Patent ID: 8738442

Claim:
A computer-implemented method, comprising: receiving, at one or more server computers, an ordered campaign creation request; storing, in a computer-readable memory operably connected to said one or more server computers, an ordered campaign in association with campaign-associated content including a plurality of content items, and state-transition information relating to a sequential presentation of the content items based on a content presentation sequence indicated in the ordered campaign; storing, in a computer-readable memory operably connected to said one or more server computers, campaign state information indicating a current state of the ordered campaign in association an id of a requesting entity, the current state indicating which particular content items from among said plurality of content items have already been presented to the requesting entity associated with the id and also indicating a sequence in which the already-presented particular content items have been presented to said requesting entity; receiving, at said one or more server computers, a virtual content request from an external device, the virtual content request including the id; selecting, according to the campaign state information and the state-transition information, a subsequent content item, from among the plurality of content items included in the campaign-associated content, to send to the external device in response to the virtual content request; sending the selected content item to the external device; and updating the stored campaign state information of the ordered campaign such that the updated campaign state indicates a sequence in which the selected content item was presented to the requesting entity with respect to said any particular content items; where the state-transition information includes one of a state transition graph or a state transition matrix representing a plurality of states, each state corresponding respectively to one of the plurality of content items and each state being associated with one or more available next states such that at least one state in the state transition graph or the state transition matrix is associated with two or more available next states; and where the current state of the ordered campaign with respect to the id represents a state within the state transition graph or the state transition matrix such that the step of selecting a subsequent content item includes selecting a content item from among the content items corresponding to the available next states within the state transition graph or the state transition matrix.