Patent ID: 8386314

Claim:
A scanning computer system configured to scan web sites for online ad information, the scanning computer system comprising: data storage storing information identifying online ads for a client; a processor configured to scan the web sites based on a location of a hosting web server for the online ad information, parse content of web pages of the web sites for client and competitor ads, identify ad beacons from the parsed web pages, wherein the ad beacons retrieve ad images for the online ads for the client; use the information in the data storage to determine whether the ad beacons identify the online ads for the client, determine metrics for the online ads for the client, and generate reports from the parsed web pages including key performance indicators (KPIs) which determine the effectiveness of ads relative to the content and web site, wherein the reports include an audit service report which is compiled from attributes and the metrics for captured client and competitor ads and a competitor analysis report based on analysis of metrics for the competitor ads on the parsed web pages, wherein the competitor analysis report identifies which competitors are advertising and where and how often the competitors are advertising, and wherein the KPIs include at least one of cost per click, cost per page and page location, depth versus breadth scan, and actual placement versus planned placement; a network interface configured to communicate with web servers hosting the web sites operable to include the online ads for the client; and a graphical user interface (GUI) for presenting the client with the attributes, the metrics for the captured ads and for the competitors, the KPIs, and the reports as generated, wherein the GUI allows users to dynamically search their advertising statistics, selected KPIs and the reports for viewing.