Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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Advertising Opportunity Exchange System and Method
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority from U.S. application 11/490,792 filed
on July 20,
2006, entitled "Advertising Opportunity Exchange".
Field of Invention
[0002] Invention relates to advertising, specifically to exchange related
operations for
advertising opportunities and their derivatives, and in particular to systems
and methods
for enabling source users to gain access to means for communicating messages
to selected
recipient users.
Background of Invention
[0003] Online advertising has rapidly become an important source of income for
many
online entities and a useful medium for advertisers to reach target audiences.
For
example, an online newspaper may sell the opportunity to deliver advertising
in
conjunction with the delivery of the online newspaper content. Typically,
online entities
or their brokers sell the advertising opportunities in bulk. Advertising
opportunities may
be sold in large blocks based on visitors to the online newspaper website; for
example, a
bundle of ten thousand advertising opportunities may be available for delivery
to visitors
of a particular website. However, in other cases, the advertising
opportunities may be
sold as characterized blocks; for example, the advertising opportunities may
be
characterized by keywords in an article so that visitors to the online
newspaper reading a
travel article with the key words "Florida Keys" could be targeted by an
advertiser. Other
examples of advertising opportunity characterizations include, but are not
limited to, time
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of day, geographic location of the visitor and specific web pages within a
website (such as
the sports page of an online newspaper).
[0004] However, current online advertising sales paradigms present several
substantial
limitations that negatively impact the ability of the advertiser to carefully
focus on a
target audience. For example, current online advertising sales paradigms often
require the
advertiser to purchase a large block of poorly characterized advertising
impression
opportunities. In some cases, only a subset of the block may be of interest to
the
advertiser; for example, in some cases, only a subset of the block may match a
desired
target audience. In some cases, it may be possible to resell a subset of the
purchased
block to other advertisers; however, due to the sometimes poor
characterization of the
advertising opportunities, it may be difficult to identify the advertising
impression
opportunities of interest until the advertising opportunity actually becomes
available.
This inhibits the ability to effectively sell, re-sell and/or broker
advertising opportunities
and limits the advertising opportunity seller's ability to establish
meaningful control
and/or maximize their return for their involvement in online advertising.
Furthermore, a
functioning options market based on characterized, advertising impression
opportunities
may be difficult to implement based on the currently available mechanisms for
buying
and/or selling advertising impression opportunities.
[0005] Furthermore, current online advertising sales paradigms may not
encourage
dynamic pricing competition between the advertising impression opportunity
sellers
and/or enable advertising impression opportunity sellers to make conditional
offers.
[0006] At least in view of the above, there exists a need for tools that
enable source users
to gain access to a desired advertising impression opportunity or means for
communicating messages to desired recipient users.
Summary of Invention
[0007] In one embodiment of the current invention, an advertising opportunity
exchange
enables the use of a pre-specified conditional offer in transactions such as
the sale,
purchase and/or exchange of advertising impression opportunities. In some-
cases, the
transactions may be performed on a per advertising impression opportunity
basis wherein
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each advertising impression opportunity is associated with an individual
exposure;
however, in other cases, an advertising opportunity exchange may support
transactions
involving bundles of advertising impression opportunities. In some cases,
advertising
opportunities may be purchased, sold and/or exchanged once they become
available.
Some embodiments of the current invention may enable the creation of a spot
market
and/or a futures market for advertising impression opportunities.
[0008] According to an embodiment of the current invention, pre-specified
conditional
offers are specified in advance of the availability of the advertising
impression
opportunities and represent offers made by or on behalf of the owner or
controller of the
advertising audience derivative. A pre-specified conditional offer comprises
an offer to
sell, option, barter or exchange one or more advertising impression
opportunities. Pre-
specified conditional offers may be parameterized or characterized by pre-
specified
conditional offer parameters and related pre-specified conditional offer
parameter values.
[0009] In one embodiment according to the current invention, bids to purchase,
option,
trade or barter one or more advertising opportunities are characterized by one
or more
properties. In some cases, bids are characterized by bid parameters and
related bid
parameter values such as, but not limited to, an initial bid price, a bid
increment, bid
premium and a maximum bid price.
[0010] Three-way matches between available advertising impression
opportunities, bids
and pre-specified conditional offers may be established and /or prioritized
based on one
or more criteria. In some embodiments of the current invention, exact and/or
inexact
matching may be supported such as, but not limited to, matching based on
goodness of fit
thresholds. In some cases, multiple matches may be identified. Various
embodiments of
the current invention may prioritize the multiple matches based on a variety
of methods
such as, but not limited to: single, multi-dimensional, linear or non-linear
prioritization
methods.
[0011] In an embodiment of the current invention may be used in conjunction
with
parameterized advertising opportunities. In some cases, the parameterized
advertising
opportunities may be- characterized before and/or after the advertising
impression
opportunity becomes available. Opportunity parameters and related opportunity
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parameter values may characterize various aspects of the advertising
impression
opportunity such as, but not limited to, the target recipient of the
advertising impression
opportunity.
[0012] In an embodiment of the current invention comprises a crossing engine
system for
establishing three-way matches between bids, an advertising impression
opportunity and
pre-specified conditional offers. In some cases, the crossing engine comprises
or accesses
one or more database systems for storing bids and pre-specified conditional
offers.
Optionally, the system may further comprise an advertising clearinghouse
system for
managing the financial transactions associated with matches and for enabling a
winning
bidder to take possession of and utilize audience derivatives. A variety of
different
matching algorithms may be implemented in conjunction with an embodiment of
the
current invention for identifying and/or prioritizing matches. In some cases,
matching
algorithms may be designed to optimize various conditions and/or may access
input from
a variety of sources.
[0013] In an embodiment of the current invention may further comprise one or
more of
the following optional systems: an ordering system for enabling bidders and/or
offerers
to view, configure, reconfigure, submit and/or cancel bids and/or. offers, an
optional
management system for configuring, reconfiguring, maintaining, securing and/or
backing
up some or part of an advertising opportunity exchange system, and an optional
reporting
system.
[0014] In one embodiment of the current invention, an advertising opportunity
exchange
may be used in conjunction with a variety of paradigms such as, but not
limited to:
auctions, reverse-auctions, Dutch auctions, English auctions, sealed auctions,
procurement auctions and/or proxy auctions.
[0015] In an embodiment of the current invention, a media buy assignment
system may
enable transactions between media buy accounts.
[0016] Advantageously, some embodiments of the current invention may be used
in
conjunction with networked, online, asynchronous and/or wireless delivery of
advertising
content. Examples of advertising content include, but are not limited to:
advertisements
embedded in web pages and/or games, content feeds, television, electronic
games, online
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games, networked games, voice mail messages, e-mail messages, faxes, telephone
calls
and/or video communications.
[0017] Advantageously, some embodiments of the current invention support
operation in
conjunction with targets which are previously unknown or unidentified by the
publisher.
For example, a target may not be required to pre-register according to some
embodiments
of the current invention. Similarly, potential targets which are not profiled
customers of a
publisher's website may be addressed according to some embodiments of the
current
invention.
[0018] Embodiments of the invention relates to a method and system for
enabling source
users to gain access to means for communicating messages to selected recipient
users,
comprising: using first sets of data characterizing means for communicating a
message in
potential conditions of use; second set of data relating to a number of
qualities to be met
by source users to gain access to the means of the first sets of data; third
sets of data
relating to qualities met by source users willing to gain access to
communication means
in desired conditions of use; identifying three-way matches between qualities
to be met by
source users to gain access to communication means in potential conditions of
use, the
actual conditions of use of the means and qualities met by source users
willing to gain
access to at least one of a plurality of means in desired conditions of use;
and prioritizing
matches according to predetermined rules.
[0019] According to an embodiment of the current invention, an impression
opportunity
is embodied by a possibility to communicate a message to a recipient user
through a
communication means such as, but not limited to, a browser in a computer
connected to
the Internet. In other embodiments, messages such as, but not limited to: a
text
advertisement, a search result listing, web advertorial, integrated content, a
placement in a
search result listing, a placement in a hot list, an interstitial ad, an
instant message, a SMS
(Simple Message Service) message, a pop-up advertisement, a floating ad, a
mouse over
ad, animation, an applet, a pop-under advertisement, a banner advertisement,
and
advertisement embedded in a content stream, an advertisement embedded in a
television
program, an advertisement interspersed between television programs, an
advertisement
embedded in music, an advertisement embedded in a web page, an advertisement
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embedded in a computer game, an advertisement embedded in an online game, an
advertisement embedded in a networked game, an audio advertisement, a video
advertisement, a multimedia advertisement, video communications and an e-mail
advertisement, may be transmitted via a wired or wireless network to a variety
of devices.
In an embodiment of the current invention, the potential conditions of use may
comprise,
but are not limited to, taken alone or in combination, characteristics
associated with the
recipient, the recipient's hardware, the recipient's soft ware, the
recipient's configuration,
the recipient's browsing activities and/or the recipient's history; the
conditions of use
comprise the conditions of the use of the communications means and may or may
not
characterize the recipient user, the physical environment associated with the
recipient
user, the current or past activities of the recipient user, data associated
with the hardware,
software, firmware and/or networking configuration associated with the
communication
means and/or data related to the current or past usage of the communications
means.
[0020] In an embodiment of the current invention, at least some of the
qualities
represented by the second set of data may be characterized and/or set by the
owners,
proxies and/or controllers of the means for communicating messages to selected
recipient
users. For example, in some cases, the owners, proxies and/or controllers may
be market
participants and/or publishers such as, but not limited to, website
publishers.
[0021] In an embodiment of the current invention, at least some of the
qualities
represented by the third set of data reflect characteristics and/or
information related to
source users. For example, in some cases, source users may be advertisers or
their
proxies seeking characterized venues for their message(s).
[0022] According to an embodiment, the current invention enables source users
to gain
access to means for communicating messages to selected recipient users. In
this
embodiment, at least a first set of data is established wherein the first set
of data
characterizes at least one of a plurality of means for communicating a message
in at least
one of a plurality of potential conditions of use; the conditions of use
comprise data about
a recipient user of the means. In this embodiment, at least one second set of
data is
established wherein the second set of data relates to a number of qualities to
be met by at
least one of a group of source users in order to gain access to at least one
of the plurality
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of means of the at least first set of data. In this embodiment, at least one
third set of data
relating is established wherein the third set of data relates to a number of
qualities met by
at least one source user willing to gain access to at least one of a plurality
of means in
desired conditions of use. According to this embodiment of the current
invention, data
associated with the actual conditions of use of at least one of the plurality
of means once
the at least one of a plurality of means becomes used is accessed, at least
one of the
second set of data is accessed. at least one of the third set of data is
accessed, and three-
way matches are identified; in this example, the three-way matches are
identified between
a number of qualities to be met by at least one of a group of source users to
gain access to
at least one of the plurality of means in potential conditions of use, the
actual conditions
of use of at least one of a plurality of means and a number of qualities met
by at least one
of the group of source users willing to gain access to at least one of a
plurality of means
in desired conditions of use. According to this embodiment of the current
invention,
matches are prioritized according to predetermined rules to determine if at
least one of a
plurality of means for communicating a message in its actual conditions of use
match at
least one of a plurality of means in conditions of use desired by at least one
of a group of
source users, and if the at least one of a group of source users match the
qualities to gain
access to the at least one of a plurality of means in its actual conditions of
use.
[0023] In an embodiment of the current invention, at least one condition of
use of at least
one of a plurality of means for communicating a message allows communicating a
message individually to a recipient user. For example, this enables matches
and
subsequent transactions associated with as few as one message targeted at as
few as one
recipient user.
[0024] In an embodiment of the current invention, the second set of data is
associated
with a bundle of two or more means for communicating a message in a potential
condition of use that each allow communicating a message individually to
recipient users.
For example, this enables matches and subsequent transactions associated with
sets of
messages.
(0025] In an embodiment of the current invention, at least one of a plurality
of means for
communicating a message and the conditions of use of said means may be
characterized
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with opportunity parameters and related opportunity parameter values. In some
cases,
examples of a quality to be met by at least one of a group of source users to
gain access to
the at least one of the plurality of means may comprise, but are not limited
to: accepting
to pay at least an offer price; said offer price being a function of one or
more opportunity
parameters and related opportunity parameter values.
[0026] In an embodiment of the current invention, an example of the qualities
to be met
by at least one of a group of source users to gain access to at least one of
the =plurality of
means may comprise accepting an options contract related to the optional
future payment
for gaining access to at least one of the plurality of means in potential
conditions of use.
[0027] In an embodiment of the current invention, examples of a condition of
use of at
least one of a plurality of means for communicating a message to a recipient
user may
comprise an inferred or known demographic profile of the recipient user.
[0028] In an embodiment of the current invention, the qualities met by at
least one of the
group of source users to gain access to at least one of a plurality of means
in desired
conditions of use may comprise bid data characterized by one or more bid
parameters and
one or more related bid parameter values. In this case, examples of bid
parameters may
include, but are riot limited to: maximum bid value, initial bid value, bid
algorithm, bid
increment, bid currency, minimum lot size for bid, maximum lot size for bid,
bid
activation date, bid expiration date, bid premium and bidder identification,
taken alone or
in combination.
[0029] In an embodiment of the current invention, at least one first set of
data
characterizing at least one of a plurality of means for communicating a
message in at least
one of a plurality of potential conditions of use includes a futures contract
comprising a
contractual agreement related to the required future purchase at a specified
price of the
access to at least one of a plurality of means for communicating a message in
at least one
of a plurality of potential condition of uses; the means and the conditions of
use meeting
one or more criteria. In this case, the contractual agreement may or may not
comprise a
futures contracts with requirements such as, but limited to: a requirement for
the future
purchase of inventory comprising a plurality of accesses to at least one of a
plurality of
means for cornmunicating a message in at least one of a plurality of potential
conditions
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of use meeting one or more criteria and, an expiration timestamp for
identifying when
obligation occurs for the specified price for any portion of the inventory
associated with
the contractual agreement which remains unused when the expiration timestamp
expires.
[0030] In an embodiment of the current invention, at least one of a plurality
of means for
communicating a message in at least one of a plurality of potential conditions
of use may
be characterized with at least one pre-specified conditional offer parameter
and related
pre-specified conditional offer parameter value.
[0031] In an embodiment of the current invention, the price associated with
the
contractual agreement of the first set of data is a function of at least one
pre-specified
conditional offer parameter and related pre-specified conditional offer
parameter value.
[0032] Tn an embodiment of the current invention, a match may be characterized
by a
goodness-of-fit value. In some cases, the price associated with the
contractual agreement
of the first set of data may be a function of the goodness-of-fit value.
[0033] In an embodiment of the current invention, the price associated with
the
contractual agreement of the first set of data is evaluated once the at least
one of a
plurality of means for communicating a message becomes used. In this case, an
example
of using a means of communication may comprise, but is not limited to,
requesting to
view a website.
[0034] In an embodiment of the current invention, one or more opportunity
parameters
and related opportunity values are associated with the individual target
recipient user
using the parameterized at least one of a plurality of means, and at least one
of the
opportunity values may be identified once the at least one of a plurality of
means for
communicating a message becomes used. Examples of opportunity parameters may
include, but are not limited to: Intemet Protocol (IP) address, domain name,
proxy usage,
keywords, search keywords, keyword phrases, target geographic location, target
country,
target city, target longitude coordinate, target latitude coordinate, target
time zone, target
organization, target date, target time, target browser language, target
operating system,
target internet browser program, toolbars installed on target access system,
target visit
depth, target page view time, target connection speed, target screen
resolution, target
browsing history, target breadth of sites visited, target online frequency,
target screen
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coordinates of a click, target click pattern data, target current or projected
weather
conditions, target current, recent or projected events or holidays associated
with a
geographic region, target credit rating, target credit report, target
demographic profile,
target gender, target education level target household income range, target
personal
income range, target ethnicity, target's categorization according to third
party measures,
target information stored in a cookie, target history, target court records,
target
directorships, target bankruptcies, target public records, target property
records, target
judgments, target tax liens, target's business type, target's business size,
target's job title,
target's seniority and target's job category, taken alone or in combination.
[0035] In an embodiment of the current invention, one or more opportunity
parameter
may be inferred, estimated or calculated.
[0036] In an embodiment of the current invention, at least one of a plurality
of means for
communicating a message comprises a user interface provided for handling one
of: a text
advertisement, a search result listing, web advertorial, integrated content, a
placement in a
search result listing, a placement in a hot list, an interstitial ad, an
instant message, a SMS
(Simple Message Service) message, a pop-up advertisement, a floating ad, a
mouse over
ad, content feed, animation, an applet, a pop-under advertisement, a banner
advertisement, an advertisement embedded in a web page, an advertisement
embedded in
a computer game, an advertisement embedded in an online game, an advertisement
embedded in a content stream, an advertisement embedded in music, an
advertisement
embedded in a networked game, an audio advertisement, a video advertisement, a
multimedia advertisement, video communications and an e-mail advertisement.
[0037] In an embodiment of the current invention, at least one of a plurality
of means for
communicating a message enables the delivery of advertising content to an
individual
advertising impression opportunity target over the Internet and/or over a
network using
Internet Protocol (IP).
[0038] In an embodiment of the current invention, at least one of a plurality
of means for
communicating a message may provide a television ad and/or an advertisement
embedded
in a television program.
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[0039] In an embodiment of the current invention, the qualities to be met by
at least one
of a group of source users to gain access to at least one of the plurality of
means
characterized in the at least first set of data may comprise, but are not
limited to, one or
more of: accepting a minimum offer price; not being part of a set of
unacceptable
advertisers; being part of a set of acceptable advertisers; accepting a set of
ad unit types;
accepting a set of ad unit sizes; accepting a minimum sale volume; complying
with
predetermined parameters; complying with a predetermined advertiser type;
complying
with a predetermined advertisement rating.
[0040] In an embodiment of the current invention, gaining access to at least
one of a
plurality of means for communicating a message may comprise: buying, selling,
trading
or bartering a right to communicate a message to the target recipient user
using the means
for communicating a message.
[0041] According to an embodiment, the current invention, relates to a system
comprising a database system and a crossing engine. In this example, the
database stores:
at least one first set of data characterizing at least one of a plurality of
means for
communicating a message in at least one of a plurality of potential conditions
of use,
wherein the conditions of use comprise data about a recipient user of the
means; at least
one second set of data relating to a number of qualities to be met by at least
one of a
group of source users in order to gain access to at least one of the plurality
of means of
the at least first set of data and; and at least one third set of data
relating to a number of
qualities met by at least one source user willing to gain access to at least
one of a plurality
of means in desired conditions of use. In this embodiment, the crossing engine
is coupled
to the database system_ In this embodiment, the crossing engine provides for:
accessing
data associated with the actual conditions of use of at least one of the
plurality of means
once the at least one of a plurality of means becomes used; accessing at least
one of the
second set of data; accessing at least one of the third set of data;
identifying three-way
matches between a number of qualities to be met by at least one of a group of
source
users to gain access to at least one of the plurality of means in potential
conditions of use,
the actual =conditions of use of at =least one of a plurality of means and a
number -of
qualities met by at least one of the group of source users willing to gain
access to at least
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one of a plurality of means in desired conditions of use; and, prioritizing
matches
according to predetermined rules to determine if at least one of a plurality
of means for
communicating a message in its actual conditions of use match at least one of
a plurality
of means in conditions of use desired by at least one of a group of source
users, and if the
at least one of a group of source users match the qualities to gain access to
the at least one
of a plurality of means in its actual conditions of use.
[0042] In an embodiment of the current invention, a system may further
comprise: an
advertising clearinghouse system coupled to the database system. The
clearinghouse
system may manage financial transactions associated with a matches and enable
a
1o selected source user matching the qualities to access the at least one of a
plurality of
means in its actual conditions of use to communicate a message with the at
least one of a
plurality of means for communicating a message in its actual conditions of
use. The
clearinghouse system may also manage financial transactions associated with a
matches
and enable a selected source user matching the qualities to access the at
least one of a
plurality of means in its actual conditions of use to dispose of the right of
communicating
a message with the at least one of a plurality of means for communicating a
message in its
actual conditions of use.
[0043] In an embodiment of the current invention, the system further comprises
an
advertising clearinghouse. In some cases, the advertising clearing house may
provide an
advertising redirection service, thereby enabling a selected source user
matching the
qualities to access the at least one of a plurality of means in its actual
conditions of use to
communicate a message with the at least one of a plurality of means for
communicating a
message in its actual conditions of use.
[0044] In an embodiment of the current invention, at least one of a plurality
of means for
communicating a message in at least one of a plurality of potential conditions
of use may
be parameterized and characterized by opportunity parameters and related
opportunity
parameter values.
[0045] In an embodiment of the current invention, the qualities met by at
least one of the
group of source users willing to gain access to at least one of a plurality of
means in
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desired conditions of use comprise providing bid data characterized by one or
more bid
parameters and one or more related bid parameter values.
[0046] In an embodiment of the current invention, the crossing engine may
utilize one or
more algorithms for selecting a source user matching the qualities to access
the at least
one of a plurality of means in its actual conditions of use.
[0047] According to another embodiment, the current invention, enables
transactions
with audience derivatives associated with advertising impression
opportunities. An
audience derivative comprises a contractual agreement related to the future
purchase of an
advertising impression opportunity. According to an embodiment of the current
invention, properties associated with an advertising impression opportunity
are accessed
once the advertising impression opportunity becomes available. A pre-specified
conditional offer may be characterized by one or more pre-specified
conditional offer
parameters and related pre-specified conditional offer parameter values.
According to an
embodiment of the current invention, one or more pre-specified conditional
offers
associated with one or more audience derivatives are accessed; properties
associated with
one or more bids to purchase one or more audience derivatives are accessed.
According
to an embodiment of the current invention, three-way matches are identified
between the
advertising impression opportunity, the bids and the pre-specified conditional
offers,
based at least in part on identifying three-way matches between one or more
pre-specified
conditional offer parameters with related pre-specified conditional offer
parameter values,
properties associated with an available advertising impression opportunity and
properties
associated with one or more bids. According to an embodiment of the current
invention,
matches are subsequently prioritized.
100481 According to an embodiment of the current invention, an advertising
impression
opportunity may be an individual advertising impression opportunity with an
individual
exposure. In some cases, the audience derivative is associated with a bundle
of two or
more advertising impression opportunities wherein each advertising impression
opportunity in the bundle comprises an individual advertising impression
opportunity
with an individual exposure.
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[0049] In one embodiment of the current invention, the advertising impression
opportunity is a parameterized advertising impression opportunity wherein at
least some
of the properties of a parameterized advertising impression opportunity are
characterized
by opportunity parameters and related opportunity parameter values. In some
embodiments of the current invention, a pre-specified conditional offer
comprises an
offer price for the audience derivative and wherein the offer price is a
function of one or
more opportunity parameters and related opportunity parameter values.
[0050] In some embodiments of the current invention, an audience derivative
comprises
an options contract related to the optional future purchase of an advertising
impression
opportunity.
[0051] In some embodiments of the current invention, the properties associated
with an
advertising impression opportunity may comprise an inferred and/or known
demographic
profile.
[0052]In some embodiments of the current invention, the properties associated
with a bid
may be characterized by one or more bid parameters and one or more related bid
parameter values. Embodiments of bid parameters may comprise, but are not
limited to:
maximum bid value, initial bid value, bid algorithm, bid increment, bid
currency,
minimum lot size for bid, maximum lot size for bid, bid activation date, bid
expiration
date, bid premium and bidder identification.
[0053] In some embodiments of the current invention, an audience derivative is
a futures
contract comprising a contractual agreement related to the required future
purchase at a
specified price of an advertising impression opportunity meeting one or more
criteria. For
example, in some embodiments of the current invention, the contractual
agreement may
comprise a requirement for the future purchase of inventory comprising
multiple 25 advertising impression opportunities meeting one or more criteria
and an expiration
timestamp for identifying when obligation occurs for the specified price for
any portion of
the inventory associated with the contractual agreement which remains unused
when the
expiration timestamp expires.
[0054] In some embodiments of the current invention, the price associated with
the
contractual agreement of the audience derivative may be a function of at least
one pre-
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specified conditional offer parameter and related pre-specified conditional
offer
parameter value.
[0055] In some embodiments of the current invention, a match may be
characterized by a
goodness-of-fit value. In some embodiments of the current invention, the price
associated with the contractual agreement of the audience derivative is a
function of the
goodness-of-fit value.
[0056] In some embodiments of the current invention, the price associated with
the
contractual agreement of the audience derivative is evaluated once the
advertising
impression opportunity becomes available.
[0057] In some embodiments of the current invention one or more opportunity
parameters and related opportunity values are associated with the individual
target of the
parameterized advertising impression opportunity and wherein at least one of
the
advertising opportunity values may be identified once the parameterized
advertising
impression opportunity becomes available. For some embodiments of the current
invention, embodiments of opportunity parameters may include, but are not
limited to:
Internet Protocol (IP) address, domain name, proxy usage, keywords, search
keywords,
keyword phrases, target geographic location, target country, target city,
target longitude
coordinate, target latitude coordinate, target time zone, target organization,
target date,
target time, target browser language, target operating system, target internet
browser
program, toolbars installed on target access system, target visit depth,
target page view
time, target connection speed, target screen resolution, target browsing
history, target
breadth of sites visited, target online frequency, target screen coordinates
of a click, target
click pattern data, target current or projected weather conditions, target
current, recent or
projected events or holidays associated with a geographic region, target
credit rating,
target credit report, target demographic profile, target gender, target
education level target
household income range, target personal income range, target ethnicity,
target's
categorization according to third party measures , target information stored
in a cookie,
target history, target court records, target directorships, target
bankruptcies, target public
records, target property records, target judgments, target tax liens, target's
business type,
target's business size, target's job title, target's seniority and target's
job category. In
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some embodiments of the current invention one or more opportunity parameter
values
may be inferred, calculated or estimated.
[0058] In some embodiments of the current invention, an advertising impression
opportunity comprises an offer to provide one or more exposures selected from
the set of:
a text advertisement, a search result listing, web advertorial, integrated
content, a
placement in a search result listing, a placement in a hot list, an
interstitial ad, an instant
message, a SMS (Simple Message Service) message, a pop-up advertisement, a
floating
ad, a mouse over ad, content feed, animation, an applet, a pop-under
advertisement, a
banner advertisement, an advertisement embedded in a web page, an
advertisement
embedded in a computer game, an advertisement embedded in an online game, an
advertisement embedded in a content stream, an advertisement embedded in
music, an
advertisement embedded in a networked game, an audio advertisement, a video
advertisement, a multimedia advertisement, video communications and an e-mail
advertisement.
[0059] In some embodiments of the current invention, an advertising impression
opportunity comprises an offer to enable the delivery of advertising content
to an
individual advertising impression opportunity target over the Intemet. In some
embodiments of the current invention, an advertising impression opportunity
comprises
an offer to enable the delivery of advertising content to an individual
advertising
impression opportunity target over a network using Internet Protocol (IP). In
some
embodiments of the current invention, an advertising impression opportunity
comprises
an offer to provide a television ad and/ or an advertisement embedded in a
television
program.
[0060] In some embodiments of the current invention, examples of a pre-
specified
conditional offer parameter may include, but are not limited to: a minimum
acceptable
offer price, a set of unacceptable advertisers, a set of acceptable
advertisers, a set of
acceptable ad unit types, a set of acceptable ad unit sizes, a minimum
acceptable sale
volume, opportunity parameters, an advertiser type and an advertisement
rating.
[0061] In some embodiments of the current invention, examples of transactions
may
include, are not limited to: buying, selling, trading and bartering.
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[0062] In an embodiment of the current invention, a system comprises a
database system
for accessing bids and pre-specified conditional offers associated with
audience
derivatives and a crossing engine system for establishing and prioritizing
three-way
matches between bids, an available advertising impression opportunity and pre-
specified
conditional offers wherein the step of establishing matches is based at least
partially on
properties of the advertising impression opportunity once the advertising
impression
opportunity becomes available, thereby enabling the identification of a
winning bidder for
a pre-specified conditional offer, wherein the crossing engine system is
coupled to the
database system. In this embodiment, a pre-specified conditional offer is
characterized by
pre-specified conditional offer parameters and related pre-specified
conditional offer
parameter values. Advantageously, in this embodiment, the system enables
transactions
associated with audience derivatives associated with advertising impression
opportunities
wherein an audience derivative comprises a contractual agreement related to
the future
purchase of an advertising impression opportunity.
[0063] In an embodiment of the current invention, a system may further
comprise an
advertising clearinghouse system for managing the financial transactions
associated with
a matches and for enabling a winning bidder to take possession of audience
derivatives
and wherein the advertising clearinghouse system is coupled to the crossing
engine
system. In some cases, the advertising clearinghouse may further provide an
advertising
redirection service, thereby enabling a winning bidder to consume an
advertising
impression opportunity.
[0064] In an embodiment of the current invention, an advertising impression
opportunity
may comprise a parameterized advertising impression opportunity wherein a
parameterized advertising impression opportunity may be characterized by
opportunity
parameters and related opportunity parameter values.
[0065] In an embodiment of the current invention, a bid may be a parameterized
bid.
[0066] In an embodiment of the current invention, the crossing engine may
utilize one or
more algorithms for selecting a winning bidder.
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Brief Description of Drawings
[0067] Figure 1 illustrates an example of an advertising impression
opportunity exchange
according to an embodiment of the current invention.
[00681 Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating an example of an advertising
opportunity
exchange method according to an embodiment of the current invention.
[0069] Figure 3 illustrates an example of a media buy assignment system
according to an
embodiment of the current invention.
[0070] Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a media buy
assignment method
according to.
[00711 Table 1 of Figure 5 describes a possible set of pre-specified
conditional offer
parameters and related pre-specified conditional offer parameter values which
may be
defined in conjunction with an embodiment of the current invention.
[0072] Table 2 of Figure 6 describes a possible set of bid parameters and
related bid
parameter values which may be defined in conjunction with an embodiment of the
current
invention.
[0073] Table 3 of Figure 7 describes a possible set of opportunity parameters
and related
opportunity parameter values which may be defined in conjunction with an
embodiment
of the current invention.
Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments
[0074] Figure 1 illustrates an example of an advertising impression
opportunity exchange
system 100 according to an embodiment of the current invention. In this
example, an
advertising impression opportunity exchange system 100 enables the use of data
forming
a pre-specified conditional offer in transactions such as the sale, purchase
and/or
exchange of advertising audience derivatives associated with an advertising
impression
opportunity. In an embodiment, the audience derivatives comprise offers to
access a
number of impression opportunities, or offers to use a number of communication
means
in some determined conditions of use. In an embodiment, the audience
derivatives
comprise first sets of data characterizing means for communicating a message
in potential
conditions of use, wherein the conditions of use comprise data about recipient
users of the
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means. The pre-specified conditional offer is made by or on behalf of the
owner or
controller of the advertising audience derivative and comprises an offer to
sell, option,
barter or exchange one or more advertising impression opportunities. In an
embodiment,
the pre-specified conditional offer comprise data such as a price, a list of
preferred/disliked buyers, etc..., wherein a willingness to accept the price,
or the
belonging to a list, etc... are generally described as "qualities" to be met
by a source user.
In an embodiment, the pre-specified conditional offers comprise second sets of
data
relating to the qualities to be met by source users in order to gain access to
means in the
first set of data of the audience derivatives. Pre-specified conditional
offers are made in
advance of the availability of the related actual advertising impression
opportunities.
According to an embodiment, an advertising audience derivative is a
contractual offer of
agreement related to the future purchase, optional purchase, use or
consumption of an
advertising impression opportunity. For example, according to some embodiments
of the
current invention, a contract related to the sale, purchase, optional purchase
or exchange
of an advertising impression opportunity could be offered for sale, purchase,
and/or
exchange on the advertising opportunity exchange as an advertising audience
derivative.
A contract related to the option of purchasing an advertising impression
opportunity is an
example of an advertising audience derivative. For example, according to some
embodiments of the current invention, an option to purchase an advertising
impression
opportunity from a particular website or set of websites may be offered for
sale, purchase
and/or exchange. In some embodiments of the current invention, a futures
market for
advertising impression opportunities may be established. In some embodiments
of the
current invention, an advertising opportunity exchange may support
transactions on a per
advertising impression opportunity basis associated with an individual
exposure and/or
transactions involving bundles of advertising impression opportunities.
[0075] In some embodiments of the current invention, an advertising impression
opportunity may or may not comprise a parameterized advertising opportunity. A
parameterized advertising impression opportunity is characterized by one or
more
opportunity parameters and one or more opportunity parameter values. In this
case, some
or all of the criteria established in the audience derivative's contractual
agreement may be
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based on the opportunity parameters and related opportunity parameter values.
For
example, an opportunity to serve a pop-up advertisement to a user browsing an
article on
a travel website containing the keywords "Florida Keys" in March when the end-
user is a
male, aged 18-25 browsing from a location in New York City may have
opportunity
parameters such as "advertisement type", "publisher type", "content keywords",
"browsing date", "gender", "age range" and "browsing location" whereas the
corresponding opportunity parameter values may be "pop-up advertisement",
"travel
website", "Florida Keys", "March", "male", `18-25 ' and "New York". In some
cases,
financial transactions related to the purchase of an advertising audience
derivative may or
may not be executed at the same time as the purchase, use or consumption of
the
advertising audience derivative. In some cases, the properties of an
advertising audience
derivative may be defined, identified, estimated, inferred, cross-referenced,
calculated or
characterized by one or more entities such as, but not limited to, the owner
or controller
of the advertising audience derivative, one or more elements of the
advertising
opportunity exchange and/or one or more entities accessed by the advertising
opportunity
exchange.
[0076] Opportunity parameters may be associated with the target recipient (or
advertising
impression opportunity target) of the advertising impression opportunity. For
example,
the target time zone in the subsequent list of examples refers to the time
zone associated
with the target recipient of the advertising impression opportunity. Examples
of
opportunity parameters include, but are not limited to: Internet Protocol (IP)
address,
domain name, proxy usage, keywords, search keywords, keyword phrases, target
geographic location, target country, target city, target longitude coordinate,
target latitude
coordinate, target time zone, target organization, target date, target time,
target browser
language, target operating system, target internet browser program, toolbars
installed on
target access system, target visit depth, target page view time, target
connection speed,
target screen resolution, target breadth of sites visited, target online
frequency, target
screen coordinates of a click, target click pattern data, target current or
projected weather
conditions, target current, recent or projected events or holidays associated
with a
geographic region, target credit rating, target credit report, target
demographic profile,
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target gender, target education level, target household income range, target
personal
income range, target ethnicity, target's categorization according to third
party measures
such as psychographics, target information stored in a cookie, target history,
target court
records, target directorships, target bankruptcies, target public records,
target property
records, target judgments, target tax liens, target's business type, target's
business size,
target's job title, and target's seniority and target's job category, taken
alone or in
combination.
(0077] Examples of advertising impression opportunities include, but are not
limited to: a
text advertisement, a search result listing, web advertorial, integrated
content, a placement
in a search result listing, a placement in a hot list, an interstitial ad, an
instant message, a
SMS (Simple Message Service) message, a pop-up advertisement, a floating ad, a
mouse
over ad, animation, an applet, a pop-under advertisement, a banner
advertisement, and
advertisement embedded in a content stream, an advertisement embedded in a
television
program, an advertisement interspersed between television programs, an
advertisement
embedded in music, an advertisement embedded in a web page, an advertisement
embedded in a computer game, an advertisement embedded in an online game, an
advertisement embedded in a networked game, an audio advertisement, a video
advertisement, a multimedia advertisement, video conununications and an e-mail
advertisement.
(00781 In some cases, one or more of the opportunity parameter values
associated with an
actual advertising impression opportunities may not be determined until the
advertising
impression opportunity becomes available. Some embodiments of the current
invention
may enable a spot market for advertising impression opportunities through the
use of
parameterized advertising impression opportunities. In some cases, an
opportunity
parameter value may be determined, inferred, estimated, cross-referenced
and/or
calculated based on one or more resources such as, but not limited to,
external databases,
packet header content, cookies, profiles and/or historical data. In some
cases, the
opportunity parameters and associated opportunity parameter values may
characterize the
target of the=advertising impression. Examples of parameters include, but are
not limited
to: IP address, domain name, proxy usage, keywords, search keywords, keyword
phrases,
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target geographic location, target country, target city, target longitude
coordinate, target
latitude coordinate, target time zone, target organization, target date,
target time, target
browser language, target operating system, target internet browser program,
toolbars
installed on target access system, target visit depth, target page view time,
target
connection speed, target screen resolution, target breadth of sites visited,
target online
frequency, target screen coordinates of a click, target click pattern data,
target current or
projected weather conditions, target current, recent or projected events or
holidays
associated with a geographic region, target credit rating, target credit
report, target
demographic profile, target gender, target education level, target income
range (both
household and personal), target ethnicity, target's categorization according
to third party
measures such as psychographics, target information stored in a cookie, target
history,
target court records, target directorships, target bankruptcies, target public
records, target
property records, target judgments and target tax liens.
[0079] Bids to purchase control of an audience derivative are characterized by
one or
more properties. For example, bids to purchase control of an audience
derivative may be
dependent on properties associated with the related advertising opportunity's
target.
According to ari embodiment, the bids to purchase audience derivatives
comprise a
collection of "qualities" of prospective buyers, or source users, to be
matched with the
"qualities" requested in the offers. According to an embodiment, the bids to
purchase one
or more audience derivatives comprise third sets of data relating to the
qualities met by
the source user willing to gain access to the communication means in desired
conditions
of use. In some cases, bids are characterized by bid parameters and related
bid parameter
values. Examples of bid parameters comprise, but are not limited to, maximum
bid value,
initial bid value, bid algorithm, bid increment, bid currency, minimum lot
size for bid,
maximum lot size for bid, bid activation date, bid expiration date, bid
premiums and
bidder identification. In some cases, prices associates with bids may be
characterized in
units of currency, such as, but not limited to United States Dollars or Euros.
In some
cases, prices associated with bids may be characterized in terms of scrip or
credits. In
some embodiments of the current invention, prices associated with bids may be
characterized by a defined amount of currency, scrip or credits; for example,
two dollars
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($2) may be bid for the future purchase of a particular advertising impression
opportunity.
In some cases, the prices associated with a bid may be established in terms of
a range; for
example, a price of "up to two dollars" may be bid for the future purchase of
a particular
advertising impression opportunity, with the expectation that it may be
matched with any
offer up to, but not exceeding two dollars. However, in some embodiments of
the
current invention, an indefinite or parameterized bid price may be supported.
For
example, the value of a bid may be determined according to a bid algorithm and
may be
dependent on one or more criteria such as, but not limited to, the actual
parameter values
of the advertising impression opportunity which may or may not be available
until the
actual advertising impression opportunity becomes available. For example, an
advertiser
may establish a bid offering to buy advertising opportunities at a price that
is proportional
to the advertising opportunity target's cross-referenced credit rating. In
some cases,
complex functions may govern the bid price. In some cases, bid prices may be
based on
characteristics associated with the advertising impression opportunity and/or
target which
may be represented by or related to a score, a goodness of fit value, a
statistical value or a
level of certainty with respect to one or more opportunity parameters,
opportunity
parameter values and/or other information.
[0080) According to an embodiment of the current invention, the specified
price or the
price associated with the contractual agreement on an advertising audience
derivative may
be based at least in part on a price associated with a winning bid associated
with the
future purchase of an advertising impression opportunity. However, the
specified price or
the price associated with the contractual agreement and the bid price are not
necessarily
identical. For example, depending on the operation of the exchange, the
specified price
or the price associated with the contractual agreement may or may not
incorporate
additional charges, fees and/or credits. Furthermore, the amount paid by the
purchaser
may or may not be equal to the bid price, the specified price or the price
associated with
the contractual agreement.
[00811 In some embodiments of the current invention, audience derivatives may
be re-
sold. For example, in some cases, option reselling may be supported. In some
cases, the
option owner may choose to re-sell the option, even after the advertising
impression
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opportunity has become available. For example, an option owner may own an
option to
purchase an advertising impression opportunity characterized by a first set of
opportunity
parameters and associated opportunity parameter values or ranges. An option
may enable
an advertiser to preview an advertising impression opportunity once it becomes
available
but not require the advertiser to purchase the advertising impression
opportunity, thereby
providing the advertiser with the right of refusal. Depending on the
embodiment of the
current invention, the option owner may then have one or more choices. In some
embodiments of the current invention, choices available to an option owner may
comprise:
1) consuming or using the advertising impression opportunity;
2) selling, trading or bartering the option, thereby enabling another entity
to
purchase a"second' right of refusal;
3) selling, trading or bartering the advertising impression opportunity;
and/or
4) letting the option expire.
In some cases, when the advertising impression opportunity matching that first
set of
opportunity parameters and associated opportunity parameter values or ranges
becomes
available, the option owner may be presented with additional information
related to the
available advertising impression opportunity. In some cases, advertising
opportunity
exchanges may place some limitations on the re-sale of options associated with
available
advertising impression opportunities; for example, in one embodiment of the
current
invention, an advertising opportunity exchange may limit the amount of time an
option
may stay on the market once the advertising impression opportunity becomes
available in
an attempt to minimize delays between the time the advertising impression
opportunity
becomes available and the time an advertising impression is served or
delivered to the
target.
[0082] In some cases, a standardized set of opportunity parameters and
associated
opportunity parameter values and/or ranges may be established for use in
conjunction
with the advertising exchange. This may improve the accuracy and efficiency of
some
advertising exchange operations. For example, in some cases, by providing a
standardized way of characterizing advertising opportunities, the process of
matching
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advertising opportunities, offers and bids may be improved. In some cases, a
system
utilizing a standardized set of opportunity parameters and associated
opportunity
parameter values and/or ranges may support the sale and/or re-sale of options
and provide
option-holders with additional information regarding the available advertising
impression
opportunities as they become available. In some cases, some or all of the
additional
information may comprise non-standard parameters and/or non-standard parameter
values
or ranges, thereby supporting the ability of an advertiser to select
advertising impression
opportunities based, at least in part, on non-standard parameters and non-
standard
parameter values or ranges. However, in other embodiments of the current
invention, the
additional information regarding the available advertising impression
opportunities as
they become available may comprise standard parameters, standard parameter
values
and/or a descriptive text field.
[0083] In one embodiment of the current invention, advertisers andlor
advertising content
may be vetted in advance. For example, in some cases, a publisher may be able
to assert
some degree of editorial control over the source and/or content of
advertisements
delivered to their targets. In some cases, a publisher may approve or reject
advertisements based on one or more criteria such as, but not limited to, the
advertiser,
keywords in the advertisement and/or the types of products and/or services
provided
and/or specific advertising creative andlor messages.
[0084] In Figure 1, an embodiment of the current invention, an advertising
opportunity
exchange 100, comprises a database system 110 for storing and/or accessing
bids and pre-
specified conditional offers associated with audience derivatives of an
advertising
impression opportunity and a crossing engine system 120 for establishing
matches
between audience derivatives, bids and pre-specified conditional offers,
thereby enabling
the identification of a winning bidder. In this example, the crossing engine
system
supports the prioritization of multiple matches. However, in some cases, the
crossing
engine system may support the prioritization of multiple matches alone or in
conjunction
with input and/or systems external to the crossing engine system 120 and/or
external to
the opportunity exchange 100. For example, in some embodiments of the current
invention, prioritization of multiple matches may be supported wholly or in
part by an
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optional prioritization system which may reside wholly or partially internal
to the
crossing engine 120, external to the crossing engine 120 but internal to the
opportunity
exchange 100 and/or external to the crossing engine 120 and external to the
opportunity
exchange 100. In this example, an optional advertising clearinghouse system
130
manages the financial transactions associated with matches and enables the
winning
, bidder to take possession of the audience derivative. In some cases, the
optional
advertising clearinghouse system may enable a winning bidder to consume an
advertising
impression opportunity. For example, in some cases, an advertising
clearinghouse may
provide redirection services, enabling an advertiser to provide an
advertisement to an end
user, thereby consuming an advertising impression opportunity. In some cases
the
clearinghouse may provide advertisement delivery and servicing services.
[0085] A pre-specified conditional offer is characterized by one or more pre-
specified
conditional offer parameters and related pre-specified conditional offer
parameter values
or parameter ranges; a pre-specified conditional offer comprises and offer to
provide an
advertising impression opportunity or an audience derivative based on an
advertising
impression opportunity in advance of the availability of the advertising
impression
opportunity. Examples of conditional offer parameters may include, but are not
limited
to: minimum acceptable price, set of unacceptable advertisers, set of
acceptable
advertisers, minimum acceptable sale volume, set of acceptable ad unit types,
set of
acceptable ad unit sizes, opportunity parameters, advertiser type, and
advertisement
rating. In some cases, the database system 110 may be a local, remote or
distributed
system. According to some embodiments of the current invention, the database
system
110 is coupled to the crossing engine system 120 and provides the crossing
engine system
120 with access to pre-specified conditional offers. In some cases, the
database system
110 may interact with other external database systems and/or systems such as
external
database system 270; for example, in some cases, database system 110 may
support cross-
exchange and/or trade-through transactions by interacting with remote
databases and/or
systems. In some cases, the database system 110 may store both the bids and
the pre-
specified conditional offers. However; in other embodiments of the current
invention, the
pre-specified conditional offers may be received by the crossing engine system
120 from
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another local or remote resource such as, but not limited to, another local or
remote
database, program or system such as external system 280.
[0086] According to an embodiment of the current invention, crossing engine
system 120
is coupled to database system 110 and advertising clearinghouse system 130.
Crossing
engine system 120 accesses or receives data associated with audience
derivatives, bids
and pre-specified conditional offers associated with audience derivatives and
identifies
three-way matches between audience derivatives, pre-specified conditional
offers and
bids according to a matching algorithm. In Figure 1, an optional matching
algorithm 121
is illustrated inside the crossing engine system 120. However, in other
embodiments of
the current invention, a matching algorithm may be distributed across two or
more
systems. In some cases, a matching algorithm may be supported wholly or in
part on an
external or remote system. Depending on the configuration of the embodiment of
the
current invention, data may be received and/or accessed from a variety of
internal
resources, such as, but not limited to database system 110 and/or external
resources such
as, but not limited to, external databases, programs and/or external systems.
According to
an embodiment of the current invention, pre-specified crossing engines support
the
identification of multiple matches per pre-specified conditional offer. A
variety of
different matching algorithms may be used in conjunction with various
embodiments of
the current invention. For example, in some cases, the order in which the
crossing engine
system 120 identifies matches may be used to prioritize matches; in some
cases, the first
match identified by the crossing engine system 120 may be used to complete an
exchange
transaction. However, in other embodiments of the current invention, multiple
matches
may be identified and then prioritized according to a variety of criteria. For
example, in
some cases, bids and/or offers may be prioritized based on the time stamp
associated with
the initiation of the bids and/or offers; in some cases, priority may be
determined, at least
in part, based on the number of outstanding bids and/or offers associated with
an entity on
the exchange such as, but not limited to, an advertiser, market participant or
publisher. In
some cases, additional information such as, but not limited to publisher
profiles, market
participant profiles and advertiser profiles may be used to determine
priority. Note that in
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some cases, when multiple matches may be identified and prioritized, some
embodiments
of the current invention may or may not necessarily evaluate all possible bids
and offers.
[0087] According to embodiments of the current invention, various examples of
matching algorithms may be configured to optimize various conditions. For
example, in
some cases, a matching algorithm may be configured to maximize revenue for one
or
more entities such as, but not limited to, publishers and/or the advertising
opportunity
exchange operator. In another example, an advertiser may have multiple
concurrent
advertising campaigns and register multiple bids related to the various
advertising
campaigns. In this case, it may be possible that multiple matches are
established between
a single bidder and a pre-specified conditional offer associated with an
audience
derivative; in this case, the matching algorithm may be configured to optimize
for some
parameter related to and/ox configured by the advertiser. Examples of
parameters that
may be considered in this case include, but are not limited to: target's
degree of prior
exposure to each advertising campaign (i.e. the number of times that the
target has been
exposed to a set of advertising content), the expiration date associated with
the bid, the
estimated number of future advertising opportunities associated with a
particular target
per advertising campaign, the estimated number of future advertising
opportunities
associated with other new targets per advertising campaign, the estimated
number of
future advertising opporti.inities associated with other known targets per
advertising
campaign and campaign account balances.
[0088] According to embodiments of the current invention, a matching algorithm
may be
used to prioritize matches. For example, in some embodiments of the current
invention,
the crossing engine uses and/or accesses a matching algorithm to identify
and/or prioritize
three-way matches. In order to maintain responsiveness in the system, the
process of
matching should be automated and rapid. However, in some embodiments of th.e
current
invention, various entities may want to establish limits and/or monitors on
various
processes to ensure that a particular configuration does not lead to unwanted
results. In
some cases, this may be accomplished using a reporting module by running
various
reports, analyzing them and - then adjusting configuration parameters such as;
but not
limited to, the configuration of the matching algorithm, publisher profiles,
advertiser
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profiles, exchange operator profiles andlor market participant profiles. In
another case, a
market participant may choose to adjust their conditional bids and/or pre-
specified
conditional offers. In some cases, optional automated monitors may be used to
instrument the system and/or to detect, report and/or respond to various
conditions. For
example, an advertiser may want to insure that bids associated with a one
month
advertising campaign result in the purchase of advertising opportunities which
are spread
out over the month. In this case, a monitor may be configured to detect when a
daily
quota is met. In some cases, once the daily quota condition is met, an
automated system
may then notify the advertiser, establish a very low priority for the
campaign's bids
and/or deactivate the campaign related bids until the following day.
[0089] According to some embodiments of the current invention, an optional
advertising
clearinghouse system 130 is coupled to crossing engine system 120. Optional
advertising
clearinghouse system 130 resolves financial transactions associated with
matches, thereby
enabling winning bidders to take possession of an audience derivative. For
example, in
some cases, the optional advertising clearinghouse system 130 may enable an
advertiser
to consume an advertising impression opportunity, resulting in an exposure. In
some
cases, exposures may be delivered over the Internet using a version of
Internet Protocol
(IP) such as, but not limited to, IP version 4 and IP version 6. For example,
the
advertising clearinghouse system 130 may transfer instructions for accessing a
purchased
advertising impression opportunity from a publisher to an advertiser. In some
cases, an
advertising clearinghouse system 130 may receive data regarding the match such
as, but
not limited to, the specified price associated with a match or the price
associated with a
contractual agreement associated with a match and initiate the appropriate
transfer of
funds, credits or resources from the winning bidder to the entity offering the
parameterized advertising impression opportunity or opportunities.
[0090] Note that in some embodiments of the current invention, an advertising
impression opportunity and/or related audience derivative may be sold and re-
sold; as a
result, an entity offering a parameterized advertising impression opportunity
may or may
not be the publisher associated with the opportunity. For example, it is
common for
publishers to price and/or sell advertising opportunities in terms of "cost
per thousand",
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also known as "CPM". In this paradigm, a publisher may sell large blocks of
one
thousands opportunities or more. In some cases, these opportunities are poorly
characterized; for example, an online newspaper may sell a large block of
advertising
opportunities related to the Sports page of their online publications
associated with a
particular timeframe, such as the month of May. Another entity such as a
market
participant may purchase this large block and subdivide it for re-sale or
option. As the
advertising opportunities become available, they may be characterized
according to
parameters and related parameter values and offered for sale and/or option.
For example,
in this case, a market participant who has purchased the large block of
advertising
opportunities may be able to access, estimate or infer parameter values
associated with
various parameters based on a variety of resources such as, but not limited
to, cookies,
user agents and hypertext transfer protocol (http) requests received when the
advertising
opportunity becomes available. In other cases, optional elements internal
and/or external
to various embodiments of the current invention may participate in and/or
manage the
step of identifying parameters and related parameter values to partially
characterized or
uncharacterized advertising opportunities; similarly, optional elements
internal and/or
external to various embodiments the current invention may participate in or
manage the
step of deleting, adding and/or altering parameters and/or parameter values
associated
with pararneterized advertising opportunities and/or audience derivatives. In
this
paradigm, advertising opportunities and/or advertising opportunity futures
associated with
a publisher may be exchanged on the advertising exchange (an embodiment of the
current
invention) without requiring the publisher to change their business processes
or
technology platforms.
[0091] An embodiment according to the current invention may support operation
in
conjunction with previously unknown or unidentified targets. For example, an
unregistered and previously unknown or uncharacterized end user may visit a
publisher's
website using an internet browser. In an embodiment of the current invention,
transactions involving advertising impression opportunities associated with
exposures to
that end user may be executed without requiring a priori knowledge -of the end
user, an
advertising impression opportunity target. In this example, no pre-
registration is required,
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thereby enabling some embodiments of the current invention to operate with
impromptu
website visitors.
[0092] In some cases, a variety of systems may be coupled to an embodiment of
the
current invention. In Figure 1, several exaxnple systems are coupled to an
example of the
current invention through Internet 230. However, note that systems may be
coupled to an
embodiment of the current invention through other mechanisms such as, but not
limited
to: intranets, local area networks (LANS), wide area networks (WAN), optical
networks,
synchronous connections, asynchronous connections, local cabling, phone lines
and/or
server backplanes.
[0093] An ordering system may be coupled to some embodiments of the current
invention. For example, in Figure 1, optional ordering system 290 is coupled
to
advertising exchange 100 through the intemet 230. In this example, the
ordering system
is responsible for receivirig audience derivative related orders such as bids
and/or offers
and registering them with the advertising exchange 100 so that the relevant
tables may be
updated in database system 110 and/or other related systems. In some cases,
user
interfaces may be available to entities such as, but not limited to,
advertisers 200,
publishers 210 and market participants 300 thereby enabling these entities to
configure
and submit bids and/or offers. In some cases, entities may be enabled to
review, monitor,
alter and/or delete bids and/or offers through an ordering system. In some
cases the
ordering system may enable options owners to exercise their options. In some
cases,
entities such as, but not limited to, advertisers 200, publishers 210 and
market
participants 300 may be able to establish profiles and/or business rules which
may be
used in conjunction with some embodiments of the current invention.
[0094] According to some embodiments of the current invention, an optional
management system may be coupled to the advertising exchange. In Figure 1,
optional
management system 230 is coupled to advertising exchange 100 through the
internet 230.
However, in other some embodiments of the current invention, some or all of a
management system may be locally coupled to the advertising exchange, remote
to the
advertising exchange and/or distributed - across multiple locations. In some
cases, a
management system may comprise a variety of modules such as, but not limited
to: a
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configuration module for configuring and/or reconfiguring one or more elements
of the
advertising exchange, a security module for preventing illegal access and/or
fraud, a
maintenance module for proactive management of the advertising exchange, a
monitoring
module for identifying hardware, networking and/or sofl.tivare problems,
and/or a back-up,
roll-over or redundancy module.
[0095J An optional reporting system may be coupled to some embodiments of the
current
invention. In Figure 1, optional reporting system 260 is coupled to
advertising exchange
100 through the internet 230. Jn some embodiments of the current invention,
the
reporting system may enable the generation of reports such as, but not limited
to,
transaction status reports per entity such as, but not limited to, publisher,
advertiser,
market participant and/or advertising opportunity target. In some cases, the
content
and/or availability of the reports may reflect the configuration of other
entities such as,
but not limited to, in part, a security module and/or a profile. In some
cases, system wide
reports may be generated. In some cases, reports may reflect data associated
with
multiple entities. For example, in some cases, a report may document completed
exchange transactions sorted by the price paid by the advertiser, the
specified price or the
price associated with the contractual agreement.
[00961 According to some embodiments of the current invention, the operator of
the
exchange may profit from its operation. For example, an advertising
opportunity
exchange may charge fees according to a variety of paradigms such as, but not
limited to,
charging entities according to a percentage of the price paid by the
advertiser, the
specified price or the price associated with the contractual agreement, a flat
fee per
completed transaction, a flat fee to submit a bid and/or offer, a time based
subscription.
Depending on the implementation, entities registering bids and/or offers may
or may not
know the actual cost and/or value of a winning bid. For example, in one
paradigm, a
bidder may bid one dollar fifly cents ($1.50) for a parameterized advertising
opportunity;
the crossing engine may match that bidder with an offer available for one
dollar ($1),
enabling the exchange operator to satisfy both entities and keep a profit of
fifty cents
($0.50). In this paradigm, the exchange operator may or may not reveal the
actual values-
associated with the transactions.
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[0097] In some embodiments of the current invention, the exchange may or may
not
assume various risks. For example, in some cases, the exchange may establish
matches
between entities; however some embodiments of the current invention may not
support
the purchase or sale of audience derivatives on their own behalf. In this
case, the
exchange does not absorb the risk associated with owning an inventory of
audience
derivatives. However, in other embodiments of the current invention, the
exchange may
support the purchase and/or sale of audience derivatives on its own behalf.
For example,
in this case, an exchange may purchase an audience derivative with the
intention of
selling, trading or bartering the audience derivative with another entity;
depending on the
ability of the exchange to dispose of the audience derivative inventory and
the terms of
the subsequent transactions, the exchange may or may not benefit from the
ability to
maintain an inventory. For example, in some cases, a trade between a bidder
and an
offerer may be executed as a single transaction between the two entities with
the
exchange enabling the transaction. However, in other embodiments of the
current
invention, a trade between a bidder and an offerer may be executed as two one-
sided
transactions with the exchange: for example, the exchange may first purchase
an audience
derivative from a publisher and then later re-sell it to an advertiser. If the
purchase price
associated with the audience derivative is different from the selling price,
the exchange
may or may not benefit from assuming this risk. Furthermore, some audience
derivatives
are time sensitive and may expire. For example, in some cases, an audience
derivative
such as, but not limited to, a futures option may comprise an expiration
timestamp for
identifying when the owner incurs an obligation for purchasing any portion of
unused
inventory. If the exchange maintains an inventory, it may incur losses due to
expired
audience derivatives.
[0098] According to some embodiments of the current invention, an advertising
opportunity exchange may be used in conjunction with a variety of paradigms
such as, but
not limited to: auctions, reverse-auctions, Dutch auctions, English auctions,
sealed
auctions, procurement auctions and/or proxy auctions.
[0099J Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating an example of an advertising
opportunity
exchange method according to an embodiment of the current invention. The
method
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oegins wnen an advertising opportunity exchange accesses properties associated
with an
advertising impression opportunity (Step 250). Some or all of the properties
may be
accessed once the advertising impression opportunity is available. In some
cases, one or
more properties may have been accessed or available in advance of the
availability of the
advertising impression opportunity. The advertising impression opportunity may
be
partially or fully characterized; in some cases, the advertising impression
opportunity may
be characterized with opportunity parameters and related opportunity parameter
values.
Characterization of an advertising impression opportunity may be based, in
part, on the
target and/or conditions of the of the advertising impression opportunity and
may or may
not be inferred, estimated, calculated and/or cross-referenced. The
advertising
opportunity exchange may access properties associated with an advertising
impression
opportunities in a variety of ways and/or from a variety of sources. For
example, in some
cases, the data may be retrieved from and/or received from one or more local
and/or
remote databases and/or systems.
[0100] The method continues when an advertising opportunity exchange accesses
a pre-
specified conditional offer associated with an audience derivative (Step 255).
The
audience derivative comprises a contractual agreement related to the future
purchase of an
advertising impression opportunity. In some cases, the contractual agreement
may
specify the future sale, barter, exchange and/or purchase of one or more
advertising
impression opportunities and/or options related to one or more advertising
impression
opportunities. A pre-specified conditional offer comprises an offer to sell,
option, barter
or exchange one or more advertising impression opportunities. The pre-
specified
conditional offer has been specified or characterized, at least in part, in
advance of the
availability of the advertising impression opportunity. The pre-specified
conditional offer
is characterized, at least in part, based on pre-specified conditional offer
parameters and
related pre-specified conditional offer parameter values. In some cases,
pricing related
pre-specified conditional offer parameters such as, but not limited to, the
offer price, the
initial offer price and/or the minimum offer price may be indeterminate and/or
parameterized. In some cases, pricing related pre;-specified conditional offer
parameter
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values may be partially or fully evaluated based on a variety of variables
such as, but not
limited to opportunity parameters and related opportunity parameter values.
[0101] The method continues when an advertising opportunity exchange accesses
properties associated with one or more bids to purchase one or more audience
derivatives
(Step 260).
[0102] The method continues when the crossing engine identifies three-way
matches
between an advertising impression opportunity, a bid and a pre-specified
conditional offer
(Step 265). In some cases, matching may be based in part or wholly on
opportunity
parameters and related opportunity parameter values and/or pre-specified
conditional
offer parameters and related pre-specified conditional offer parameter values.
In some
examples, the crossing engine may be configured with and/or make use of a
matching
algorithm to identify and/or prioritize matches.
[0103] The method continues when the matches are prioritized (Step 270). In
some
cases, the step of prioritization may be supported partially or wholly by the
crossing
engine. However, in other cases, the step of prioritization may be supported
partially or
wholly by entities external to the crossing engine and/or the advertising
opportunity
exchange. A variety of algorithms may be used in the step of prioritization.
[0104] Optionally, the method continues when an advertising clearinghouse
manages the
financial transactions associated with matches and enables a winning bidder to
take
possession of audience derivatives (Step 275). In some cases, the advertising
clearinghouse may provide advertisement redirection services, enabling a
winning bidder
to consume an advertising impression opportunity.
Advertising Opportunity Exchange Example
[0105] For the purposes of illustration, the following paragraph discusses one
example of
a transaction supported by an advertising opportunity exchange, an embodiment
of the
current invention. Consider a first advertiser willing to pay high fees for
internet
advertising opportunities specifically targeting ice hockey fans in the San
Jose, California
area. Consider a second advertiser, generally interested in targeting
Arrierican sports fans,
who has already purchased a large volume of advertising opportunities for a
specific
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timeframe associated with the website of an online sports website typically
featuring
articles covering a variety of sports events in a variety of American sports
venues. The
second advertiser paid one American dollar ($1) per advertising opportunity
and now
owns a large inventory of partially characterized advertising opportunities.
The second
advertiser is willing to sell some portion of that inventory, but only if the
resale price is
more than twice the purchase price, or two dollars ($2) per advertising
opportunity. In
conjunction with an embodiment of the current invention, the second advertiser
may
define a pre-specified conditional offer with pre-specified conditional offer
parameters
and related pre-specified conditional offer parameter values as described in
Table 1 of
Figure 5. In conjunction with an embodiment of the current invention, the
first advertiser
may define a bid to purchase audience derivatives as described in Table 2 of
Figure 6.
When an advertising opportunity owned by the second advertiser becomes
available, the
online sports magazine may provide that opportunity to the second advertiser
who may
choose to offer the opportunity as identified in the pre-specified conditional
offer through
an example of an advertising opportunity exchange according to an embodimei-t
of the
current invention. In some cases, some of the properties associated with the
advertising
opportunity may be passed along by the publisher such as, but not limited to,
the
advertisement type, the date stamp, a viewer's IP address, and cookie
information.
According to some embodiments of the current invention, opportunity parameters
and
related opportunity values may be accessed, inferred, cross-referenced,
calculated and/or
estimated based wholly or in part on the available properties. In some cases,
this relieves
the publisher and/or. , the second advertiser from the burden of
characterizing the
advertising opportunity, possibly easing integration of existing technologies,
operating
paradigms and/or workflows with various embodiments of the current invention.
Table 3
of Figure 7 describes a possible set of opportunity parameters and related
opportunity
parameter values which may describe an available advertising impression
opportunity in
conjunction with an embodiment of the current invention. In some cases, some
of the
opportunity parameters may not be available until after the advertising
impression
opportunity becomes available. For example, in this case, a Booster Club
Database may
contain a listing of members of a booster club associated with the San Jose
based hockey
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team which may be cross-referenced with a cookie or viewer ID associated with
a target
recipient of an advertising impression opportunity. For example, the results
of a viewer
ID Cross-Reference to Booster Club Database may not be available until after
the
advertising impression opportunity becomes available and a target cookie or
target viewer
ID is made available to help further characterize the advertising impression
opportunity.
In one example, an embodiment of the current invention may identify pre-
specified
conditional offer(s) related to the available advertising opportunity and
access the
properties associated with one or more bids. In this example, the crossing
engine
identifies and prioritizes three-way matches between the available advertising
opportunity, the related pre-specified conditional offer and one or more bids.
In this
example, the advertising opportunity exchange works in conjunction with an
automated
auction paradigm,, and the step of identifying matches incorporates managing
the
automated auction between bidders based on the initial bids, bid increments
and
maximum bids defined by the bidders.
Media Buy Assignment Example
[0106] Figure 3 illustrates an example of a media buy assignment system 310
according
to one embodiment of the current invention. A media buy assignment system is a
limited
example of an advertising opportunity exchange. According to an embodiment of
the
current invention, a media buy assignment system 310 enables transactions
between
media buy accounts such as enabling an available advertising impression
opportunity to
be traded, purchased or exchanged between two media buy accounts. According to
an
embodiment of the current invention, a media buy account comprises a set of
advertising
impression opportunities purchased in advance of their availability wherein
the media buy
account is owned by one or more assignees. In the example illustrated in
Figure 3, media
buy assignment system 310 comprises a database system 311, a media buy
assignment
crossing engine 312 coupled to the database system 311 and an optional media
buy
assignment clearinghouse system 313 coupled to the media buy assignment
crossing
engine 312.
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Julu71 According to an embodiment of the current invention, database system
311 stores
data and/or relationships related to media buy accounts such as, but not
limited to, media
buy assignees, media buy assets, media buy account balances and/or media buy
account
profiles. Media buy assignment crossing engine 312 receives information
regarding
available advertising impression opportunities associated with media buy
accounts and
identifies matches between the available advertising impression opportunities
and media
buy accounts for potential re-assignment. Optional media buy assignment
clearinghouse
system 313 manages financial and credit transactions related to re-assignment
operations.
[0108] In one embodiment of the current invention, media buy assignees
authorize a
media buy management system to optimize their advertising campaigns through
transactions such as, but not limited to, sales, purchases and/or exchanges of
advertising
opportunities between different media buy accounts. In some cases, these
exchanges may
be subject to certain limitations. For example, in some cases, only
transactions between
accounts owned or co-owned by the same assignees may be authorized. In other
embodiments of the current invention, only transactions of advertising
opportunities
associated with the same publisher, publication, web site and/or web page may
be
authorized. In some cases, certain transactions may be disallowed such as
transactions
between certain sets of assignees identified as competitors.
[0109] According to one embodiment of the current invention, a media buy
management
system receives information regarding an available advertising opportunity
associated
with a first media buy account and assesses the available advertising
opportunity to
determine if it should be re-assigned to a second media buy account.
Optionally, the
system may execute a re-assignment and enable an assignee associated with a
second
media buy to consume the advertising opportunity.
[0110] In: one embodiment of the current invention, the media buy system may
manage
financial accounting related to advertising opportunity re-assignment. For
example, in
some cases, an advertising opportunity may be characterized by value and the
media buy
system may manage credits and debits based on that value related to re-
assignment. In
some cases, the value of an advertising impression opportunity may be
expressed in terms
of credits and/or currency. Asynchronous exchanges of advertising impression
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opportunities between media buy accounts may be enabled by enabling account
balances
to fluctuate based on both advertising impression opportunity trade and
advertising
impression opportunity consumption. In some cases, a media buy assignment
system may
track multiple balances per media buy account. For example, in one embodiment
of the
current invention, a media buy assignment system may track one or more of the
following
balances on a per media buy account basis: the total number of advertising
impression
opportunities purchased, the total number of advertising impression
opportunities
consumed, the total number of advertising impression opportunities re-assigned
out of the
account, the total number of advertising impression opportunities re-assigned
into the
account, the total value of advertising impression opportunities purchased,
the total value
of advertising impression opportunities consumed, the individual value of each
consumed
advertising impression opportunity, the total value of advertising impression
opportunities re-assigned out of the account, the individual value of each
advertising
impression opportunity re-assigned out of the account, the total value of
advertising
impression opportunities re-assigned into the account andlor the individual
value of each
advertising impression opportunity re-assigned into the account. A simple
embodiment
of the current invention may support media buy accounts wherein each media buy
account maintains a balance of advertising impression opportunities and
transactions may
be executed in terms of advertising impression opportunities. For example, the
re-
assignment of an advertising impression opportunity from a first media buy
account to a
second media buy account may result in the decrement of a single advertising
impression
opportunity from the balance of the second media buy account. In some cases,
more
complex transactions may be enabled.
[0111] In some embodiments of the current invention, the balances of various
media buy
accounts may be monitored and the status of the accounts may be used, in part,
to assess
advertising opportunities for re-assignment and/or to prioritize potential re-
assignments.
In some cases, it may be desirable to prevent too many advertising impression
opportunities from being re-assigned out of a particular account. For example,
if a
particular advertising campaign has an expiration date, re-assigning too many -
advertising
impression opportunities out of an account near its expiration date may result
in an
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account with a large balance of advertising opportunities at the time of its
expiration.
This could result in missing the goals of an advertising campaign. Similarly,
re-assigning
too many advertising impression opportunities into an account early in the
lifecycle of an
advertising campaign may result in the early depletion of advertising
impression
opportunities, possibly missing an advertising campaign goal of providing
exposure over
time. In some cases, this may be addressed through a variety of mechanisms
such as,
configuration of the media buy assignment crossing engine, configuration of a
selection
algorithm associated with the media buy assignment crossing engine and/or
profiles
and/or parameters established by media buy assignees.
[01121 In some embodiments of the current invention, the step of assessing the
available
advertising opportunity may comprise characterizing the available advertising
opportunity. For example, the available advertising opportunity may be
characterized
with opportunity parameters and related opportunity values and/or accessing
characterizations of the available advertising opportunity. For example, in
some cases,
opportunity parameter values may be determined, accessed and/or estimated
internal or
external to an embodiment of the current invention. In some cases, the
characterization
may describe the target of the available advertising opportunity.
[0113] In some embodiments of the current invention, assignees of media buys
may
establish focus parameters and related focus parameter values which may be
used to
identify particularly desirable advertising opportunities. Focus parameters
and related
focus parameter values may characterize elements such as, but not limited to,
an ideal
target audience, an ideal publisher, advertising campaign and/or ideal
conditions for the
delivery of their advertisement and may or may not be established on a per
media buy
account basis. In some cases, focus parameters and related focus parameter
values may
be used to assess elements such as, but not limited to the target audience, an
individual
target and/or a publisher with respect to their history or projected future.
For example, a
particular advertiser may wish to assess the desirability of an advertising
opportunity
based on the prior exposure to an advertisement per individual target or the
estimated
level of future opportunities to serve an advertisement to an individual
target.
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Ju1141 In some embodiments of the current invention, the media buy assignment
crossing
engine 312 may assess an available advertising opportunity and may identify,
prioritize
and/or validate potential re-assignment matches. In some cases, more than one
potential
re-assignment match may be identified; in some cases, when multiple re-
assignment
matches are identified, an embodiment of the current invention may prioritize
the
potential re-assignment matches. In some cases, the step of identifying and/or
selecting
potential re-assignment matches may be done based, at least in part, on a
selection
algorithm. In some cases, the step of identifying and/or selecting potential
re-assignment
may take into account a variety of considerations such as, but not limited to,
media buy
assignee preferences and/or media buy assignment system manager preferences.
For
example, in some cases, the media buy assignrnent system may put caps and/or
limits on
media buy assignee accounts and/or take into consideration the expiration date
associated
with media buys and/or campaigns.
[0115] In some embodiments of the current invention, valid exchanges between
media
1s buy accounts may be limited. For example, it is envisioned that in one
embodiment of
the current invention, exchanges of media buys may be limited to exchanges
between
media buy accounts which are owned or co-owned by a single assignee. In this
embodiment of the current invention, a single assignee may own or co-own
multiple
media buy accounts. In this example, an embodiment of the current invention
may assist
in optimizing the usage of an individual assignee's media buy assets across
multiple
media buy accounts. In other embodiments of the current invention, media buy
exchanges may be limited to exchanges between sets of trusted assignees.
Another
embodiment of the current invention may limit re-assignment transactions to re-
assignments of media buys between assignees owning advertising impression
opportunities associated with the same publisher. For example, in this case,
an incoming
advertising impression opportunity for a particular publisher, web site and/or
web page
may be traded between media buy accounts comprising advertising impression
opportunities associated with the same particular publisher, web site and/or
web page.
[0116] Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a media buy
assignment method
according to an embodiment of the current invention. The method begins when a
media
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buy assignment system receives information about an available advertising
impression
opportunity related to a media buy account (Step 350). The media buy
assignment system
assesses the available advertising impression opportunity for re-assignment to
another
media buy account (Step 352). Optionally, the media buy assignment system
changes the
media buy account associated with the available advertising impression
opportunity
according to the results of Step 352 (Step 354). Optionally, the media buy
assignment
system manages financial transactions associated with changing media buy
accounts,
thereby enabling the new media buy account assignee to consume the available
advertising impression opportunity (Step 356).
[0117] The order of the steps in the foregoing described methods of the
invention are not
intended to limit the invention; the steps may be rearranged.
[01181 Foregoing described embodiments of the invention are provided as
illustrations
and descriptions. They are not intended to limit the invention to precise form
described.
In particular, it is contemplated that functional implementation of invention
described
herein may be implemented equivalently in hardware, sofl,ware, firmware,
and/or other
available functional components or building blocks, and that networks may be
wired,
wireless, or a combination of wired and wireless. Other variations and
embodiments are
possible in light of above teachings, and it is thus intended that the scope
of invention not
be limited by this Detailed Description, but rather by Claims following.
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