Customized advertisement scheduling

Abstract

There is disclosed a computerized system and method for scheduling advertising Events which utilizes a set of configurable instructions regarding booking an order which iterates through a series of broadening, configurable criteria and also implements a configurable scoring system for the purpose of comparing multiple Events to determine if one Event is more valuable than the other.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computerized method for scheduling advertising events in selectable booking phases, the method comprising:
 assigning first precedence values to phases in a set of booking phases by executing program instructions in a computer system, wherein the first precedence values are based on input received from a first advertiser;   assigning second precedence values to the phases in the set of booking phases by executing program instructions in the computer system, wherein the second precedence values are based on input received from a second advertiser;   attempting to schedule avails for the first advertiser by executing the phases in a first order determined according to the first precedence values, by executing program instructions in the computer system; and   attempting to schedule avails for the second advertiser by executing the phases in a second order determined according to the second precedence values, by executing program instructions in the computer system;   
     
     
         2 . The computerized method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 associating a plurality of scheduling placement criteria with an advertising event, by executing program instructions in the computer system.   
     
     
         3 . The computerized method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 receiving input indicating an advertiser-specified priority of at least one of the plurality of scheduling placement criteria, by executing program instructions in the computer system.   
     
     
         4 . The computerized method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 bypassing execution of a phase in the set of booking phases having a null precedence value, by executing program instructions in the computer system.   
     
     
         5 . The computerized method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 setting an Alternate Advertising Provider attribute for an event based, at least in part on advertiser preferences, by executing program instructions in the computer system; and   in response to a particular event being unscheduled after executing the set of booking phases according to the first precedence values, sending the particular event to a pool of advertisements associated with the Alternate Advertising Provider, by executing program instructions in the computer system.   
     
     
         6 . The computerized method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 executing a bump phase by executing program instructions in the computer system, the bump phase including:
 determining whether a candidate event has a higher composite score than a previously booked event; 
 bumping the booked event in favor of the candidate event if the candidate event has the higher composite score; 
 leaving the booked event unchanged if the booked event has the higher composite score; 
 executing a multi-stage tie-breaker if the composite score of the candidate event and the composite score of the booked event results in a tie. 
   
     
     
         7 . The computerized method of  claim 6 , wherein the multi-stage tie-breaker comprises:
 a plurality of stages executed in an order configured by an advertiser until the tie is broken.   
     
     
         8 . The computerized method of  claim 7 , wherein:
 a first stage of the tie breaker performs a comparison of occasion-dependent priorities of the candidate event and the booked event; and   a second stage of the tie breaker performs a comparison of occasion-dependent event rates of the candidate event rate and the booked event rate.   
     
     
         9 . A system for scheduling advertising events comprising:
 computer memory storing instructions configured to implement a booking agent module;   the booking agent module configured to:
 define first precedence values for individual phases in a set of booking phases, wherein the first precedence values are associated with a first advertising order received from a first advertiser and based on input received from the first advertiser; 
 define second precedence values for individual phases in the set of booking phases, wherein the second precedence values are associated with a second advertising order received from a second advertiser and based on input received from the second advertiser; 
 execute the phases in a first sequence determined according to the first precedence values for the first advertising order; and 
 execute the phases in a second sequence determined according to the second precedence values for the second advertising order. 
   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the booking agent module is further configured to:
 associate a plurality of scheduling placement criteria with an advertising order.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the booking agent module is further configured to:
 receive input indicating an advertiser-specified priority of at least one of the plurality of scheduling placement criteria.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the booking agent module is further configured to:
 bypass execution of any phase in the set of booking phases having a null precedence value.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the booking agent module is further configured to:
 set an Alternate Advertising Provider attribute for the first advertising order based, at least in part, on advertiser preferences associated with the first advertiser; and   in response to a candidate advertisement included in the first advertising order remaining unscheduled after executing the set of booking phases according to the first precedence values, sending the candidate advertisement to a pool associated with the Alternate Advertising Provider.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the booking agent module is configured to:
 execute a bump phase, the bump phase including:
 determining whether a candidate event has a higher composite score than a previously booked event; 
 bumping the booked event in favor of the candidate event if the candidate event has the higher composite score; 
 leaving the booked event unchanged if the booked event has the higher composite score; and 
 executing a multi-stage tie-breaker if the composite score of the candidate event and the composite score of the booked event results in a tie. 
   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the multi-stage tie-breaker comprises:
 a plurality of stages executed in an order configured by an advertiser until the tie is broken.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein:
 a first stage of the tie breaker performs a comparison of priorities associated with the candidate event and the booked event; and   a second stage of the tie breaker performs a comparison of rates associated with the candidate event and the booked event.   
     
     
         17 . A computer configured to implement an advertisement scheduling engine, the computer comprising:
 computer memory storing instructions configured to implement an order module and a booking agent module;   the order module configured to accept a set of parameters defining advertising orders from at least two different advertisers;   the booking agent configured to:
 define, based on the advertising orders, precedence values for phases included in a set of booking phases, wherein precedence values indicate an advertiser-specific sequence in which the phases in the set of booking phases are to be executed; 
 book an advertising order from a first advertiser by executing the phases in a first sequence determined according to precedence values associated with the first advertiser; and 
 book an advertising order from a second advertiser by executing the phases in a second sequence, different from the first sequence, determined according to precedence values associated with the second advertiser. 
   
     
     
         18 . The computer of  claim 17 , wherein the booking agent module is further configured to:
 bypass execution of any phase in the set of booking phases having a null precedence value.   
     
     
         19 . The computer of  claim 17 , wherein the booking agent module is configured to:
 execute a bump phase, the bump phase including:
 determining whether a candidate event included in an advertising order has a higher composite score than a previously booked event; 
 bumping the booked event in favor of the candidate event if the candidate event has the higher composite score; 
 leaving the booked event unchanged if the booked event has the higher composite score; and 
 executing a tie-breaker if the composite score of the candidate event and the composite score of the booked event results in a tie. 
   
     
     
         20 . The computer of  claim 19 , wherein:
 a composite score is determined based on a plurality of parameters, including a priority related to a given occasion, and a rate;   a first stage of the multi-stage tie-breaker performs a comparison of a priority associated with the candidate event and a priority associated with the booked event; and   a second stage of the multi-stage tie-breaker performs a comparison of a rate associated with the candidate event and a rate associated with the booked event.