TUNABLE SYSTEM FOR GEOGRAPHICALLY-BASED ONLINE ADVERTISING

1 . A method for presenting advertisement images on a display screen, comprising:

subdividing a map image into a plurality of geographic regions;

associating first and second advertisement images with a region within the plurality of geographic regions, the first advertisement image being associated with a first advertiser and the second advertisement image being associated with a second advertiser;

receiving a signal indicative of a region-of-interest, the region-of-interest corresponding to the region;

selecting an advertisement image for the region from among the first and second advertisement images;

generating a presentation of the region-of-interest, the presentation including a view of the advertisement image; and,

displaying the presentation on the display screen.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the selecting includes determining the lesser of: a first distance between the region and a first location associated with the first advertiser; and, a second distance between the region and a second location associated with the second advertiser.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the selecting includes determining the lesser of: a first number of regions associated with the first advertiser; and, a second number of regions associated with the second advertiser.

4 . The method of claim 1 wherein the selecting includes determining which of a first number of regions associated with the first advertiser and a second number of regions associated with the second advertiser does not exceed a maximum allowable number of regions.

5 . The method of claim 4 wherein the maximum allowable number of regions is a maximum allowable number of adjacent regions.

6 . The method of claim 1 wherein the region includes the region-of-interest.

7 . The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second advertisement images are a plurality of advertisement images and the first and second advertisers are a respective plurality of advertisers.

8 . A method for presenting advertisement images on a display screen, comprising:

subdividing a map image into first and second pluralities of geographic regions, the first and second pluralities of geographic regions having corresponding regions, whereby a region within the first plurality of geographic regions is included within the second plurality of geographic regions;

associating a first advertisement image with the region within the first plurality of geographic regions and associating a second advertisement image with the region within the second plurality of geographic regions, the first advertisement image being associated with a first advertiser and the second advertisement image being associated with a second advertiser;

receiving a signal indicative of a region-of-interest, the region-of-interest corresponding to the region;

selecting an advertisement image for the region from among the first and second advertisement images;

generating a presentation of the region-of-interest, the presentation including a view of the advertisement image; and,

displaying the presentation on the display screen.

9 . The method of claim 8 wherein the selecting includes comparing a first probability of selection of the first plurality of geographic regions to a second probability of selection of the second plurality of geographic regions.

10 . The method of claim 9 wherein the first and second probabilities are derived from respective relative dwell times.

11 . The method of claim 8 wherein the selecting includes determining which of a first number of regions associated with the first advertiser and a second number of regions associated with the second advertiser does not exceed a maximum allowable number of regions.

12 . The method of claim 8 wherein the region includes the region-of-interest.

13 . The method of claim 8 wherein the corresponding regions are coincident regions.

14 . The method of claim 8 wherein the first and second pluralities of geographic regions are a plurality of pluralities of geographic regions, the first and second advertisement images are a plurality of advertisement images, and the first and second advertisers are a respective plurality of advertisers.