Patent ID: 7574408

Claim:
A method of forming a publisher union by utilizing a processor to implement the method comprising: creating a publisher union, wherein the publisher union comprises a plurality of member publishers organized together to effectively improve their negotiating position, wherein the plurality of member publishers of the publisher union are organized based on criteria; employing the processor to create metadata in a machine-readable format that comprises the criteria for membership in the publisher union; appointing a publisher union administrator to manage the publisher union by inviting other publishers to join the publisher union based on the criteria and by removing undesirable member publishers of the plurality of member publishers based on the criteria, wherein the publisher union administrator is appointed by one or more of the member publishers; receiving from one of the plurality of member publishers a channel proposal at the publisher union that proposed the creation of a channel, the channel represents a sub-group within the publisher union that organizes at least two of the plurality of member publishers by at least one common characteristic of content of web pages managed by the at least two of the plurality of member publishers; and presenting the channel to advertisers for monetization, wherein the process of presenting comprises: (a) negotiating on behalf of the plurality of member publishers in the sub-group associated with the channel as a group; and (b) binding each of the plurality of member publishers in the sub-group associated with the channel to terms of the negotiation.