The computer system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 represents a typical computer setup for executing software that allows a user to perform tasks such as communicating with other computer users, accessing various computer resources, and viewing, creating, or otherwise manipulating electronic content—that is, any combination of text, images, movies, music or other sounds, animations, 3D virtual worlds, and links to other objects. The system includes input/output (I/O) devices (e.g., a mouse 103, a keyboard 105, and a display 107) and a general purpose computer 110 having a central processor unit (CPU) 115, an I/O unit 120 and a memory 125. The memory 125 stores data and various programs such as an operating system 130, and one or more application programs 135. The computer 110 also typically includes some sort of communications card or device 140 (e.g., a modem or network adapter) for exchanging data with a network 145 through a communications link 150 (e.g., a telephone line).
As shown in FIG. 2, a user of a computer system 200 can access electronic content or other resources either stored locally at the user's own client system 205 (for example, a personal or laptop computer) or remotely at one or more server systems 210. Communications between the client system 205 and the server system 210 may be provided, for example, by a direct dial up through a modem 215 and a telephone network 220, or through a network connection 225 using, for example, the TCP/IP protocol.
An example of a server system 210 is a host computer that provides subscribers with online computer services such as e-mail, e-commerce, chat rooms, Internet access, and electronic newspapers and magazines. Users of a host computer's online services typically communicate with one or more central server systems 210 through client software executing on their respective client systems 205.
In typical practice, a server system 210 will not be a single monolithic entity. Rather, it will be a network of interconnected server computers, possibly physically dispersed from each other, each dedicated to its own set of duties and/or to a particular geographical region. In such a case, the individual servers are interconnected by a network of communication links. One such server system is provided by America Online, Inc. of Virginia.
A “browser” is an example of client software that enables users to access and view electronic content stored either locally or remotely, such as in a network environment (e.g., a local area network (LAN), an intranet, or the Internet). A browser typically is used for displaying documents described in Hyper-Text Markup Language (HTML) and stored on servers connected to a network such as the Internet. A user instructs a browser to access an HTML document, or web page, by specifying a network address—or Uniform Resource Locator (URL)—at which a desired document resides. In response, the browser contacts the corresponding server hosting the requested web page, retrieves the one or more files that make up the web page, and then displays the web page in a window on the user's computer screen.
FIG. 3 is a screenshot of a browser application 300 (Microsoft Internet Explorer) displaying a typical HTML document, or web page 302. As shown therein, a single web page 302 may be composed of several different files that may be of different data types 304 (for example, text, graphics, images, virtual worlds, sounds, or movies). In addition, a web page can include links 306 pointing to other resources (for example, web pages or individual files) available on the network. Links 306 can take virtually any visual form. For example, a link can appear either as a text string, a graphical image, or a combination of the two. Each link 306 has an associated URL pointing to a location on the network. When a user clicks on, or otherwise selects, a displayed link 306, the browser automatically retrieves the web page (or other resource) corresponding to the link's associated URL and displays it to, or executes it for, the user.
Many commercial web-site operators generate revenue by displaying advertisements (or ads) on their web pages. A typical ad is displayed as a “banner”—a generally rectangular graphic image that serves as a link to another web site or URL. FIG. 3, for example, shows a web page that includes four ads 307-310.
Typically, ads are sold on the basis of cost per thousand impressions (CPM). The definition of an impression varies between advertising mediums. For example, when a radio station plays a commercial, each person tuned to that station counts as an impression. For billboards, each passing motorist that views the billboard counts as an impression. Likewise, each person that is likely to read a display ad in a magazine counts as an impression for that ad. In an interactive media, such as the Internet, each computer screen to which a promotional message is delivered counts as an impression. In all cases, it is the potential that the person saw or heard the ad that constitutes an impression; it is not necessary for the person to actually mentally register the ad or respond to it.
The term “inventory” is used to define the number of potential impressions that an advertising vehicle can generate within a given time frame. For example, an owner of ten billboards on a highway with 10,000 passing motorists a day has a daily inventory of 100,000 ad impressions. This inventory then is sold (e.g., as a paid ad on the billboard). Most advertising inventory is sold in minimum units of 1,000 impressions. The CPM charged to an advertiser varies widely; for example, a late night cable TV ad might be sold at $1 CPM while direct response ads for premium products to a very targeted audience might be sold at $200 CPM. Internet advertising typically is sold anywhere in the $1-$120 range, with most sales falling in the $20-$40 range.
Advertisers create media plans that detail the specifics of an advertising campaign. Typical elements of a media plan include: (1) a budget; (2) a time frame; (3) a target audience; (4) reach (how many people should see the advertising); (5) frequency (how often each person should see the advertising); (6) quantity (derived from the product of reach and frequency); and (7) placement (where the advertising should be presented, such as, for example, on the Internet, on radio, or in a newspaper. Media plans can vary dramatically based on the product being marketed. For example, a movie studio may want to reach a large percentage of the U.S. population within one week of a major blockbuster release, with each person seeing or hearing an ad for the movie at least five times. The movie studio's media plan might call for placement of advertising on primetime television on all major television networks as well as on drive-time radio on the top three radio stations in every major market.
On the other hand, a high-risk, high-yield mutual fund company interested in marketing a mutual fund product to sophisticated investors with money to invest might want to target only the wealthiest one percent of the U.S. population, with each person seeing the ad twenty times over a three-month period. The mutual fund company's media plan might call for placement of advertising on news and business cable stations, in The Wall Street Journal, and in investor publications. Comparing total spending on their media plans, the movie studio is likely to spend more money on its four-day campaign than the mutual fund company will spend on its three-month campaign. However, because of its placement and targeting, the mutual fund company is likely to purchase its advertising at a much higher CPM.
Similar media plans can be developed for owners of computer network environments, such as web page hosts and operators. Different web pages may be targeted at different audiences with different interests. Some web pages may be general in nature while others may be specific. For example, FIG. 3, which is a screen shot of AOL Inc.'s web page http://www.aol.com, illustrates an example of a general web page. Some of the links 306 to other web pages that can be accessed from that page are specific, such as the gardening web page 320 shown in FIG. 4. Accordingly, ads placed on the general web page 302 are more likely to be seen by a larger audience than ads placed on the gardening web page 320. However, ads placed on the gardening web page 320 are more likely to be seen by viewers interested in gardening and, therefore, the CPM of impressions sold for the gardening web page are likely to be higher than the CPM of impressions sold for the general web page 302.
Advertising is prevalent on web sites, web TV systems, and browsers, and is likely to experience increased use in these and other computer network-based applications because it provides a source of income for web site operators, just as it does for owners of television stations, billboards, radio stations, and magazines. This income, in turn, may be used to subsidize the cost of the web site and services offered by the website to the end user, and often may make the services free to the end user.
A web page, when displayed in a browser, occupies some portion of the available “real estate” (i.e., visible area) of a user's display monitor. The screen real estate occupied by a given web page typically is divided among ads, links, substantive information, and search engines. Each different type of web page content (e.g., ads, links, or substantive information) can be associated with a different screen real estate area.
As shown in FIG. 5, which shows different types of web page content, in a web page 500, links 505 appear at one screen area, substantive information 510 appears at another screen area, ads 515 appear at yet another screen area, and so on. When new web page content is to be displayed to a user, the web page typically will be redisplayed with the old content being replaced by new content of the same type and positioned at the same screen area. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, which shows a screenshot of the same web page as FIG. 5 when accessed at another time, ad 515 has been replaced by another ad 520 in the same screen real estate area 523. In this example, the ad displayed in screen real estate area 523 alternates between two advertisers and, further, referring also to FIG. 7, between ad 520 and a related ad 530 displayed in screen real estate area 523 each time that the web page is accessed. The design of the display and its changing nature are intended to offer variety in the ads appearing in screen real estate area 523.
Users viewing content on the Internet typically do not view an entire page devoted only to advertising. As illustrated in FIGS. 5-7, web pages typically include substantive content or serve as a “menu” with links to other sites having substantive content. Although web pages potentially could consist entirely of ads, typically it is the substantive content that draws viewers to a particular web page and retains their interest. Accordingly, ads generally are displayed in less obtrusive screen real estate, such as in an upper or lower corner. To encourage a user to notice an ad, and to retain the user's attention, marketing researchers have developed techniques relating to the display of content in the screen's advertising real estate. These techniques include varying the ads displayed on a certain screen over time, displaying animated or static graphic interface format (GIF) files, generating sounds, displaying interactive ads, and varying the sponsor and content of the ads.