Claims:We Claim:
1. A computer-implemented method for managing keyword bid amounts in an online advertising system (OAS), the method comprising:
a. bidding on a group of keywords in the OAS using bid amounts that are based on an estimated profitability of the group of keywords
b. monitoring resulting traffic to an electronic-commerce (e-commerce) website
c. adjusting, using a computer, a layout of the e-commerce website based on the determined financial performance metric
d. modifying the bid amounts for the group of keywords based on the determined financial performance metric.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the financial performance metric includes revenue of the e-commerce website.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the revenue is based on a traffic volume to the e-commerce website and revenue per user visit to the e-commerce website.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the revenue per user visit is based on the bid amounts and user click-through rates (CTRs) for icons on the e-commerce website that are associated with the products.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein dynamically adjusting the layout maximizes the determined financial performance metric.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the bidding, the monitoring, the adjusting and the modifying operations are performed on an ongoing basis.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the layout is performed
8. The method of claim 1, wherein modifying the bid amounts is performed.
, Description:Technical Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to techniques for managing keyword bid amounts in an online advertising system (OAS).
Background of the Invention
Search engines are increasingly popular tools for providing users information, such as documents or links to web pages, in response to user-provided search queries. These search queries typically include keywords, which are often used by search engines to identify and display associated advertising to users (so-called ‘paid search results’). Furthermore, the paid search results are often ordered or ranked based on factors, such as: the performance of a particular advertising link (for example, based on its relative click-through rate or CTR), the amount of money or the ‘bid amount’ paid by an advertiser to associate a keyword with the advertising, text that accompanies an advertisement (so-called ‘advertising-copy’), etc. In general, an online advertiser can obtain a higher position in the paid search ranking by offering a larger bid amount for a given keyword.
One type of online advertiser includes electronic-commerce (e-commerce) web pages or websites. These websites usually have an associated product catalog (which is sometimes referred to as a ‘feed’) that contains product information (such as a product description, title, image, price etc.), which is typically frequently refreshed as dictated by business needs. To facilitate identification of products on such e-commerce websites, comparison-shopping websites (which are sometimes referred to as ‘comparison-shopping engines’) routinely collect or aggregate the product information in these product catalogs from individual e-commerce websites or businesses and merge them to produce a comparison-shopping search index. Users can leverage this comparison-shopping search index to obtain multiple offers for a desired product, as well as to identify multiple products in response to a keyword-based query. In order to help drive users to a given e-commerce website or a comparison-shopping website, bid amounts may be placed on keywords on search engines so that an advertisement associated with the given e-commerce website or the comparison-shopping website appears in the paid search results displayed on a search-engine web page in response to search queries that include one or more of the keywords. Then, when a user activates an icon or a link associated with such an advertisement, the user may be redirected to the given e-commerce website or a comparison-shopping website. Therefore, selecting the correct keywords and determining the appropriate bid amounts can be very important in implementing a successful online advertising campaign. Furthermore, given the strong competition and narrow margins that are often associated with electronic commerce, these operations can have a strong impact on the profitability of the e-commerce websites and the comparison-shopping websites. However, the complex and dynamic nature of online networks, such as the Internet, have made it very difficult to evaluate keywords and the associated bid amounts, which can significantly complicate online advertising campaigns, as well as the successful operation of comparison-shopping websites and e-commerce websites.
Object of the Invention
The object of the present inventions relates to a system that manages keyword bid amounts in an online advertising system (OAS).
Summary of the Invention
During operation, this system bids on a group of keywords in the OAS using bid amounts that are based on an estimated profitability of the group of keywords, where the group of keywords are associated with products provided by organizations. Then, the system monitors resulting traffic to an electronic-commerce (e-commerce) website, where the monitoring involves determining a financial performance metric associated with the e-commerce website. Moreover, the system adjusts a layout of the e-commerce website based on the determined financial performance metric. Note that the layout includes product information that is displayed on the e-commerce website and relative positions of the displayed product information on the e-commerce website, and the product information is associated with the products provided by the organizations. Next, the system modifies the bid amounts for the group of keywords based on the determined financial performance metric. The OAS may provide paid search results associated with a search engine in response to search queries from users. Furthermore, the estimated profitability of a given keyword in the group of keywords may be determined based on an estimated revenue per click and an estimated click-through rate (CTR) of an icon or a link on the e-commerce website that is associated with an organization that provides a given product. Note that the e-commerce website may include a comparison-shopping engine, and the product information displayed on the comparison-shopping engine may be associated with web pages or websites of the organizations. Furthermore, a user may be referred to the comparison-shopping engine in response to the user activating an icon or a link in paid search results that are generated by a search engine in response to a search query of the user. the financial performance metric may include revenue of the e-commerce website. For example, the revenue may be based on a traffic volume to the e-commerce website and revenue per user visit to the e-commerce website. Moreover, the revenue per user visit may be based on the bid amounts and user CTRs for icons on the e-commerce website that are associated with the products. the bidding, the monitoring, the adjusting and the modifying operations may be performed on an ongoing basis. Alternatively, or additionally, adjusting the layout and/or modifying the bid amounts may be performed: once, after a time interval since a previous adjustment or continuously. In some embodiments, the system deactivates one or more keywords in the group of keywords if a web page or website of an organization, which provides a product associated with the one or more keywords, is offline, thereby maintaining the financial performance metric associated with the e-commerce website. Deactivating the one or more keywords may involve removing associated bid amounts from the OAS and terminating subsequent processing of the one or more keywords in the method. Subsequently, the system may reactivate the one or more keywords in the group of keywords when the web page or website of the organization is back online. In some embodiments, the system deactivates one or more keywords in the group of keywords if a web page or website of an organization, which provides a product associated with the one or more keywords, is offline, thereby maintaining the financial performance metric associated with the e-commerce website. Deactivating the one or more keywords may involve removing associated bid amounts from the OAS and terminating subsequent processing of the one or more keywords in the method. Subsequently, the system may reactivate the one or more keywords in the group of keywords when the web page or website of the organization is back online.
Brief Description of Drawings
FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating a method for managing keyword bid amounts for use in an online advertising system (OAS) in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Detailed Description of Invention
FIG. 1 presents a flow chart illustrating a method for managing keyword bid amounts for use in an online advertising system (OAS), which may be performed by search-engine marketing system and/or computer system. Note that the OAS may provide paid search results associated with a search engine in response to search queries from users.
During operation, this system bids on a group of keywords (such as one or more advertising groups in an online-advertising campaign) in the OAS using bid amounts that are based on an estimated profitability of the group of keywords , where the group of keywords are associated with products provided by organizations. The estimated profitability of a given keyword in the group of keywords may be determined based on an estimated revenue per click and an estimated CTR of an icon or a link on the e-commerce website that is associated with an organization that provides a given product.
Then, the system monitors resulting traffic to an e-commerce website or web page, where the monitoring involves determining a financial performance metric associated with the e-commerce website. The financial performance metric may include revenue of the e-commerce website. For example, the revenue may be based on a traffic volume to the e-commerce website and revenue per user visit to the e-commerce website. Moreover, the aggregate revenue per user visit may be based on the bid amounts and user CTRs for icons or links on the e-commerce website that are associated with the products. In particular, the aggregate revenue per user visit may be based on the bid amounts multiplied by the corresponding user CTRs for the products.
Note that the e-commerce website may include a comparison-shopping engine, and the product information displayed on the comparison-shopping engine may be associated with web pages or websites of the organizations. Furthermore, a user may be referred to the comparison-shopping engine in response to the user activating an icon or a link in paid search results that are generated by a search engine in response to a search query of the user. Alternatively, or additionally, the e-commerce website may be associated with an entity, such as an online retailer.
Subsequently, the system adjusts a layout of the e-commerce website based on the determined financial performance metric. The layout may include product information that is displayed on the e-commerce website and relative positions of the displayed product information on the e-commerce website, and the product information may be associated with the products provided by the organizations. Furthermore, dynamically adjusting the layout may maximize the determined financial performance metric.
Next, the system modifies the bid amounts for the group of keywords based on the determined financial performance metric.
In some embodiments, the bidding, the monitoring, the adjusting and the modifying operations may be performed on an ongoing basis. Alternatively, or additionally, adjusting the layout and/or modifying the bid amounts may be performed once, after a time interval since a previous adjustment or continuously. Consequently, operations in method may be optionally repeated two or more times.
Furthermore, in order to appropriately adjust the layout or to modify the bid amounts, the system may temporarily perform a so-called ‘investment cycle.’ During an investment cycle, the system may optionally increase the bid amounts above values that are based on the estimated profitability of the group of keywords to increase traffic volume and the quality of the traffic to the e-commerce website. Moreover, note that the quality of the traffic includes users with increased revenue per user visit to the e-commerce website relative to the revenue per user visit associated with other users when the bid amounts equal the values. Information collected during an investment cycle may be used to determine which keywords resulted in good impressions (i.e., led to traffic to the e-commerce website), such the keywords with high CTRs on icons or links in associated online advertising, which may provide sufficient information to allow the revenue, traffic volume and/or profitability of the e-commerce website to be optimized (for example, dynamically).
In some embodiments the system optionally deactivates one or more keywords in the group of keywords if a web page or website of an organization, which provides a product associated with the one or more keywords, is offline. Deactivating the one or more keywords may involve removing associated bid amounts from the OAS and terminating subsequent processing of the one or more keywords in the method. Subsequently, the system may optionally reactivate the one or more keywords in the group of keywords when the web page or website of the organization is back online. This may deactivate and activating may ensure that enough products associated with the group of keywords are currently available from the organizations, thereby maintaining the financial performance metric associated with the e-commerce website. Thus, the system may optionally dynamically determine an activation condition of a group of keywords and, if the group of keywords are inactive, the system may (at least temporarily) optionally terminate subsequent processing of the group of keywords in method.