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  Using the utility of configurations in ad serving decisionsUSPTO Application #: 20060293951Title: Using the utility of configurations in ad serving decisions Abstract: Instead of accepting competing ads and using an arbitration function (e.g., an auction) to choose winning ads to be served with a document, sets of ads (perhaps having different characteristics) can be generated, and an arbitration function can be used to select the winning set of ads. Such arbitrations on sets of ads can consider how ads, search results, colors, positions, fonts, etc., all interact with each other and affect the usefulness of the sets of ads to advertisers, end users, document publishers, and/or an ad serving entity. (end of abstract) Agent: Straub & Pokotylo - Tinton Falls, NJ, US Inventors: Amit Patel, Hal Varian USPTO Applicaton #: 20060293951 - Class: 705014000 (USPTO) Related Patent Categories: Data Processing: Financial, Business Practice, Management, Or Cost/price Determination, Automated Electrical Financial Or Business Practice Or Management Arrangement, Distribution Or Redemption Of Coupon, Or Incentive Or Promotion Program The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060293951. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
.sctn. 1. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] .sctn. 1.1 Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention concerns advertisements ("ads"), such as ads served in an online environment. In particular, the present invention concerns improving decisions related to serving ads. [0003] .sctn. 1.2 Background Information [0004] Advertising using traditional media, such as television, radio, newspapers and magazines, is well known. Unfortunately, even when armed with demographic studies and entirely reasonable assumptions about the typical audience of various media outlets, advertisers recognize that much of their ad budget is simply wasted. Moreover, it is very difficult to identify and eliminate such waste. [0005] Recently, advertising over more interactive media has become popular. For example, as the number of people using the Internet has exploded, advertisers have come to appreciate media and services offered over the Internet as a potentially powerful way to advertise. [0006] Interactive advertising provides opportunities for advertisers to target their ads to a receptive audience. That is, targeted ads are more likely to be useful to end users since the ads may be relevant to a need inferred from some user activity (e.g., relevant to a user's search query to a search engine, relevant to content in a document requested by the user, etc.) Query keyword relevant advertising, such as the AdWords advertising system by Google of Mountain View, Calif., has been used by search engines. Similarly, content-relevant advertising systems have been proposed. For example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/314,427 (incorporated herein by reference and referred to as "the '427 application") titled "METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR SERVING RELEVANT ADVERTISEMENTS", filed on Dec. 6, 2002 and listing Jeffrey A. Dean, Georges R. Harik and Paul Buchheit as inventors; and Ser. No. 10/375,900 (incorporated by reference and referred to as "the '900 application") titled "SERVING ADVERTISEMENTS BASED ON CONTENT," filed on Feb. 26, 2003 and listing Darrell Anderson, Paul Buchheit, Alex Carobus, Claire Cui, Jeffrey A. Dean, Georges R. Harik, Deepak Jindal and Narayanan Shivakumar as inventors, describe methods and apparatus for serving ads relevant to the content of a document, such as a Web page for example. The AdSense advertising system by Google of Mountain View, Calif. is an example of a content targeted ad delivery system used to serve ads on Web pages. [0007] Current systems for serving targeted text ads may auction or arbitrate a given number of "spots" on a document (e.g., a Web page instance) to competing ads. Such spots typically specify a particular type of ad that may be served. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a search result Web page portion 100 having two (2) wide-format, text ad spots at the top of the Web page filled by two (2) ads 110, 112, and eight (8) normal-format text ad spots in the right column of the page filled by eight (8) ads 120, 122, 124, 126, 128, 130, 132, 134. There may be more than two (2) ads competing to be served in the two (2) wide-format text ad spots and more than eight (8) ads competing to be served in the eight (8) normal-format text ad spots. Ad serving facilities may arbitrate each ad spot to competing ads using an auction model. For example, competing ads can be placed in available ad spots using a bid price (associated with each ad) only. As another example, competing ads can be placed in available ad spots using some combination of an offer price, ad performance (e.g., in terms of selection rate, user ratings, conversion rate, etc.), and/or ad relevancy. [0008] Regardless of the arbitration technique used, generally, all available ad spots are filled (to the extent that there are enough ads available to fill them). However, there may be some instances under which this policy of filling all available ad spots, if possible or to the greatest extent possible, might not be desirable from the standpoint of the end user, the Web page owner or publisher, and/or the ad serving facility. Accordingly, better techniques for determining how to best fill available ad spots would be useful. .sctn. 2. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0009] At least some embodiments consistent with the present invention may be used to arbitrate the serving of ads competing to be rendered with a document. For example, instead of accepting competing ads and using an arbitration function (e.g., an auction) to choose winning ads to be served with a document, embodiments consistent with the present invention may (i) generate sets of ads (perhaps having different characteristics), and (ii) select the winning set of ads using an arbitration function. Such arbitrations on sets of ads can consider how ads, search results, colors, positions, fonts, etc., all interact with each other and affect the usefulness of the sets of ads to advertisers, end users, document publishers, and/or an ad serving entity. .sctn. 3. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0010] FIG. 1 illustrates a search result Web page portion having a number of filled ad spots. [0011] FIG. 2 is a high-level diagram showing parties or entities that can interact with an advertising system. [0012] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an environment in which, or with which, embodiments consistent with the present invention may operate. [0013] FIG. 4 is a bubble diagram of operations that may be performed, and information that may be used and/or generated, in a manner consistent with the present invention. [0014] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of an exemplary method for determining, in a manner consistent with the present invention, a combination of one or more ads to serve in one or more ad spots. [0015] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an exemplary apparatus that may perform various operations and store various information in a manner consistent with the present invention. [0016] FIGS. 7A-7C illustrate an example of how position selection rates can change with respect to the number of ads served. [0017] FIGS. 8-10 provide an example that illustrates how different configurations can be determined for different ad spots and different ad creative source information. .sctn. 4. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0018] The present invention may involve novel methods, apparatus, message formats, and/or data structures for determining utility values of various ad configurations, and/or using such utility values in ad serving decisions. The following description is presented to enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and is provided in the context of particular applications and their requirements. Thus, the following description of embodiments consistent with the present invention provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the precise form disclosed. Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles set forth below may be applied to other embodiments and applications. For example, although a series of acts may be described with reference to a flow diagram, the order of acts may differ in other implementations when the performance of one act is not dependent on the completion of another act. Further, non-dependent acts may be performed in parallel. No element, act or instruction used in the description should be construed as critical or essential to the present invention unless explicitly described as such. Also, as used herein, the article "a" is intended to include one or more items. Where only one item is intended, the term "one" or similar language is used. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown and the inventors regard their invention as any patentable subject matter described. [0019] In the following, definitions of terms that may be used in the specification are set forth in .sctn. 4.1. Then, environments in which, or with which, embodiments consistent with the present invention may operate are described in .sctn. 4.2. Then, exemplary embodiments consistent with the present invention are described in .sctn. 4.3. Examples of operations are provided in .sctn. 4.4. Finally, some conclusions regarding the present invention are set forth in .sctn. 4.5. .sctn. 4.1 Definitions Continue reading... Full patent description for Using the utility of configurations in ad serving decisions Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Using the utility of configurations in ad serving decisions patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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