Selection of advertisements for placement with content

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for selecting advertisements. A request for sponsored content for presentation with a content item in a document is received. One or more candidate sponsored content items are identified based on one or more criteria. The criteria includes information related to the content item independent of the document, and information related to the document. One or more of the candidate sponsored content items are selected. The selected sponsored content items are transmitted for presentation with the content item.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving a request for sponsored content for presentation with a content item, wherein the content item is included in a document;   for each of one or more candidate sponsored content items:
 calculating a first score based on, at least, a comparison of the candidate sponsored content item to one or more keywords for the content item; 
 calculating a second score based on, at least, a comparison of content one or more second documents that link to the document to the candidate sponsored item; 
 calculating a final score based on, at least, a combination of the respective first and second scores; 
   selecting one or more of the candidate sponsored content items based on, at least, the candidate sponsored content item's respective final score; and   providing the selected sponsored content items for presentation with the content item.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the content of each of the second documents comprises anchor text of one or more hyperlinks that point to the document. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2  wherein calculating one of the scores is further based on a comparison of the candidate sponsored content item to content of the document. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the sponsored content items comprise one or more advertisements. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the content item comprises a video file or stream. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2  wherein at least one of the keywords for the content item was selected based on historical user interaction with the content item when the content item was provided as a search result responsive to a query comprising the at least one keyword. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2  wherein calculating the final score based at least partially on a combination of the respective first and second scores comprises weighting the first and second scores, wherein the first and second scores are weighted differently, and wherein a weight of the first or the second score is based at least partially on a measure of past user interactions with the candidate sponsored content item when the candidate sponsored content item was presented with the content item. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 2  wherein one of the one or more keywords is determined by analysis of the content item. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 2  wherein selecting one or more of the candidate sponsored content items comprises selecting one or more of the candidate sponsored content items based on respective bids associated with the candidate sponsored content items. 
     
     
         11 . A system comprising:
 data processing apparatus programmed to perform operations comprising:
 receiving a request for sponsored content for presentation with a content item, wherein the content item is included in a document; 
 for each of one or more candidate sponsored content items:
 calculating a first score based on, at least, a comparison of the candidate sponsored content item to one or more keywords for the content item; 
 calculating a second score based on, at least, a comparison of content one or more second documents that link to the document to the candidate sponsored item; 
 calculating a final score based on, at least, a combination of the respective first and second scores; 
 
 selecting one or more of the candidate sponsored content items based on, at least, the candidate sponsored content item's respective final score; and 
 providing the selected sponsored content items for presentation with the content item. 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the content of each of the second documents comprises anchor text of one or more hyperlinks that point to the document. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11  wherein calculating one of the scores is further based on a comparison of the candidate sponsored content item to content of the document. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the sponsored content items comprise one or more advertisements. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the content item comprises a video file or stream. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11  wherein at least one of the keywords for the content item was selected based on historical user interaction with the content item when the content item was provided as a search result responsive to a query comprising the at least one keyword. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 11  wherein calculating the final score based at least partially on a combination of the respective first and second scores comprises weighting the first and second scores, wherein the first and second scores are weighted differently, and wherein a weight of the first or the second score is based at least partially on a measure of past user interactions with the candidate sponsored content item when the candidate sponsored content item was presented with the content item. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 11  wherein one of the one or more keywords is determined by analysis of the content item. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 11  wherein selecting one or more of the candidate sponsored content items comprises selecting one or more of the candidate sponsored content items based on respective bids associated with the candidate sponsored content items. 
     
     
         20 . A program product stored on a machine readable storage medium that, when executed by data processing apparatus, causes the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 receiving a request for sponsored content for presentation with a content item, wherein the content item is included in a document;   for each of one or more candidate sponsored content items:
 calculating a first score based on, at least, a comparison of the candidate sponsored content item to one or more keywords for the content item; 
 calculating a second score based on, at least, a comparison of content one or more second documents that link to the document to the candidate sponsored item; 
 calculating a final score based on, at least, a combination of the respective first and second scores; 
   selecting one or more of the candidate sponsored content items based on, at least, the candidate sponsored content item's respective final score; and   providing the selected sponsored content items for presentation with the content item.