Abstract: An initiator computing device may acquire a digital coupon having a first value. The initiator computing device may share the digital coupon with a recipient computing device. An advertisement server may be notified that the initiator computing device has shared or has an intent to share the digital coupon with the recipient computing device. The advertisement server may calculate a second value associated with the digital coupon and assign the second value to the digital coupon responsive to the initiator computing device sharing the digital coupon with the recipient computing device. Further, the advertisement server may receive logging information associated with sharing the digital coupon. The logging information can facilitate monitoring the influence of the digital coupon.

Abstract: A system and method are provided. The method includes establishing a current belief about the multidimensional distribution of buyers' valuations for at least one item, and, based on the current belief, proposing at least one pricing mechanism, each pricing mechanism establishing a price for the at least one item. Observed buyers' responses to at least one of the set of proposed pricing mechanisms are stored. Region censored updates to the belief about the multidimensional distribution of buyers' valuations are conducted, based on the observed responses, to generate a new belief about the multidimensional distribution of buyers' valuations. Based on the new belief, a pricing mechanism establishing a price for the at least one item is proposed, that is expected to improve a seller's welfare under the new belief, relative to the originally proposed mechanism or mechanisms.

Abstract: A system and method for allowing users to download modified software applications for digital devices, such as mobile phones, computers, electronic devices and mobile devices capable of wireless communication by the provision by the user of an authentication code that is validated to determine that the user is permitted to download and use a modified software application for the digital device. The system authorizes the user to download and use a modified software application and provides advertisements, directly associated with the campaign's authentication code(s), to the modified software application as it runs on the digital device, where the modified software application has been modified to accept and display advertisements on the digital device. The invention further includes allocating credits to authentication codes and deducting credits based on a credit value assigned to each modified software application and/or digital product, such as a digital song.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and computer program products are provided for optimizing liquidity that an Audience Producer can access for the sale of audience profile access rights by having each individual audience profile access right listed using symbology that can gamer the highest price discovery and depth of market. This is accomplished, in part, by providing multiple listing symbologies for a single asset, allowing for a determination of an optimized or improved symbology for obtaining a best purchase or sale price for a structured advertising asset.

Abstract: A “Real-Time-Ready Analyzer” combines a data stream management system (DSMS) with a map-reduce (M-R) framework to construct a streaming map-reduce framework that is suitable for real-time Behavioral Targeting (BT) (or other temporal queries). The Real-Time-Ready Analyzer allows users to write “dual-intent” temporal analysis queries for BT. These queries are succinct and easy to express, scale well on large-scale offline data, and can also work over real-time data. Further, the Real-Time-Ready Analyzer uses the aforementioned streaming map-reduce framework to provide dual-intent algorithms for end-to-end BT phases. Experiments using real data from an advertisement system show that the Real-Time-Ready Analyzer is very efficient and incurs orders-of-magnitude lower development effort than conventional systems.

Abstract: A system may present dynamic content to an e-mail recipient in the form of an image implementing frame-sequence animation. Each frame may present an offer to the recipient. Upon selection of an offer, the system may determine which offer the recipient selected by determining which frame was displayed when the recipient responded. The e-mail may include an image URI specifying a frame-sequence animation image. The image URI may include an identifier, which may allow the system to determine when the recipient opened the e-mail message, and a link URI, which may also include the identifier. When the recipient indicates a response to an offer, the system may associate the link URI with the image URI and may determine to which offer the recipient was responding.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus to provide incentives to deflect callers to websites are disclosed. An example method disclosed herein to deflect a caller to a webpage comprises receiving a call from the caller, offering an incentive to the caller to terminate the call and access the webpage, and providing an address of the webpage to the caller after the caller consents to terminate the call.

Abstract: A method includes determining, through one or more central server(s), that a bidding platform provided by a gastronomic bidding service provider has a number of requests for gastronomical offers within a residential location zip code and/or a daytime location zip code associated with a user thereof. The method also includes permitting the user to access the number of requests for gastronomical offers within the residential location zip code and/or the daytime location zip code, and denying the user access to a request within a zip code outside a geospatially constrained region around the residential location zip code and/or the daytime location zip code thereof. Further, the method includes permitting the user to create a series of standing bid amounts spread across a spectrum of time and crediting an account associated with the gastronomic bidding service provider on the one or more central server(s) with an appropriate amount.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus to determine when to deflect callers to websites are disclosed. An example method disclosed herein to deflect a caller to a webpage comprises receiving a call from the caller, determining a performance metric associated with processing the call, and determining whether to offer the caller an option to terminate the call and access the webpage based on the at least one performance metric.

Abstract: A method of dynamic content distribution and placement of advertising between a mobile device and an advertisement fulfillment system comprising providing a rotation of advertisements stored in the mobile device. Each advertisement comprises substantive content and a value in an impression field. The method further comprises selecting an advertisement from the rotation of advertisements based at least in part on which advertisement in the rotation was last displayed, and displaying the selected advertisement.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for pushing advertisement information from a host computer system to one or more delivery vehicles. Intelligent barcode data (IBD) from mailers is provided to the computer system. Physical mail pieces associated with the mailers are provided to a central processing plant, and manifest data is determined for the one or more delivery vehicles including IBD data from the mailers. The advertising information is pushed in real time to the one or more delivery vehicles from the computer system based on the manifest data and displayed on a display of a given vehicle. The content of the advertising information may be correlated with the delivery of the mail pieces being delivered using the IBD data.

Abstract: It is an object to increase advertising effectiveness by a synergetic effect between communication using a mobile phone or the like, and an electronic money system. The present embodiment is configured such that an advertisement is transmitted to a user's mobile phone via e-mail, and if the user purchases an article in values based on the advertisement, cashback is performed through the user's mobile phone in values. Thus, giving a feeling of value to the user makes it possible not only to increase advertising effectiveness but also to confirm the advertising effectiveness. If purchasing an article in values according to an advertising mail sent to a mobile phone 3, the user can receive the cashback from an electronic money server 2, thus allowing the user to obtain a feeling of value. Moreover, the electronic money server 2 can know whether or not the user has conducted purchasing activities in accordance with the advertising mail, allowing the advertising effectiveness to be measured and confirmed.

Abstract: A method and system for automated media delivery to mobile devices and mobile device lockscreens. The method includes receiving a first media request associated with a first target device, obtaining a first user account associated with the first media request, wherein the first user account comprises first user category criteria; selecting a first user-submitted media item based on the first user category criteria, and sending, to the first target device, the first user-submitted media object, wherein the first user-submitted media object is presented on a lock screen of the first target device. The method further includes receiving a second media request associated with the first target device, selecting a first advertiser-submitted media object based on the first user category criteria, and sending, to the first target device, the first advertiser-submitted media object, wherein the first advertiser-submitted media object is presented on the lock screen of the first target device.

Abstract: The efficient allocation of advertisements, also known as creatives, on one or more web sites is provided for while ensuring that guarantees to advertisers are honored. In one embodiment, a linear program solver allocates creatives to advertising slots according to an optimizing function designed to maximize revenue for the site. The linear program solver takes as input a set of creatives, creative performance data, constraints, and slot identifiers. The output of the linear program solver is an optimized schedule not violative of any of the input constraints.

Abstract: In one embodiment of the invention, a method to detect fraud includes a) receiving by the computer system from a source information regarding a plurality of played coupons for at least one game, wherein the plurality of played coupons comprises at least one first coupon; b) populating by the computer system a two-dimensional array for each played game from the received information, wherein the at least one two-dimensional array holds aggregated game statistics, c) storing by the computer system the at least one two-dimensional array with in a data structure; d) scanning, using the received information for the at least one first coupon, by the computer system the at least one data structure to identify at least one abnormal pattern; and e) generating, when the at least one abnormal pattern is identified, by the computer system an alert prior to a payout on the at least one first coupon.

Abstract: Programming media and advertising media may be presented in a manner that approximates or equals a target ratio. In one implementation, a total temporal length of one or more programming media segments is accessed after the user has selected the programming media segments. One or more advertising media segments are then selected. The advertising media segments have a total length that is based on the total temporal length of the programming media segments and a target temporal ratio between programming media and advertising media. The client system may present the one or more selected advertising media segments.

Abstract: A computer readable medium is disclosed containing a computer program including but not limited to computer executable instructions that when executed by a computer are useful in performing a method for presenting advertising data, the method including but not limited to sensing current trick-play command data at an end user device; updating trick-play trend data for the end user device based on the current trick-play command data; and adjusting a number of advertising data items in an advertising data buffer presented at the end user device based on the trick-play trend data. A system is disclosed useful for performing the method. A data structure is disclosed for containing data used by the system and method.

Abstract: The invention is a computer-implementable methodology for quantitatively assessing the impact of paid search advertising on the total visits (paid and organic search-based visits) from search engines and utilizing this assessment to improve search engine marketing performance. The methodology relies on the computation of a synergy score for each search engine keyword of interest or coefficients in a synergy equation. Once computed, the score can be used to repeatedly compute the total return on advertising spend (ROAS) and other performance metrics on a go-forward basis without the time lag inherent in computing the synergy score itself. The invention includes specific computer-implementable methods for improving search engine marketing performance based on the total (paid plus organic) performance metrics.

Abstract: The invention is a computer-aided method of optimizing advertisements and content by grouping viewers into scientific segments, optimizing an advertisement and pieces of content by scientific segments, selecting an advertisement or content to display to a scientific segment, and creating a scientific targeted advertisement or piece of content.

Abstract: Advertisements displayed in a web page are enabled to be changed as a context of the web page changes without reloading the web page. A first set of one or more advertisements may be displayed on a web page. One or more of the displayed advertisements may be replaced with one or more alternative advertisements. Selection of the alternative advertisements is triggered based on the occurrence of one or more events that cause a change in a context of the web page. The display of the alternative advertisements is performed dynamically, without the web page needing to be reloaded. In this manner, the advertisements displayed on a web page may be changed based on the change in web page context, to provide advertisements to users that correspond to the changing context.