Patent ID: 7818207

Claim:
A computer implemented method for governing delivery of an advertisement over a specified time period, the method comprising: a) determining, using a computer system including one or more computers, an expected total cost associated with delivering multiple impressions of the advertisement, not subject to budget constraints, over the specified time period, wherein a budget constraint is a maximum cost per unit of time, and wherein the expected total cost is determined as (an expected number of impressions of the advertisement over the specified time period)*(an expected rate of selections per impression)*(a cost per selection value); and b) governing, using the computer system, the delivery of the advertisement over the specified time period based on the expected total cost and a target cost for the specified time period, wherein the target cost is one of a (A) daily, (B) weekly, (C) monthly, (D) quarterly and (E) yearly budget associated with one of (A) the advertisement, (B) an ad group to which the advertisement belongs, (C) a campaign to which the advertisement belongs, and (D) an account to which the advertisement belongs.