METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ADJUSTING BALANCE OF ACCOUNT OF ADVERTISER IN KEYWORD ADVERTISEMENT

1 . A method for adjusting the account balance of an advertiser in keyword advertising, the method comprising the steps of:

maintaining an advertiser information database, the advertiser information database including bidding price information, minimum balance for account maintenance, and information on the account balance for at least one advertiser's account which is associated with at least one keyword and search listing of the advertiser;

receiving a search request having at least one keyword from a user;

retrieving a search result list in response to the search request from the search result database associated with the at least one keyword the search result list including at least one search listing which is associated with an advertiser's account such that the advertiser's account is charged the bid amount if the search listing is selected;

identifying minimum balance for account maintenance and information on the account balance associated with the search result by referring to the advertiser information database, in case that the search result list is retrieved;

ordering the search listings into a search result list in accordance with the bid information and the account balance; and

charging to the advertiser's account associated with the selected search listing,

wherein the advertiser's account is charged for an amount by a predetermined first period if the account balance is more than the minimum balance for account maintenance, the amount for the predetermined first period is computed by using the bidding price and the number of accumulated clicks about the selected search listing and the advertiser's account is charged for advertising cost-per-click in real time if the account balance is below the minimum balance for account maintenance and more than the advertising cost-per-click.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the minimum balance for account maintenance is computed by performing the steps of:

a) generating log information associated with a selection of the search result, in which the log information includes selection time point information with respect to a time point when the search result is selected;

b) computing the average number of clicks which is an average of the number of clicks where the search result is selected for the first period by referring to the generated log information; and

c) computing the minimum balance for account maintenance associated with the search result by using the bidding price information and the average number of clicks.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the steps b) and c) are performed in case that bidding price information associated with the search result changes, or performed periodically per predetermined period.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:

computing the advertising cost-per-click by using bidding price information associated with the search result selected by the user, in case that the account balance searched in association with the selected search result is less than the searched minimum balance for account maintenance.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:

removing the search result from the search result list in real time, in case that the account balance associated with the selected search result is less than the computed advertising cost-per-click as a result of subtracting the computed advertising cost-per-click in real time; and

updating the search result database by using the search result list from which the search list is removed.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the advertising cost-per-click is numerical value information subtracting the account balance associated with the search result at a time, in interoperation with one-time click selection of a user with respect to the search result.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:

changing bidding price information associated with a bidding price changing signal of the advertiser information database in real time, in case that the bidding price changing signal is received from an advertiser.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:

changing the account balance associated with an account balance charging signal, thereby updating the advertiser information database, in case that the account balance charging signal is received,

wherein the account balance charging signal is generated in association with a credit card payment approval or receipt of cash.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of increasing the number of clicks with respect to the search result comprises the steps of:

generating log information associated with a selection of the search result, in which the log information includes network address information with respect to a terminal of the user who has selected the search result and selection time point information with respect to a time point when the search result is selected;

determining whether a selection of the search result is valid by referring to log information generated for the first period; and

increasing the number of clicks only with respect to a selection of search results determined to be valid.

10 . The method of claim 9 , comprising the steps of:

additionally determining whether a selection of the search result is valid by referring to the log information generated for a predetermined second period; and

correcting the account balance associated with the search result, in case that the result of the validity determination with respect to the first period and that of the validity determination with respect to the second period are different each other as a result of additional determination;

wherein the second period is longer than the first period.

11 . A method for adjusting the account balance of an advertiser in keyword advertising, the method comprising the steps of:

maintaining an advertiser information database for storing predetermined bidding price information corresponding to a search result including a predetermined keyword and information on the account balance associated with the search result;

generating a search result list including at least one search result associated with the predetermined keyword on the basis of the bidding price information, thereby maintaining the generated search result list in a search result database;

changing bidding price information associated with a predetermined bidding price changing signal of the advertiser information database in real time, in case that the bidding price changing signal is received;

periodically computing advertising cost of a first period associated with the search result by using the number of clicks that a user selects the search result and bidding price information associated with the search result from the search result list;

subtracting the computed advertising cost from the account balance associated with the search result per the first period; and

updating the advertiser information database by using information on the subtracted account balance.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the step of generating a search result list, thereby maintaining the generated search result list in a search result database is periodically performed per a predetermined second period.

13 . A computer readable record medium recording a program for implementing the method recited in claim 11 .

14 . A system for adjusting the account balance of an advertiser in keyword advertising, the system comprising:

an advertiser information database, the advertiser information database including bidding price information, minimum balance for account maintenance, and information on the account balance for at least one advertiser's account which is associated with at least one keyword and search listing of the advertiser;

a search result database, the search result database generating and storing a search result list including at least one search result associated with a predetermined keyword on the basis of the bidding price information;

an interface unit receiving a selection of a search result from a user who has received the search result list;

an account search unit searching for information on minimum balance for account maintenance and the account balance associated with a search result included in the search result list by referring to the advertiser information database, in case that the search result list is generated;

a click accumulation unit increasing the number of clicks with respect to the search result, only in case that the account balance searched in association with the selected search result is more than the minimum balance for account maintenance;

advertising cost computation unit computing advertising cost of a predetermined first period by using the number of accumulated clicks and bidding price information associated with the search result, after the first period elapses; and

an account updating unit subtracting the computed advertising cost from the account balance associated with the search result and updating the advertiser information database by using information on the subtracted account balance if the account balance is more than the minimum balance for account maintenance, the account updating unit subtracting the advertising cost-per-click from the account balance in response to receipt of the selection if the searched account balance is below the minimum balance and more than the advertising cost-per-click.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein:

the advertising cost computation unit computes advertising cost-per-click associated with a selection of the search result by using the bidding price information, in case that the account balance searched in association with the selected search result is less than the minimum balance for account maintenance.

16 . The system of claim 14 , further comprising a validity determination unit determining the validity with respect to a selection of the received search result, wherein:

the validity determination unit computes a validity determination result with respect to the selection at a time point when the selection is received and per a predetermined period, respectively, and controls the account updating unit to correct the account balance on the basis of the computed determination result.

17 . A computer readable record medium recording a program for implementing the method recited in claim 1.