Patent ID: 8239267

Claim:
A computer-implemented method performed by a server computer for managing an advertising campaign on behalf of an advertiser, the method comprising: receiving, from the advertiser, information for scheduling a plurality of plays of an advertisement, the received information including all of: a target broadcast station format, a target broadcast time, an external criterion, a first cost-per-thousand listeners (CPM) for when the external criterion is present, and an alternative CPM for when the external criterion is not present; receiving, from an associated station inventory manager of each of a plurality of broadcast stations, an indication of unsold advertising slots across the plurality of broadcast stations, each slot having an associated broadcast station format and broadcast time; identifying, by a processor executing a campaign manager module, an unsold advertising slot from among the unsold advertising slots having a broadcast station format that satisfies the target broadcast station format and a broadcast time that satisfies the target broadcast time; determining, by a processor executing a metrics manager module running on the server computer in communication with a hub that accesses information on the status of certain external factors, whether the external criterion is met at the broadcast time of the identified unsold advertising slot; and bidding in an auction, by a processor executing an auctioneer module running on the server computer, for the identified unsold advertising slot using the first CPM when the external criterion is met at the broadcast time of the identified unsold advertising slot, or using the alternative CPM when the external criterion is not met at the broadcast time of the identified unsold advertising slot.