Patent ID: 7958005

Claim:
One or more computer storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed, perform a method for determining bid amounts necessary to ensure advertisements will be presented in positions other than position one, the method comprising: (a) receiving a first bid amount (B(X)) associated with a given keyword, an advertisement and a desired position (P), wherein receiving a first bid amount comprises: (i) receiving an exact match bid amount (B 1 (X)) associated with a linear portion of a first position function (P 1 (X)) for the given keyword; (ii) receiving a phrase match bid amount (B 2 (X)) associated with a linear portion of a second position function (P 2 (X)) for the given keyword; (iii) receiving a broad match bid amount (B 3 (X)) associated with a linear portion of a third position function (P 3 (X)) for the given keyword; (iv) receiving an expected number of search queries (S 1 ) that will result in an exact match with the given keyword; (v) receiving an expected number of search queries (S 2 ) that will result in a phrase match with the given keyword; (vi) receiving an expected number of search queries (S 3 ) that will result in a broad match with the given keyword; and (vii) calculating the first bid amount (B(X)) utilizing the following formula: B ⁡ ( X ) = B 1 ⁡ ( X ) · S 1 + B 2 ⁡ ( X ) · S 2 + B 3 ⁡ ( X ) · S 3 S 1 + S 2 + S 3 ; (b) determining, based upon the first bid amount (B(X)), a position (P(B)) at which the advertisement will be presented when a search query is received that matches the given keyword; (c) comparing the determined position (P(B)) with the desired position (P); and (d) if the determined position (P(B)) and the desired position (P) differ from one another by greater than a pre-determined threshold amount (ε), iteratively adjusting the first bid amount (B(X)) until an adjusted bid amount (B A ) is determined that will cause an adjusted position (P A ) to be determined based thereupon that differs from the desired position (P) by less than or equal to the pre-determined threshold amount (ε).