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Description  |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to providing advertisements (ads) over a large
network, and particularly for advertising over the Internet.
Along with other information, Internet information providers can provide
ads to users in a number of forms, one of which is as a "banner" across an
Internet page, often at the top of the page. A banner ad can have text and
still or moving graphics, and typically serves as an HTML (HyperText
Markup Language) link, such that the user is linked to another specified
page if the user clicks on the banner. Some Internet sites are always
associated with the same particular one or more banner ads; each time the
site is accessed, the particular ad or ads are displayed along with the
other information that is displayed (an access to a site or page is
referred to as a "hit").
Rather than associate one or more particular banner ads with a page for
every hit, banner ads can be sold in terms of frequency--a number of hits
per day, particularly from sites that have a large number of hits per day.
A system with a small number of different ads that are served (and thus
displayed) an equal number of times can easily be envisioned. In this
case, a list of ads is made and a pointer moves in a circular fashion to
identify a next ad each time an ad is served. If the site has 10,000 hits
in a day, four ads would each be served 2500 times per day.
Such a system would be difficult to manage and operate if the numbers of
serves per day for the different ads were different, and particularly if
they were different significantly and by non-integral ratios. Different
advertisers may want substantially different numbers of hits; e.g., one
advertiser may want 100,000 hits per day for 10 days, another advertiser
may want 10,000 hits per day for only one day, and yet another may want
45,000 hits per day for a month. Another complication that occurs is that
the number of hits can be approximated for a single day, but the number of
hits can vary; if the number of hits increases on a particular day, an
advertiser may want the ads distributed throughout the day so that not all
ads are served early in the day. Alternatively, an advertiser may want a
concentration or intensification of ads at particular times, perhaps in
response to a profile of users, e.g., different times for children versus
adults, or for people accessing the site from home versus work.
It would be desirable for a web site administrator that sells ads based on
a number of hits per day to have an efficient way to cause the appropriate
number of ads to be served and to be able to adapt to different situations
in a flexible manner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is an advertising system for use with a large,
publicly accessible network, such as the Internet. The system has at least
one server for providing information in response to a request from a user.
The system includes an advertising server, an advertising database, and an
advertising controller for communicating with the ad server and the ad
database. The database stores information about the ads, and the
controller loads advertising campaign data, preferably in the form of
tables, from the database to the ad server. The ad server uses the
information to cause the ads to be served as desired.
To obtain efficient distribution of the ads relative to each other and
throughout the day (referred to here as "rotation control"), each ad is
preferably associated with at least two counters that are operated such
that the system can quickly determine which ad is to be served, without
intensive computational overhead. Rotation control can be performed as
desired, even with a large number of ads and with a wide range of
variation and non-integral ratios between the number of times the ads are
to be served. The ad server effectively makes a single list of ads and has
a pointer that moves through the list until it reaches an ad to be served.
To reduce steps for each serve, the system is designed so that the pointer
need not move through more than one cycle of ads on the list without
determining an ad to be served. Unused hits can be dedicated to other
entities on an unpaid basis, such as to charities, but treated like other
ads.
The system can predictively model the number of hits to control the
distribution of serves, either to ensure even distribution, or to
concentrate ads during particular times. The system also preferably has
triggering information that allows ads to be targeted. Ads can be targeted
to users seeking certain types of information, e.g., on a yellow pages
system or on a search engine, access to "photography" could cause the
serving of an ad for a manufacturer of film; to users from particular
geographic locations; to particular users; or to users at different times
of the day.
The system of the present invention also provide statistical, reporting,
and feedback functions to allow a system manager to monitor and report the
serves. This data can be used for control purposes, and also to provide
reports to verify the ads that have been served.
The present invention provides an integrated system that allows ads to be
served in a highly flexible and accurate manner a desired number of times
throughout the day and evenly distributed throughout the day, or
intensified at times if desired. Different ads can be served based on
different triggering events, such as the location of the user, the type of
information being accessed by the user, or the categories accessed. Other
features and advantages that have become apparent from the following
detailed description, drawings and claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an advertising system according to the present
invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the flow of information in the
system of FIG. 1.
FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrates tables maintained in the system of the present
invention.
FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating a change in hits throughout a time period.
FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b) are charts illustrating rotational control.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Internet 10 is a large interconnected network of computers, a subset of
which is the World Wide Web. Users can access servers to obtain
information over the web with a conventional web browser 11. In a system
according to the present invention, an accessible web site 8 has a number
of web servers 12 in communication with the Internet for responding to
users by providing files or information from databases. Each web server 12
has an advertising (ad) server 14 that has known, conventional data
insertion tools for causing one or more ads, such as banner ads that also
serve as HTML links, to be displayed when a page of information, such as a
file or database information, is returned to a user who accesses web site
8.
An example of an informational service with which the system of the present
invention can be used is the SWITCHBOARD.RTM. directory service, currently
at the Internet address www.switchboard.com (SWITCHBOARD is a registered
trademark of Switchboard, Inc.). This directory service has a large white
pages directory of people and businesses. To use this directory service to
find people, a user accesses the site with a web browser to obtain an
input screen with fields for a user to enter a name and, optionally, a
city and/or state. The directory service accesses one or more databases
and returns a list of records that match the queries. The service can also
be used to find businesses by name, or to search businesses by a category
of goods or services. The present invention can be used with such an
informational service, particularly with informational services that
respond to requests, such as a stock quote service or a mapping service,
or with any other page that can be accessed, such as a page of
information.
Referring also to FIG. 2, ad servers 14 can be implemented with common
gateway interface (CGI) scripts, or they can be implemented as software
that runs as part of the web server process. When a user contacts one of
web servers 12 with a query or a request for information, ad server 14
causes one or more ads to be served along with a response to that request
Each ad server 14 communicates with an ad controller 16 and with a database
engine 18. Database engine 18, in turn, communicates with an advertising
database 20. Referring also to FIG. 3, advertiser database 20 (which can
be configured as and considered to be one database or multiple databases)
has tables 30 that maintain information indicating parameters for the
display of ads. These tables thus hold what is referred here to as
advertising campaign data.
The campaign data can be arranged in many forms. The implementation shown
here in FIG. 3 for illustrative purposes is a single table 30 that has
rows of ads 32 and columns of information associated with each of the ads.
The first column is an ad identifier 34 that effectively identifies the
data that is to be provided to the user. The ad identifier can include a
uniform resource locator (URL) or a pointer to a graphical and/or textual
object. Table 30 also has stop/start information for when the ad is to
run; it can be arranged as a stop and start date, or (as shown) as a start
date 36 and run length 38. A frequency column 40 indicates a number of
times an object is to be seen during a specified time period, preferably
one day. Table 30 can also include triggering information 42 to indicate
under what circumstances the ad is to be displayed. This triggering
information is discussed in more detail below. These pieces of information
can easily be added to the database in response to a data entry screen
with a small number of fields. Because this data relates to the whole
campaign, it can be entered once and be valid for a long period;
consequently, this campaign data may not require very little updating or
maintenance.
Referring particularly to FIG. 2, controller 16 is preferably implemented
with programmed processing hardware, and with software that can be
maintained in any desired medium, such as memory chips or disks.
Controller 16 accesses tables 30 in advertiser database 20 and provides
the information from these tables to ad servers 14; the campaign data in
tables 30 is converted into a portable "meta" format that is used by the
ad server to build internal tables within storage in the ad server (or
storage easily accessible to the ad server). The tables built by the ad
server contain information derived from the "meta" information, such as
the content of ad objects, ratios of serves, counters for rotation
(discussed below), and the numbers of serves per ad for use in maintaining
statistics and logging. The campaign data is thus held as a central store
from which it can be distributed to the individual ad servers.
Controller 16 receives from ad server 14 statistics that indicate what ads
have actually been served and how often these ads have been served; these
statistics are used by the controller to provide active feedback to the ad
server to ensure accurate control of the serving of ads. Controller 16
formats the statistics from ad servers 14 and provides these statistics to
database engine 18 for storage in database 20.
Ad servers 14 also provide a usage log directly to database engine 18 and
then to database 20 for storage. The usage log and the statistics from
controller 16 are used by database engine 18 to generate external reports
for a system manager. These reports can be generated in one of many
different ways, including hour-by-hour updates and/or daily reports on
what ads were served so that the system manager can determine if the ads
are being served at the proper ratios and with the proper distribution
throughout the day. Corrections can thus be made if an inconsistency is
seen between the expected and actual numbers of serves. Moreover, these
reports can be used to provide to advertisers verification that their ads
were actually displayed in the frequency and at the times expected, as
well as the number of times the viewer clicked on the ad and the "click
yield," i.e., the number of clicks per number of servers as a percentage.
The controller can also prepare on-line reports for each individual ad
server, and for the entire web site. The logs are used to provide reports
with known log analysis tools, while the statistics are used to provide
feedback to the controller for the whole site. The controller can then
request statistics from each of the ad servers directly and individually.
According to the present invention, ad servers 14 provide rotational
control that ensures that ads are served a desired number of times per day
and with a desired distribution throughout the day, even with a large
number of ads, a wide variation in ratios of hits, and/or wide variations
of hits per day over multiple days. Each ad server 14 determines which ads
are active based on the start and run length information from table 30;
for each active ad, ad server 14 looks to the frequency to determine a
number of serves per day for each ad. Server 18 then associates each
active ad with at least counters that are implemented and configured for
rotational control.
Referring also to FIG. 4, while the data for rotational control can be
implemented in different ways, as shown here, ad server 14 builds a
counter table 50. Associated with each ad, table 50 has a first column 52
with ads, and counters 54 with two counters.
In operation, a pointer 56 cycles through the rows, until it points to a
row in which the counters indicate that the object is to be served. The
pointer moves in a circular manner, so the pointer moves from the last ad
in the list to the first.
The first counter, referred to as the main counter, has a value M that is
decremented each time a cycle of ads is completed. (The term "decremented"
is used broadly herein as noted below.) The first counter, which has an
initial value of M0, decrements each time the pointer passes the row. When
the pointer reaches an ad for which M=0, the ad is served and the main
counter then resets to its initial value, M0.
A second counter, referred to here as the delay frequency counter, has a
value D which starts from an initial value D0 and is decremented each time
the corresponding main counter M (in the same row for the same ad) equals
zero and the ad is served. The third column has a constant value that is
referred to as the delay constant A0. When D=0, value A0 is added to the
value of M0 for the next time that ad is to be displayed; this addition
thus causes a delay in the serving of that ad the next time. The value of
the third counter can be decremented and thus change, or it can be a
constant that is added each time it is needed, but then is not changed.
The values for the three constants, M0, D0, and A0, are determined based on
ratios of the frequency of ads. To determine these ratios, the ads are
arranged based on the number of times per day that each is to be
displayed. Next, values are determined for the other ads by dividing the
highest frequency ad by each of the less frequent ads to determine ratio
values. Consequently, the most frequent ad (or ads) has a value M0=1. For
example, if the most frequently displayed ad has 100,000 hits per day,
another ad that is to be served with 50,000 hits per day and another with
5,000 hits per day, these ads will have ratio values of 1, 2, and 20,
respectively.
The values of D0 and A0 are determined based on the floating point
remainder of the ratio. If the ratio has a remainder of zero as in this
example, D0 and A0 are set to zero, because no delay is needed to keep the
ratios accurate. Assuming another ad is served with 30,000 hits per day,
the ratio is 3.333, in which case the main counter has a value of M0=3,
with a floating point remainder of 0.333. The remainder is used to derive
D0 and A0. These values can be precalculated and obtained from a lookup
table, or they can be calculated as needed.
Simplified examples of such rotational control are shown in FIGS. 6(a) and
6(b). As noted above, the main counter sets the ratio of serves to the
integer value, rounding down to the more frequent, while the delay counter
and amount delay the serves to make the ratio of actual serves accurate.
Referring to FIG. 6(a), for example, if there were only two ads, a first
with 100,000 serves per day and a second with 50,000 serves per day
(actually, any 2:1 ratio could be used), the main counters could be set at
1 and 2, respectively, and there would be no need for delay counters.
FIG. 6(a) shows 8 steps of operation where ad #1 and ad #2 have main
counter initial values M0=1 and M0=2, respectively. The steps refer to
pointer movements, not to the serves themselves. In step 1, M decrements
to zero, and ad #1 is served; the main counter then resets immediately to
M0=1. In step 2, the main counter for ad #2 decrements to 1, then in step
3, the main counter for ad #1 decrements to zero and ad #1 is served
again. In step 4, the main counter for ad #2 decrements to zero, so ad #2
is served, and its counter is reset to M0=2.
As shown in FIG. 6(a), this pattern repeats itself, and ads #1 and #2 are
thus served in a 2:1 ratio.
But if the second ad had 40,000 serves per day, the ratio would be 2.5. In
this case, the delay counter is used to delay the serves to make up for
the difference of 0.5. In concept, the idea is that the 2:1 pattern of
FIG. 6(a) is still used to some extent, but there is a delay feature by
which serving of ad #2 is delayed periodically so that the ratio is
brought down to 2.5:1 rather than 2:1.
Referring to FIG. 6(b), as shown here, for ad #2, D0, the initial value of
the delay counter, is 1; and the delay amount constant, A0, also is 1. The
first four steps are the same as for FIG. 6(a), resulting in 2 serves of
ad #1, and 1 serve of ad #2. When ad #2 is served, however, delay counter
D decrements to 0, causing A0 to be added to M for one series of steps
until ad #2 is served again. In this case, the next series of serves will
be 4 serves in a 3:1 ratio. As a result, this means a total of 7 serves,
with 5 serves of ad #1, and 2 serves of ad #2, for the desired 5:2 ratio.
This series of steps 1-10 will now repeat, and thus continue the 5:2
ratio.
It should be apparent that as D0 is increased, the ratio will approach 2:1
(indeed the 2:1 ratio could be seen as an infinite D0, i.e., where a delay
is rare to non-existent). To get ratios exceeding 2.5, A0 is made larger
in conjunction with D0. For example, if D0=2 and A0=2, the serves will be
2:1 , 2:1, and 4:1, for an overall ratio of 8:3, or 2.67. A programmed
processor can easily make the calculations for the desired ratios.
Accordingly, by using a delay, whereby the serving of one or more ads is
delayed at desired times, ads can be served with desired non-integral
ratios, and well distributed through a given time period.
With this system, each ad need only be listed once in a table, such as the
table in FIG. 4, and then accessed with a moving pointer (or other method
for incrementally identifying items in a group), without requiring
repetition or duplication of items to forcibly fix ratios. The pointer
need never cycle through the list of ads for more than one cycle because
one ad always has a main counter value M0=1. These features reduce the
number of moves with the pointer, and therefore reduce the steps and
computational overhead. In the simplified example above, only 10 pointer
movements are needed for 7 serves, and each ad need only be listed once in
the list.
The system can also accommodate the situation in which the number of hits
per day is undersold compared to the estimated and/or actual number of
hits. For example, if a system is typically receiving 500,000 hits per day
and only 250,000 hits per day have been sold, the system can insert
banners for charitable organizations, free serves on a trial basis, or
public service announcements. In this case, such ads can be rotated in
with the other ads.
While the counters are used to provide an appropriate balance in the
numbers of serves for each ad relative to the others, other methods can be
used to provide appropriate distribution throughout the day. FIG. 5 is a
graph representing how usage might vary throughout one day from midnight
to midnight (the graph here is merely illustrative and is not meant as a
precise measure). Based on recurring patterns, such as when most people
work, the time zones, and the day of the week, the number of hits to a
particular service may be predicted based on prior experience. The hours
of the day can be broken up into time regions that may be less frequent
during certain non-peak times and more frequent during peak times, and the
frequency with which hits are calculated can be varied from numbers of
hits per day to number of hits per time periods, with the time periods
being reloaded from the database to the ad server by the controller on a
more frequent basis throughout the day. This approach, in effect, alters
the granularity with which the hits are monitored. With this approach, the
time periods can vary in duration from short duration during peak times to
longer duration during non-peak times.
Another way to implement such distribution is to provide control from the
controller based on the statistics that are being provided from the ad
server. If the controller determines that the number of hits is higher for
a given time period, it can cause the system to delay serving all paid ads
or all ads of a particular type, and then only serve ads used fill in gaps
between the total number of hits and the number of paid hits. This way,
there may be some gaps, but the distribution is made more regular through
the day.
The controller can build a model of traffic based on past traffic data, and
then this model is used with current statistics collected from the ad
servers to make new "meta" tables on a regular basis, such as hourly. A
simpler method, however, is to collect statistics from ad servers and to
adjust the "meta" tables based on recent information. In this case, a
dampening algorithm could be applied to prevent feedback oscillation.
The present invention also provides the control and flexibility to allow
ads to be served based on different triggering events. One way to
implement this feature is by using multiple tables, each of which
corresponds to a different triggering event. For example, an access by a
user from a particular region could cause ads targeted to some
regional-based businesses, such as department stores or grocery stores, to
be served. Another type of targeting uses the accessed information to
infer that the user has a particular interest, e.g., if a user searches a
business directory for a business in a particular category, such as
photography or skiing. In this system, some ads may be designed to go to
all users, regardless of location or specific interests, while other ads
may be targeted based on whatever triggering events are desired.
As an example of multiple tables, one table can be the general or default
table where ads are identified. There could additionally be a "Skiing
Table" with ads for ski manufacturers, sporting goods stores, and/or ski
resorts. If a user accesses information relating to skiing, the system
looks to the Skiing Table instead of the general table. Accordingly, the
method for serving ads with such multiple tables could include an initial
step of first determining whether a triggering event occurred and then
branching to the appropriate table in response to the comparison.
In another implementation, a table that has counters, such as that shown in
FIG. 4, can also have one or more additional fields with triggering
information that can indicate a programmable triggering code. If the
system detects the code, such as an indication that a user has tried to
access a particular type of information, that ad can effectively override
the selection based on the counters. In this case the system can first
check whether the user's access has caused an alert to any known code (or
at least checks for a triggering event for which there is a code) before
checking the counters to determine which ad to serve; alternatively an ad
can be triggered to be served only if there is triggering information
associated with the ad, and not served otherwise.
It should be apparent that modifications can be made without departing from
the scope with the invention as defined by the appended claims. The term
decrementing is used broadly and further includes incrementing; while the
decrementing is indicated as a change of value by +1 or -1, the
decrementing can be for any change in value that effectively serves as a
counting mechanism, i.e., in theory one could count by 2's.
* * * * *
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