Advertising based on influence

Abstract

Advertising based on influence is provided. In some embodiments, advertising based on influence includes determining an influence score (e.g., based on a given dimension) for a subject (e.g., a user), in which the subject is a potential target for an advertisement; and determining targeting of the advertisement based on criteria including the influence score of potential recipients of the advertisement. In some embodiments, the influence score is a directly estimated objective measure of influence (e.g., estimated using a social graph). In some embodiments, advertising based on influence also includes determining pricing of advertisements based on criteria including the influence score of potential recipients of one or more advertisements. In some embodiments, advertising based on influence further includes sharing advertising revenue with the subject based on criteria including the influence score of the first subject (e.g., as an incentive for the subject to view the advertisement).

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 determining an influence score for a first subject based on the first subject's association with and influence over other subjects in a social graph representing individuals on the Internet based on a count of direct or indirect connections to the first subject from other subjects in the social graph, wherein the first subject is a potential target for a communication, the influence score is weighted by an expertise score for each subject based on descriptive criteria, the expertise score for each subject is based on a relative share of the citations from each subject matching descriptive criteria to all citations from the subject, and citations from subjects matching the descriptive criteria, as a relative share of citations from all subjects, and wherein each citation represents an expression of opinion or description by the subject; and   determining targeting of the communication based on criteria including the influence score of potential recipients of the communication.   
     
     
         2 . The method recited in  claim 1 , wherein the first subject corresponds to a user and the influence score improves the targeting of the communication. 
     
     
         3 . The method recited in  claim 1 , wherein the influence score is directly estimated. 
     
     
         4 . The method recited in  claim 1 , wherein the influence score is a directly estimated objective measure of influence. 
     
     
         5 . The method recited in  claim 1 , wherein the influence score is a directly estimated objective measure of influence that is estimated using a social graph. 
     
     
         6 . The method recited in  claim 1 , wherein the influence score is an objective influence score. 
     
     
         7 . The method recited in  claim 1 , wherein the influence score is based on a first dimension. 
     
     
         8 . The method recited in  claim 1 , wherein the influence score is based on a first dimension, and wherein the targeting of the communication is based on the first dimension. 
     
     
         9 . The method recited in  claim 23 , further comprising:
 determining pricing of advertisements based on criteria including the influence score of potential recipients of one or more advertisements.   
     
     
         10 . The method recited in  claim 23 , further comprising:
 sharing advertising revenue with the first subject based on criteria including the influence score of the first subject.   
     
     
         11 . The method recited in  claim 23 , further comprising:
 determining pricing of advertisements based on criteria including the influence score of potential recipients of one or more advertisements; and   sharing advertising revenue with the first subject based on criteria including the influence score of the first subject.   
     
     
         12 . The method recited in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining an influence score for a second subject, wherein the second subject is a potential target for a communication.   
     
     
         13 . The method recited in  claim 23 , further comprising;
 determining an influence score for a second subject, wherein the second subject Is a potential target for an advertisement;   determining pricing of advertisements based on criteria including the influence score of potential recipients of one or more advertisements; and   sharing advertising revenue with the second subject based on criteria including the influence score of the second subject, wherein the second subject is determined to have a higher influence score than the first subject on a first dimension.   
     
     
         14 . The method recited in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining an influence score for a plurality of subjects, wherein each of the plurality of subjects is a potential target for a communication.   
     
     
         15 . The method recited in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining a first influence score for each of a plurality of subjects for a first communication, wherein the first communication is associated with a first dimension; and   determining a second influence score for each of the plurality of subjects for a second communication, wherein the second communication is associated with a second dimension.   
     
     
         16 . The method recited in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining a first influence score for each of a plurality of subjects for a first communication, wherein the first communication is associated with a first dimension; and   determining a second influence score for each of the plurality of subjects for a second communication, wherein the second communication is associated with a second dimension, wherein the first dimension and the second dimension are the same dimension.   
     
     
         17 . The method recited in  claim 1 , wherein the influence score is weighted by an expertise score for each subject based on descriptive criteria. 
     
     
         18 . (canceled) 
     
     
         19 . A system, comprising:
 a processor configured to: determine an influence score for a plurality of subjects based on each of the plurality of subject's association with and influence over other subjects in a social graph representing individuals on the Internet based on a count of direct or indirect connections to that subject from the other subjects in the social graph, wherein each of the plurality of subjects is a potential target for a communication, the influence score is weighted by an expertise score for each subject based on descriptive criteria, the expertise score for each subject is based on a relative share of the citations from each subject matching descriptive criteria to all citations from the subject, and citations from subjects matching the descriptive criteria as a relative share of citations from all subjects, and wherein each citation represents an expression of opinion or description by the subject wherein the influence score is directly estimated; and   determine pricing of the communication based on criteria including the influence score of potential recipients of the communication; and   a memory coupled to the processor and configured to provide the processor with instructions.   
     
     
         20 . The system recited in  claim 24 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 determine pricing of the advertisement based on criteria including the influence score of potential recipients of the advertisement; and   share advertising revenue with a subset of the plurality of subjects based on criteria including the influence score of each of the subset of the plurality of subjects as an incentive for viewing the advertisement and the influence score, improves the targeting, of the communication.   
     
     
         21 . A computer program product, the computer program product being embodied in a computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:
 determining an influence score for a plurality of subjects based on each of the plurality of subject's association with and influence over other subjects in a social graph representing individuals on the Internet based on a count of direct or indirect connections to that subject from the other subjects in the social graph, wherein each of the plurality of subjects is a potential target for communication, wherein the influence score is a directly estimated objective measure of influence, the influence score is weighted by an expertise score tor each subject based on descriptive criteria, the expertise score for each subject is based on a relative share of the citations from each subject matching descriptive criteria to all citations from the subject, and citations from subjects matching the descriptive criteria as a relative share of citations from all subjects, and wherein each citation represents an expression of opinion or description by the subject; and   determining targeting of the communication based on criteria including the influence score of potential recipients of the communication.   
     
     
         22 . The computer program product recited in  claim 25 , further comprising computer instructions for:
 sharing advertising revenue at a first proportion with a first subject based on criteria including the influence score of the first subject on a first dimension; and   sharing advertising revenue at a second proportion with a second subject based on criteria including the influence score of the second subject on the first dimension, wherein the first subject is determined to have a higher influence score than the second subject, the first proportion is greater than the second proportion, and the influence score improves the targeting of the communication.   
     
     
         23 . The method recited in  claim 1 , wherein the communication is an advertisement. 
     
     
         24 . The system recited in  claim 19 , wherein the communication is an advertisement. 
     
     
         25 . The computer program product recited in  claim 21 , wherein the communication is an advertisement.