Patent ID: 7801768

Claim:
A computer-readable medium having computer-useable executable instructions embodied thereon performing a method for identifying winning bids in an auction, comprising: receiving a plurality of bids during an auction period, each bid of the plurality of bids including a bid price and an auction budget; determining a pseudo bid function dependent on at least the bid price and the auction budget included in each bid of the plurality of bids; determining a pseudo bid for each of the plurality of bids using the pseudo bid function, wherein determining further comprises: increasing the pseudo bid by increasing the bid price and increasing the auction budget; determining a remaining portion of advertising opportunities for the auction period based on a historical projection or an estimated projection; calculating a ratio of a remaining portion of the auction budget for the auction period to the remaining portion of the advertising opportunities for the auction period; adjusting the pseudo bid based on the ratio; ranking the pseudo bids of the plurality of bids; and identifying a bid associated with a highest pseudo bid as a winning bid.