Patent ID: 8712844

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving in a data storage module of a portal entity customer natural query event data from a plurality of customers; retrieving, by a computer, natural query event data from the data storage module that is related to subject matter of interest to an advertiser entity; extracting, by a computer, attribute data from the data storage module associated with the customers based on the natural query event data, wherein the attribute data comprises attributes to identify customers; generating, by a computer, a matrix comprising attributes that identify customers related to the subject matter of interest for the advertiser; selecting a plurality of sets of advertising targeting criteria from the matrix, wherein an advertising targeting criteria set identifies a group of customers by at least one of the attributes; retrieving performance parameters for each set of advertising targeting criteria that identifies, for each set of advertising targeting criteria, a historical click-through rate for customers with attributes identified in the set of advertising targeting criteria; and selecting, by a computer, at least one set of advertising targeting criteria based on the performance parameters related to the subject matter of interest for the advertiser.