System, method and computer readable medium for placing advertisements into web pages

Abstract

Selection of web page advertisements for placement into a web page may use attention data that ranks the elements of the web page according to the attention the elements receive from users during interactions with the web page. The content of ads can be matched to the content of the most highly ranked elements of the web page rather than the web page as a whole. Alternatively, ads can be selected that historically produce a preferred pattern of behavior such as an attention shift from a highly ranked element of the web page to the ad.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of placing an advertisement in a web page, the method comprising:
 receiving an advertisement request;   decoding a uniform resource locator (URL) address from the advertisement request;   querying an advertisement data store for at least one candidate advertisement to satisfy the advertisement request; and   selecting a most relevant advertisement for placement into the web page based on a relevance of the at least one candidate advertisement to content included in the web page based on attention analysis data of an attention analysis procedure.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one other advertisement stored in the data store is excluded as a candidate advertisement due to at least one of a low account balance associated with the at least one advertisement, and a size of the advertisement not complying with a predefined target advertisement element size of the web page. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the most relevant advertisement is selected based on a relevance of a content of the most relevant advertisement. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the attention analysis procedure comprises determining a ranking of elements of the web page corresponding to the URL, and the relevance of the at least one advertisement is determined with respect to a content of more highly ranked elements of the web page. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 matching content of the at least one advertisement to content of ranked web page elements of the web page;   calculating a relevance score for the at least one candidate advertisement based on the results of the matched content; and   assigning the at least one candidate advertisement the relevance score.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 matching content of the at least one advertisement to content of at least two different web page elements of the web page;   calculating a relevance score for the at least one candidate advertisement based on the results of the matched content; and   assigning the at least one candidate advertisement the relevance score.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 querying an attention data store for the attention analysis data for the URL and the selected advertisement; and   recording an update for advertisement statistics based on the relevance of the advertisement to content included in the web page based on the attention analysis data.   
     
     
         8 . An apparatus configured to place an advertisement in a web page, the apparatus comprising:
 a receiver configured to receive an advertisement request; and   a processor configured to
 decode a uniform resource locator (URL) address from the advertisement request; 
 query an advertisement data store for at least one candidate advertisement to satisfy the advertisement request; and 
 select a most relevant advertisement for placement into the web page based on a relevance of the at least one candidate advertisement to content included in the web page based on attention analysis data of an attention analysis procedure. 
   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein at least one other advertisement stored in the data store is excluded as a candidate advertisement due to at least one of a low account balance associated with the at least one advertisement, and a size of the advertisement not complying with a predefined target advertisement element size of the web page. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the most relevant advertisement is selected based on a relevance of a content of the most relevant advertisement. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the attention analysis procedure comprises determining a ranking of elements of the web page corresponding to the URL, and the relevance of the at least one advertisement is determined with respect to a content of more highly ranked elements of the web page. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to
 match content of the at least one advertisement to content of ranked web page elements of the web page;   calculate a relevance score for the at least one candidate advertisement based on the results of the matched content; and   assign the at least one candidate advertisement the relevance score.   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to
 match content of the at least one advertisement to content of at least two different web page elements of the web page;   calculate a relevance score for the at least one candidate advertisement based on the results of the matched content; and   assign the at least one candidate advertisement the relevance score.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to
 query an attention data store for the attention analysis data for the URL and the selected advertisement; and   record an update for advertisement statistics based on the relevance of the advertisement to content included in the web page based on the attention analysis data.   
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium configured to store instructions that when executed cause a processor to perform placing an advertisement in a web page, the processor being further configured to perform:
 receiving an advertisement request;   decoding a uniform resource locator (URL) address from the advertisement request;   querying an advertisement data store for at least one candidate advertisement to satisfy the advertisement request;   selecting a most relevant advertisement for placement into the web page based on a relevance of the at least one candidate advertisement to content included in the web page based on attention analysis data of an attention analysis procedure.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein at least one other advertisement stored in the data store is excluded as a candidate advertisement due to at least one of a low account balance associated with the at least one advertisement, and a size of the advertisement not complying with a predefined target advertisement element size of the web page. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the most relevant advertisement is selected based on a relevance of a content of the most relevant advertisement. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the attention analysis procedure comprises determining a ranking of elements of the web page corresponding to the URL, and the relevance of the at least one advertisement is determined with respect to a content of more highly ranked elements of the web page. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 matching content of the at least one advertisement to content of ranked web page elements of the web page;   calculating a relevance score for the at least one candidate advertisement based on the results of the matched content; and   assigning the at least one candidate advertisement the relevance score.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 matching content of the at least one advertisement to content of at least two different web page elements of the web page;   calculating a relevance score for the at least one candidate advertisement based on the results of the matched content; and   assigning the at least one candidate advertisement the relevance score.