Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed to update ads on user devices that may connect to a network only intermittently by predicting and tracking various metrics associated with ads delivered to the user devices.

Abstract: The claimed subject matter provides a system and/or a method that facilitates establishing a true market value for an online advertisement. An interface component can receive data related to at least one of a spot market or a future market. A dynamic pricing component can dynamically establish an ad price for an ad unit based on the spot market and the future market, the ad price reflects a market value of the ad unit in accordance with the spot market and the future market.

Abstract: For a multi-party online advertising exchange including advertising and publishing entities and one or more third party participants, the disclosed systems and methods enable third party participation in arbitrage opportunities in online advertising transactions. A plurality of underlying transaction details are abstracted and provided to the third party participants without loss of generalization and while preserving relationships in the transaction data, to enable a third party share risk in advertising transactions. Various system refinements are provided and disclosed according to a host of optional embodiments.

Abstract: For a multi-party advertising exchange, including publishing entities and advertising entities from disparate advertising networks, which facilitates transactions for publishing inventory, a value add broker is provided to aggregate information from third parties having valuable information for input to the exchange or to perform services that are valuable to transactions in the exchange. The valuable information or services further facilitate the transactions for the publishing inventory automatically generating a benefit for the third parties providing the valuable information or services commensurate with the value added to the transactions.

Abstract: A “Quality-Based Ad Pricer” prices ads as a function of how users respond to a particular page and/or domain to which they are sent by an online advertisement. User experience is improved by ensuring that advertisements that are more relevant to a user are priced less than an ads which are less relevant to the user. In particular, a quality factor for each ad is determined as a property of the advertiser's site based on measured user behaviors with respect to that site. This quality factor is then used in ranking, selecting, and pricing ads in an automated online auction. Further, while ad aggregators are not excluded from the ad market by the pricing rules of the Quality-Based Ad Pricer, these rules ensure that there is a “level playing field” such that ads of merchants are not excluded by the ads of ad aggregators.

Abstract: Methods and systems in search marketing which permit advertisers to provide advertisements to a search engine, as well as bids associated with the advertisements themselves, are provided. Advertisements are selected for presentation when they are determined to be relevant and payment for presentation is due only upon the conditions of the bid being met. If desired, advertisers may be permitted to provide, in addition to an advertisement, one or more destination pages associated with selection of the advertisement. In this case, relevance can be determined not only on the basis of the content of the advertisement itself, but also on the content of the destination page(s).

Abstract: Search queries which are used to assess performance of search listings are filtered such that the remaining search queries more accurately represent behavior of human users genuinely looking for information in a search engine. Search queries which come from unrecognized user agents or which come from the same network address too closely together or too regularly are removed. If a volume of search queries for a given search term in a period of time exceeds an expected volume, search queries for that term are discarded.

Abstract: A layout in which advertisements are displayed may be determined by auction. Several layouts may be defined, each having one or more slots of different relative values. Bids are received from advertisers, and an auction may be held to determine in which slots the different advertisers are placed, and which layout is to be used. The expected revenue from each layout may be calculated, and the layout may be chosen that maximizes the revenue that is expected to result from showing a particular layout to a user. In one example, there are layouts that offer exclusive and non-exclusive mainlines. Mainline exclusivity may be offered to an advertiser that has bid a sufficiently high amount per click that awarding the mainline exclusively to the advertiser can offset the loss of revenue expected from moving other advertisers off the mainline.

Abstract: For a multi-party advertising exchange including advertising and publishing entities, each participant specifies tax rate(s), such as import tax and export tax, that apply to at least one other entity in the exchange. Since tax rate(s) can be expressed in different transactional terms by different parties, each tax rate is reduced to a common tax rate expression within the exchange for comparison. Intelligent tax rate selection and support can be provided to dynamically set tax rates that achieve utilitarian goals for the individual participants taking into account the tax rates expressed by other participants and their respective advertising goals, and dynamically adjusting tax rates over time in response to condition changes. Various refinements are provided and disclosed according to a host of optional implementations.

Abstract: A “Quality-Based Ad Pricer” prices ads as a function of how users respond to a particular page and/or domain to which they are sent by an online advertisement. User experience is improved by ensuring that advertisements that are more relevant to a user are priced less than an ads which are less relevant to the user. In particular, a quality factor for each ad is determined as a property of the advertiser's site based on measured user behaviors with respect to that site. This quality factor is then used in ranking, selecting, and pricing ads in an automated online auction. Further, while ad aggregators are not excluded from the ad market by the pricing rules of the Quality-Based Ad Pricer, these rules ensure that there is a “level playing field” such that ads of merchants are not excluded by the ads of ad aggregators.

Abstract: A publisher union comprises a plurality of publishers, a channel, and a publisher union administrator. The publisher union is administered by receiving a channel proposal, determining whether the channel proposal is acceptable, forming a channel, and presenting the channel for monetization. User information is gathered by the publisher union by establishing a domain, collecting user information, aggregating the user information, and providing the aggregated user information to publisher union members.

Abstract: The claimed subject invention presents systems and methods to compensate directly a user of a service platform through advertising spending in exchange for knowledge of the user intent. Advertising spending contributions are allocated to a compensation account that can be accessed by an advertising platform, affiliated with the service platform or not, to compensate users and to update compensation records and transactions with the advertiser. Compensation fraud is actively and reactively mitigated. Compensation of the user is conducted securely and includes compensation points, direct payments and instant rebates, which can be used in transactions with online and offline service platforms. The intent-compensation proposition funded through advertising spending creates a price incentive that differentiates both service platform and advertiser from their competitors, and creates value for user and advertiser.

Abstract: The claimed subject invention presents a system and method to compensate a user of a service platform in return for information regarding the user's intent. The compensation comprises rewards points and direct payments, which can be used to claim rewards online and offline. The compensation is securely maintained in compensation accounts. The user can benefit from third-party content and services through partnerships with the service platform. The intent-compensation proposition of the service platform creates a price incentive to use the service platform over its competitors.

Abstract: On-line and/or off-line advertisement interactions are tracked for individual users. This information can then be utilized to adjust display parameters for an advertisement. Tracking can be accomplished via a client-side tracking mechanism and/or a server side tracking mechanism. The advertisement interactions allow advertisers to adjust their advertising campaigns to better target their advertisements. The tracked interactions can include, but are not limited to selections (clicking, etc.) and/or conversions (purchases) and the like. Some instances include a display component that can employ the user-specific interaction information to automatically adjust, for example, location, frequency, and/or to whom an advertisement is displayed. The interaction information can also be utilized for revenue generation by charging advertisers for the information and/or for adjusting their advertising campaigns and the like. Instances can be utilized with on-line and/or off-line advertising media.

Abstract: For a multi-party advertising exchange including advertising and publishing entities, each publishing entity can expose user attribute space(s) for its publishing inventory to the exchange, which are normalized to a common vocabulary within the exchange. Similarly, each advertising entity can specify one or more preferences for user attributes as requirements or definitions for advertising transactions in the exchange which are also normalized to the common vocabulary. The common vocabulary enables the comparison of a first set of user attributes to a second set of user attributes within the exchange. Supplemental user attribute data may also be received from audience data brokers, and the performance of advertising as a function of sets and subsets of user attributes over time may be recorded so that optimal display strategies can be determined.

Abstract: For a multi-party advertising exchange, including publishing entities and advertising entities from disparate advertising networks, which facilitates transactions for publishing inventory, a value add broker is provided to aggregate information from third parties having valuable information for input to the exchange or to perform services that are valuable to transactions in the exchange. The valuable information or services further facilitate the transactions for the publishing inventory automatically generating a benefit for the third parties providing the valuable information or services commensurate with the value added to the transactions.

Abstract: An optimization tool is provided for individual participants who participate in multiple online advertising environments wherein the tool interfaces with the multiple environments in an optimal manner on behalf of the individual participants. A participant using the tool can specify goals and/or constraints for participating in one or more of the networks, and then the tool automatically optimizes advertising expenditure for advertising transactions across the different networks. The tool also tracks the performance of the participant across the different networks and dynamically tunes the participant's advertising expenditure based on such performance as well as the changing conditions of the marketplace.

Abstract: For a multi-party advertising exchange including advertising and publishing entities from disparate advertising networks, flexible advertising transaction accounting methods are provided for circumstances where a relatively small number of trusted participants agree to reduce onerous reporting requirements conducted at a per transaction level. Trusted participants optionally report aggregate data for transactions including aggregate fraud data measurements to determine aggregate apportioning of cost and payments associated with advertising transactions. Aggregate reporting, subject to safeguards, enables a reduction in the overhead associated with per transaction accounting, and other participants need not duplicate measurements of trusted participants who are positioned best to collect the measurements, enabling a cooperative effort to the benefit of all of the trusted participants.

Abstract: For a multi-party advertising exchange including advertising and publishing entities, each participant can specify one or more utility functions that are invertible with respect to a common measure, such as revenue. In one non-limiting embodiment, each utility function is invertible with respect to expected revenue per standard advertising unit, e.g., expected cost per impression. The disparate utility functions of multiple participants are also normalized within the advertising exchange by converting the utility functions to the common measure enabling the comparison or translation of a first set of utility functions to a second set of utility functions in quantifiable terms. Various system refinements are provided and disclosed according to a host of optional embodiments.

Abstract: For a multi-party advertising exchange including advertising and publishing entities, automatic value sharing is provided for distributed users of the advertising exchange that provide valuable information to the exchange. Users provide information that has quantifiable value to the advertising exchange and/or its participants. In exchange for the information, predicated on any function or cost model for quantifying the value of the information, a reward or advantage, such as revenue, is given to the user by the advertising exchange and/or participants of the advertising exchange in order to incentivize users' valuable contributions. As a result, the advertising exchange becomes a more efficient marketplace, increasing predictability and the participant(s) benefit in correspondence with the value of any information received by those participant(s). Various refinements are provided and disclosed according to a host of optional embodiments.