Patent ID: 8335718

Claim:
A computer-implemented method, comprising: receiving a budget constraint from a plurality of bidders, wherein each budget constraint defines a maximum budget that each bidder allocates for a defined time period; assigning each bidder to one of a plurality of slots for a same web page, the slot to which each bidder is assigned being based on the budget constraint for the bidder; grouping, by one or more computers, the plurality of slots for the same web page into two or more different slot groups for the same web page, wherein at least two of the plurality of slots are grouped to a same slot group; determining, by one or more computers, a price for the same slot group based on a function of the budget constraints for the bidders that were assigned to the slots in the same slot group and a slot performance associated with the slots in the same slot group; scheduling, by one or more computers, the bidders to the slots in the same slot group during the defined time period based, at least in part, on the price for the same slot group, wherein: the at least two of the plurality of slots comprise two slots for which the slot performance is higher than the slot performance for others of the plurality of slots; and the price for the same slot group is a same price that is charged for presentation of an advertisement in any of the slots that were grouped to the same slot group independent of which of the advertisers is presenting an advertisement in the slot.