Patent ID: 8155990

Claim:
One or more computer-storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed by a processor, perform a method for employing one or more linear programs to determine whether sufficient inventory exists to accept a candidate order to place impressions of at least one advertisement, the method comprising: receiving the candidate order with associated placement criteria; reading the placement criteria to identify a quantity of impressions of at least one advertisement to place, a time segment over which the quantity of impressions are anticipated to be placed, and at which leaf node the impressions are expected to be rendered; estimating an inventory of impressions that are available for accommodating the candidate order within the time segment; identifying a log of booked orders scheduled to be placed within the time segment, wherein the identified booked orders compete to be placed at the leaf node; utilizing the one or more linear programs to determine whether the estimated inventory that satisfies the placement criteria is available by predictively placing the competing booked orders at the estimated inventory, wherein determining whether the inventory that satisfies the placement criteria is available involves minimizing a risk of underdelivering the booked orders over the time segment, upon aggregating the candidate orders therewith, by minimizing a first object function ∑ j ⁢ AV j ⁢ u j of a first linear program subject to at least one constraint, wherein u j represents a number of the booked orders that will be potentially undelivered upon accepting the candidate order and AV j represents a weighting assigned to at least one customer that submitted the booked orders; and when inventory that satisfies the placement criteria is unavailable, communicating a refusal to accept the candidate order.