Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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A SYSTEM AND METHOD TO MERGE PAY-FOR-PERFORMANCE
ADVERTISING MODELS
[0001] The present patent application claims priority from Provisional U.S.
Patent
Application, filed on February 25, 2005, attorney docket no. 04704.Y035/-,
entitled "A
System and Method to Merge Pay-For-Performance Advertising Models",
Provisional
U.S. Patent Application 60/653,708, filed on February 16, 2005 and entitled
"Methods
and Apparatuses for Pay-Per-Call Advertising in Mobile/Wireless Applications",
Provisional U.S. Patent Application 60/653'-660, filed on February 16, 2005
and entitled
"Methods And Apparatuses For Offline Selection Of Pay-Per-Call Advertise", and
Provisional U.S. Patent Application 60/653,661, filed on February 16, 2005 and
entitled
"Methods And Apparatuses For Geographic Area Selections In Pay-Per-Call
Advertisement", which are incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNOLOGY FIELD
[0002] At least some embodiments of the present invention relate to sorting
lists,
such as search result lists for advertisement, publicity, etc.
BACKGROUND [0003] The Internet is becoming an advertisement medium to reach
globally
populated web users. Advertisements can be included in a web page that is
frequently
visited by web users or that returns the result of a user requested search.
[0004] Typically, the advertisements included in the web pages contain only a
limited
amount of information (e.g., a small paragraph, an icon, etc.). The
advertisements contain
links to web sites that provide. further detailed information.
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[00051 In certain arrangements, the advertisers pay the advertisements based
on the
number of visits directed to the web sites through the links in the
advertisements. Thus,
the advertisers pay for the performance of the advertisements.
[0006] Performance based advertising generally refers to a type of advertising
in
which an advertiser pays only for a meastirable event that is a direct result
of an
advertisement being viewed by a consumer.
[0007] Paid inclusion advertising is a form of performance-based search
advertising.
With paid inclusion advertising, an advertisement is included within a result
page of a
search. Typically, each selection (e.g., click) of the advertisement from the
result page is
the measurable event for which the advertiser pays. In other words, payment by
the
advertiser is typically on a per click basis.
[0008] Paid placement advertising is another form of performance-based
advertising,
similar to paid inclusion advertising. Typically, the payment for paid
placement
advertising is also on a per click basis. With paid placement advertising an
advertiser
wants the opportunity of having a particular advertisement placed at a
prominent spot,
e.g., at the top of a search engine result page, thereby to increase the odds
of the
advertisement being viewed.
[0009] In paid inclusion advertising or paid placement advertising, the
advertiser may
adjust the price the advertiser is willing to pay for each selection (e.g.,
click) to balance
the cost for the advertisement and the odds of obtaining the desired prominent
spot or a
high position in a list of advertisements.
[0010] For example, one advertising site may create a single queue of
advertisements,
which is sorted based on the per-click price specified by the advertisers.
Adjusting the
prices allows the advertisers to change their own placement and the
advertisement cost.
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[0011] Currently, a search engine web site can present a list of
advertisers/advertisements in response to a user request for certain
information. The list
of advertisers/advertisements may be sorted or selected for presentation
partially
according to the relevancy of the advertisements to the infornnation requested
by the user.
The advertisers/advertisements may be sorted or selected for presentation
partially
according to the price the advertisers specified for payment of the
performance of the
advertisements.
[0012] In an existing advertising network, a web site may sort the pool of
advertisements into two separate queues. One queue is for the direct
advertisers of the
web site; and the other is for the indirect advertisers of the web site. The
entire queue of
the direct advertisers is sorted ahead of the indirect advertisers so that the
direct
advertisers are better served than the indirect advertisers on the web site.
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SUMMARY OF THE DESCRIPTION
[0013] Methods and apparatuses for merging different types of pay for
performance
advertisements are presented.
[0014] In one embodiment, a method includes: determining an indicator of
potential
revenue for a party from price information of a list of entities, which
includes first price
information for a first type of advertisements and second price information
for a second
type of advertisements; and sorting the list of entities based at least
partially on the
indicator of potential revenue.
[0015] In one embodiment, a method includes: converting price information for
an
advertisement of a first type to equivalent price information for a second
type of
advertisements.
[0016] In one embodiment, a method includes: determining automatically, based
on a
call bid amount for a second pay per call advertisement, a click bid amount
for a first pay
per click advertisement to provide a phone number of the second advertisement.
[0017] The present invention includes methods and apparatuses that perform
these
xnethods, including data processing systems that perform these methods and
computer
readable media which when executed on data processing 'systems cause the
systems to
perform these methods.
[0015] Other features of the present invention will be apparent from the
accompanying drawings and from the detailed description which follows.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0019] The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not
limitation in
the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate
similar
elements.
[0020] Figure 1 illustrates a seller network according to one embodiment of
the
present invention.
[0021] Figure 2 illustrates a user interface to provide information about
sellers from
a supplier of a seller network according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
[0022] Figure 3 illustrates a user interface to upload information about
sellers from a
supplier of a seller network according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
[0023] Figure 4 illustrates a user interface to display affiliate earnings of
a supplier
of a seller network according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0024] Figure 5 illustrates a revenue distribution scheme in a seller network
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0025] Figure 6 illustrates a list sorting process to increase revenue for a
media
channel in a seller network according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
[0026] Figure 7 illustrates an example of showing a list of sellers on a
wireless
mobile device in a seller network accordingto one embodiment of the present
invention.
[0027] Figure 8 illustrates a process of accessing sellers in a seller network
according
to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0028] Figure 9 shows a diagram of a system to make and track phone
connections
for a seller network according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0029] Figures 10 - 11 show flow diagrams of method to sort seller listings
according to embodiments -of the present invention.
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[0030] Figure 12 shows a block diagram example of a data processing system
which
may be used with the present invention.
[0031] Figures 13 and 14 show examples of running advertisements to determine
performance conversion rates for pay per click advertisements and pay per call
advertisements for a category according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
[0032] Figure 15 shows a diagram illustrating how the bidding queue merges
according to conversion factor according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
[0033] Figure 16 shows a merged bidding queue displayed as advertisements on a
directory according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0034] Figure 17 shows a merged bidding queue from Pay Per Click perspective
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0035] Figure 18 shows a merged bidding queue from Pay Per Call perspective
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0036] Figure 19 shows a flow chart illustration a method to create an
advertisement
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0037] Figure 20 shows a flow chart illustration a method of auto-arbitrager
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0038] The following description and drawings are illustrative of the
invention and
are not to be construed as limiting the invention. Numerous specific details
are described
to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, in
certain
instances, well known or conventional details are not described in order to
avoid
obscuring the description of the present invention. References to one or an
embodiment
in the present disclosure are not necessarily references to the same
embodinlent; and,
such references mean at least one.
[0039] One embodiment of the present invention provides a system of a seller
network. The seller network includes a number of supply affiliates who provide
or supply
sellers for the seller network. The seller network also includes a number of
demand
affiliates who drive the demand of the customers to the seller network. Some
affiliates
can be both supply affiliates and demand affiliates.
[0040] Demand affiliates can be used to drive traffic to a seller or a network
of
sellers, especially in the Internet world. For instance, third-party web sites
may be
rewarded for driving consumer demand to a network of sellers.
[0041] However, in some marketplaces, supply is more difficult to come by,
especially marketplaces that rely upon many different sellers, It may be
advantageous
when the seller or seller network is large and diversified enough to satisfy
the customers
generated through the demand affiliates.
[0042] In one embodiment of the present invention, a system rewards supply
affiliates in addition to demand affiliates. The system provides a platforin
to attract and
reward generators of both demand and supply.
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[0043] In one embodiment, the system provides a user interface or application
programming interface (API) through which suppliers of sellers can supply
their sellers
into the network. Affiliates can add their sellers to the network, manage
their sellers
from the system interface, and maximize the benefit they receive through
manipulating
the way they display network listings on their own demand sites, such as
through
manipulating the sorted order of the listings. A media channel delivering
seller listings,
advertisements or similar advertising information to the potential customers
can be called
a demand site.
[0044] In one embodiment, the system provides the suppler affiliates with
tools to
manage and track the performance of their sellers, both individually and as a
whole. In
return for supplying the sellers to the seller network, the system rewards the
supply
affiliates. In one embodiment, the supply affiliate reward is based on the
leads received,
or the commerce conducted tlirough the network or other measurable benefits
received,
by the sellers of the supply affiliates. Supply affiliate reward can be
manifested in various
forms including, but not limited to, percentile commissions, revenue share on
lead
charges or commerce transactions, bounties, lump sums, etc.
[0045] In one embodiment, a supply affiliate can be anyone with access to
existing or
potential sellers that may be brought into the seller network. For example, a
supply
'affiliate can be an individual who recommends friends to join the network. A
supply
affiliates can also be a company which poois and manages a set of sellers for
the network.
[0046] In one embodiment, a supply affiliate of the seller network with a
supply
affiliate reward system can display seller listings from the seller network on
a media
channel of the supply affiliate. The seller listings may include the sellers
from the supply
affiliate and/or from other supply affiliates of the seller network.
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[0047] In general, a supply affiliate may or may not operate a demand site.
When a
supply affiliate facilitates a demand site for the seller network, the supply
affiliate is also
a demand affiliate. In return for facilitating the demand site to reach
potential customers,
the system also rewards the demand affiliates. In one embodiment, similar to
the supply
affiliate reward, the demand affiliate reward is based on the leads received,
or the
commerce conducted or other measurable benefit received, by the sellers
through the
demand site. The demand affiliate rewards can be manifested in various forms
including,
but not limited to, percentile commissions, revenue share on lead charges or
commerce
transactions, bounties, lump sums, etc.
[0048] In one embodiment of the present invention, the seller listings are
sorted based
on maximizing the revenue to the demand affiliate who may also be a supply
affiliate,
considering both supply affiliate reward and demand affiliate reward, ratlier
than relying
on a bidding order of the sellers. Thus, the affiliates may achieve maximum
benefit
within a seller network.
[0049] If all the direct advertisers were unconditionally sorted ahead of the
indirect
advertisers, greater revenue potential from higher-bidding advertisements from
indirect
advertisers might be lost.
[0050] If the relevant advertisers were sorted according to a strict bidding
order, the
financial implications of some affiliates of a seller network with a revenue
share system
iuight not be well considered. For example, a demand affiliate who is also a
supply
affiliate may be losing out by not getting the higher revenue from their own
sellers, who,
although may have lower bids, would provide both the demand afflliate reward
and the
supply affiliate reward to generate a higher overall revenue for the
affiliate. This would
create an uneven distribution of seller impressions on demand sites; and
suppliers of
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sellers with demand sites might lose out on potentially greater revenues.
[0051] In one embodiment of the present invention, the seller listings (or in
general,
advertisements) are sorted at a demand site according to the revenue for a
particular party
in the seller network, such as a demand affiliate who may or may not be a
supply
affiliate, to overcome the limitations of the traditional sorting methods.
[0052] In one embodiment, when the demand affiliates sort the seller listings
of a
seller network to increase their respective revenues, the system effectively
gives sellers
better exposure on the demand sites of their suppliers, while still having a
wider
distribution of demand site impressions. The network effect can be maximized.
The
sellers can be displayed on various possible demand sites of the network,
while less
aggressive lower-bidding sellers can still rely on an advantage on the demand
sites of
their own supplier. This creates value for the entire network, but also
ensures suppliers of
sellers with demand sites that they can achieve the maximum amount of revenue
for their
position in the network.
[0053] In one embodiment, the affiliates can access the system to see
reporting
interfaces that encapsulate both the performance of their sellers and the
subsequent
supply affiliate rewards.
[0054] Note that in the present application, "advertisement" may refer to
various
different forms of presentations to attract attention or patronage. An
advertisement may
be simply a listing of identity and contact information (e.g., in a web page,
a print media,
.a telephonic listing service, etc.), or a passage including one or more
statements about
business offering, etc., or a banner with graphical content and/or animation
embedded in
a web page, or a voice message presented in a voice channel (e.g., radio
broadcasting, a
voice portal with Interactive Voice Response (IVR), which may accept user
input through
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voice recognition or through keypad input generated Dual Tone Multi-Frequency
(DTMF) signals), or others.
[0055] Further details are provided below.
[0056] In one embodiment of the present invention, affiliates can upload their
sellers
into a seller network, manage their sellers and maximize the total revenue
using a new
sorting method (e.g., when displaying network listings on the demand site of
an affiliate
who is both a supply affiliate and a demand affiliate).
[0057] In one embodiment, to get suppliers of sellers integrated into a
network, the
system provides a user interface or API through which supply affiliates can
set up or
upload their sellers into the network. The system interface provides tools for
the supply
affiliates to manage and track the performance of their sellers, both
individually and as a
whole. In return for supplying the sellers, the systern rewards the supply
affiliates based
on the received leads or conducted commerce in the forms of percentile
commissions,
revenue share on lead charges or commerce transactions, bounties, lump sums,
etc.
[0058] A supply affiliate who owns demand sites in the network has several
ways to
achieve revenue/kickbacks, including: (1) getting kickback when a seller from
the
affiliate is connected to a consumer through the network on someone else's
demand site
(supply affiliate reward), (2) getting kickback when a seller from another
affiliate is
connected to a consumer on the demand site of the affiliate (demand affiliate
reward),
and (3) getting kickback when a seller from the affiliate is connected to a
consumer
through that the demand site of the affiliate (both the supply and demarid
affiliate
kickbacks). Of these three scenarios, the supply affiliate can affect the
relative
frequencies of (2) and (3) by adjusting how the seller listings from the
network are
displayed on the affiliate's own demand sites to favor listings that increase
total revenue,
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which may be from both supply and demand affiliate rewards or from only demand
affiliate rewards. To achieve increasing benefit on the demand sites, the
affiliates can sort
network listings based on maximizing revenue potential for themselves, rather
than
relying on a strict bidding order. Given this position within the network, the
sorted order
implemented for displaying network listings on the demand sites effectively
functions as
a lever for controlling the revenue stream. Affiliates can exploit such a
control to
maximize revenues for themselves. Further, affiliates may access the system to
see
reporting interfaces that encapsulate both the performance of their sellers
and the
subsequent rewards to the supplier.
[0059] In one embodiment, a supplier of sellers can be a large-scale supplier,
such as
an advertiser supply company, or a single person taking part in a "seller
referral
program." For example, an individual person who brings in one seller to the
network
through referral and earns some percentage of kickback is also a supplier or
supply
affiliate. Thus, suppliers can be in a number of different forms.
[00601 In this description, the notion of a "seller" is independent of which
party is
paying for the network's services. For example, a lawyer who is advertising
his/her
business may pay for leads generated through an advertising network. On the
other hand,
the same lawyer may exist as a seller in an advice network where buyers pay
for his/her
consultation delivered through the network. In general, a seller can be a
seller of
]ftoducts, goods, services, advices, etc., at an online or offline
marketplace. An affiliate
who brings such a seller to the marketplace is bringing value to the network,
and
therefore may be rewarded with a supply affiliate reward.
[0061] In one embodiment, the seller network is used to deliver seller
listings (and' in
general, advertisements for the sellers) to potential customers. In orie
embodiment, the
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communications to obtain the seller listings are coordinated through the
network. A seller
network may distribute seller listings through various channels including, but
not limited
to, distribution on search-based web sites on the Internet, Wireless
Application Protocol
(WAP) servers, an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) telephony voice portal
serving
advertisements, an interface through which a live operator communicates seller
listing
information to customers, or print media, etc. Once the seller listing is
presented to the
customer, the connection between the customer and the seller can be performed
through
any type of communication medium including, but not limited to, phone calls
(e.g.,
conventional landline based telephonic connection, wireless cellular
connection, Voice
over Internet Protocol (VoIP)), chat, video calls, e-mails, text messages,
etc.
[0062] In one embodiment, seller listings (and in general, advertisements for
the
sellers) are sorted to maximize revenue for the owner of a demand site. Based
on data
attributes available to the owner of the demand site, many variations in
sorting can be
implemented. Some examples are provided below. In general, the listing data
available
to an affiliate is sorted according to the potential of total revenue to the
affiliate to
maximize revenue for the affiliate.
[0063] For example, consider a network in which sellers have set prices/bids
for
placement of their listings, and demand sites achieve a higher revenue
percentage on
transactions through the network if they are also the supplier of the seller
listing. A given
demand site may make 40% of the revenue when a transaction is completed from
that
demand site between a customer and an arbitrary network seller who was not
supplied by
the affiliate who owns the demand site, and 60% when the network seller was
also
supplied by the affiliate who owns the demand site. In this case, seller
listings can be
sorted for the demand site of the affiliate in decreasing order based on the
potential total
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revenue for the affiliate, which may be computed from multiplying the seller
listing bid
by the percentage of revenue the affiliates makes from a transaction
associated with that
listing.
[0064] The seller network may also track click-through-rates, which shows the
ratio
of the number of user clicking through the links of the advertisement over the
number of
advertisement presentations. Click-through-rate represents the likelihood of a
click-
through resulting from the advertisement.
[0065] Similarly, when the advertisement is charged on the telephonic
connections
made as a result of the advertisement, call-through rate can be tracked and
used to
indicate the likelihood of a telephonic call resulting from the advertisement.
[0066] When an indicator of the likelihood of generating revenue from an
advertisement for an affiliate is available, such as click-through-rates or
call-tbrough
rates, the potential total revenue for the affiliate from an advertisement can
be better
estimated based on such statistical data. For example, the potential total
revenue for the
affiliate can be computed from multiplying the seller listing bid by the
percentage of
revenue the affiliate makes from a transaction associated with that listing
and further by
the indicator of the likelihood of generating revenue from that listing.
[0067] Thus, based on the revenue splitting schemes and/or the statistical
data of
revenue generating ratios, etc., the seller listing can be sorted to increase
the total revenue
that may be generated.
[0068] In general, a distributor of seller listings (and in general,
advertisements) can
utilize a system of the present invention regardless of supplier type, seller
type,
distribution method, and communication medium. Various detailed methods can be
used
in sorting the listings to increase revenue for a specific party of the
system. When the
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affiliate has access to a number of sellers for displaying or distributing
seller listings from
the network, the affiliate can manipulate the sort order in the displaying of
seller listings
to maximize revenue to the supplier.
[0069] In one example, company X is an online marketing company that signs up
and
manages a number of advertisers, and distributes their advertisements (seller
listings)
through Company X's demand sites. The company decides to take its pool of
sellers and
function as a supply partner to a larger advertising network. With this
arrangement,
Company X displays advertisements from the network's advertisers on Company
X's
demand sites; and Company X's supply of advertiser listings will be displayed
on other
demand sites throughout the network. After making this decision, Company X
accesses
the network's system and uploads their advertiser listings into the network.
Using the
network's system, Company X can manage the listings and view reports of the
performance of each of the individual listings as well as their performance as
a supply
affiliate.
[0070] Within the system, Company X's supply of sellers can be added to the
pool of
network advertisers for display on other demand sites; and Company X displays
advertisements from the pool of the network's listings. Advertisers place bids
for each of
their listings which represent how much they are willing to pay for a customer
lead
through the network. When a transaction with one of Company X's advertiser's
listings
occurs on a different demand site (not owned by Company X), Company X receives
20%
of the bid amount. However, when a transaction occurs on one of Company X's
demand
sites, they receive 40% of the bid amount if the listing was not from their
supply, and
60% of the bid amount if the listing was from their own supply. The balance
between
transactions on Company X's demand sites that yield 40% and 60% effectively
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as a lever through which Company X can affect the revenue stream from their
demand
sites. In other words, Company X can potentially earn more from their demand
sites by
increasing the frequency of transactions that yield 60% relative to the
frequency of
transactions that yield 40%, if the bid amounts are about the same.
[0071] Company X previously sorted strictly by bid to display advertisements
on
Company X's demand sites. This might be sufficient before Company X joins the
network. However, Company X is now a part of a large network where the revenue
split
varies for different sellers. According to one embodiment of the present
invention,
Company X may implement a new method of sorting the listings to increase
revenue. For
example, the listings can be sorted based on the bid amount multiplied by the
percentage
of revenue Company X receives.
[0072] If the previous sorting method were used, Company X would suffer the
opportunity costs of not giving precedence to lower-bidding, higher-revenue-
yielding
listings over listings with higher bids but lower revenue yield. For example,
using the old
method a listing from a different supplier in the network with a$10 bid would
be placed
higher than a listing from Company X's supply with a $9 bid. Using the new
method, the
$9 bid listing would be placed higher. This is because Company X would
effectively earn
$5.40 when the customer communicates with the $9 advertiser, but only $4.00
when the
customer contacts the $10 advertiser. Using the new method, the listings on
the demand
sites of Company X are sorted in a way to provide the most exposure for
listings of the
highest revenue yield for Company X.
[0073] Thus, the system allows suppliers of sellers with demand sites to
maximize
their revenue within a network that utilizes supply affiliate kickbacks. By
implementing a
revenue-maximizing sort order on their demand sites, a supplier may achieve an
optimal
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revenue-yielding position within the network.
[0074] In general, applicability of embodiments of the present invention is
independent of supplier type, seller type, distribution method, communication
method, or
minor variations in sorting criteria. To illustrate this point, consider the
following
separate example.
[0075] Company Y runs a web site that functions as a service marketplace to
bring
together buyers and sellers of live advice. Company Y manages hundreds of
advisors
who have listings to sell live tax advice through VoIP calls to customers at a
set per-
minute rates (each listing has its own rate). Company Y decides to join a
large network of
live advisors which includes business advice, psychic readers, etc. Company Y
then
uploads their live tax advisor listings into the network and manages them
through the
network system interface. Now Company Y's tax advisors can have their listings
displayed on all of the demand sites in the network; and, Company Y also
displays the
listings for other advisors in the network on Company Y's own demand sites
using
Company Y's own sorting scheme. The network also distributes listings through
other
mediums as well, such as displaying on various mobile devices.
[0076] Previously, Company Y earned a fixed percentage of the total
transaction
charge and sorted the listings purely based on the per-minute rate that
advisors charge for
their services. However, Company Y is now a part of a large network with
supply partner
kickbacks. According to one embodiment of the present invention, Company Y can
implement a revenue-maximizing rule for sorting lists on their demand sites.
[0077] As the supply afflliate part of the network contract, Company Y earns
20% of
the revenue from transactions initiated through their demand sites if the
advisor is a,
network seller not from their supply, and 30% of the revenue from transactions
initiated
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on their demand sites where the advisor is from their supply. On the demand
sites of
Company Y, the listings are now sorted in descending order of (advisor rate) x
(revenue
split). Thus, a tax advisor listing from Corripany Y's supply charging a rate
of $5.00 per
minute would be placed higher than another advisor listing from the network
(but not
from Company Y's supply) that charges a rate of $6.00. This is because Company
Y
would earn $1.50 per minute on transactions between customers and the $5.00
per min
advisor, but only $1.20 per minute on transactions between customers and the
$6.00 per
min advisor.
[0078J The above examples demonstrate how a supplier of sellers can maximize
the
revenues earned on demand sites of the supplier when the supplier is within a
large seller
network that utilizes supply partner kickbacks. The benefit is provided to
suppliers of
sellers in second example as it does in the first one, even though the above
examples have
different types of sellers, distribution methods, and communication methods,
etc.
[0079] In one embodiment, the sellers of a supply affiliate can be added to
the
network pool of sellers, through a system-provided interface or API, which may
include
mass upload functionality and/or individual add/delete functionality.
[0080) Figure 1 illustrates a seller network according to one embodiment of
the
present invention.
[0081] In Figure 1, seller databases of supply affiliates (e.g., 105, 115) can
be
uploaded (e.g., 107, 117) into the seller network database (120). For example,
seller
database of suppler affiliate S (105) may include a list of sellers (e.g.,
101) with seller
price bids (e.g., 103). Similarly, seller database of suppler affiliate Y
(115) may include a
list of sellers (e.g., 11-1) with seller price bids (e.g., 113).
10082] In one embodiment, the supply affiliates may upload/supply their
sellers into
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the seller network using different interfaces, such as a user interface which
allows the
manipulation of individual seller records, or an API that allows mass
uploading. For
example, seller records may be updated, added or deleted one at a time.
Alternatively, the
seller records may be submitted in a file transmitted through a network
connection; and
the file of seller records is then parsed for adding, deleting, and/or
updating the seller
records. For example, the file can be in an Extensible Markup Language (XML)
or in a
custom format.
[0083] In one embodiment, different supply affiliates may provide different
types of
seller records. For example, a supply affiliate in a referral program may
provide the
identity of the sellers. When the sellers join the network, the supply
affiliate is rewarded
with supply affiliate reward for the referral effort. Thus, in general, the
supply affiliate
may or may not provide the seller price bid information.
[0084] In the example of Figure 1, the seller network database (120) includes
the
information of sellers (e.g., 121), seller price bids (e.g., 123), supply
affiliates (e.g., 125)
from whom the sellers are supplied to the network, supply affiliate rewards
(e.g., 127)
which are to be rewarded to the corresponding supply affiliate from revenue
generated
according to the seller price bids (123), demand affiliate rewards (e.g., 129)
which are to
be rewarded to the corresponding demand affiliate from revenue generated
according to
the seller price bids (123), and other information, such as click-through
rates, call-
through rates, etc.
:[0085] In one embodiment, the supply affiliate rewards may be different
percentages
of the seller price bids for different sellers or for different supply
affiliates. Alternatively,
the supply affiliate reward for all sellers, or all sellers of a particular
supply affiliate, may
have the same percentage based on the seller price bids. Thus, sellers or
certain groups of
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sellers may share the same data about supply affiliate rewards.
[0086] Similarly, sellers or seller groups may also share the same data about
demand
affiliate rewards.
[0087] Thus, in general, the seller network contains information about revenue
sharing among various parties in the network, which may be organized different
from that
illustrated in Figure 1.
[0088] In one embodiment, the seller network specifies the supply affiliate
rewards
and the demand affiliate rewards. For example, for supply affiliate of a
referral program,
the supply affiliate rewards may be a predetermined percentage (e.g., 5%) of
the seller
price bids. In one embodiment, supply affiliates may specify the supply
affiliate rewards.
For example, a supply affiliate may specify a percentage of seller price bids
as the supply
affiliate rewards, which can be adjusted by the supply affiliate to balance
the revenue
from individual transaction and the likelihood of successful transaction. When
the supply
affiliate reward is reduced, the demand affiliate reward can be increased; and
the sellers
of the supply affiliate are more likely to be displayed on the demand sites of
other
affiliates.
[0089] Similarly, the demand affiliate rewards may also be specified by
different
parties, such as the seller network, the supply affiliates, the demand
affiliates, etc.
[0090] In one embodiment of the present invention, one same seller may be
supplied
to the seller network by different supply affiliates. To include the seller's
listing, demand
affiliates may select the supply affiliate according to the supply affiliate
reward and/or
demand affiliate reward.
[0091] In one embodiment, the seller network tracks the statistic data about
transactions (e.g., click-through rates, call-through rates, etc.). The demand
affiliates may
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use the statistic data in computing potential revenues when sorting seller
listings. The
supply affiliates may use the statistic data to evaluate the performance of
their sellers.
[0092] Alternatively, the supply affiliates may track the statistic data about
transactions and provide the data to the seller network.
[0093] In one embodiment of the present invention, the demand affiliates of
the seller
network use (e.g., 131, 133) the seller network database to present seller
listings for their
users. For example, the media channel of supply affiliate S (135) (e.g.,
Web/WAP server)
may deliver seller listings to user devices A (141) (e.g., computer), user
device B (143)
(e.g., PDA), etc., in response to the search requests from the users; and the
media channel
of supply affiliate Y(137) (e.g., SMS based server) may provide seller
listings to user
device B (143), user devices X (149) (e.g., cellular phone), etc.
[0094] In one embodiment, certain entities can be both demand affiliates and
supply
affiliates of the seller network. For example, in Figure 1, affiliates S and Y
are both
supply affiliates and demand affiliates, since they both supply sellers to the
network and
presents seller listings using the seller network database.
[0095] In general, some demand affiliates.may not be supply affiliates; and
some
supply affiliates may not be demand affiliates.
[0096] In one embodiment of the present invention, the seller listings are
sorted
according to total potential revenues for the demand affiliate, which may
include both the
supply affiliate reward and the demand affiliate reward.
[0097] In one embodiment, the seller network sorts the seller listings for the
media
channel according to an indicator of total potential revenue for the
affiliate. Thus, a
uiniform sorting method can be applied to the media channels. of the seller
network.
[0098] Alternative, the seller network provides the indicator of total
potential revenue
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to the demand affiliates, in addition to the seller price bid or instead of
the seller price
bid, to allow the demand affiliates to sort the listings according to their
own criteria.
[0099] Alternatively, different demand affiliates may sort the seller listings
differently according their own indicators of total potential revenue.
[00100] Figure 2 illustrates a user interface to provide information about
sellers from
a supplier of a seller network according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
[00101] In Figure 2, a supply affiliate is in the form of a participant of a
referral
program. The supply affiliate composes a message to friends through a user
interface
(200), such as a web page, a web-based email, a custom application program,
etc. The
"your name" field (203) and "your email address" field (205) are to receive
the name and
email address of the supply affiliate. The "friends' email addresses" field
(201) is to
receive a list of email address (e.g., separated by ","). The "description"
field (207) is to
receive a personalized message from the supply affiliate for referring the
network (e.g., a
pay per call advertising program).
[00102] When the "send now" button (213) is pressed, the personalized message
received in the "description" field (207) is sent to the friends of the supply
affiliate at the
addresses specified in the "friends' email address" field (201). In one
embodiment, the
emails are sent in a way so that the emails appear to be sent directly from
the supply
affiliate as indicates in fields (203 and 205).
[00103] In one embodiment, a link containing parameters to identify the supply
affiliate is added into the email message so that when the friends of the
supply affiliate
follows the link in the email to join the network, the system adds the friends
as sellers of
the supply affiliate. The supply affiliate automatically earns a percentage
(e.g., 5%) of the
money the friends spend on the network as supply affiliate rewards.
r_,. _ . .
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[00104] Alternatively, a reference number/string can be added to the email
message
which can be used by the friends to identify the supply affiliate.
Alternatively, the email
addresses of the friends can be used to correlate the friends with the supply
affiliate when
the friends join the network.
[00105] In one embodiment, the friends set up their advertisements and price
bids for
the advertisements directly with the network, without further help from the
supply
affiliate and in a way similar to direct advertisers of the network. However,
a percentage
of the advertisement spending of the friends goes to the supply affiliate for
the referral
effort.
[00106] Alternatively, the "cancel" button (211) can be pressed to close the
interface
without sending out the message.
[00107] Thus, a supply affiliate can represent a single individual, who may or
not be a
demand affiliate and who may have only one seller.
[00108] Figure 3 illustrates a user interface to upload information about
sellers from a
supplier of a seller network according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
[00109] The user interface (300) allows a supply affiliate to individually
access the
sellers/advertisers of the supply affiliate. For example, a selector (301) can
be used to
select a particular advertiser of the supply affiliate.
[00110] In Figure 3, in one embodiment, the user interface (300) is in the
form of a
web page rendered in a web browser of a user device, such as a computer, a
notebook, a
PDA, a web terminal) etc. The web page is to be downloaded from a server that
is
connected to the database for the advertisements. Alternatively, the user
interface (300)
can be based on a WAP application on a wireless mobile device, such as a
cellular phone.
Further, similar entry fieldscan be provided through the use of other
communication
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channels, such as Email, Instant messages, SMS messages, etc. Further, an
advertiser
may fax a form, or make a telephone call, to provide the information to a
human
concierge, which uses such a user interface to enter the data into the
database (e.g., using
a custom application).
[00111] In Figure 3, the user interface (300) contains entry fields for
specifying the
information an advertiser want to appear on the advertisement. The "business
name" field
(303) is to receive the name of the advertiser, which can be used to identify
the advertiser
in the database and in the advertisement.
[00112] The address, city, state, country and zip fields (305, 307 and 309)
are to
receive the location information about the advertiser. The location is
typically a site
where a potential customer may visit to obtain services and/or products.
[00113] The "phone" field (311) is to receive the telephone number at which
the
advertiser is to receive phone calls from potential customers. In one
embodiment of the
present invention, the phone number of the advertiser in the phone field (319)
is not
shown directly to the end users. An encoded/substitute phone number is used in
the
advertisement, so that when the encoded phone number is called the phone
number of the
advertiser is determined and connected to. This allows the tracking of phone
calls
generated from various advertisements for different advertisers and/or
generated through
different advertisement delivery channels.
[00114] The "web site URL" field (313) is to optionally receive a home web
page-
address of the advertiser. In one embodiment, the advertisement is generated
to contain a
: link to the web page as specified in the web site URL field (313) so that if
the end user
wants further details about the advertiser, the end user may click the link to
visit the web
page of the advertiser. In one embodiment, the advertiser is not charged for
the link
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directing the web user to the web page of the advertiser. Alternatively, the
advertiser may
be charged for the link that is clicked to lead the web user to the web page
of the
advertiser. In one embodiment, the amount the advertiser is charged for the
click is
automatically computed from the pay per call price according to the click-
through rate
and call-through rate so that the average click-through revenue and the
average call-
through revenue is about the same.
[00115] In one embodiment of the present invention, the advertisement is not
to
include a link to the web site URL (313). The web site URL (313) is used to
obtain
further information about the business of the advertiser so that the
advertisement can be
placed in relevant media channels.
[00116] For example, the web pages at the web site according to the web site
URL can
be fetched and analyzed automatically to determine topics, categories,
keywords, content,
etc., so that the placement of the advertisement can be based at least
partially on the
topics, categories, keywords, content, etc. to increase the chances of the
advertisement
being of interest to the targeted users.
[00117] The "tag line" field (315) and the description field (317) are to
receive one or
more concise statements about the business offering, the unique ways of
meeting
customers' needs, how the business stand out from the competition, etc. In one
embodiment, the information in the description field is presented in a text
form. In one
embodiment, the text in the description field can be enhanced with boldface
and italic
type, as well as formatting, using a Rich Text Editor, as supported by
Internet Explorer
for Windows or Mozilla Browsers (e.g., Firefox, Netscape, etc.).
[00118] In one embodiment, further optional information, such as a logo, a.n
electronic
coupon, etc. (not shown in Figure 3), can be specified for the advertisement.
In one
CA 02599371 2007-08-24
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embodiment, to provide an electronic coupon, one can simply specify a coupon
headline,
description and expiration date (if any). The coupon information is then store
in the
database and presented with the advertisement.
[00119] For example, when the "details" button (323) is pressed, a user
interface for
show further details is displayed. Further details may include electronic
coupon
information, price bid for advertisement, logo, advertisement budget (e.g., in
terms of the
number calls per day, monthly spending limit, etc.), targeted geographic
area(s) of
customers, business categories, key terms, etc.
[00120] In one embodiment, the "details" button can be further pressed to view
information collected by the network for the supply affiliate, such as
advertisement
performance (e.g., call-through rate, total number of calls generated in a
given time
period, total charges/advertisement spending, rewards for the affiliate from
the advertiser,
etc.)
[00121] The "previous" and "next" buttons can be used to navigate through the
set of
advertisers of the supply affiliate. The "new" button can be used to enter
information for
a new advertiser of the supply affiliate; and the "update" button can be used
to update
information of an existing advertiser of the supply affiliate. Further
buttons, such as a
"delete" button for removing an advertiser, can be included.
[00122] In one embodiment, the seller network system further provides an API
for the
mass updating/uploading of seller information from a supply affiliate. For
exainple, the
supply affiliate may use its own application system to collect data about the
sellers. The
seller information is then communicated to the seller network through a file,
or a network
communication interface.
:[00123] Figure 4 illustrates a user interface to display affiliate earnings
of a supplier
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of a seller network according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[00124] In Figure 4, a sample reporting interface (400) displays statistics
regarding
the performance of the seller listings of a supply affiliate and the
subsequent revenue to
the supply affiliate. From here, the supply affiliate can track the
performance of its sellers
and the resulting supply affiliate earnings (427 and 429).
[00125] For example, the supply affiliate may separate the advertisers into a
number of
groups and select (401) a group or all groups for viewing. Different types of
calls
generated from the advertisements for the selected advertisers can be viewed
separated or
together using the "call results" selector (403). The "display as" selector
(405) can be
used to specify whether the result is displayed as a web page, an XML
document, an
email, a fax, a PDF file, etc. Time period selectors (407 and 409) can be used
to specify a
particular time period for which the activities are reported.
[00126] After specifying the parameters of the report, the user can press the
"create
report" button to obtain the result, which shows information such as the list
of advertisers
(420) and their corresponding calls (421) received as the result of the
advertisement on
the seller network, call charges (423 and 425) and affiliate earnings (427 and
429) for the
affiliate, etc.
[00127] Figure 5 illustrates a revenue distribution scheme in a seller network
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[00128] In one embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in Figure
5, the
sellers to be listed/presented/advertised in a media cha.nnel provide
differerit percentages
(e.g., 521, 523, 529, etc.) of contributions out of the price bids (e.g., 511,
513, 519, etc.)
of the sellers to the revenue (501) for the media channel. The revenues
generated from
the price bids of different sellers are distributed differently to multiple
parties. Thus, an
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order of the price bids of the sellers does not represent an order of revenue
potential for
the media channel.
[00129] In one embodiment of the present invention, the sellers are sorted
into a list
based at least partially on an indicator of revenue potential, which includes
the
consideration of the differences in contributions from the price bids to the
revenue for the
operator of the media channel.
[00130] Figure 6 illustrates a list sorting process to increase revenue for a
media
channel in a seller network according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
[00131] In Figure 6, the advertiser database (607) includes a table of
advertisers (611)
with corresponding price per call (613) and earn percentage (615) for a media
channel.
To sort the advertisers, the potential revenue is computed (605). Revenue per
call (609)
indicates the amount that the media channel can earn out of the advertisements
of the
corresponding advertisers (611). For example, advertiser A (641) provides
revenue per
call of $7.50 (651), which is the product of the corresponding price per call
and earn
percentage.
[00132] In the example of Figure 6, it is seen that the order of the revenue
per call can
be different from the order of price per call. For example, advertiser B (643)
has a higher
bid of price per call ($9.00) than advertiser C (645) ($8.00). However,
advertiser B (643)
has a lower earn percentage (60%) than advertiser C (645) (75%) for the media
channel.
As a result, the advertiser B (643) has lower revenue per call ($5.40) than
advertiser C
(645) ($6.00).
[00133] Interface (601) illiterates the display of seller listing according to
one
einbodiment of the present invention. After the "search" button is pressed to
request the
results according to the search terms (621), the relevant advertisers are
retrieved from the
_ .. ~. . _. .
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advertisement database. The candidates for the search results are ranked (603)
according
to the potential revenue (e.g., 609) for presentation or selection. For
example, when the
list of candidates is too long, only a top portion of the list is selected for
presentation in
the search result.
[00134] In the example of Figure 6, the advertisers (631, 635 and 633) are
listed in the
interface (601) in a decreasing order according to the revenue per call (609),
instead of
the price per call (613). For example, the advertiser C (635) is listed ahead
of the
advertiser B (633), because the advertiser C has higher revenue per call (655)
than the
advertiser B, although the advertiser C has a lower price per call (613) than
the advertiser
B.
[00135] Figure 7 illustrates an example of showing a list of sellers on a
wireless
mobile device in a seller network according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
[00136] In Figure 7, the seller listings (703) are presented on a mobile
wireless
device, such as a cellular phone (701). The list is sorted in a similar way as
illustrated in
Figure 6. In one embodiment, the seller list is presented in response to a
search submitted
from the cellular phone to a web/WAP server, or a SMS based server.
Alternatively,
seller list may be presented as the mobile device enters a particular
geographic area, in
accordance with a preference of the user.
[00137] Figure 8 illustrates a process of accessing sellers in a seller
network according
to one embodiment of the present invention.
[00138] In Figure 8, the consumer (801) may be looking (811) for a seller. The
consumer calls (813) an operator for listings. The operatiori (803) looks up
(815) listings
for the consumer using an operator interface (805), which may be a custom
application to
access the seller network; or through a regular media channel, such as a web
browser.
. .. ,...__ ..._
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[00139] The interface displays (817) appropriate listings sorted to increase
revenue for
the operator. The operator (803) then connects the consumer to the top listing
specified
by the consumer.
[00140] Alternatively, the consumer may interactive with an IVR system using a
voice
recognition system and a text-to-speech system.
[00141] Thus, in general, the seller listings sorted according to embodiments
of the
present invention can be displayed or presented to various different entities,
which may.
not be an end consumer.
[00142] In one embodiment of the present invention, the revenue share for the
affiliates of a seller network is based on measurable events such as clicks on
links
provided in the listings/advertisements, phone calls generated from the
listings/advertisements, etc.
[00143] In one embodiment, the seller network system tracks the measurable
events
and determines the affiliate rewards for the affiliates of the network.
Alternatively, the
demand and/or seller affiliates may also track the measurable events.
[00144] In one embodiment, to track the clicks the links are encoded with one
or more
parameters which can be used to determine the target address; and the links
point to a
web site which accepts the requests, records the clicks, determines the target
address and
forwards the requests to the target address.
[00145] In one embodiment, to track the phone calls resulting from the
listings/advertisements, the phone numbers provided in the
advertisements/listings are
encoded so that the phone calls are directed to a phone call tracking facility
first.
[00146] Figure 9 shows a diagram of a system to make and track phone
connections
for a seller network-accordingto one embodiment of the present invention.
,- - ... . .._. -
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[00147] In Figure 9, a database (921) may contain the phone numbers of target
phone
A(931), target phone B (933), ..., target phone X (939), etc. Typically, the
target phones
belong to the institutions, businesses, individuals, etc, which seek for
publicity through
various media channels, such as media channel A (901) (e.g., web server),
media channel
B (902) (e.g., WAP server), media channel C (903) (e.g., short messaging
service center),
media channel D (904) (e.g., custom server), media channel E(907) (e.g., cable
television), media channel E (908) (e.g., news press), media channel G (909)
(e.g., radio
station), etc.
[00148] In one embodiment of the present invention, the phone numbers of the
target
phones are not directly publicized over the media channels. Instead, encoded
target phone
numbers (923) are used. Using the encoded target phone numbers (923), a user
cannot
reach target phones directly. The encoded target phone numbers (923) allow the
association of additional information with the target phone numbers, such as
the media
channels used, special prorriotions, etc.
[00149] The encoded target phone numbers are delivered with content
information
(e.g., web page, WAP page, short message, television programs, news articles,
etc.) to
user devices, such as user device A (911) (e.g., cellular phone), user device
B (912) (e.g.,
personal digital assistant (PDA)), user device C (913) (e.g., computer), user
device D
(916) (e.g., receiver), user device E (918) (e.g., newspaper).
[001501 For example, one media delivering channel includes print media. A list
of
advertisements can be sorted according to one embodiment of the present
invention
before printing (e.g., newspaper). In the example of print media, filie list
can be sorted to
maximize advertisement revenue, although the sorting may not be dynamic in
response to
a request from an end user.
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[00151] In another example, a voice portal is used to deliver the
advertisements. The
voice portal can use an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system to interact
with the
user. For example, the IVR system may use voice-recognition or keypad input to
receive
user input. According to the user input, the advertisements can be sorted
dynamically to
maximize revenue according to one embodiment of the present invention. In one
embodiment, the IVR system presents an advertisement through, a text-to-speech
technique. Alternatively, the advertisement can be a pre-recorded voice
message.
[00152] In one embodiment, the user devices are mobile devices, such as PDA,
cellular phone, etc. The user devices obtain content information, including
advertisements, through wireless communication connections, such as cellular
communication links, wireless access points for wireless local area network,
etc.
[00153] In one embodiment, a user device (e.g., a cellular phone, a computer,
a PDA)
can receive content information from multiple types of media channels (e.g., a
web
server, a WAP server, a SMSC, etc.).
[00154] In one embodiment, a iaser device is capable to dial a phone call
(e.g.,
automatically according to the encoded phone number embedded in the content
information when a user selects the number). Alternatively, a user may
manually dial a
phone call using a separate phone, such as user phone S (917) or user phone T
(919).
[00155] In one embodiment of the present invention, dialing at least a portion
of an
encoded target phone nunnber connects the phone call to a phone decoder and
router
(925) first. According to the encoded target phone number dialed, the phone
decoder and
router (925) determines the corresponding target phone number using the
database (921)
and connects the phone call to the corresponding target phone (e.g., one of
target phones
.931- 939) through the telephone network (927).
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[00156] Note the telephone network (927) may be circuit switched, package
switched,
or partially circuit switched and partially package switched. For example, the
telephone
network may partially use the Internet to carry the phone call (e.g., through
VoIP). For
example, the connection between the user phone/device and the phone decoder
and router
(925) may be carried using VoIP; and the connection between the phone decoder
and
router (925) may be carried using a land-line based, circuit switched
telephone network.
[00157] In one embodiment of the present invention, the information associated
with
the encoded target phone number, such as the media channel used to provide the
encoded
target phone number to the users, is also decoded/retrieved using the database
(921).
Thus, the information associated with the encoded target phone number can be
tracked/stored.
[00158] In one embodiment, the phone decoder and router (925) also determines
the
phone number of the user through Automatic Number Identification (ANI). ANI is
a
phone system feature that provides the billing number of the person making the
phone
call.
[00159] The information about the caller, target phone number, the media
channel
used for delivering the contact information to.the user can be used to bill
the caller and/or
the target phone number, and provide credit/compensation for the corresponding
media
channel..
[00160] For example, the advertisements for target phone numbers can be paid
for on a
pay per call basis, Monitoring and tracking the calls can be used for biliing
the
advertisers. Alternatively, the users may be seeking the contact information
on a pay per
call basis. Monitoring and trackirig the calls can be used for billing the
users.
[00161] In one embodiment of the present invention, the additional information
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associated with the encoded target phone number is used to provide
credit/compensation
to the operators of the corresponding media channels that are responsible for
leading the
users to the phone calls to the target phones. The system can further track
the time and
duration of the phone calls and other information, such as conditional
promotions,
electronic coupons, etc.
[00162] The information about the media channels that are responsible for
leading the
users to the phone calls to the target phones can also be useful for the
advertisers. The
advertisers may wish to know which media channel is more effective in reaching
users.
For example, using the statistic information about the media channels which
successfully
bring in phone calls, the advertisers may fine tune advertisement strategies.
Further,
different media channels may charge differently for the advertisements; and
the
advertisers may bid differently on different media channels for their
advertisements.
[00163] In one embodiment of the present invention, an encoded target phone
number
.has the same number of digits as a standard phone number (e.g., a typical
telephone
number assigned by a telephone company). Thus, dialing the encoded target
phone
number.is as easy as dialing the target phone number; and dialing the target
phone
number reaches the phone decoder and router (925). In such an arrangement, a
large
number of encoded phone numbers are generally required to differentiate the
different
target phones and different media channels.
[00164] In one embodiment of the present invention, an encoded target phone
number
has more digits than a standard phone number. A first portion of the encoded
target phone
number has the same number of digits as a standard phone number to reach the
phone
decoder and router (925) through the telephone network (927); and a second
portion of the encoded.target phone number is to be decoded by the phone
decoder and router (925).
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For example, the Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) decoder can be installed in
the
phone decoder and router (925) to detect the second portion of the encoded
target phone
number dialed at the user phone. The detected phone number can then be used to
recover
the target phone number.
[00165] When an encoded target phone number has more digits than a standard
phone
number, the additional digits can be implemented as a telephone extension, or
as an IVR
system.
[00166] In one embodiment of the present invention, a single telephone number
is
used to reach the phone decoder and router (925) for different target phone
numbers; and
the portion of the encoded target phone number that is used to reach the phone
decoder
and router (925) is not used in determining the information associated with
the encoded
target phone number.
[00167] Alternatively, multiple telephone numbers can be used to reach the
phone
decoder and router (925); and the entire encoded target phone number can be
used to
determine the information associated with the encoded target phone number.
[00168] In one embodiment of the present invention, the encoded target phone
'numbers can have different numbers of digits. The advertisers may be arranged
to bid for
shorter encoded target phone numbers.
[00169] = In one embodiment of the present invention, the encoded target phone
nuinbers are assigned only when needed for use in a media channel.
[00170] In one embodiment, a look-up table approach is used to encode the
iriformation. For example, the database (921).keeps track of the information
about the
media channel and the target phone number (and other information, if any) for
the
encoded target phone number so that the encoded target phone number can be
used as a
CA 02599371 2007-08-24
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key to retrieve the corresponding infonnation. Thus, it is not necessary to
have a
predetermined structure to encode the information about the media channels and
the
target phone number.
[00171] Alternatively, algorithms can be used to generate and encode target
phone
number and associated information. For example, a predetermined algorithm may
be used
to encode different information in the target phone number. For example, the
target
phone number may include a number of field separated by "'k" or "#". Each of
the field
can be decoded separately (e.g., from a separate look up table or a mapping
algorithm) to
determine the target phone number, identity of the media channel, etc.
[00172] For example, a set of parameters can be mapped from a string of
characters to
a string of numerical digits as a part of the encoded target phone number; and
the string
of numbers can be mapped back into the string of characters at the phone
decoder and
router (925). When such a mapping scheme is used, a look up table is not
necessary. For
example, an encoded target phone number may include a first portion that is
the phone
number of the phone decoder and router (925), a second portion that is the
target phone
number appended with a number mapped from an identifier of the media channel.
To
prevent the user from dialing the target phone number directly, an
encryption/scrambling
scheme can be used to encode the second portion, which is decoded at the phone
decoder
and router (925).
[00173] In one embodiment of the present invention, the phone decoder and
router
(925) determines the target phone number from the encoded target phone number
dialed
by the user and then dials the target phone number for the user and joins the
phone calls
so that the user can talk -to the target phone.
[00174] In one embodiment of the present invention, users dial the encoded
target
36
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phone numbers manually. A user can dial the encoded target phone number
regardless the
user device used and the media channel used.
[00175] Alternatively, in one embodiment, user devices can automatically dial
the
encoded target phone numbers. For example, a cellular phone, a computer or a
PDA can
dial a phone number using a Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) generator. In one
embodiment of the present invention, the encoded target phone numbers are
presented in
the content information in a format such that when the user selects the phone
number the
user device (e.g., a cellular phone or a computer) dials the encoded target
phone number
for the user. The user selection may be in the form of an keyboard/keypad
input, a touch
pad input, a track ball input, a mouse input, a voice command, etc.
[00176] In one embodiment, the user device initiates the phone call-through a
VoIP
system when the user selects the encoded target phone number.
[00177] In one embodiment of the present invention, the user device dials the
phone
number for the user without the user manually press the sequence of the
encoded target
phone numbers. This greatly simplifies the process of make the phone call.
Since a user
device can dial a long sequence of number easily, a large number of digits can
be used to
encode the information without presenting any difficulties for the users.
[00178] In one embodiment of the present invention, the encoded target phone
numbers are formatted so that the user device dials a first portion of the
encoded target
phone numbers to access the phone decoder and router (925), pauses for a short
period of
time for the phone decoder and roizter (925) to prepare for receiving the
second portion of
the encoded target phone numbers, and then dials the second portion of the
encoded
target phone numbers. Thus, the user device provides a user-friendly way of
dialing the
encoded target phone numbers; and, making the phone call can be as easy as
malcing a
37
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"click" to access a web page.
[00179] In Figure 9, the user device initiates the phone call. Alternatively,
a phone
router may be used to initiate phone calls both to the user device (or a
separate user
phone) and the target phone and then join the phone calls to connect the user
to the target
phone. For example, when the user selects the encoded target phone number, the
selection of the target phone number is transmitted to the phone router with
the user
phone number.
[00180] The user phone number can be automatically determined through ANI, or
through a user preference setting, or through an entry submitted with the
selection of the
encoded target phone number.
[00181] In one embodiment, the selection of the encoded target phoine number
is
transmitted to the corresponding media channel, which forwards the request for
making
the phone call to a server (e.g., a web server) connected to the phone router.
Alternatively, the content information can be formatted so that the selection
is sent
directly to the server that is connected to the phone router.
[00182] When the router starts the phone calls, the encoded target phone
number can
also include alphabetic characters (and/or other characters). The server
and/or the phone
router can decode the encoded target phone number to recover/retrieve the
target phone
number and other associated information, such as the identity of the media
channel that is
-creditable for providing the encoded target phone number to user.
[00183] Figures 10 - 11 show flow diagrams of methods to sortseller listings
according to embodiments -of the present invention.
,[00184] In Figure 10, operation 1001 determines an indicator of potential
revenue for
a first party from price bid of a list of entities in a system where the
revenue resulting
38
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from the price bid of at least some of the list of entities is to be split
among a plurality of
parties. Operation 1003 then sorts the list of entities into a first list
based at least partially
on the indicator of potential revenue.
[00185] In Figure 11, operation 1101 receives information about one or more
entities
from a second party. Operation 1103 contacts the one or more entities to join
a seller
network according to the information received from the second party. Operation
1105
associates the one or more entities with the second party when the one or more
entities
join the seller network.
[00186] Alternatively, the second party may poll and manage the one oir more
entities
and upload the entities to the seller network.
[00187] Operation 1107 determines an indicator of potential revenue for a
first party
from price bid of a list of entities which includes the one or more entities
and other
entities. Operation 1109 sorts the list of entities into a first list based on
the indicator of
potential revenue. Operation 1111 presents advertisements of the list of
entities according
to the first list in a media channel.
[00188] The one or more entities and other entities may contribute different
percentages of the price bid to the revenue of the first party. For example,
the price bid
for the one or more entities is to be slit between the first and second
parties; and the price
bid for the other entities is not to be slit between the first party and
another party.
[00189] Operation 1113 tracks revenues realized from the price bid in the
first list.
Operation 1115 determines revenues for the first and second parties based on
the.
revenues realized from the price bid. Operation 1117 presents the statistics
of the
revenues for the first and second parties to the first and second parties
respectively.
[00190] Figure 12 shows a block diagram example of a data processing system
which
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may be used with the present invention.
[00191] While Figure 12 illustrates various components of a computer system,
it is
not intended to represent any particular architecture or manner of
interconnecting the
components. Other systems that have fewer or more components may also be used
with
the present invention.
[00192] In Figure 12, the communication device (1201) is a form of a data
processing
system. The system (1201) includes an inter-connect (1202) (e.g., bus and
system core
logic), which interconnects a microprocessor(s) (1203) and memory (1211). The
microprocessor (1203) is coupled to cache memory (1204) in the example of
Figure 12.
[00193] The inter-connect (1202) interconnects the microprocess(s) (1203) and
the
memory (1211) together and also interconnects them to a display controller and
display
device (1207) and to peripheral devices such as input/output (UO) devices
(1205) through
an input/output controller(s) (1206). Typical I/O devices include mice,
keyboards,
modems, network interfaces, printers, scanners, video cameras and other
devices which
are well known in the art.
[00194] The inter-connect (1202) may include one or more buses connected to
one
another through various bridges, controllers and/or adapters. In one
embodiment the UO
controller (1206) includes a USB (Universal Serial Bus) adapter for
controlling USB
peripherals, and/or an IEEE-1394 bus adapter for controlling IEEE-1394
peripherals.
[00195] The memory (1211) may include ROM (Read Only Memory), and volatile
RAM (Random Access Memory) and non-volatile memory, such as hard drive, flash
inemory, etc.
,[00196] Volatile RAM is typically implemented as dynamic. RAM (DRAM) which
requires power continually in order to refresh or maintain the data in the
memory. Non-
. . .
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volatile memory is typically a magnetic hard drive, a magnetic optical drive,
or an optical
drive (e.g., a DVD RAM), or other type of memory system which maintains data
even
after power is removed from the system. The non-volatile memory may also be a
random
access memory.
[00197] The non-volatile memory can be a local device coupled directly to the
rest of
the components in the data processing system. A non-volatile memory that is
remote
from the system, such as a network storage device coupled to the data
processing system
through a network interface such as a modem or Ethernet interface, can also be
used.
[00198] In one embodiment of the present invention, a server data processing
system
as illustrated in Figure 12 is used in the processing system for a seller
network to host
seller network database, compute indicators of potential revenues for
affiliates, track
revenue generation and sharing for affiliates, provide interfaces for upload
seller
information, provide interfaces for affiliate reward reporting, and/or sorting
seller listings
for the affiliates, etc.
[00199] In one embodiment of the present invention, a server data processing
system
as illustrated in Figure 12 is used in the processing system for an affiliate
of a seller
network to compute indicators of potential revenues, sorting seller listings
according to
indicators of potential revenues, provide seller listings to user terminals,
and/or track
revenue generation events, etc.
[00200] In one embodiment, a user terminal can be a data processing system
similar to
the system of Figure 12, with more or less components. A data processing
system as the
user terminal can be in the form of a PDA, a cellular phone, a notebook
computer, a
personal desktop computer, etc.
[00201] Alternatively, the traditional communication client(s) may.be used in
some
~ .. .
41
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embodiments of the present invention.
[00202] In general, the routines executed to implement the embodiments of the
invention may be implemented as part of an operating system or a specific
application,
component, program, object, module or sequence of instructions referred to as
"computer
programs." The computer programs typically comprise one or more instructions
set at
various times in various memory and storage devices in a computer, and that,
when read
and executed by one or more processors in a computer, cause the computer to
perform
operations necessary to execute elements involving the various aspects of the
invention.
[00203] While some embodiments of the invention have been described in the
context
of fully functioning computers and computer systems, those skilled in the art
will
appreciate that various embodiments of the invention are capable of being
distributed as a
program product in a variety of forms and are capable of being applied
regardless of the
particular type of machine or computer-readable media used to actually effect
the
distribution.
[00204] Examples of computer-readable media include but are not limited to
recordable and non-recordable type media such as volatile and non-volatile
memory
devices, read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory
devices, floppy and other removable disks, magnetic disk storage media,
optical storage
media (e.g., Compact Disk Read-Only Memory (CD ROMS), Digital Versatile Disks,
(DVDs), etc.), among others, and transmission type inedia such as digital and
analog
communication links for electrical, optical, acoustical or other forms of
propagated
signals, such as carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.
f00205] A machine readable medium. can be used to store software and data
which
.when executed by a data processing system causes the system to perform
various
~_ -
42 '
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methods of the present invention. The executable software and data may be
stored in
various places including for example ROM, volatile RAM, non-volatile memory
and/or
cache. Portions of this software and/or data may be stored in any one of these
storage
devices.
[00206] In general, a machine readable medium includes any mechanism that
provides
(i.e., stores and/or transmits) information in a form accessible by a machine
(e.g., a
computer, network device, personal digital assistant, manufacturing tool, any
device with
a set of one or more processors, etc.).
[00207] Aspects of the present invention may be embodied, at least in part, in
software. That is, the techniques may be carried out in a computer system or
other data
processing system in response to its processor, such as a microprocessor,
executing
sequences of instructions contained in a memory, such as ROM, volatile RAM,
non-
volatile memory, cache or a remote storage device.
[00208] In various embodiments, hardwired circuitry may be used in combination
with
software instructions to implement the present invention. Thus, the techniques
are not
limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software nor to
any
particular source for the instructions executed by the data processing system.
[00209] In this description, various functions and operations are described as
being
performed by or caused by software code to simplify description. However,
those skilled
in the art will recognize what is meaint by such expressions is that the
functions result
from execution of the code by a processor, such as a microprocessor.
[00210] Although some of the drawings illustrate a number of operations in a
Tarticular order, operations which are not order dependent may be reordered
and other
operations may be combined or broken out. While some. reordering or other
groupings
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are specifically mentioned, others will be apparent to those of ordinary skill
in the art and
so do not present an exhaustive list of alternatives. Moreover, it should be
recognized
that the stages could be implemented in hardware, firmware, software or any
combination
thereof.
Merge Differ-ent Types of Advertisefnents
[00211] In the online-directories advertising world, Pay Per Call can emerge
as a
viable pay-per-performance model. Further detail about Pay Per Call can be
found in U.S.
Patent Application Serial No. 11/014,073, filed December 15, 2004, U.S. Patent
Application Serial No. 11/021,939, filed December 23, 2004, Provisional U.S.
Patent
Application Serial No. 60/568,156, filed on May 4, 2004, Provisional U.S.
Patent
Application Serial No. 60/560,926, filed on April 9, 2004, and Provisional
U.S. Patent
Application Serial No. 60/552,124, filed on March 10, 2004. All the above-
mentioned
patent applications are incorporated herein by reference.
[00212] Pay Per Call offers advertisers a system through which advertisers can
receive
leads for their businesses via a channel - the telephone - that they
understand well.
[00213] One of the main challenges in introducing a new advertising model such
as
Pay Per Call, however, is that the pre-existing model - Pay Per Click -
already has wide
acceptance after many years of use. Pay Per Call in its early state may
therefore compete
against Pay Per Call in its advanced state. An advertising model such as Pay
Per Call in
its early state doesn't yet have as many advertisers as Pay Per Click, and so
prices that the
relatively few advertisers are willing to pay - via their bids per lead - may
not yet be as
high as in the established click world. As a result, the newer advertising
model may fail
because it doesn't give the directory owner as much return for its advertising
real estate.
-
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[002141 For example, let's say an online directory called Directory.com is
willing to
adopt the new advertising model of Pay Per Call. However, the real estate in,
for
instance, the "mortgages" area of their directory is already occupied by Pay
Per Click
advertisers - mortgage brokers who have signed up to pay for each click they
receive to
their websites. Since the mortgage brokers paying for clicks have been doing
so for many
years, it's quite a liquid, mature market of advertisers. In other words, any
value that is to
be had from an end user clicking on a mortgage broker's online advertisement
is well
understood by the mortgage broker. He is therefore willing to pay a
considerably high
amount for such a click - perhaps $5 per click.
[002151 When Directory.com wishes to introduce the new advertising model of
Pay
Per Call onto the real estate of their "mortgages" section, they first want to
be convinced
to make room for the new advertisements, which is difficult because the page
is already
laid out with all of the real estate allotted in an optimal way. So it can be
difficult to get
Directory.com to build an entirely new advertising section.
[002161 Assuming Directory.com becomes convinced to allot real estate on the
page
for the new Pay Per Call model, their first question might be, "Do these new
Pay Per Call
ads earn me as much money as the existing click ads?" The answer, at first,
may be no,
because the new model doesn't yet have as many advertisers, so the amounts
they have
bid to pay for each lead - via a phone call - may not add up to be as much as
the existing
model after all leads and their prices have been tallied.
[00217] For Directory.com, this will likely mean that they will discontinue
the new
advertising model. Because at the end of day, Directory.com wants to maximize
the
revenue per pixel, or revenue per unit of real estate, of their website. And
if a new
advertising model has a lower revenue per pixel, it might be discontinued.
CA 02599371 2007-08-24
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[00218] To make the situation more complex, the performance of the new
advertising
model of Pay Per Call versus the existing model of Pay Per Click may differ
according to
the category of the directory. Some categories may be more conducive to end
users
clicking versus end users calling. For instance, the category of "books" can
be very
conducive to end users clicking. By clicking, they can easily buy a book by
clicking
through an e-commerce website. It is less likely that they'd be willing to
make a phone
call regarding books to an advertiser since the click world services this
category so well.
The category of "plumbing," on the other hand, can be very conducive to end
users
calling. If an end user has a sink that is overflowing, it is quite likely
that they want to
immediately pick up the phone and dial a plumber to come to the house right
away. The
end user is less likely to want to click on an advertisement and spend a lot
of time looking
at websites.
[00219] Since some categories, such as books, are conducive to clicking and
therefore
may favor the Pay Per Click model, and other categories, such as plumbing, are
conducive to calling and therefore may favor the Pay Per Call model, it
becomes very
difficult for Directory.com to make a decision as to which model to use.
Ideally, Pay Per
Click advertisements would automatically appear in click-conducive categories
and Pay
Per Call advertisements would automatically appear in call-conducive
categories. But this
can't happenlif there are two separate sections of the page, one allotted to
Pay Per Click
ads and another allotted to Pay Per Call ads. In addition, there are thousands
of
categories, and determining the conduciveness of each for one model or the
other can be
cumbersome.
[00220] Another challenge in introducing a new advertising model such as Pay
Per
Call is that directories typically create a separate entrance for advertisers
using the new
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model. If a directory has an established entrance and flow for signing up
advertisers, it is
quite cumbersome to have to create a separate entrance for the new model.
Soine
advertisers may want to use both models, so it would be more ideal if the
advertiser
entrances were combined.
[00221] The problem, however, is that different models such as Pay Per Call
and Pay
Per Click use different "currencies." Pay Per Click uses the currency of
clicks, in which
the advertiser pays only when an end user clicks on an advertisement. Pay Per
Call uses
the currency of calls, in which the advertiser pays only when an end user
dials the phone
number listed on an advertisement. Clicks are far more prevalent than calls,
which
require a significant effort on behalf of the end user to pick up the phone
and engage in
talking to a person, as opposed to a web-site click which can be done off-
handedly just
out of curiosity. As a result, the currency of calls is worth much more than
the currency
of clicks. Therefore an advertiser would be willing to pay significantly more
for a call
event rather than a click event. Since the two models use these differently
valued
currencies, it might not seem possible to have the advertisers use the same
entrance and
view the same bidding queue for the two different models.
[00222] Thus, introducing the new advertising model of Pay Per Call presents
many
difficult challenges: it's a new model that competes with a mature existing
model; it
fights for new real estate in each directory; it has different success rates
depending on
directory category; and, it might require a new, separate entrance for
advertisers to sign
up at a directory. Due to all of these challenges of introducing the new
advertising model
of Pay Per Call, it would be quite advantageous if the new model had a system-
by which
it could seanmlessly combine with the existing model, despite their different
currencies
and different success rates. -
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[00223] Qne embodiment of the present invention presents a system by which the
new
Pay Per Call model is merged with the existing Pay Per Click model. As
described above,
there are significant challenges in merging the two models. The main challenge
is that the
two models use two different currencies: the currency of one is the click
while the
currency of the other is the phone call, both of which have different values.
One
embodiment of the present invention uses end-user conversion rates as a common
denominator to merge the two currencies and systems.
[00224] Although many examples are illustrated to show the merging of pay per
call
advertising and pay per click advertising, from this description one will
understands that
such an approach can be extended to merge any types of pay for performance
advertising
in general.
[00225] In order to merge the two systems, one embodiment of the present
invention
uses a common denominator so that the two different currencies of clicks and
calls can be
-mixed. This way, they can be displayed, and bid upon, on an equal or
equivalent basis.
[00226] For this common denominator, one embodiment of the present invention
uses
end-user conversion rates. In other words, for a given category, such as
"mortgages," one
embodiment of the present invention first measures the conversion rates of the
two
advertising models. For instance, in the "mortgages" category, the system will
determine
how many times a Pay Per Call advertisement is clicked upon when it is viewed
by end
users 1,000 times. If the click advertisement is clicked upon 10 times per
1,000 page
views, it has a conversion rate of 1%. Then the conversion rate of a Pay Per
Call in the
same location is measured. If the call advertisement is called 5 times per
1,000 page-
views, it has a conversion rate of 0.5%. In one embodiment, a general
conversion rate for
a type of performance based advertising is determined to measure average ratio
of the
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resulting number of measurable, payable events over the number of
advertisement
presentations.
[00227] Figures 13 and 14 show examples of running advertisements to determine
performance conversion rates for pay per click advertisements and pay per call
advertisements for a category according to one embodiment of the present
invention. In
Figure 13, the web site runs (1301) pay per click advertisements in the top
spot in the
mortgage category and measures the click-through rate (e.g., 10 clicks per
1000 page-
views). In Figure 14, the web site runs (1401) pay per call advertisements in
the top spot
in the mortgage category and measures the call-through rate (e.g., 5 calls per
1000 page-
views). Thus, the end-user conversion rates for pay per call advertisements
and pay per
click advertisements at the same location in the advertisement media for
advertisements
of the same category can be determined.
[00228] If the system determines that clicks have twice the conversion rate as
calls -
1% versus 0.5% - it then has determined a conversion factor between the two
advertising
models: in this case, a factor of two. This conversion factor can be used to
normalize the
two models and produce a converted currency in which the two can coexist. For
example,
if 1,000 page-views produce 10 clicks in one model and 5 calls in the other,
then the
system knows that a call is financially equal to a click if the advertiser is
paying twice as
much forit. From this description, it is understood that the conversion rate
can be used to
=normalize the bidding of the advertiser of two or more types of pay for
performance
advertisements.
[00229] For example, using this conversion factor of 2, the bidding queues of
the
different advertising models can be merged. The system has determined that,
for the
publisher of Directory.com, a Pay Per Call advertiser bidding $10 is
financially equal to a
= ~ __ - _ _--..,,.~_ _.-.. _.._.
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Pay Per Click advertiser bidding $5. The system therefore takes the click
bidding queue
and interweaves call advertisers within it. The call advertisers' bids,
however, are
discounted by the conversion factor of 2. Because of this discounting, the two
formerly
disparate systems now have a common currency in wliich the advertisers can
bid. In this
example, the Pay Per Call bidding queue has been converted into the currency
of clicks,
and all are viewed in the click currency.
[00230) Figure 15 shows a diagram illustrating how the bidding queue merges
according to conversion factor according to one embodiment of the present
invention. In
Figure 15, the queue of pay per click bids (1511) and the queue of pay per
call bids
(1513) are merged and sorted (1501) according to converted value into a single
queue of
combined bids (1531). The prices per click and prices per call are converted
into
converted values (1521 and 1523) using the conversion factors (1523)
determined based
on end-user conversion rates, such as click-through rates and call-through
rates. In
Figure 15, the conversion factor for the price per click is 1.0 so that the
converted value
of the price per click is the same as the price per click. Thus, the converted
value of the
price per call is in the form of price per click. Thus, the merged bidding
queue (1531)
can be seen as from the perspective of pay per click.
[00231] Alternatively, the conversion factor for the price per call can be
1.0; and the
corresponding conversion factor for price per click will be 2Ø In such an
alternative
scheme, the converted value of price per call is the same as the price per
call; the
converted value of the price per click is in the form of price per call; and
the merged
bidding queue can be seen as from the perspective of pay per call.
[00232] Further, both of the conversion factors for the price per call and
price per click
can be different from 1. For.example, the conversion factor for the price per
call can be
CA 02599371 2007-08-24
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the call-through rate (e.g., 0.5%); and the corresponding conversion factor
for the price
per call can be the click-through rate (e.g., 1%). Thus, the converted value
represents the
average expected price per presentation of advertisement.
[00233] In one embodiment, the converted value generally represents an
indicator of
potential revenue for presenting an advertisement, regardless the type of
advertisements,
so that the different types of advertisements can be compared to each other on
an equal or
equivalent basis.
[00234] Similarly, the system can convert the Pay Per Click bidding queue into
the
Pay Per Call currency. It does this by multiplying the click bids by the
conversion factor,
which in this example is 2. In this way, a Pay Per Call advertiser could view
merged
queue, and compete apples-to-apples against a Pay Per Click advertisers.
[00235] Once the systenl has merged the advertisers' bidding queues of the two
different models, it can next display both types of advertisements, interlaced
according to
the common bidding queue, on the same real'estate of the page. No longer does
a Pay Per
Call advertising section of the page have to be created. It can now coexist
with the
existing Pay Per Click section of the page. Both types of ads are displayed
together,
merged in a common bidding queue and therefore display order.
[00236] Figure 16 shows a merged bidding queue displayed.as advertisements on
a
directory according to one embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 16,
the
advertisements of Arnold's Mortgages, Betty's Mortgages, Carl's Mortgages,
David's
Mortgages, Ellen's Mortgages are displayed in the same advertisement section
(1601) of
the web page, according to the merged bidding queue (1531) sorted according to
the
coinverted value which is illustrated in Figure 15. In the advertisement
section (1601),
pay per call advertisements and pay per click advertisements are mixed and
ordered
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according to the earning potential to the operator of the web site.
[00237] Thus, the system is determining the end-user's, or the market's,
preference for
one model versus the other. The books category may have a clicks-to-calls
conversion
factor of 10, since end users prefer to click in this category. Suitably,
merging and sorting
the advertisements according to embodiments of the present invention will
ensure that in
this books category, Pay Per Call advertisers will have to bid about 10 times
what a Pay
Per Click advertiser is willing to -pay for the same advertising slot.
Conversely, in the
plumbing category where end-users urgently need to get a plumber on the phone,
the
clicks-to-calls conversion factor may be 0.5. Therefore, merging and sorting
the
advertisements according to embodiments of the present invention will ensure
that in this
plumbing category, Pay Per Call advertisers will only have to bid about half
of what a
Pay Per click advertiser is willing to pay for the same advertising slot.
[00238] In this way, the online directory's "revenue per pixel," or its
revenue per real
estate of the page, can be optimized. By factoring in the end-user's, or the
market's,
propensity to interact with an advertisement in a particular category and
weighting the
advertisers' bids accordingly, the system ensures that the Directory is
extracting the
maximum value for advertising slots on the page. In this way, a system
according to
embodiments of the present invention automatically brings to the fore the
types of
advertisements that are best suited for each category. The books category, for
instance,
may come to be predominated by Pay Per Click advertisements. Similarly, the
plumbing
category may come to be predominated by Pay Per Call advertisements. Thus,
this. is
achieved seamlessly and automatically in embodiments of the present invention.
[00239] In one embodiment, the system determines a conversion factor for
individual
advertisements. For in~tance,* if a plumber has created a Pay Per Call
advertisement with
r _ .. . .-- - -. .
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an extremely alluring offer, such as "Call now - available immediately to come
fix your
problem", that advertisement might be called 100 times per 1,000 page-views.
The
system would then compare the conversion rate of that individual advertisement
versus
the conversion rates of the other advertiseinents, both Pay Per Call and Pay
Per Click. A
particular not-so-alluring plumbing click advertisement might, for instance,
get clicked
on 10 times per 1,000 page views. The system would therefore weight these
individual
advertisements in the common bidding queue according to their conversion
rates. The
calls-to-clicks conversion factor in this example would be 100 to 10,
resulting in a
conversion factor of 10. In other words, the plumber with the alluring
advertisement
would only need to bid one-tenth as much as the plumber with the not-so-
alluring click
advertisement.
[00240] In one embodiment of the present invention, when the end-user
conversion
rate (e.g., call-through rate or click-through rate) is known for an
individual
advertisement, it is used to estimate the earning potential per presentation
for this
advertisement. When the end-user conversion rate (e.g., call-through rate or
click-
through rate) is not known for an individual advertisement, the end-user
conversion rate
for the corresponding advertisement category of a particular type of
advertisement can be
used. For example, the conversion rate for the plumber category of pay per
call
advertisement can be estimated and used to determine the earning potential per
presentation for a plumber advertisement, when the call-through rate for the
plumber
advertisement is not available. The conversion rate for an advertisement
category of a
particular type of advertisement can be determined from sampling data as
illustrated in
Figures 13 arid- 14. Alternatively, the conversion rate can also be computed
from the
known conversion rate of individual advertisements in the category. For
example, an
. , _. . -- - -- .._ _ . . . .
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average click-through rate of pay per click advertisements in a category can
be computed
as the conversion rate of the advertisements in the category. The averaging
process may
be weighted according to factors, such as the number of presentations in a
past time
period, the average prices per click during the past time period, etc. The
earning potential
per presentation for a list of different advertisements can be scaled back
according to
conversion rate of a particular advertisement (or a particular category of
advertiseinent),
to present the equivalent price from the perspective of the particular
advertisement (or the
particular category of advertisement).
1002411 Alternatively, the conversion factors are measured and then entered
into the
system manually. After determining that in mortgages, Pay Per Call
advertisements are
called 5 times per 1,000 page-views and Pay Per Click advertisements are
clicked upon
times per 1,000 page-views, the conversion factor of 2 is manually entered
into the
system. The system then uses this factor to merge the bidding queues and
display order
for this category.
[00242] In one embodiment, the bidding queues and display orders are merged
manually, using the conversion factor as an approximate guide. In other words,
if in the
category of books, clicks tend to be significantly more prevalent than calls,
resulting in a
conversion factor of 30, then the directory can conclude that Pay Per Call
advertisements
should be significantly lower on the page than Pay Per Call advertisements. It
might
therefore manually hardcode the first nine slots to be the top Pay Per Click
bidders and
reserve only the lowest tenth slot to be the top Pay Per Call advertiser.
[002431 One embodiment of the present invention uses the APIs, or Application
Program Tnterfaces,-of the Pay Per Click advertising system and the Pay Per
Call
advertising system in order to merge the two bidding queues and display
orders. The Pay
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Per Call system, for example, will determine the top advertisers and bid
amounts in the
Pay Per Click system by making queries through the click system's API.
Conversely, the
Pay Per Click system will determine the top advertisers and bid amounts in the
Pay Per
Call system by making queries through the call system's API. The bid amounts
of the top
advertisers in one system are then converted to the equivalent bid amount in
another
system (e.g., using the end-user conversion rates or conversion factors). In
one
embodiment of the present invention, the API of the systems also provides an
indicator of
earning potential per presentation of an advertisement, in additional to or
instead of price
per performance measure (e.g., price per call or price per click). Thus,
different
advertising systems can communicate with each other with a common language.
[00244] One embodiment of the present invention merges the Pay Per Call
bidding
queue into the Pay Per Click bidding queue and display order using a
combination of
APIs and actual click bidding, perhaps even unbeknownst to the Pay Per Click
system's
administrators. In this embodiment, the system would use the API of a
directory or search
engine to read the click bid amounts as well as the click ads' estimated click-
through rate,
which is a commonly provided metric. The system would then take the Pay Per
Call
advertisers and use the calls ads' call-through rate and compare it to the
click ads' click-
through rate. The system would then merge the Pay Per Call advertisements into
this
click queue by automatically bidding for clicks that led to a web page
featuring the
advertiser's Pay Per Call phone number. The system would bid Pay Per Call
advertisements into the click queue in this manner according to the conversion
factor that
would be dynamically determined by comparing the two system's click-through
and call-
through rates. In, this embodiment, the systems effectively serves as an
arbitrager,
automatically purchasing click traffic only when this click traffic is less
expensive on a
CA 02599371 2007-08-24
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converted basis than the price the advertiser is willing to pay per call.
[00245] In one embodiment of the present invention, an advertisement may
include
both pay per click element and pay per call element. For example, the
advertisement
shows both a phone number which when called will be connected to the phone
number of
the advertiser and a link which when clicked will lead the user to a web page
of the
advertiser.
[00246] When an advertisement includes both the pay per click element and pay
per
call element, the system may determine an earning potential based on price per
call, call-
through rate, price per click and click-through rate. For example, the earning
potential
can be the sum of the earning potential computed based on the price per call
and call-
through rate and the earning potential computed based on the price per click
and click-
through rate.
[00247] In one embodiment, the advertiser may specify the price per call after
the
price per click is specified;.and for reference purpose, when the advertiser
is specifying
the price per call, the prices of the competitors are displayed from the pay
per call
perspective of this advertiser, with the consideration of the already
specified price per
click. For example, the already specified price per click may be converted
into the
equivalent price per call for the advertiser based on end-user conversion
rates so that the
advertiser may specify the price per call as the additional amount on top of
the equivalent
-price per call based on the specified price per click.
[00248] Similarly, when the advertiser specify the price per click after the
price per
call is specified, the already specified price per call can be converted as
the equivalent
price per click, on top: of which the advertiser may further specify the price
per click to
bid against the competitors from the pay per click perspective of this
advertiser.
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Alternatively, the competitors' prices may be discounted by the equivalent
price per click
based on the already specified price per call for the advertiser in specifying
the price per
click of the advertisement.
[00249] When the advertiser creates a new advertisement, end-user conversion
rates
may not be available for the advertisement. The conversion rates can be
estimated from
similar advertisements in the same category. When the statistical data becomes
available
for the advertisement, better estimation of the end-user conversion rates can
be computed.
[00250] For example, the advertiser may bid only from the price per click
perspective,
assuming the price per call is zero. After the price per click for the
advertisement is
specified, the system automatically computes the equivalent price per call
using the
estimations of end-user conversion rates.
[00251] One embodiment of the present invention automatically discounts any
overhead costs associated with the competing systems. For example, a Pay Per
Call
system may have costs associated with it such as the allocation of toll-free
phone
numbers or telephony per-minute charges. The directory absorbs these costs.
Therefore, it
could be that Pay Per Call advertisements on average cost a directory 10
percent more
than Pay Per Click advertisements. If this is true, this overhead cost
is'taken into account
(e.g., in computing earning potential per impression, equivalent prices per
measurable
event, etc.). For example; it would automatically discount all Pay Per Call
bids by 10% in
relation to Pay Per Click bids, thereby ensuring that the directory is always
displaying the
advertisement that will earn it the most revenue, all costs included.
[00252] One embodiment of the present invention takes into a:ccount the supply
source
of the advertisers and similarly weights the advertisers' bids accordingly.
For instance, a
directory may contractually receive 70 percent of all Pay Per Call revenues
that come
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from advertisers outside of their network. The same directory may
contractually receive
90 percent of all Pay Per Call revenues that come from advertisers inside of
their network
- advertisers that the directory itself brought into the system. In this
example, the bidding
queue would be adjusted so that advertisers with a supply source outside of
the directory
- for which the directory earns less - would have their bids discounted
according to the
differential in earnings percentages so that the directory's overall earnings
would be
maximized.
[00253] Qne embodiment of the present invention merges bidding queues
factoring in
various combinations, or all, of the rates described above: the conversion
rate of the Pay
Per Click advertisements, the conversion rate of the Pay Per Click
advertisements, the
overhead costs of the two systems, the supply-source earnings percentages of
the
advertisers. In this way, the directory optimizes its revenue according to one
embodiment
of the present invention.
[00254] One embodiment of the present invention uses the principles to merge
not
only the Pay Per Call and Pay Per Click systems, but also that of other
competing
advertising platforms as well. A third type of advertisement, for instance, is
a paid-call
advertisement. In this advertisement, advertisers such as accountants and
computer
helpers are promoting a paid-call service in which the end user pays a price
per amount of
..time spent on the phone for advice, such as $1.99 per minute, or $50 per one-
hour
consultation. These types of advertisements have radically different
conversion rates than
either Pay per Call or Pay Per Click advertisements because the end-user must
not only
click or call but also actually pay money for services. In this embodiment,
conversion
rates can also be used to produce conversion factors to merge paid-call
advertisements
with Pay Per Call and Pay Per Click systems. Further, a fourth type of
advertisement, for
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instance, is a pay per video view advertisement. In this type of pay-for-
performance
advertising, advertisers pay for each time their video advertisements are
viewed. This
type of advertisements can also be merged with other types of pay-for-
performance (e.g.,
pay per call and/or pay per click) using the end-user conversion rates in a
way similar to
the methods described above for merging pay per click advertisements and pay
per call
advertisements. In general, end-user conversion rates can be measured for any
pay-for-
performance based advertisements, regardless whether the advertisers pay for
the
advertisements or the end-users pay for accessing the advertisers and
regardless the types
of performance measuring events (e.g., click, call, video viewing, or other
types of user
actions); and the earning potentials can be estimated using different types of
statistic data,
based on the past performance of a particular advertisement, the past
performance of a
specific type of advertisements (e.g., of the same category, with the same
advertisement
placement position, to the same type of end user application/device, to the
end users of
the same geographic region, etc.)
[00255] Some examples on merging different advertising platforms are presented
below.
[00256] In one example, an online directory called Directory.com is seeking to
maximize the advertising revenue they derive from their site. For several
years, they've
had Pay Per Click advertisers bidding for placement in an advertising section
in the right-
hand column of their site. Now there is a new type of pay-for-performance
advertising
: model, Pay Per Call, that many advertisers prefer. Directory.com would like
to integrate
Pay Per Call advertisements into their site, but they'd like to do so without
compromising
revenue. They would also prefer not to have to carve out another area of the
page for
additional advertising, because that would require a redesign of the entire
page. They
.f -, -_..._ ..
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would also prefer not to create a whole new entrance for advertisers to use
the new Pay
Per Call system.
[00257] Directory.com therefore uses one embodiment of the present invention
to
integrate Pay Per Call advertisements within their pre-existing Pay Per Click
advertisements. The conversion rate of Pay Per Click advertisements in each
category in
the directory is measured. The conversion rate of Pay Per Call advertisements
in each
category in the directory is also measured. The conversion rates are then used
to derive a
conversion factor for each category in the directory.
[00258] Once the conversion factor for each category has been established,
both Pay
Per Click advertisements and Pay Per Call advertisements can share the same
bidding
queue and display order.
[00259] Since the bidding queues have been merged, advertisers looking to
create an
advertisement at Directory.com can use the same online entrance that was once
exclusively used to create Pay Per Click advertisements. There, they are asked
to choose
which type of advertisement they would like to create, Pay Per Click or Pay
Per Call.
[00260] Advertisers choosing Pay Per Click can create an advertisement with
one of
its elements being a URL that the click directs to. Once the Pay Per Click
advertisement
has been created, the advertiser next bids for the advertisement's placement.
The queue
the Pay per Click advertiser sees, however, also includes Pay Per Call
advertisements
which have been weighted according to the conversion factor of that particular
category.
This merged bidding queue ensures that the directory will achieve the most
competitive
environment, with all types of advertisers, competing against one another,
thus making
bids grow ever higher and maximizing the directory's revenue.
[00261] Figure 17 shows a merged bidding queue from Pay Per Click perspective
CA 02599371 2007-08-24
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according to one embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 17, a user is
creating a
pay per click advertisement. As a reference for the user to determine a price
per click for
the new advertisement, a list of prices per click is presented in a descending
order. The
list of prices per click includes equivalent prices that are converted from
prices per call.
For example, Arnold's Mortgages, Carls's Mortgages and Ellen's Mortgages use
pay per
call advertisements. As illustrated in Figure 15, the prices per call (1513)
can be
converted into the converted value (1523) in a way that the converted value
for the pay
per click is the saine as the price per click (e.g., using a conversion factor
of 1.0 for price
per click and a conversion factor of 0.5 for price per call, based on a 2:1
ratio of click-
through rate to call-through rate for the "mortgages" category). Thus, the
converted
values of the pay per call are equivalent prices per click. Thus, the price
information for
both the pay per click advertising and pay per call advertising is presented
in an easy to
compare format.
[00262) Advertisers who choose to create a Pay Per Call advertisement can
create an
advertisement with one of its elements being a phone number that the call
routes to. Once
the Pay per Call advertisement has been created, the advertiser next bids for
the
advertisement's placement. The queue the Pay Per Call advertiser sees,
however, also
includes Pay Per Click advertisements which have been weighted according to
the
conversion factor for that particular category. Again, the merged bidding
queue ensures
the directory's revenue is maximized.
[002631 Figure 18 shows a merged bidding queue from Pay Per Call perspective
according to one embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 18, a user is
creating a
pay per call advertisement. As a reference for the user to determine a price
per call for
,the new advertisement, 'a list of prices per call is presented in a
descending order. The list
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of prices per call includes equivalent prices that are converted from prices
per click. For
example, Betty's Mortgages, David's Mortgages and Fran's Mortgages use pay per
click
advertisements, as illustrated in Figure 15. The prices per click can be
converted into
the converted value in a way that the converted value for the pay per call is
the same as
the price per call (e.g., using a conversion factor of 1.0 for price per call
and a conversion
factor of 2.0 for price per click, based on a 2:1 ratio of click-through rate
to call-tlirough
rate for the "mortgages" category). Thus, the converted values of the pay per
click are
equivalent prices per call. Thus, the price information for both the pay per
click
advertising and pay per call advertising is presented in an easy to compare
format.
[00264] Once the merged bidding queue has been established, the advertisements
are
ready to be displayed on the site. Fortunately, the merged queue of
advertisements means
that both Pay Per Click ads and Pay Per Calls ads can both appear interwoven
in the same
pre-established advertising area on the right-hand side of the site. No new
real estate has
to be carved out of the page.
[00265] Embodiments of the present invention ensure that the optimal type of
advertisement appears in each advertising slot, with conversion rate and bid
amount
being the primary drivers. The directory can thereby maximize its revenue.
[00266] In addition, the directory will automatically display the type of
advertisements
that its end users prefer. Categories that are more conducive to phone
calling, such as
plumbing, become predominated by Pay Per Call ads, since the high conversion
factor
has made it prohibitively expensive for Pay Per Click advertisers to
advertise=there. The
converse is true in the books area, where end users prefer to click into to
buy books
online, thereby weighting the bidding queue heavily toward Pay Per Click
advertisements. Since end users are automatically being shown the type of
advertisements
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they prefer according to category, the end-user customer experience at the
directory is
also optimized.
[00267] One embodiment of the present invention also takes into account
additional
factors when weighting the bidding queues. Preference, via a heavier bid
weight, can be
given to advertisers that Directory.com signed up. This maximizes the
directory's
revenue, since it earns more on these advertisers than ones that are
syndicated via other
sites. Similarly, one embodiment of the present invention also takes into
account
overhead costs. For example, since Pay Per Call advertisements cost the
directory 10%
more of overhead to pay for toll-free phone numbers and long-distance charges,
all Pay
Per Call bids are discounted by 10% on top of the other weighting.
[00268] Thus, various embodiments of the present invention maximize
Directory.com's revenue and ensure that it has the optimal customer
experience.
[00269] Figure 19 shows a flow chart illustration a method to create an
advertisement
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[00270] In Figure 19, operation 1901 receives a user indication of selecting a
type of
an advertisement, such as pay per call or pay per click.
[00271] When operation 1903 determines that the user selected type is pay per
click,
operation 1915 receives pay per click specific content (e.g., a URL).
Operation 1917
displays competitors' prices, including pay per click and pay per call, from
pay per click
perspective (e.g., as illustrated in Figure 17). Operation 1919 receives a pay
per click
price for the advertisement.
[00272] When operation 1903 determines that the user selected type is pay per
call,
operation 1905 receives pay per call specific content (e.g., a phone number).
Operation
1907 displays competitors' prices, including pay per click and pay per call,
from pay per
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call perspective (e.g., as illustrated in Figure 18). Operation 1909 receives
a pay per call
price for the advertisement.
[00273] Operation 1921 sorts the advertisement with other advertisements of
different
types according to prices and performance conversion rates for presentation.
[00274] Figure 20 shows a flow chart illustration a method of auto-arbitrager
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[00275] Operation 2001 retrieves click bid amounts as well as estimated click-
through
rate for the pay per click advertisements. Operation 2003 retrieves call bid
amounts as
well as call-through rate for the pay per call advertisements.
[00276] Operation 2005 automatically determines a click bid amount for a pay
per
click advertisement that leads to the web page that shows the pay per call
phone number
of an advertiser. Operation 2007 compares the automatically determined click
bid amount
to the call bid amount for the corresponding pay per call advertisement of the
advertiser
based on normalization using the click-through rate and the call-through rate.
[00277] If operation 2009 determines that Pay Per Click is less expensive,
operation
2011 automatically bids for the pay per click advertisement that leads to the
web page
that shows the pay per call phone number of the advertiser.
[00278] If operation 2009 determines that Pay Per call is less expensive,
operation
2013 automatically prevents bid amount for the pay per click advertisement
that leads to
the web page that shows the pay per call phone number of the advertiser from
exceeding
the equivalent bid amount for the corresponding pay per call advertisement.
[00279] In one embodiment of the present invention, the conversion rate
estimation is
based on not only the category but also-the geographical regions. For example,
when an
advertisement is created, it can be specified which geographic area the
advertisement is
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for. In one embodiment of the present invention, the advertisements are
presented
according to the geographic area the user is interested in. Thus, the
conversion rates
determined or used for the estimation of earning potential per presentation
and/or the
equivalent prices are based on the same geographical region.
[00280] In one embodiment of the present invention, the targeted geographic
area of
an advertisement may be specified in terms of a center area in terms of a
particular street
address, a city, a state, a zip code or a country. Alternatively, other types
of center areas
can also be specified. For example, the center area can be specified as an
area of
particular telephone area code, or an area of particular telephone area code
and exchange,
or a school district, a county, a metropolitan area, a region, a custom
defined area, etc.
Further, the geographic area may be custom defined on a map (e.g., a telephone
area code
map, a zip code map, a street map, a commercial district map, a state map, a
national
map, a world map, etc.). In one embodiment, a surrounding area within a
specified
distance way from the center area may also be specified as a part of the
targeted
geographic area for the advertisement. Different scales of units, such as
mile, feet, yard,
etc., can be selected for the radius value. Alternatively, the radius may be
specified in
terms of average travel time, such as the number of minutes for a walking
distance or
driving distance. Alternatively, the radius can be specified in terms of
characteristics
such as within walking distance, driving distance, etc. The system then
determines an
appropriate range according to the traffic condition for the area around the
business
location.
[00281] In one embodiment, the conversion rate estimation is based on the
types of
targeted media devices of the advertisements. For example, the conversion
rates for
general web users and the conversion rates for mobile/wireless users can be
very
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different. Thus, the system may determine the conversion rate, equivalent
prices, earning
potential per presentation, etc., based on the type of target user devices and
the type of
services. For example, advertisements may be presented to a type of mobile
device (e.g.,
cellular phone) in response to the user searching for one or more user
specified words
(e.g., using a WAP site or an SMS based search engine). Alternatively, the
advertisements may also be presented to the same type of mobile device in
response to
the user entering a particular region, such as a commercial district. However,
the click-
through rates for the advertisements in response to searching and in response
to the user
entering a commercial district can be different. Thus, different conversion
rates can be
maintained for different types of advertisement environments for more accurate
estimation of earning potentials.
[00282] In one embodiment, a pay for performance advertising model uses
advertisements that are presented for groups of advertisers, such as a group
of=mortgage
brokers in a particular geographic area. The advertisers specify the price per
response,
such as call or click, that are directed from the advertisements to the
advertisers. The
responses are distributed to the advertisers according to the prices specified
by the
advertisers. Other factors such as advertisement budges, response frequencies,
etc., can
also be considered in distributing the responses to the advertisers of the
group.
[00283] In one embodiment, the measurable and payable event is call; and the
advertisers may specify the price per call. However, since an advertisement is
for a
group of advertisers, the end-user conversion rate is also based on the end-
user responses
generated for the group of advertisers. Furthermore, since the group of
advertisers may
specify different prices, the system estimates a price from the set of prices
specified by
the group of advertisers. For example, the system may select the highest
prices as the
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price for the advertisement in estimate the earning potential for comparison
with other
types of advertising models; alternatively, the system may determine an
average price
from a number of top prices (e.g., top ten bids); alternatively, the system
may project the
earning potential from the past statistic data in combination with the current
set of price
bids of the group of advertisers.
[00284] In one embodiment, the price conversion factor can further include the
consideration of ordinal positions, category, geographic area, and/or other
infonnation.
[00285] For example, the price conversion may be specific for an ordinal
position. To
establish the price conversion for a particular ordinal position, the end-user
conversion
rates are computed based on the statistic data for advertisements placed at
the same
particular ordinal position. For example, to establish the price conversion
factor between
pay per call advertisements and pay per click advertisements for position
three on the list
of a page, the call-through rate for pay per call advertisements placed at
position three
and the click-through rate for pay per click advertisements placed at the same
position are
determined; the call-through rate and the click-through rate are then used to
determine the
conversion factor for advertisements placed position three.
[00286] When the ordinal position is considered, the list of advertisements to
be
presented is determined one at a time according to one embodiment of the
present
invention. For example, the conversion factor for the top position is first
used to
determine which of the top pay per call advertisement and the top pay per
click
advertisement is to be selected for the top position; then the conversion
factor for position
two- is used to determine which of the top remaining pay per call.
advertisement and the
top remaining pay per click advertiseinent is to be selected for the top
position. Since
different ordinal positions may have different conversion factor, the
advertisements for
r--- - - - - . _ .
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the list are determined one at a time from the remaining advertisements.
[00287] Further, the ordinal positions may be aggregated. For example, one
conversion factor may be specific for a block of positions (e.g., from
position four to
position ten); and, the conversion factor is determined according to the
average call-
through rate and the average click-through rate based on the advertisements
placed within
the block of positions. In one embodiment, ordinal positions and aggregated
ordinal
positions are used together for a list. For example, the conversion factors
for position
one, position two and position three are specific to the corresponding ordinal
positions;
and conversion factors for position block four to ten and position block above
ten are
specific for the corresponding position blocks.
[00288] Further, the price conversion can be specific for an ordinal position
and for a
particular category and/or a particular geographic area. Furthermore, the
price
conversion- can be determined from the end-user conversion rates for a
specific
advertisement at a particular ordinal position (e.g., position three), or a
particular
aggregated ordinal position (e.g., between positions four and ten).
[00289] In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with
reference
to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be evident that various
modifications
may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the
invention
as set forth in the following claims. The specification and drawings are,
accordingly, to
be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.
, ._._. .. .
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