Patent ID: 7836040

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of creating a keyword search result list for multiple display areas, the method comprising the steps of: maintaining a single database for multiple display areas, the database storing keyword advertisements, each said keyword advertisement being associated with an advertiser and at least one search keyword, the keyword advertisement including a search listing and a rank index information wherein the rank index information is determined based, at least in part, upon a bid amount received from an advertiser and at least one of an average click rate and a click through rate (CTR) for a predetermined time period with respect to the keyword advertisement; searching the database for one or more keyword advertisements corresponding to a search keyword in response to a search request received from a searcher; identifying one or more keyword advertisements having search keyword generating a match with the search request; classifying the identified one or more keyword advertisements into a plurality of groups associated with a plurality of display areas by using the rank index information; creating a search result list by arranging the classified keyword advertisements for display, each of said plurality of display areas including one or more of said classified keyword advertisements; and displaying the search result list in response to the search request, each of the plurality of display areas being displayed separately from each other, wherein the steps of classifying and of creating are performed by a server including a processor, and some of the classified keyword advertisements are arranged in a random order and the other of the classified keyword advertisements are arranged according to a predetermined sorting rule.