110  web page, for example using conventional cookie-retrieval methods ( 712 ). If the publisher system  112  recognizes the user  114  behavior information as including retargeting information, such as a cookie from the retargeting system  100 , and if the retrieved information indicates that the publisher system  112  is among the publisher systems  112  selected by the advertiser  110  to perform retargeting, the publisher system  112  contacts the retargeting system  100  with the information from the user  114 &#39;s computer ( 714 ). The publisher system  112  may provide user  114  behavior information, as well as information regarding the publisher system  112 , such as a publisher system  112  identifier, to facilitate tracking the retargeting services provided by the publisher system  112 . In the present embodiment, the publisher system  112  provides the ad category, website ID, PDC name, the date the cookie was added, the advertiser campaign ID, and the ad ID retrieved from the user  114 &#39;s computer. 
         [0053]    The information retrieved from the user  114 &#39;s computer and received from the publisher system  112  may be processed by the retargeting system  100  to retarget the user  114  according to the user  114 &#39;s prior viewing of the advertiser&#39;s  110  web pages. Based on the information from the user  114 &#39;s computer and/or the information from the publisher system  112 , the retargeting system  100  of the present embodiment may identify an appropriate ad or other information to be provided to the user  114  via the publisher system  112  ( 716 ). For example, the retargeting system  100  may determine that the publisher system  112  has an ad tag for a banner ad available, and that the user  114  previously viewed a particular DVD player on the advertiser&#39;s  110  website. The retargeting system  100  may then select a banner ad from the relevant advertiser  110  for the DVD player from the database and provide the banner ad to the publisher system  112  for presentation to the user  114 . 
         [0054]    If multiple candidate ads are available, the retargeting system  100  may implement a set of preselected criteria to select which ad to provide to the publisher system  112 . For example, the user  114  might have visited three different sites of three different advertisers  110 , and only one ad tag may be available for presenting a retargeted ad to the user  114 . The retargeting system  100  may select an advertiser  110  and ad to be presented according to the ad selection criteria. The ad selection criteria may relate to any appropriate criteria, such as the most recent web page visited by the user  114  or a priority set by the advertiser  110 , a bidding scheme, a priority in time, a predetermined hierarchy, or the like. 
         [0055]    For example, the retargeting system  100  may first identify the type of user  114  according to the user  114  category identified in the cookie information. The retargeting system  100  may then identify all campaigns that match the category, excluding those that do not qualify, such as those campaigns that are not adequately funded, campaigns that do not include the proper ad type for the available ad tag, campaigns that have met a frequency cap, or campaigns associated with a “success” page cookie, indicating that the user  114  has already purchased the product. If the user  114  belongs to multiple categories, the retargeting system  100  can select the ad according to selected arbitration criteria, such as the most recent user  114  activity. Thus, a user  114  may belong to both a flowers group and a mortgage group. If the user  114  was shopping for flowers yesterday and mortgages last week, the retargeting system  100  may elect to select a flowers ad for presentation to the user  114 . 
         [0056]    Likewise, if multiple campaigns are available within the user  114 &#39;s category, the retargeting system  100  may select the campaign where the website ID owner is same as the one who created cookie record match. Thus, if www.advertiser.com set the retargeted information, then ads from that advertiser  110  will have priority. Similarly, if there are multiple matches, the retargeting system  100  may select an ad corresponding to the most recent match. If the website ID has multiple campaign matches, the retargeting system  100  may select the campaign with the highest ECPM (effective cost per thousand). If the ECPMs are even or unavailable, the retargeting system  100  may select the ad at random. If the website ID owner does not have a valid campaign, the retargeting system  100  may select the campaign with the highest ECPM. If there are multiple ads available, the ads may be rotated. Further, after a selected number of impressions have been delivered for each ad, the retargeting system  100  may select the one with the highest CTR. Any appropriate selection criteria, however, may be applied. 
         [0057]    The retargeting system  100  may then send the selected ad for the selected advertiser  110  to the publisher system  112  ( 718 ). The retargeting system  100  may also store the information received from the publisher system  112 , including the publisher system  112  identifier, and information regarding the response provided by the retargeting system  100 . The retargeting system  100  may also charge the advertiser&#39;s  110  account, for example on an hourly basis. In the present embodiment, the retargeting system  100  determine CPM cost for traffic (via ad tag data) for each ad tag that has been delivered during that hour and determine clicks on the presented ads. Each advertiser account may have a margin percentage entered into its account. As a default setting, every account may include a 200% percentage. The retargeting system  100  determines total cost by multiplying the fee charged by the publisher system  112  by the margin percentage for that account. Thus, if the total cost for the traffic during the hour for one ad tag is $10, the 200% margin percentage results in a charge of $20 to the advertiser  110 . If the total clicks on the ad were 10, the cost per click is $2.00. 
         [0058]    The publisher system  112  receives the ad and displays the ad to the user  114  ( 720 ). The publisher system  112  may note that the ad was presented and provide a confirmation to the retargeting system  100 . This information may be used to charge the retargeting system  100  for the services provided. The publisher system  112  may also note and/or transfer to the retargeting system  100  any appropriate information, such as whether the user  114  acted upon presentation of the ad by clicking on it. The retargeting system  100  may store information relating to the retargeting process, such as which ads were presented to which users  114 , the publishing systems that presented the ads, the costs associated with the retargeting, which ads led to further action like a sale or lead, the types of ads presented, and the frequency with which ads were presented to particular users  114 . 
         [0059]    The retargeting system  100  may also include a reporting system for reporting information and results, such as for data tracking and settling accounts. For example, the retargeting system  100  may store information relating to the retargeting services provided by the publisher system  112 , such as the number of impressions of each ad provided by the publisher system  112  to users  114 , the number of clicks by users  114  on those ads, and the like. The retargeting system  100  may organize the information in any suitable manner, such as by advertiser  110 , advertisement, ad tag, ad type, or campaign. The retargeting system  100  and/or the advertiser  110  may compensate the publisher system  112  as well, such as on a per impression basis or a click-through rate basis. The reporting system may generate the appropriate reports for operating with the various publisher systems  112 , such as to support the amounts owed to the publisher systems  112  for the provided services. 
         [0060]    In addition, the reporting system may organize and report information relating to the advertisers  110 , such as to track operations and support invoicing. For example, the advertiser  110  may have limited access to the reporting system to receive selected information. In the present embodiment, the advertiser  110  may request information regarding performance over selected date ranges, by ad tag, by website, by campaign, by publisher system  112 , or according to other suitable parameters. The reporting system may generate charts, total amounts spent or owing, total clicks by day per ad campaign, average cost per click, total conversions (whether click resulted in lead, sale, purchase, etc), total cost of conversions, prepaid amounts left in the advertiser&#39;s  110  account, amounts paid to the publisher systems  112 , or other relevant information. The reporting system may also reflect amounts paid or owing to the retargeting system  100 , such as on a per click basis, a click-through rate basis, or a multiplier of rate charged by the publisher systems  112 . 
         [0061]    In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments. Various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims. The specification and figures are illustrative, rather than restrictive, and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined by the claims and their legal equivalents rather than by merely the examples described. 
         [0062]    For example, the steps recited in any method or process claims may be executed in any appropriate order and are not limited to the specific order presented in the claims. Additionally, the components and/or elements recited in any apparatus claims may be assembled or otherwise operationally configured in a variety of permutations and are accordingly not limited to the specific configuration recited in the specification and shown in the drawings. 
         [0063]    Benefits, advantages, and solutions to problems have been described above with regard to particular embodiments. Any benefit, advantage, solution to (problem or any element that may cause any particular benefit, advantage or solution to occur or to become more pronounced are not to be construed as critical, required or essential features or components of any or all the claims. 
         [0064]    As used in this description, the terms “comprise”, “comprises”, “comprising”, “having”, “including”, “includes” or any variation thereof, are intended to reference a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, composition or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements recited, but may also include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, composition or apparatus. Other combinations and/or modifications of the above-described structures, arrangements, applications, proportions, elements, materials or components used in the practice of the present invention, in addition to those not specifically recited, may be varied or otherwise particularly adapted to specific environments, manufacturing specifications, design parameters or other operating requirements without departing from the general principles of the invention.