Methods and apparatus for ordering advertisements based on performance information and price information

Abstract

An ordering of advertisements requested by an ad consumer is based on scores generated for the ads. In each case, a score may be a function of at least one performance parameter associated with the ad and/or a price parameter associated with the ad. The ad consumer may generate presentation information (e.g., a Web page) including advertisements and non-advertisement content (e.g., search results) by (i) accepting the non-advertisement content and advertisements, each of the advertisements including a score, and (ii) combining the non-advertisement content and the advertisements such that relative placements of the advertisements are based on their associated scores.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 a) accepting, with a computer system including at least one computer, an ad request, the ad request being associated with a document with which the ads are to be rendered;   b) determining, with the computer system, a plurality of candidate ads using
 1) targeting information associated with ads, and 
 2) at least one of (A) content of the document, or (B) a category of the document; 
   c) accepting, with the computer system, performance information and price information for each of the plurality of candidate ads;   d) ordering, with the computer system, at least some of the plurality of candidate ads using both the price information and the performance information, to generate a set of ordered ads; and   e) serving, with the computer system, the set of ordered ads to induce presentation of the set of ordered ads to a user.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of ads is associated with an advertiser, and wherein the price information is based on an amount the advertiser has agreed to pay each time the ad is rendered. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of ads is associated with an advertiser, and wherein the price information is based on an amount the advertiser has agreed to pay each time the ad is rendered and selected. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of ads is associated with an advertiser, and wherein the price information is based on an amount the advertiser has agreed to pay each time the ad is rendered and a conversion, associated with the ad, occurs. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the performance information includes ad selection information. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the performance information includes ad conversion information. 
     
     
         7 . Apparatus comprising:
 a) at least one processor; and   b) at least one storage device storing instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method including
 1) accepting an ad request, the ad request being associated with a document with which the ads are to be rendered, 
 2) determining a plurality of candidate ads using
 i) targeting information associated with ads, and 
 ii) at least one of (A) content of the document, or (B) a category of the document, 
 
 3) accepting performance information and performance information for each of the plurality of candidate ads, 
 4) ordering at least some of the plurality of candidate ads using both the price information and the performance information, to generate a set of ordered ads, and 
 5) serving the set of ordered ads to induce presentation of the set of ordered ads to a user. 
   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein each of the plurality of ads is associated with an advertiser, and wherein the price information is based on an amount the advertiser has agreed to pay each time the ad is rendered. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein each of the plurality of ads is associated with an advertiser, and wherein the price information is based on an amount the advertiser has agreed to pay each time the ad is rendered and selected. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein each of the plurality of ads is associated with an advertiser, and wherein the price information is based on an amount the advertiser has agreed to pay each time the ad is rendered and a conversion, associated with the ad, occurs. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the performance information includes ad selection information. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the performance information includes ad conversion information.