Patent ID: 8001001

Claim:
A computer system for publishing content, comprising: a memory storing computer-executable instructions; a processor device operably coupled with the memory, said processor device executing a multi-armed bandit engine for learning the valuation of a plurality of content items through sampling by scheduling the content items for web page placements to optimize payments for maximizing revenue; wherein the multi-armed bandit engine schedules the content items for web page placement by: selecting an optimal set of content items to sample from the plurality of content items; allocating a web page placement for a content item in the optimal set of content items to maximize revenue, wherein allocating said web page placement comprises: sorting a plurality of web page placements in ascending order by normalized click probability; sorting the optimal set of content items in descending order by payoff; matching the plurality of web page placements in ascending order with a plurality of content items of the optimal set of content items in descending order; and allocating the plurality of web page placements matched to the plurality of content items of the optimal set of content items; sampling the plurality of content items allocated to the plurality of web page placements; updating a click-through rate for the content item sampled; and calculating a charge for the content item allocated to the web page placement; and a storage operably coupled to the processor device for storing a plurality of valuations each associated with a content item allocated to a web page placement for online publishing of content.