System and method for influencing a position on a search result list generated by a computer network search engine

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INFLUENCING A POSITION ON A SEARCH RESULT LIST GENERATED BY A COMPUTER NETWORK SEARCH ENGINE

The transmission of information in computer networks is becoming an increasingly important means for companies and individuals to work. Computer networks have grown from independent entities built to meet the needs of a single group, to a broad Internet that interconnects disparate physical networks and enables these networks to function as cooperative systems. Currently, the largest computer network is the Internet. The Internet is a worldwide interconnection of computer networks that communicate using common protocols. Millions of computers, from basic personal computers to the most powerful supercomputers, are connected to the Internet.

The Internet appears as a large community of electronically connected users from around the world, who exchange significant amounts of information immediately and regularly. The Internet continues to serve its original purpose of providing access between government agencies, research institutes and universities and the exchange of information between government agencies, research institutes and universities. Additionally, the Internet contains a variety of interests and forums that extend beyond the original goal. In particular, the Internet is rapidly changing into a global e-commerce market of ideas and information as well as goods and services.

This transformation of the Internet into a global market was greatly influenced by the introduction of an information system called the World Wide Web (hereafter the Web). The Web is a proprietary distributed database designed to provide broad access to large volumes of documents from all over the world. Database records on the Web take the form of documents known as "pages". These pages are located on a web server and can be accessed via the Internet. The Web is thus a vast database of information interspersed among infinitely changing and infinite personal computer systems that have no recognizable organization or form. Computers connected to the Internet can access web pages through programs known as browsers, which have a powerful yet easy-to-learn graphical user interface (GUI). One powerful technology supported by web browsers is hyperlinks, which allow web page authors to create links to other web pages that users may find later by using simple point-and-click commands on the web browser. am.

A page may be created in one of several format conventions such as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), and may contain multimedia information content such as graphics, audio, and moving pictures. Any user with a computer and Internet access environment can access public access pages placed on the Web. Thus, its presence on the World Wide Web has the ability to introduce its worldwide customer base to companies, individuals, and organizations that wish to advertise their products and services to potential customers. Moreover, the ever-increasing sophistication of web page design, enabled by the exponential increase in data transfer speed and computer processing speed, is making the web an increasingly attractive medium for advertising and other businesses, and for the free flow of information.

The availability of powerful new tools to facilitate the development and distribution of Internet content has proliferated the information, products and services offered on the Internet, and greatly increased the number of consumers using the Internet. The International Data Combination (IDC) estimates that Internet users will grow from 97 million worldwide in 1998 to 320 million by the end of 2002. In addition, commerce conducted on the Internet has grown significantly and is expected to continue to increase significantly. IDC predicts that the probability of Internet users purchasing products and services over the Internet will increase from 28% in 1998 to approximately 40% in 2002, with total sales of goods and services purchased over the Internet from $32.4 billion to $425.7 billion. expected to increase to

The Internet has emerged as an attractive new medium that connects advertisers to customers who want to advertise information, products and services. However, the World Wide Web consists of a seemingly infinite number of web pages interspersed among millions of different computer systems around the world. Mechanisms such as directories and search engines have been developed to display and retrieve information available on the Web, thus helping Internet users locate information of interest. These search services allow consumers to search the Internet for lists of websites based on a particular topic, product or service of interest.

Search engines are the most frequently used tool on the Internet after e-mail. As a result, websites providing search services connect advertisers to Internet users and give advertisers the opportunity to target consumer interests based on keywords or typical search requests.

In a web-based search in an Internet search engine, a user inputs a search term consisting of one or more keywords, and the search engine uses the search term to generate a list of web pages accessible to the user through a hyperlink in real time. caused by However, traditional search engines and website directories rely on the process of transferring results to keywords that frequently generate irrelevant search results. The automated search technology that powers multiple existing search engines relies heavily on complex math-based database search algorithms that select and rank web pages based on multiple criteria such as keyword density and keyword location. Search results generated by these mechanisms often rely on mechanical mathematical formulas, and may be arbitrary and even irrelevant. Additionally, search engines that use automated search technology to classify search results typically rely on invisible website content or "meta tags" created by website operators. Website owners are free to tag their sites as they choose. As a result, some website operators insert popular search terms into irrelevant website meta tags. This is because doing so can attract additional consumer attention at almost the lowest cost. Finally, multiple websites have similar meta tags, and traditional search engines are not poised to prioritize results according to consumer preferences.

Search engines and website directories also rely on the manual work of limited editors to review web page information. Because comprehensive manual reviews and classification of unpredictable and random update databases like the Web are impossible tasks, search engine results are often incomplete or outdated. Moreover, as the size and diversity of Internet history grows, many popular web search sites have to press multiple branches of vertical directories one after another to locate the website in response to consumer search requests, which is a slow and bloated process from a consumer's point of view. It is a process. Therefore, the existing search engine is not effective for web page owners whose purpose is to present the web and distribute information according to the user's interest on the basis of current and comprehensive aspects.

Moreover, the current paradigm of generating website traffic, such as banner advertising, follows the existing advertising paradigm and fails to take advantage of the unique nature of the Internet. In the banner advertising model, website operators wishing to enhance and increase their web exposure often purchase space on the pages of popular commercial websites. Website operators advertise their websites by filling this space with color graphic advertisements known as banners. A banner can act as a hyperlink that a visitor clicks to access the website. As with traditional advertising, banners advertising on the Internet are priced in an impression-based manner, in which the advertiser pays for exposure to potential customers. A banner may be displayed on every page access, or it may target a search term in a search engine. Nevertheless, impression-based advertising inefficiently exploits the direct transaction possibilities of the Internet. This is because the click-through rate, which is the rate at which customers visit the banner guiding to the destination, is very low. Website operators therefore pay for exposure to multiple consumers who are not interested in the products or services they operate. This is because most website visitors are looking for specific information and are not very interested in the information displayed on the banner. Likewise, banner connections to interested individuals often fail. This is because it is common for banners to be unsearchable by search engines and interested people do not know where on the web to go to see them.

Therefore, traditional advertising and search engine algorithms cannot deliver relevant information to interested parties through the World Wide Web at a reasonable cost. Internet advertising can provide a level of targeting, interactivity, and measurement not possible in other media. With the right tools, Internet advertisers can target their messages to specific customer groups and receive immediate feedback on the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns.

Ideally, the website operator should be able to control its position in the search results list, so that the listings should have a dominant position in searches related to their website history. The Internet's search engine functions need to be focused in a new direction to promote the online marketplace, which provides consumers with fast, easy and relevant search results while providing Internet advertisers and operators with affordable ways to target their customers. do. Customers using the search engines that drive this online marketplace will discover companies or businesses offering the products, services, or information they are looking for. In this online marketplace, companies that sell products, services, and information win their bids in a competitive bidding environment for positions on search results lists generated by Internet search engines. Because the advertiser pays for each click through referral generated through the search results list generated by the search engine, the advertiser selects the search keywords most relevant to their website offering and It has an incentive to preempt this search keyword in competitive bidding. The higher the advertiser's position on the search result listing, the higher the likelihood of referral. In other words, the likelihood that the consumer will enter the advertiser's website through the search result list increases. The openness of this advertising market can be further promoted by publicly displaying the bid amount bid by the advertiser on a specific search result list to customers and other advertisers.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for an operator to influence a position in a list of search results generated by an Internet search engine for a particular set of search terms.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and method that allows operators to specify key search terms to search engines to place their search results listings for search queries most relevant to their business.

Another object of the invention is to provide a system and method that allows checking current search terms and online positioning, and also allows operators to make instantaneous changes to selected search terms, locations, website names and content.

Another object of the invention is to provide an operator with a search engine in which the operator influences the top position in the search results list through a continuous and competitive online competitive bidding process.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an Internet advertising method at a reasonable price in which a website operator pays a price in proportion to the actual frequency of visits generated by a search engine.

Another object of the invention is to create a new advertising system that targets the most interested consumers by the advertiser by participating in a free market that attaches a cost to the advertiser's listing in the search result list generated using the search term selected by the advertiser. am.

It is another object of the present invention to create an open Internet advertising marketplace that is fair to consumers and advertisers, where listings placed by advertisers in search results lists are clearly marked as paid advertisements.

It is another object of the present invention that the website operator can control the name or content related to the operator listing in the search result list generated by the search engine.

The present invention addresses the above-mentioned problems by providing a system and method for a website operator to influence a location in a search result list generated by an Internet search engine using a computer network. In particular, the present invention is a system in which a website operator determines one search listing for a search result list, selects a search term related to the operator website, and influences the location of a search result list for a search listing in an Internet search engine and methods. When an Internet user enters a search term into a search engine query box, the search engine will generate a search results list with the website operator's listings in locations affected by one or more parameters specified by the website operator. .

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the website operator selects a search term, and the website operator influences its position in the list of search results generated by the search term by participating in an online competitive bidding process. This online competitive bidding process is called a "pay-for-performance" process and can be used in conjunction with an Internet search engine. The "pay-for-performance" process applies market principles to advertising on the Internet. Existing Internet search engines do not provide a way for website operators to easily predict the location of their website in search results, nor do they provide a way to guarantee that their items will appear in search results, including their website descriptions. does not For advertisers, tools that allow them to target web search terms relevant to their business or to position website descriptions within search results are powerful for businesses and people looking to increase their web exposure. provides advantages. Moreover, by using the competitive bidding process and price setting according to the frequency of website entry that occurs, the pricing structure can reflect the market principle and give advertisers of all budget sizes the opportunity to participate.

To participate in this process, an advertiser, such as a website operator, can access the advertiser's user account through a secure website. An advertiser may use the account for competitive bidding on search terms related to the advertiser's website. Each competitive bid is specific to a search term website combination and corresponds to the amount the advertiser pays the search engine owner each time a searcher clicks on the advertiser's hyperlinked listing in a list of search results generated by the search engine. do. The searcher's click will result in an access request sent to the advertiser's website, which will respond by sending the advertiser's webpage to the searcher's browser. Thus, since the rate is charged according to the frequency of entry to the advertiser's website generated by the search engine, the rate the advertiser is charged for this positioning is proportional to the gain it reaps.

The higher the competitive bid, the more desirable the position in the search result list generated using the search engine when the bid search term is input by the searcher. The search result list will be arranged in a direction in which the bid amount is decreased, and in this case, the search listing corresponding to the highest bid amount is displayed first to the searcher. Each search listing corresponding to one competitive bid is preferably distinguished as a paid listing on a display device. Competitive bids are most preferably included in the identification. Additionally, the search result list of the present invention is preferably combined with "unpaid" website descriptions generated by existing Internet search engines, and as mentioned above, listings generated according to a math-based database search algorithm are used. It is preferred to include The combination of paid listings and free listings will help searchers get the most complete and relevant search results. It is most preferred that free listings are considered to have a bid of zero and thus rank below paid results.

In accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, a system and method are provided that allow a website operator to influence the position of a search listing in a search result list generated by an Internet search engine. The website operator first selects a search term including one or more keywords related to the content of the website to be listed. Influence your ranking position on search listings through the ongoing online competitive bidding process with other website operators. The competitive bidding process occurs when an advertiser enters a new bid for an existing search listing or enters a bid for a new search listing. It is preferred that the operator's competitive bids are real-time-processed. This competitive bid amount is compared with all other bids from different operators for the same search term, and a new ranking value is generated for every search order having the search term. The rank value determines the position where the description of the operator's website appears on the search result list page that is generated when a search term is entered into a query box on the search engine by the searcher . The higher the bid amount, the higher the ranking value and the preferred position, and this position is preferably near the start of the search result list page. The metric used in the competitive bidding process is money, the amount a website operator has to pay an Internet search engine owner each time an advertiser's website is called by a search engine. Most preferably, the amount is deducted by the account difference maintained in the operator's account each time the operator's website is called by the search engine.

One embodiment of the system and method of the present invention provides a database with accounts for website operators. Each account contains contact and payment information for the website operator. Additionally, each account contains one or more search listings, and each search listing has five components. That is, it has five components: a description of a website to be listed, a website URL, a search term including one or more keywords, a bid amount, and a title for a search listing. Each account also contains details of the operator's payment and search listings entered by the user. The operator logs into his or her account through an authentication process running on a stable server. Once logged in, the operator can add, delete, or edit search listings. The ability to add or delete a search listing, or to modify a bid amount for a search listing, initiates the competitive bidding process described above. All search listing changes and modifications are processed in real time to support the online competitive bidding process.

1 is a block diagram of the relationship between a large network and one embodiment of a system and method for generating "pay-for-performance" search results of the present invention;

2 is a menu, display screen used in one embodiment of the present invention. A chart on the input screen.

3 is a flowchart illustrating an advertiser user login process executed in an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a flowchart illustrating an administrator user login process executed in an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram of data for account recording for use with one embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a flow chart illustrating a method of adding money to an account record used in one embodiment of the present invention.

7 is an example diagram of a search result list generated by an embodiment of the present invention;

8 is a flowchart illustrating a change competitive bidding process used in an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is an example of a screen display device used in the change competitive bidding process of Fig. 8;

A method and system are disclosed for generating pay-for-performance search results determined by a site operator, such as an advertiser, on a client/server based computer network system. The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to easily make and use the invention. For purposes of explanation, specific names are set forth to aid a thorough understanding of the present invention. Details of specific applications are provided as examples. Various modifications to the preferred embodiment are possible, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.

1 is an example of a distribution system 10 configured in a client/server architecture for use in a preferred embodiment of the present invention. A "client" is a member of a class or group that uses the services of another unrelated class or group. In the context of computer networks such as the Internet, a client is a process (ie, a program or task) that requests a service provided by another process known as a server program. The client process consumes the requested service without knowing the working details of another server program or the server itself. In networked systems, a client process is typically run on a computer that accesses a shared network resource provided by another computer running a corresponding server process. However, it should also be noted that the client process and the server process may run on the same computer.

A "server" is generally a remote computer system accessible over a communication medium such as the Internet. The client process may be active on a second computer system and may communicate with the server process over a communication medium, thereby allowing multiple clients to take advantage of the information gathering capabilities of the server. Thus, the server acts as an information provider to the computer network.

The block diagram of FIG. 1 thus shows a distribution system 10 comprising a plurality of client computers 12 , a plurality of advertiser web servers 14 , an account management server 22 , and a search engine web server 24 , All of the above components are connected to the network 20 . Network 20 will generally be referred to as the Internet. Although the system and method of the present invention are particularly useful for the Internet, the client computer 12, advertiser web server 14, account management server 22, and search engine web server 24 are among many different types of networks. It should be noted that they can be linked together via one. Such networks may include local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), and local area networks accessed over telephone lines, such as telecommunication information services. Client and server processes may include several different programs running concurrently on a single computer.

The client computer 12 may be any one of a conventional personal computer (PC), a workstation, or a computer system of various sizes. Each client 12 typically includes one or more processors, memory, input/output devices, and a network interface (eg, a modem). The advertiser web server 14, the account management server 22, and the search engine web server 24 may also have the same configuration. However, the advertiser web server 14, the account management server 22, and the search engine web server 24 may each include several computers connected by separate private communication networks. In practice, network 20 may include hundreds or thousands of individual computer networks.

The client computer 12 may execute a web browser program 16 such as a navigator, explorer, or mosaic browser program to retrieve web pages or records 30 stored on the advertiser server 14 . The browser program 16 allows the user to input the address of a particular web page 30 to be searched. These addresses are called URLs. Additionally, once a page is retrieved, the browser program 16 may provide access to another page or record when the user clicks a hyperlink to another web page. These hyperlinks are located within the web page 30 and provide an automated way for the user to enter the URL of another page and search for that page. These pages may be data records containing plain textual information, or they may be more complex multimedia details digitally encoded, such as software programs, graphics, audio signals, video, and the like.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 1, the client computer 12 utilizes the functionality provided by the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to the account management server 22, the search engine server 24, and the advertiser. It communicates via network 20 with several network information providers including server 14 . Of course, FTP, SNMP, TELNET, and many other protocols can also be used. The search engine server 24, account management server 22, and advertiser server 14 are preferably located on the World Wide Web.

As described above, two or more types of servers are contemplated in a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The first server to be considered is the account management server 22 , which includes a computer storage medium 32 and a processing system 34 . The database 38 is stored in the storage medium of the account management server 22 . Database 38 contains advertiser account information. In the following description, the system and method of the present invention may be implemented as software stored as executable instructions on a computer storage medium such as a memory or a mass storage device on the account management server 22 . An existing browser program 16 running on the client computer 12 can be used to access advertiser account information stored on the account management server 22 . Access to the account management server 22 is achieved through a firewall, and the firewall protects account management and search result replacement programs and account information from external tampering. Additional security can be provided through enhancements to standard communication protocols such as Secure HTTP or Secure Sockets Layer.

A second kind of server to be considered is the search engine web server 24 . A search engine program provides a page of interest among millions of pages available on the World Wide Web, when a network user navigates to a search engine web server URL or navigates to another web server that can submit a query to the search engine web server 24 . allow network users to distinguish between them. In a preferred embodiment, the search engine web server 24 generates a search results list comprising relevant entries obtained from and formed by the results of a competitive bidding process executed by the account management server 22 . The search engine web server 24 generates a list of hypertext links to the document containing information related to the search term entered by the user at the client computer 12 . The search engine web server transmits the list to the network user in the form of a web page, and the list is displayed on the browser 16 running on the client computer 12 . The currently preferred embodiment of a search engine web server can be found by navigating to a web page having a URL of http://www.goto.com/. Additionally, the search results list webpage, an example of which is presented in FIG. 7, will be discussed in more detail below.

The search engine web server 24 is connected to the Internet 20 . In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the search engine web server 24 includes a search database 40 comprising search listing records used to generate search results for user queries. Additionally, the search engine web server 24 may be connected to the account management server 22 . The account management server 22 may be connected to the Internet. The search engine web server 24 and the account management server 22 process different information requests of users located in the client computer 12 .

For example, a class of users located on a client computer 12 may have an advertiser webpage 30 located on an advertiser webserver 14, such as a website operator or owner that serves advertisements. It may be an information provider. An operator or advertiser of this advertisement implementation website may wish to access account information located in the storage device 32 on the account management server 22 . A website operator who conducts advertisements can participate in a competitive bidding process with other advertisers through an account located in the account management server 22 . Advertisers may bid competitively on a number of search terms related to the content of the advertiser's website. In one embodiment of the invention, the relevance of a competitive bid search term to an advertiser's website is determined through a manual editing process prior to inserting the search listing including the search term and the advertiser's website URL into the database 40 . In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the relevance of a competitive bid search term in a search listing for a corresponding website may be evaluated using a computer program running on the processor 34 of the account management server 22, wherein the computer The program will evaluate the websites corresponding to the search terms according to the specified set of editorial rules.

The higher the bid, the more desirable a position on the search results listing page generated by the search engine 24 when a search is executed using a search term that is competitively bid by the advertiser. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the value bid on by the advertiser consists of an amount deducted from the advertiser's account each time the advertiser's website is accessed via a hyperlink on the search results listing page. The searcher clicks on the hyperlink with a computer input device to initiate a search request to retrieve information associated with the advertiser's hyperlink. Access to or click on the search result list hyperlink is redirected to the search engine web server 24 to associate the click with an account identifier for the advertiser. This redirect action, invisible to the searcher, will access account identification information coded into the search results page before accessing the advertiser URL using the search results list hyperlink clicked by the searcher. Account identification information is recorded in the advertiser's account as a search request event along with information from the search request. Since the information obtained through this mechanism matches the account identifier with the URL in a way that is not possible using existing server system logs known in the art, an accurate account debit record will be maintained. A hyperlink on the advertiser's website description and search results listing page is accompanied by an indication that the advertiser's listing is a paid listing (most preferred). Each paid listing displays a "cost to advertiser", which is the "price-per-click" paid by the advertiser for each entry to the advertiser's site through the search results list. -per-click)" (most preferred).

A second class of users on the client computer 12 may include searchers looking for specific information on the Web. Searchers can access the search engine webpage 36 located on the web server 24 using their browser 16 . The search engine web page 36 includes a query box, in which a searcher can type a search term including one or more keywords. Alternatively, the searcher may query the search engine web server 24 via a query box hyperlinked to the search engine web server 24, wherein the query box is located on a web page stored on the remote web server. When the searcher has finished inputting the search term, the searcher may transmit the query to the search engine web server 24 by clicking on the presented hyperlink. The search engine web server 24 will generate a search results listing page and transmit this page from the client computer 12 to the searcher.

Searchers can click on a hypertext link associated with each listing on the search results page to access the corresponding web page. The hypertext link is accessible to the webpage from anywhere on the Internet and may include a paid listing for the advertiser's webpage (18) located on the advertiser's webserver (14). In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the search results list also includes free listings that are not located as a result of advertiser competitive bidding, which free listings include INKTOMI, LYCOS, YAHOO! This includes those generated by existing World Wide Web search engines, such as search engines. Free hypertext links may also include links that are manually displayed into database 40 by the editorial team. Free listings follow paid advertiser listings on the search results page.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating menus, display screens, and input screens presented to an advertiser accessing the account management server 22 through the existing browser program 16 . When the advertiser enters the URL of the account management server 22 into the browser program 16 of FIG. 34) calls the login process. When the advertiser logs in, the processing system 34 presents a menu 120 with a number of options and additional services for the advertiser. These items may implement an advertiser request or call a routine to request additional information before implementing the advertiser request. In one embodiment of the invention, advertisers may access several options via menu 120 . that is, request customer service ( 130 ), observe advertiser policies ( 140 ), perform account management tasks ( 150 ), add money to the advertiser account ( 160 ), and advertise accounts in search engines Manage presence ( 170 ), and view activity reports ( 180 ). Background-oriented help 190 may be available in menu 120 and all of the above options.

The login process of a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown for two types of users in FIGS. 3 and 4 . 3 shows a login process 270 for an advertiser. 4 illustrates a login process 290 for an administrator who manages and maintains the system and method of the invention. As described above, the advertiser or administrator in the client computer 12 must access the account management server using a browser program in steps 271 or 291. After the advertiser inputs the URL of the login page to initiate the login process in steps 272 or 292, the processing system 34 of the account management server 22 calls the login program in steps 274 or 294. In accordance with this program, the processor presents an input screen 110 (FIG. 2) requesting the advertiser's or administrator's username and password. This information item is provided to a security program known in the art for authentication purposes based on the account information stored in the database stored in the storage device 32 of the account management server 22 (steps 276 or 296).

According to Fig. 3, after the user has been authenticated as an advertiser, the advertiser is presented with the menu screen 120 of Fig. 2, and is provided with read/write access limited only to the corresponding advertiser account, as shown in step 278. do. Advertiser login event 278 may be recorded at step 280 into an accounting trail data structure as part of an advertiser account record in a database. An accounting trail is implemented as a series of entries in the database 38, each entry corresponding to an event accessing an advertiser account record. Accounting trail information for an account record may be observed by the account holder or other appropriate administrator.

However, if the user is authenticated as an administrator in step 295 of FIG. 4 , the administrator is provided with specific administrator access rights to all advertiser accounts as shown in step 296 . The administrator login event 296 is recorded at step 297 in the accounting trail data structure portion of the administrator's account record. This accounting trail is preferably implemented as a series of entries in the database 38, each entry corresponding to an event accessing the manager's account record. The manager's accounting trail information can be viewed by the account holder and other appropriate managers (most preferred).

Moreover, instead of the normal advertiser main menu shown to authenticated advertiser users in step 282, the authenticated administrator is provided with access to search the database 38 of advertiser accounts in step 298. A database search interface is provided to the administrator to allow the administrator to select an advertiser account to monitor. For example, the interface includes a query box, in which the administrator can input an account number, user name, or contact name corresponding to an account the administrator wants to access. When the administrator selects an advertiser account to monitor in step 299, the administrator is called to the main advertiser page 120 of FIG. 2, which is also visible to the advertiser.

Access to the account information 32 located on the account management server 22 is restricted to users who have account records in the system, and only these users are provided with a valid username and password. The password and user name information are stored in the database 38 of the account management server 22 together with the user's other account information (FIG. 1). Account information, including a user name and password, is entered into the database 38 of FIG. 1 through a separate online registration process that is beyond the scope of the present invention.

5 is a diagram illustrating the types of information contained in each advertiser account record 300 in the database. First, the advertiser account record 300 contains a username 302 and a password 304 used for online authentication as described above. The account record also includes contact information 310 (contact name, company name, address name, phone number, email address, etc.).

Contact information 310 is used for direct communication to an advertiser when an advertiser has requested notification of a key advertiser event under the notification option, as described below. Account record 300 also includes billing information 320 (eg, current balance, credit card information, etc.). Billing information 320 includes data accessed when an advertiser selects an option to add money to an advertiser's account. Additionally, some billing information, such as current balance, may trigger an event requiring notification under the notification option. Accounting trail section 325 of account record 300 contains a list of all events that access account record 300 . Each time an account record 300 is accessed or modified, a short entry is made by the administrator or advertiser describing the account access or modification in the accounting trail section of the administrator or advertiser's account that initiated the event ( 330) may be attached. Accounting trail information may be used to help create a history of transactions made by the account holder of the account.

Advertisement information section 330 contains information necessary to execute the online competitive bidding process of the present invention, wherein the location is determined for hyperlinks and website descriptions in search result lists generated by search engines. The advertisement data 330 for each user account 300 may consist of zero or more sub-accounts 340 . Each subaccount 340 includes one or more search listings 344 . Each search listing corresponds to a competitive bid for the search term. An advertiser may use subaccounts that organize multiple competitive bids for multiple search terms, or may use subaccounts that organize competitive bidding for multiple websites. Subaccounts are particularly useful for advertisers who want to look at the performance of a target market segment. The subaccount superstructure is introduced for the benefit of advertisers who wish to organize advertising effectiveness, and does not affect how the present invention works. Alternatively, the advertising information section need not contain additional organizational layers of subaccounts, but may only contain one or more search listings.

The search listing 344 corresponds to the search term/competitive bidding pair and includes key information for executing the online competitive bidding process. Each search listing contains the following information. That is, it includes a search term 352 , a website description 354 , a URL 356 , a competitive bid amount 358 , and a title 360 . The search term 352 includes one or more keywords, which may be common words in English (or in other languages). Each keyword contains of course a character string. Search terms are the subject of the online competitive bidding process. The advertiser selects a search term for which to execute a competitive bid related to the content of the advertiser's website. Ideally, advertisers could select search terms that are targeted to terms that are likely to be entered by searchers looking for information on the advertiser's website, but are less common to ensure comprehensive coverage of relevant search terms for competitive bidding. You can also select a search term.

Website description 354 is a brief textual description of the content of the advertiser's website, which may be displayed as part of the advertiser's entry in the search results list. The search listing 344 may include a title 360 of the website, which may be displayed as a hyperlinked heading to an advertiser's entry in the search results list. URL 356 includes the URL address of the advertiser's website. When a user clicks on a hyperlink provided in the advertiser's search results list entry, the URL is provided to the browser program. The browser program accesses the advertiser's website through the redirect mechanism described above. The URL may be displayed as part of the advertiser's entry in the search results list.

The competitive bid amount 358 is the value bid competitively by the advertiser for the listing. Each time a search is performed for the corresponding search term, this amount is deducted from the advertiser's prepaid account or recorded in the advertiser's account, which is charged and the search results list hyperlink is used to enter the searcher on the advertiser's website. . Finally, the rank is a value dynamically generated by the processing system 34 of the account management server 22 shown in FIG. 1 whenever an advertiser bids for a competitive bid or a search enters a search query. The ranking of an advertiser's search listing determines the position of the advertiser's entry in the search results list that occurs when a search is performed for a corresponding search term. The ranking is an order value determined by a direct relationship to the competitive bid amount 358, and the higher the competitive bid amount, the higher the ranking, and the better the position on the search result list. A rank value of 1 is assigned to the highest competitive bid amount, and the next lowest competitive bid amount corresponds to an order value (2, 3, 4...) associated with the next lowest rank.

Upon logging in, the advertiser may perform a number of straightforward actions described in menu 120 of FIG. 2 (eg, view a list of policies and rules for the advertiser, request customer service support, etc.). These items may call a routine to implement the request. For example, when "Customer Service" is selected, an input screen 130 is displayed allowing the advertiser to select the type of customer service requested. Additionally, a form may be provided on the screen 130 that allows the advertiser to type in customer reviews into a web-based input form.

When "observe advertiser policy" is selected, a routine is invoked by the processing system 34 of the account management server 22 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 2 , the routine will display an information webpage 140 . The webpage 140 describes the advertiser policy currently in effect (eg, "All search listing descriptions must have an explicit relationship to the search term").

The menu 120 of FIG. 2 also includes a "Manage Account" selection 150, which can view or change advertiser contact information and billing information, among other things, or If necessary, the advertiser's access profile can be updated. A web-based form similar to that previously mentioned as known in the art is provided for updating account information.

The "Account Management" menu also includes a selection that allows the advertiser to view the transaction history of the advertiser's account. Under the "observe transaction history" option, the advertiser may invoke a routine to view the listing of past account transactions (eg, add money to an account, add or delete bid search terms, or change competitive bids, etc.) ). Additional routines may be implemented to enable the advertiser to display specific types of transaction details, or transaction details that occur within a specific time period. Transaction information may be obtained from the accounting trail list 325 of FIG. 5 as previously described. A clickable button implemented in software, a web-based form, or a menu may be provided in a known manner to enable the advertiser to specify these restrictions.

Additionally, the "Account Management" menu 150 of FIG. 2 includes a selection that allows the advertiser to set notification options. Under this selection, the advertiser may select the option for the system to notify the advertiser when some key event has occurred. For example, an advertiser may choose to set an option for the system to send an existing e-mail message to the advertiser when the balance in the advertiser's account drops below a certain level. In this way, the advertiser may receive a "warning" to replenish the account before the account dries up (ie, the advertiser listing no longer appears in the search results list). Another key event an advertiser would like to be notified of is a change in the position of the advertiser's listing in the search results list that has occurred for a particular search term. For example, if another advertiser bids a higher value for a particular search term than the advertiser (i.e., the advertiser's listings are lower than before), the advertiser may have the system send it an existing e-mail message to the advertiser. I will make it happen When one of the key events specified by the system occurs, a database search is initiated for each search listing. The system will execute the appropriate notification routine according to the notification options specified in the advertiser's account.

In FIG. 2 , a selection to allow the advertiser to add money to the advertiser's account is also shown in menu 120 . Thus, the advertiser will have funds in the account to pay for entry to the advertiser's site through the search results page. Only advertisers with funds in the advertiser's account will be able to have paid listings included in the generated search results list (preferred). Instead of always maintaining a positive account balance, advertisers who meet selected business criteria may choose to incur account fees regardless of account balances, caused by actual entry to the advertiser's site generated by a search engine. You can also choose to pay a bill that periodically reflects the charges you receive. The process executed when the "deposit money to account" selection is invoked is illustrated in detail in FIG. 6 and begins at step 602 . When the "credit account" selection is clicked in step 604, a function is invoked that receives data identifying the advertiser and retrieves the advertiser account from the database. The execution process stores basic billing information of the advertiser and displays basic billing information for the advertiser (step 606). The displayed billing information includes a basic amount of the amount to be accumulated, a basic payment form, and basic device information.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the advertiser may use a credit card to deposit funds online in real time, although other types of payment methods may be used within the scope of the invention. For example, in an alternative embodiment of the invention, the advertiser may withdraw the desired amount from the advertiser's bank account via an electronic money verification mechanism known in the art, such as a debit card, in a manner similar to that described in US Pat. No. 5,724,424 to Gifford. You can accumulate as many funds as you want by sending them. In yet another alternative embodiment, the advertiser may use an existing paper-based check to fund his or her account. In that case, the additional funds may be updated in the account record database via manual entry. The device information further includes details regarding the payment type. For example, in the case of a credit card, device information may include the name of the credit card (eg MasterCard, Visa, or American Express), credit card number, credit card expiration date, and credit card billing information (eg, name of the claimant and billing entity). address) may be included. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, only part of the credit card number is displayed to the advertiser for security reasons.

The default value displayed to the advertiser is obtained from the persistent state. That is, it is stored in the account database. In an embodiment of the invention, the stored payment information values may include a value set by the advertiser when the last money accumulation process is called and completed for the advertiser's account. The standard billing information is displayed to the advertiser in a web-based form. Advertisers can click the appropriate text entry box on the web-based form and make changes to the standard billing information. When the advertiser has requested an update, a function is invoked by the system to validate the billing information provided by the advertiser and display it back to the advertiser for confirmation (step 610). Confirmation billing information is displayed read-only and cannot be changed by the advertiser.

The validation phase has the following functions: When a payment is claimed from an advertiser's external account, the payment is authorized and completed using the system described in US Pat. No. 5,724,424 to Gifford. However, when the payment form is credit card, the validation algorithm is called by the following system, and the validation algorithm validates the credit card number using a method such as that described in US Patent No. 5,836,241 to Stein et al. The validation algorithm validates the validity period through direct comparison with the current system date and time. Additionally, the function stores the new value instantaneously prior to confirmation by the advertiser.

If the advertiser confirms that the data displayed is correct, the advertiser may click a "confirm" button provided on the page to indicate that the account should be renewed (step 612). In step 612, the following function is called by the system. That is, the function serves to fund the appropriate account balance, update the advertiser's billing information, and attach the billing information to the advertiser's payment history. The advertiser's updated billing information is stored in a permanent state in a temporary instance.

Within the function called at step 612, credit card payment information may be called by the system at step 614 . In an alternative embodiment of the invention, another payment function, such as a credit card payment, may be invoked by defining multiple payment types according to the updated value of the payment type.

When the payment form is credit card, the user's account is immediately credited in step 616, and the user's credit card is already validated in step 610. A screen showing the status of the funded transaction is displayed, showing the number of transactions and the new current balance, reflecting the amount accumulated by the credit card transaction just completed.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, after the money is deposited into the account, the amount of funds deposited into the account may be allocated among the sub-accounts at the end of the depositing process of step 616 . If the advertiser does not have any sub-accounts, all funds in the account will be general allocation. However, if an advertiser has more than one subaccount, the system will prompt the advertiser to "allocate funds between subaccounts" and display a confirmation.

The menu selection "Allocate funds between subaccounts" may be called when funds are credited to the advertiser's account after step 616 of FIG. 6 , or may be called within the "Account Management" menu 170 shown in FIG. . The "Account Management" menu 170 is accessible from the advertiser main page 120 as shown in FIG. 2 . This "allocate funds between subaccounts"menu selection allows the advertiser to allocate the current and pending balances in the advertiser account between the advertiser subaccounts. The system will update the subaccount balance. Current balance allocations will be made in real time, and pending balance allocations will be stored in a permanent state. When a payment for a pending balance is processed, a routine will be called to update the subaccount balance to reflect the pending balance allocation. An automatic notification may be sent to the advertiser at said time upon request. This intuitive online account management and allocation allows advertisers to quickly and efficiently manage their online advertising budget. Advertisers can fund accounts and allocate budgets with easy web-based sessions. The computer-based implementation eliminates time-consuming and expensive manual entry of advertiser account transactions.

The "allocate funds between subaccounts" routine is initiated when the advertiser indicates an intention to allocate funds by invoking the appropriate menu selection at the aforementioned execution point. When the advertiser indicates an allocation intent, a function is invoked by the system to determine whether there are funds pending in the current balance that has not yet been allocated to the advertiser's subaccount, and displays a balance selection option. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, an account instance is created and the Pending Current Balance Account field is set from the permanent state.

If there are no unassigned pending funds, the system may display the current available balance for each subaccount and for the account as a whole. The advertiser distributes the current available balance between sub-accounts and submits a balance update request. A function is invoked to calculate and display the current total for the subaccount balance. The current total is stored in a temporary variable and is set as the sum of the total balances for all subaccounts for a particular advertiser. This function also validates new available subaccount balances to ensure that the total does not exceed the approved value. If the new advertiser-set available subaccount balance does not exceed the approved amount, a function to update all subaccount balances to a permanent status is invoked and displays the update value in read-only form.

If there are pending funds in the current account balance, the pending funds must be allocated separately from the available current balance. Pending funds will be credited to the available current balance when the funds are received. Therefore, advertisers should be able to immediately choose between a pending or available funding allocation. The allocation of pending funds occurs in much the same way as the selection of allocation of available funds presented earlier. After the advertiser selects a pending fund allocation, a routine is called that displays the current pending balances for the account and subaccounts. The advertiser distributes the pending subaccount balance between campaigns and submits a balance update request. This function validates new pending subaccount allocations, ensuring that allocations do not exceed certain authorized amounts. The current total of pending allocations is set as the sum of the current pending balances for all subaccounts of the advertiser. If the new user-set pending subaccount balances or the total of these balances do not exceed some approved value, this function will update all pending subaccount assignments to permanent status (i.e. advertiser accounts in the database); It will display the update value in read-only format.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the routine for displaying the account management menu 170 may be called from the observer main menu 120 . Aside from the "Allocate Funds Between Subaccounts" selection, all of the remaining selections use, to some extent, search listings that exist in the advertiser's account in the database, and may affect the advertiser's entry in the search results list. Therefore, additional content of the search result list generated by the search engine is needed at this point.

When a remote searcher accesses a search query page on the search engine web server 24 and executes a search request according to the process described above, the search engine web server 24 normalizes the search term field of each search listing in the search result list. Generates and displays a list of search results whose entries exactly match the normalized search term query entered by the remote searcher. Normalization of search terms used in search listings and queries eliminates common irregularities in search terms entered by website operators and searches, such as capitalization and pluralism, to generate relevant results. However, alternative techniques for determining a match between a search term query entered by a remote searcher and a search term field of a search listing are within the scope of the present invention. For example, string matching algorithms known in the art can be used to achieve a match, where the search listing search term and the keyword of the search term query have the same root but are not identical (eg, computing versus computer). Alternatively, a thesaurus database of synonyms may be stored in the search engine web server 24 so that matches can be generated for search terms having synonyms. Localization methods can also be used to refine some searches. For example, searches for "bakery" or "grocery store" may be restricted to the advertisers within a selected city, zip code, or telephone area code. This information may be obtained through cross-referencing of an advertiser account database stored in storage 32 on account management server 22 . Finally, internationalization methods can be used to refine searches for users outside the United States. For example, cross-referencing of an advertiser account database may result in a specific language search result.

One example of a search results list display used in one embodiment of the invention is shown in Figure 7, which displays the first several entries resulting from a search for the term "zip drive". As shown in Fig. 7, a single entry, such as an entry 710a of a search result list, consists of a description 720 of a website and a hyperlink 730, and the description 720 is a title and a short text description. Preferably, the hyperlink 730, when clicked by the searcher, directs the searcher's browser to the URL where the website being described is located. As shown in FIG. 7 , a URL 740 may be displayed in a search result list entry 710a . A "click-through" of a search result item occurs when a remote searcher viewing the search result item display 710 of FIG. 7 selects or clicks on the hyperlink 730 of the search result item display 710 . Occurs. In order to complete a "click-through", a searcher's click must be recorded at the account management server and redirected to the advertiser's URL through a redirection mechanism.

Search results list entries 710a - 710h may also show rank values of the advertiser's search listings. The rank value is an ordinal value, a number generated and assigned to a search listing by the processing system 34 of FIG. 1 . The ranking value is assigned through a software-implemented process, and a relationship is established between the competitive bid amount, the ranking, and the search terms of the search listing. In this process, all search listings matching a specific search term are collected, the search listings are sorted from the highest competitive bid amount to the lowest competitive bid amount, and a ranking value is assigned to each search listing in order. The highest competitive bid gets the highest rank value, the next highest competitive bid has the next highest rank value, and the lowest bid gets the lowest rank value. The highest rank value is 1, followed by ordinal values of 2,3,4. The relationship between the rank value and the competitive bid amount is illustrated in FIG. 7 , where each paid search list entry 710a - 710f displays an advertiser competitive bid amount 750a - 750f for that entry. If two search listings with the same search term have the same competitive bid, the earlier competitive bid will be assigned a higher ranking value. Free listings 710g-710h do not display competitive bids, they are displayed after the lowest ranked paid listing. If there are not enough listings to fill 40 slots on the search results page, free listings are displayed. Free listings are generated by search engines using object distribution databases and text search algorithms known in the art. An example of such a search engine may be operated by Inktomi Corporation. Raw search queries entered by remote searchers are used to generate free listings through existing search engines.

As shown in the campaign management menu 170 of FIG. 2 , several choices are presented to the advertiser for search listing management. First, in the "change bid" selection, the advertiser may change the bid amount of the current search listing in the account. The process called by the system for the bid amount change function is shown in FIG. 8 . After the advertiser indicates an intention to change the bid amount by selecting the "Change Bid" menu option, the system searches the user account in the database and displays a search listing for the user account's primary subaccount or all accounts (step 810). ). Search listings may be grouped into subaccounts defined by the advertiser and may contain one or more search listings. Only one subaccount can be displayed at a time. The display should allow the advertiser to change the selected subaccount, which appears in step 815 . The screen display will show a search listing for the selected subaccount (step 820).

An example of the screen display shown to the advertiser in step 810 is shown in FIG. 9 and will be described below. To change the bid amount, the advertiser user can specify a new bid amount for the search term, and for this, the advertiser already has an existing bid amount by entering a new bid amount for the search term into the new bid amount input field. The change in the bid amount input by the advertiser is displayed to the advertiser in step 820 of FIG. 8 as described above. In order to update the bid amount for the display page, the advertiser requests to update the change result in step 830 of FIG. 8 . The advertiser may send such a request to the account management server by several means, including clicking on a button graphic.

As shown in step 840 of FIG. 8 , upon receiving a request to update the advertiser bid amount, the system applies the bid amount, the ranking value, and all displayed search listings to become the highest ranked search listing matching the search term field. Calculate the current new bid amount for The system presents a display of the change in step 850 (preferably). After the user confirms the change, the system updates the permanent state by writing the change to the account in the database.

The search listing data is displayed in tabular form, and each search listing corresponds to one row of the table 900 . The search term 902 is displayed in the leftmost column, followed by the current bid amount 904 , followed by the current rank 906 of the search listing. The current rank is followed by a column labeled "Bid to be #1" 907, which is defined as the bid amount required to become the highest ranked search listing for the displayed search term. The rightmost column of each row contains a new bid amount input field 908 initially set to the current bid amount.

As shown in Fig. 9, the search listings may be displayed as "subaccounts". Each subaccount contains one search listing group, and multiple subaccounts are located within one advertiser account. Each subaccount can be displayed on a separate display page with a separate page. The advertiser should be able to change the subaccount displayed by manipulating the pull-down menu 910 on the display shown in FIG. 9 . Additionally, groups of search listings that cannot be fully displayed on one page can be separated into individually viewable pages by manipulating the pull-down menu 920 . In addition, the advertiser should be able to change the displayed page by directly clicking the pull-down menu 920 located on the display page of FIG. 9 . An advertiser may specify a new bid for a displayed search listing by entering a new bid for the search listing in the new bid input field 908 . To update the change results entered by the advertiser, the advertiser clicks on button graphic 912 to send an update request to the account management server and updates the bid amount as described above.

Several other selections listed in the "Account Management" menu 170 of FIG. 2 serve as variations of the "Change Bid" function described above. For example, if the advertiser selects the "Change Rank Position" option, the advertiser will be presented with a display similar to the display of FIG. 9 used for the "Change Bid" function. However, in the "Change Rank Position" option, the "New Bid Amount" field will be replaced by a "New Rank" field, where the advertiser will enter a new preferred ranking position for the search term. After the advertiser requests a ranking update, the system calculates the new bid price using any of several algorithms that are easy to those of ordinary skill in the art. For example, the system may call a routine that places a search listing in a search database having a desired rank/search term combination, retrieves the relevant bid for that combination, and N cents higher when N=1. bid amount can be calculated. After the system calculates the new bid and presents the read-only confirmation display to the advertiser, the system updates the bid price and rank value upon obtaining approval from the advertiser.

Selecting "Modify Listing Elements" on the account management menu 170 of FIG. 2 may result in a display similar to that of FIG. 9 . When the advertiser selects the "Modify List Elements" option, the advertiser can enter changes to the URL, title, and search list description via a web-based form set up for each search list. As in the above-mentioned process, the form of URL, title, and description fields can initially include the old URL, old title, and old description fields as default values. After the advertiser has entered the desired change, the advertiser may send a change update request to the system. The system displays a read-only confirmation screen and records the change to a permanent state (user account database) after the advertiser approves the change.

A process similar to the case described above can be implemented to change any other surrounding options related to the search listing. For example, changing matching options related to bid search terms is one example. The recalculation of the ranking or the bid amount required by the change may be determined in a manner similar to the process described above.

In the "Delete Bid Search Terms" option, the system retrieves all search listings in the advertiser's account and displays the organization's search listings in a form similar to the display of FIG. 9 . Each search listing entry may include a checkbox to be clicked by the advertiser, instead of a new bid amount field. The advertiser will click to place a check mark next to each search term to be deleted, although any other known means for selecting one or more items from a list on a webpage may be used. After the advertiser has selected all search listings to be deleted and has requested the system to update the change, the system will present a read-only confirmation of the requested change and update the advertiser's account only after the advertiser approves the change. Search listings that are "deleted" will be removed from the search database 36 and will not appear in subsequent searches. However, search listings will be maintained as part of the advertiser's account records for billing and account operation monitoring purposes.

In the "Add Bid Search Term" option, the system provides the advertiser with a display with a number of entry fields corresponding to elements of the search listing. The advertiser enters into each field information corresponding to a search listing element, including a search term, website URL, website title, website description, bid amount, and other relevant information. After the advertiser completes data entry and displays it to the system, the system returns a read-only confirmation screen to the advertiser. The system creates a new search listing instance, obtains approval from the advertiser, and records it in the account database and the search database.

The "Account Management" menu 170 of FIG. 2 provides the advertiser's "Suggestions for Bid Search Terms" selection. In this case, the advertiser enters a bid search term in a query box in the form of a form displayed to the advertiser. The system reads the search terms entered by the advertiser and generates a list of additional relevant search terms to assist the advertiser in locating the search terms relevant to the content of the advertiser's website. Additional search terms are generated using methods such as a software-implemented thesaurus database or string matching algorithm applied to a database of bid search terms. An advertiser may select a search term to bid on from a list generated by the system. In this case, the system displays to the advertiser the entry field described above for the "add bid search term" selection. At this time, a form for entering a search listing for each search term is selected. The selected search term is inserted as a reference value in the form for each search listing. Default values for other search listing elements can be inserted into the form if needed.

The "Account Management" menu 170 of FIG. 2 preferably also provides an "Expensive" option to the advertiser. In this selection, the advertiser specifies a search listing or sub-account, for which the advertiser will predict "daily run rate" and "remaining time to expiry". The system calculates a forecast based on the costing algorithm and displays the forecast on a read-only screen to the advertiser. This predicted value can be calculated using several other algorithms known in the art. However, since the cost of a search listing is calculated by multiplying the bid amount by the total frequency of clicks received by the search listing at the bid amount during a certain period of time, any costing algorithm must determine an estimated monthly frequency for the search listing. Clicks in a search listing may be counted through the implementation of a software counting mechanism as is known in the art. Clicks on all search listings are viewed over time, and this data can be used to generate aggregate and monthly click estimates for individual search terms. For a particular search term, an estimated frequency of searches per day is determined and multiplied by the click cost. This product is multiplied by the ratio of the average frequency of clicks to the average frequency of impressions for the interrogative search listing rank to get the daily actuation rate. The current balance can be divided by the daily run rate to get a predicted number of days until "expiration" or depletion of account funds.

One embodiment of the invention is based on a costing algorithm on a simple predictor model that assumes that all search terms perform in a similar manner. This model assumes that the ranking of advertiser search listings will remain constant and will not fluctuate from month to month. This algorithm has the advantage of fast computation and simple implementation. The predictor model is based on the fact that the click-through ratio is considered to be a function of the ranking of the search listing. Therefore, this model assumes that the usage curve of each search term, that is, the curve generated when the frequency of clicks in the search listing is graphed with respect to the ranking of the search listing, is similar to the usage curve of all search terms. Therefore, for the sum of all clicks for all search terms, the sum of all clicks in a given rank for all search terms, and for the sum of all clicks for the selected search term, the known value extrapolated to time is used in simple proportions. to determine a total of all clicks for a given rank for the selected search term. The estimated daily total of all clicks for the selected search term in the selected rank is multiplied by the advertiser's current bid for the search term in the rank to determine a daily cost calculation. Additionally, if a particular search term or class of search terms is known to differ significantly from the general pattern, corrections specific to the search term, advertiser, or other parameter may be inserted to fine-tune the estimated cost estimate.

Finally, the "Account Management" menu 170 of FIG. 2 provides several options for viewing information related to an advertiser's campaign. The "View Subaccount Information" selection displays read-only information related to the selected subaccount. The "View Search Term List" selection displays the advertiser's selected list of search terms along with their corresponding URLs, bids, and ranks, preferably grouped by sub-accounts. The advertiser may view the current top bids for a set of search terms selected from a list of search terms from a read-only display generated by the system upon receiving the requested search term from the advertiser.

For advertisers needing a more comprehensive report of their search listing activity, the "View Report" option may be selected from the advertiser main page 120 of FIG. 2 . In an embodiment of the invention, the "observe report" option generates a comprehensive report for the year preceding today's date. For example, a daily report is available for each of the preceding 7 days, a weekly report is for the preceding 4 weeks, a monthly report is for each of the preceding 12 months, and a quarterly report is available for each of the last 4 quarters. available Additional reports may also be generated depending on the advertiser's interest. Other defined report types include activities that are monitored during the following time period: That is, it includes activities that are looked at over an annual, monthly, quarterly, monthly, or weekly basis since the account was opened. Report categories may include detailed reports viewable by advertiser accounts, search listings, URLs, and summary reports viewable by advertiser accounts and subaccounts. The report may include identifying data such as advertiser account and subaccount names, the date covered by the report, and the report type. Additionally, the report may include key search listing account data such as current balance, current balance pending, daily average account debit, and run rate. Furthermore, the report may also include key data such as search term, URL, bid amount, current ranking, click frequency, frequency of searches performed for the search term, number of impressions, and click-through ratio. Reports are available in HTML viewing options for viewing, printing or downloading via a browser program. However, other viewing options may also be available, such as Adobe Acrobat, PostScript, ASCII II text, spreadsheet interchange formats (eg CSV, tab-limited), and paper format.

When the advertiser selects the "View Reports" option, the system invokes a function that displays a list of available report types, dates, categories, and viewing options. The system creates a report instance with the fields of Report Type, Report Date, Report Category, and Observation Options, all of which are initially set to zero. If the advertiser has specified the aforementioned parameters, the system calls a function to generate the requested report based on the advertiser-set parameters, and a function to display the report based on the observation options parameter. .

Finally, a preferred embodiment of the invention implements an option for background-oriented help that an advertiser may request at any time the advertiser is logged in. A help option may be implemented as a small icon or button placed on a display image generated by the system. The advertiser may click on a button graphic or icon on the display page to request help, and the system accordingly generates and displays a help page keyed to the particular display function the user is viewing. This help may be implemented as a separate display page, a search indicator, a dialog box, or other known methods.