Abstract: An online system selects advertisements for inclusion in a scrollable advertisement unit that includes a display area and multiple advertisements, each associated with a position in the scrollable advertisement unit. Positions in the scrollable advertisement unit are ranked based on a measure of predicted performance of an advertisement in each position. Advertisements are ranked based on a probability of being viewed by a user if associated with a particular position in the scrollable advertisement unit and, optionally, on a probability of presenting an advertisement based on characteristics of the advertisement. The position ranking and the advertisement ranking are used to associate advertisements with positions. For example, an advertisement is associated with a position having a location in the position ranking corresponding to the advertisement's position in the advertisement ranking.

Abstract: An online system presents a scrollable advertisement unit including multiple advertisements to a user. The scrollable advertisement unit presents one or more advertisements in a display area, and allows a user to navigate through the advertisements in the scrollable advertisement unit to display different advertisements in the display area. One or more rules for crediting an impression to an advertisement in the display area are applied, and a tracking mechanism associated with the advertisement in the display area is loaded if at least one rule is specified. Loading the tracking mechanism identifies an impression of its associated advertisement.

Abstract: Competitive bidding tools, including a competitive bidding scaler tool and a competitive report generator, may be implemented by an advertiser to improve their advertisement's performance in online advertising auctions. The competitive bidding scaler tool increases the bid amount associated with an advertiser's ad request when a competing advertiser submits a rival ad request to the same online advertising auction. The competitive report tool generates a competitive report for an ad request that benchmarks its performance against rival ad requests. The competitive report comprises a summary of wins and losses experienced by the ad request in an online advertising auction as well as an option to implement the competitive bidding scaler tool for the ad request.

Abstract: Competitive bidding tools, including a competitive bidding scaler tool and a competitive report generator, may be implemented by an advertiser to improve their advertisement's performance in online advertising auctions. The competitive bidding scaler tool increases the bid amount associated with an advertiser's ad request when a competing advertiser submits a rival ad request to the same online advertising auction. The competitive report tool generates a competitive report for an ad request that benchmarks its performance against rival ad requests. The competitive report comprises a summary of wins and losses experienced by the ad request in an online advertising auction as well as an option to implement the competitive bidding scaler tool for the ad request.

Abstract: An online system presents a scrollable advertisement unit including multiple advertisements to a user. The scrollable advertisement unit presents one or more advertisements in a display area, and allows a user to navigate through the advertisements in the scrollable advertisement unit to display different advertisements in the display area. One or more rules for crediting an impression to an advertisement in the display area are applied, and a tracking mechanism associated with the advertisement in the display area is loaded if at least one rule is specified. Loading the tracking mechanism identifies an impression of its associated advertisement.

Abstract: An improved system and method for flexible object placement and soft-state indexing of objects in a distributed object store is provided. A distributed object store may be provided by a large number of system nodes operably coupled to a network. A system node provided may include an access module for communicating with a client, an index module for building an index of a replicated data object, a data module for storing a data object on a computer readable medium, and a membership and routing module for detecting the configuration of operable nodes in the distributed system. Upon failure of an index node, the failure may be detected at other nodes, including those nodes that store the replicas of the object. These nodes may then send new index rebuilding requests to a different node that may rebuild the index for servicing any access request to the object.

Abstract: A system and method facilitate a credit system for providing user incentives to encourage data sharing in a P2P network. The credit system maintains a user credit database and respectively increases or decreases a user's credits based on the data uploaded to or downloaded from other peer nodes. The credit system can also associate a user's credits with economic value or rewards to encourage the user to share data with other peer nodes. In one embodiment, the credit system maintains a credit record for each user. The credit system increases the credit for a user based on the amount of data a peer node associated with the user uploads to other peer nodes in the P2P network. The credit system also decreases the credit for the user based on the amount of data downloaded by the peer node associated with the user.

Abstract: An improved system and method for flexible object placement and soft-state indexing of objects in a distributed object store is provided. A distributed object store may be provided by a large number of system nodes operably coupled to a network. A system node provided may include an access module for communicating with a client, an index module for building an index of a replicated data object, a data module for storing a data object on a computer readable medium, and a membership and routing module for detecting the configuration of operable nodes in the distributed system. Upon failure of an index node, the failure may be detected at other nodes, including those nodes that store the replicas of the object. These nodes may then send new index rebuilding requests to a different node that may rebuild the index for servicing any access request to the object.

Abstract: An improved system and method for flexible object placement and soft-state indexing of objects in a distributed object store is provided. A distributed object store may be provided by a large number of system nodes operably coupled to a network. A system node provided may include an access module for communicating with a client, an index module for building an index of a replicated data object, a data module for storing a data object on a computer readable medium, and a membership and routing module for detecting the configuration of operable nodes in the distributed system. Upon failure of an index node, the failure may be detected at other nodes, including those nodes that store the replicas of the object. These nodes may then send new index rebuilding requests to a different node that may rebuild the index for servicing any access request to the object.

Abstract: Routing in a peer-to-peer network is described. In an implementation, a method includes receiving at one of a plurality of nodes in a peer-to-peer network, an indication of a change in membership in the peer-to-peer network by another node in the peer-to-peer network. A report is broadcast that describes the change. The report is for receipt by each node referenced in a routing table included in the one node.

Abstract: Described is the differentiation of replicas in a large distributed object store as either being smoothing replicas based on an amount of load on storage nodes (bricks), or as spreading replicas based on a substantially random distribution among the system's bricks. The smoothing replicas are placed among the lowest usage bricks, while the spreading replicas are placed randomly throughout other bricks in the system independent of load. As a result, fast, primarily parallel data repair is facilitated by selecting a spreading replica when repair is needed, while load balancing is facilitated by placing a smoothing replica on a low-usage brick when a new replica is checked in, and selecting a smoothing replica when load balancing is triggered by overloading of a brick and/or addition of a new brick. Check-in, data repair and load balancing policies specify how to use smoothing replicas and spreading replicas.

Abstract: Mutual exclusion techniques for use in a dynamic peer-to-peer environment are described. In an implementation, a method includes receiving, at each of a plurality of logical replicas, a request from a client. Each of the logical replicas includes a queue and is for exclusive association with one of the clients. The request is for accessing one of a plurality of resources. When a particular one of the logical replicas is exclusively associated with another one of the clients, the request is stored in the queue of the particular logical replica.

Abstract: Cluster storage collection-based data management is described. In one aspect, and in a distributed system for storing data across a network to multiple data storage nodes, a bounded bandwidth available for data repair in the distributed system is determined. A specific number of stripes are then created on each data storage node of the multiple data storage nodes. The stripes are for placement and replication of data objects across respective ones of the data storage nodes. The specific number of stripes created on each data storage node is a function of the determined bounded data repair bandwidth.

Abstract: Described is the differentiation of replicas in a large distributed object store as either being smoothing replicas based on an amount of load on storage nodes (bricks), or as spreading replicas based on a substantially random distribution among the system's bricks. The smoothing replicas are placed among the lowest usage bricks, while the spreading replicas are placed randomly throughout other bricks in the system independent of load. As a result, fast, primarily parallel data repair is facilitated by selecting a spreading replica when repair is needed, while load balancing is facilitated by placing a smoothing replica on a low-usage brick when a new replica is checked in, and selecting a smoothing replica when load balancing is triggered by overloading of a brick and/or addition of a new brick. Check-in, data repair and load balancing policies specify how to use smoothing replicas and spreading replicas.

Abstract: Cluster storage collection-based data management is described. In one aspect, and in a distributed system for storing data across a network to multiple data storage nodes, a bounded bandwidth available for data repair in the distributed system is determined. A specific number of stripes are then created on each data storage node of the multiple data storage nodes. The stripes are for placement and replication of data objects across respective ones of the data storage nodes. The specific number of stripes created on each data storage node is a function of the determined bounded data repair bandwidth.

Abstract: An improved system and method for flexible object placement and soft-state indexing of objects in a distributed object store is provided. A distributed object store may be provided by a large number of system nodes operably coupled to a network. A system node provided may include an access module for communicating with a client, an index module for building an index of a replicated data object, a data module for storing a data object on a computer readable medium, and a membership and routing module for detecting the configuration of operable nodes in the distributed system. Upon failure of an index node, the failure may be detected at other nodes, including those nodes that store the replicas of the object. These nodes may then send new index rebuilding requests to a different node that may rebuild the index for servicing any access request to the object.

Abstract: Routing in a peer-to-peer network is described. In an implementation, a method includes receiving at one of a plurality of nodes in a peer-to-peer network, an indication of a change in membership in the peer-to-peer network by another node in the peer-to-peer network. A report is broadcast that describes the change. The report is for receipt by each node referenced in a routing table included in the one node.

Abstract: Mutual exclusion techniques for use in a dynamic peer-to-peer environment are described. In an implementation, a method includes receiving, at each of a plurality of logical replicas, a request from a client. Each of the logical replicas includes a queue and is for exclusive association with one of the clients. The request is for accessing one of a plurality of resources. When a particular one of the logical replicas is exclusively associated with another one of the clients, the request is stored in the queue of the particular logical replica.