Integrated pay per click and pay per call listings
View Patent ↗A response subsystem includes a plurality of listings, with at least one listing associated with a first type of per-hit fee and at least one second listing associated with a second type of per-hit fee. A translation subsystem is configured to translate between the first type of per-hit fee and the second type of per-hit fee.
1. A method, comprising:
identifying, by a server, in response to a search request, a plurality of listings, each of the listings being associated with a product or service and with a per-hit fee that is one of a first type of per-hit fee and a second type of per-hit fee, at least one of the listings being associated with the first type of per-hit fee and at least one a different one of the listings being associated with the second type of per-hit fee; and
storing a translation factor that is determined at least in part according to at least one of: a category attribute, a geography attribute, and an advertiser associated with one of the listings;
for each of the listings associated with the second type of per-hit fee, retrieving the translation factor and applying a translation factor to the per-hit fee associated with the listing to the first type of per-hit fee to produce a translated per-hit fee;
generating an adjusted budget amount for at least some of the listings, and for storing the adjusted budget amount in a database; and
displaying the listings according to an order determined at least in part by the per-hit fees that are the first type of per-hit fee and the translated per-hit fees.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one listing associated with the second type of per-hit fee does not include a hyperlink to information relating to an advertiser associated with the listing.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising charging a fee according to the greater of a bid amount and an amount of an adjusted successful bid.
4. A method comprising:
receiving a bid for a pay-per-call listing;
receiving a call to a first telephone number included in the pay-per-call listing and forwarding the call to a second number that is associated with the pay-per-call listing;
determining by a server that the first telephone number included in the listing has been called; and
storing an adjusted budget remainder based on the bid.
5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
translating the bid according to a translation factor;
displaying the pay-per-call listing; and
reverse translating the bid before adjusting the budget remainder.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising automatically adjusting said translation factor according to at least one of: a category attribute, a geography attribute, an advertiser associated with one of the listings, and an amount of revenue received from a type of per-hit fee.
7. The method of claim 4 , further comprising further adjusting the budget remainder if the bid is less than a lowest pay-per-call bid amount associated with a set of listings.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first type of per-hit fee is a pay-per-click fee and the second type of per-hit fee is a pay-per-call fee.
9. A computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions tangibly embodied thereon, the instructions comprising instructions for:
identifying, in response to a search request, a plurality of listings, each of the listings being associated with a product or service and with a per-hit fee that is one of a first type of per-hit fee and a second type of per-hit fee, at least one of the listings being associated with the first type of per-hit fee and at least one of a different one the listings being associated with the second type of per-hit fee;
storing a translation factor that is determined at least in part according to at least one of: a category attribute, a geography attribute, and an advertiser associated with one of the listings;
for each of the listings associated with the second type of per-hit fee, retrieving the translation factor and applying a translation factor to the per-hit fee associated with the listing to the first type of per-hit fee to produce a translated per-hit fee;
generating an adjusted budget amount for at least some of the listings, and for storing the adjusted budget amount in a database; and
displaying the listings according to an order determined at least in part by the per-hit fees that are the first type of per-hit fee and the translated per-hit fees.
10. The medium of claim 9 , wherein the first type of per-hit fee is a pay-per-click fee and the second type of per-hit fee is a pay-per-call fee.
11. The medium of claim 9 , wherein at least one listing associated with the second type of per-hit fee does not include a hyperlink to information relating to an advertiser associated with the listing.
12. The medium of claim 9 , the instructions further including instructions for charging a fee according to the greater of a bid amount and an amount of an adjusted successful bid.