Patent Document ID: 20100198679
Application ID: 12693390
Patent Flag: 0

Claim One:
1. A machine-controlled method, comprising: estimating an expected conversion rate for each of a plurality of ads based at least in part on a first latent variable by applying an estimated conversion rate statistical model to each of the plurality of ads; estimating an expected average order value (AOV) for each of the plurality of ads based at least in part on a second latent variable by applying an estimated AOV statistical model to each of the plurality of ads; applying a first inference algorithm to determine a most likely value for the first latent variable based at least in part on observed data corresponding to the ads; applying a second inference algorithm to determine a most likely value for the second latent variable based at least in part on the observed data corresponding to the ads; and determining a plurality of auction bids based on the estimated expected conversion rate and the estimated expected AOV.