Competitive advertising server

Abstract

Competitive content item serving is provided. Competitive content item serving can include the ability to receive a request for a content item and to compare an expected return for a first network content item to an expected return for a second network content item. Based upon the comparison, it can be determined whether to provide the first network content item to the publisher.

1 . A computer implemented method, comprising:
 identifying a first advertisement, available from a first advertisement delivery service, having a first expected return;   identifying one or more second advertisements, available from a second advertisement delivery service, each of the one or more second advertisements having a corresponding second expected return;   determining, by one or more processors, whether the first expected return is greater than each of the second expected returns; and   in response to the first expected return being greater than each of the second expected returns:
 providing the first advertisement to a publisher requesting an advertisement; 
 comparing an actual return on the first advertisement to a highest of the second expected returns on the one or more second advertisements that were not provided to the publisher in response to the publisher's request; and 
 in response to the comparison indicating that the actual return was less than the highest of the one or more second expected returns, determining an amount to credit to the publisher proportionate to a difference between the actual return on the first advertisement and the highest of the second expected returns on the one or more second advertisements. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 crediting the publisher the amount.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the first advertisement comprises:
 identifying the first advertisement based at least in part on an auction bid for the first advertisement.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein identifying the first advertisement based at least in part on an auction bid for the first advertisement comprises:
 identifying the first advertisement based at least in part on a past performance of the first advertisement.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 in response to the first expected return being less than at least one of the second expected returns:
 retrieving the second advertisement associated with the at least one of the second expected returns; and 
 providing the retrieved second advertisement to the publisher. 
   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 in response to the first expected return being less than at least one of the second expected returns, notifying the publisher that a second advertisement from the second advertisement delivery service has a higher expected return than the first advertisement.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 in response to the first expected return being less than at least one of the second expected returns, instructing the publisher to request the second advertisement from a third-party provider.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 retrieving at least one of the second expected returns from the second advertisement delivery service.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving at least one of the second expected returns from the publisher.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 comparing the actual return on the first advertisement with the first expected return on the first advertisement; and   adjusting a process that determined the first expected return based on the comparison of the actual return on the first advertisement with the first expected return on the first advertisement.   
     
     
         11 . A system comprising:
 one or more data processors; and   a data storage apparatus encoded with instructions that when executed by the one or more data processors cause the one or more data processors to perform operations comprising:
 identifying a first advertisement, available from a first advertisement delivery service, having a first expected return; 
 identifying one or more second advertisements, available from a second advertisement delivery service, each of the one or more second advertisements having a corresponding second expected return; 
 determining whether the first expected return is greater than each of the second expected returns; and 
 in response to the first expected return being greater than each of the second expected returns:
 providing the first advertisement to a publisher requesting an advertisement; 
 comparing an actual return on the first advertisement to a highest of the second expected returns on the one or more second advertisements that were not provided to the publisher in response to the publisher's request; and 
 in response to the comparison indicating that the actual return was less than the highest of the one or more second expected returns, determining an amount to credit to the publisher proportionate to a difference between the actual return on the first advertisement and the highest of the second expected returns on the one or more second advertisements. 
 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more data processors, cause the one or more data processors to perform operations further comprising:
 crediting the publisher the amount.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein identifying the first advertisement comprises:
 identifying the first advertisement based at least in part on an auction bid for the first advertisement.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein identifying the first advertisement based at least in part on an auction bid for the first advertisement comprises:
 identifying the first advertisement based at least in part on a past performance of the first advertisement.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more data processors, cause the one or more data processors to perform operations further comprising:
 in response to the first expected return being less than at least one of the second expected returns:
 retrieving the second advertisement associated with the at least one of the second expected returns; and 
 providing the retrieved second advertisement to the publisher. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more data processors, cause the one or more data processors to perform operations further comprising:
 in response to the first expected return being less than at least one of the second expected returns, notifying the publisher that a second advertisement from the second advertisement delivery service has a higher expected return than the first advertisement.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more data processors, cause the one or more data processors to perform operations further comprising:
 in response to the first expected return being less than at least one of the second expected returns, instructing the publisher to request the second advertisement from a third-party provider.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more data processors, cause the one or more data processors to perform operations further comprising:
 retrieving at least one of the second expected returns from the second advertisement delivery service.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more data processors, cause the one or more data processors to perform operations further comprising:
 comparing the actual return on the first advertisement with the first expected return on the first advertisement; and   adjusting a process that determined the first expected return based on the comparison of the actual return on the first advertisement with the first expected return on the first advertisement.   
     
     
         20 . A computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising instructions that when executed by one or more data processing apparatuses cause the one or more data processing apparatuses to perform operations, comprising:
 identifying a first advertisement, available from a first advertisement delivery service, having a first expected return;   identifying one or more second advertisements, available from a second advertisement delivery service, each of the one or more second advertisements having a corresponding second expected return;   determining whether the first expected return is greater than each of the second expected returns; and   in response to the first expected return being greater than each of the second expected returns:
 providing the first advertisement to a publisher requesting an advertisement; 
 comparing an actual return on the first advertisement to a highest of the second expected returns on the one or more second advertisements that were not provided to the publisher in response to the publisher's request; and 
 in response to the comparison indicating that the actual return was less than the highest of the one or more second expected returns, determining an amount to credit to the publisher proportionate to a difference between the actual return on the first advertisement and the highest of the second expected returns on the one or more second advertisements.