Patent ID: 7660581

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for targeted distribution of sponsored content item of a first or second sponsor to a plurality of mobile communication facilities whose respective users have a common usage history characteristic statistically modeled as a profile associated with the respective users, wherein the profile is identified as a category, wherein advertising of the sponsored content item relates to the category, the method comprising the steps of: (a) presenting a category to the first sponsor and the second sponsor; (b) receiving a bid from the first sponsor, wherein the bid includes: (i) a selection of the category; and (ii) a financial consideration offered for distribution of the sponsored content item of the first sponsor to the users associated with the selected category; (c) receiving a bid from the second sponsor, wherein the bid includes: (ii) a selection of the same category as the first sponsor; and (ii) a financial consideration offered for distribution of the sponsored content item of the first sponsor to the users associated with the selected category; (d) attributing a priority to the distribution of the sponsored content item of the first sponsor over the distribution of the sponsored content item of the second sponsor to the users associated with the selected category based upon a determination that the financial consideration of the first sponsor is greater than the financial consideration of the second sponsor; and (e) distributing the respective sponsored content item to the plurality of mobile communication facilities whose respective users are identified by the selected category.