Automated quote generation and advertising buy placements

1 . A method comprising:

transmitting buying criteria to a remote user, wherein an enterprise hub operatively coupled to a network transmits the buying criteria via the network;

receiving buying criteria inputs corresponding to the transmitted buying criteria, wherein the buying criteria inputs specify an advertiser request to buy advertising placements on at least two remotely located media outlets;

computing a quote of providing the advertising placements based on the buying criteria inputs;

associating an identifier to the quote;

transmitting the quote having an estimated cost associated with the buying criteria inputs;

storing the identifier and the quote in an enterprise database operatively coupled to the enterprise hub;

determining at least one quote acceptance constraint based on predetermined criteria;

receiving an acceptance communication in response to the quote

approving the acceptance communication based on the at least one quote acceptance constraint, the approval associated with at least one remotely located media outlet; and

transmitting instructions of advertising placements to the associated at least one remotely located media outlet.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the buying criteria include market, media outlets, dates, days, daypart, advertisement length and demographic criteria.

3 . The method of claim 1 further comprising filtering the buying criteria, wherein the displaying buying criteria displays the filtered buying criteria.

4 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining if the acceptance communication has been received;

if the acceptance communication is not yet received, determining if a price freeze period has expired;

if the price freeze period has expired, repeat the computing a quote; and

if the price freeze period has not expired, repeat the determining if the acceptance communication has been received.

5 . The method of claim 4 wherein determining if the acceptance communication has been received comprises:

receiving a communication; and

determining whether the communication includes the identifier.

6 . The method of claim 4 wherein repeating the computing a quote computes a new quote based on the buying criteria inputs and applicable business rules.

7 . The method of claim 1 wherein the computing a quote comprises:

determining a contract price for advertising placements;

determining a percentage of advertising placements sold over advertising placements available; and

modifying the contract price based on the determined percentage.

8 . The method of claim 7 wherein the computing a quote utilizes a plurality of pricing modifications corresponding to percentage ranges and modifying the contract price comprises:

determining which pricing modification of the plurality of pricing modifications the determined percentage corresponds to; and

applying the determined pricing modification to the contract price.

9 . The method of claim 7 further comprising selecting an advertising partner, wherein the determining a contract price determines the contract price based on the selected advertising partner.

10 . A system comprising:

a database operatively coupled to a network and a processor, the database adapted to store identifiers and quotes,

a processor operatively coupled to a network and the database wherein the processor is adapted to:

transmit buying criteria to a remote user;

receive buying criteria inputs corresponding to the transmitted buying criteria, wherein the buying criteria inputs specify an advertiser request to buy advertising placements on at least two remotely located media outlets;

compute a quote of providing the advertising placements based on the buying criteria inputs;

associate an identifier to the quote;

transmit a the quote having an estimated cost associated with the buying criteria inputs,

store the identifier and the quote in the database;

determine at least one quote acceptance constraint based on predetermined criteria;

receive an acceptance communication in response to the quote

approve the acceptance communication based on the at least one quote acceptance constraint, the approval associated with at least one remotely located media outlet; and

transmit instructions of advertising placements to the associated at least one remotely located media outlet.

11 . The system of claim 10 wherein the buying criteria include market, media outlets, dates, days, daypart, advertisement length and demographic criteria.

12 . The system of claim 10 wherein the processor is further adapted to filter the buying criteria, wherein the computer is adapted to display the filtered buying criteria.

13 . The system of claim 10 wherein the processor is further adapted to

determine if the acceptance communication has been received;

if the acceptance communication is not yet received, determine if a price freeze period has expired;

if the price freeze period has expired, re-compute a quote; and

if the price freeze period has not expired, re-determine if the acceptance communication has been received.

14 . The system of claim 14 wherein the processor is further adapted to repeat the quote computation by computing a new quote based on the buying criteria inputs and applicable business rules.

15 . The system of claim 14 wherein the processor is adapted to determine if the acceptance communication has been received by:

receiving a communication; and

determining whether the communication includes the identifier.

16 . The system of claim 10 wherein the processor is adapted to compute a quote by:

determining a contract price for advertising placements;

determining a percentage of advertising placements sold over advertising placements available; and

modifying the contract price based on the determined percentage.

17 . The system of claim 16 wherein the processor utilizes a plurality of pricing modifications corresponding to percentage ranges and the processor is adapted to modify the contract price by:

determining which pricing modification of the plurality of pricing modifications the determined percentage corresponds to; and

applying the determined pricing modification to the contract price.

18 . The system of claim 16 wherein the processor is further adapted to select an advertising partner, wherein the contract price determination determines the contract price based on the selected advertising partner.

19 . A computer program product comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code configured to:

transmit buying criteria to a remote user;

receive buying criteria inputs corresponding to the transmitted buying criteria, wherein the buying criteria inputs specify an advertiser request to buy advertising placements on at least two remotely located media outlets;

compute a quote of providing the advertising placements based on the buying criteria inputs;

associate an identifier to the quote;

transmit a the quote having an estimated cost associated with the buying criteria inputs;

store the identifier and the quote in a database;

determine at least one quote acceptance constraint based on predetermined criteria;

receive an acceptance communication in response to the quote;

approve the acceptance communication based on the at least one quote acceptance constraint, the approval associated with at least one remotely located media outlet; and

transmit instructions of advertising placements to the associated at least one remotely located media outlet.

20 . The computer program product of claim 19 wherein the buying criteria include market, media outlets, dates, days, daypart, advertisement length and demographic criteria.

21 . The computer program product of claim 19 wherein the computer program code is further configured to filter the buying criteria, wherein the computer is adapted to display the filtered buying criteria.

22 . The computer program product of claim 19 wherein the computer program code is further configured to:

determine if the acceptance communication has been received;

if the acceptance communication is not yet received, determine if a price freeze period has expired;

if the price freeze period has expired, re-compute the quote; and

if the price freeze period has not expired, re-determine if the acceptance communication has been received.

23 . The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the computer program code is further configured to re-compute the quote by computing a new quote based on the buying criteria inputs and applicable business rules.

24 . The computer program product of claim 23 wherein the computer program code is configured to determine if the acceptance communication has been received by:

receiving a communication; and

determining whether the communication includes the identifier.

25 . The computer program product of claim 19 wherein the computer program code is configured to compute a quote by:

determining a contract price for advertising placements;

determining a percentage of advertising placements sold over advertising placements available; and

modifying the contract price based on the determined percentage.

26 . The computer program product of claim 25 wherein the computer program code utilizes a plurality of pricing modifications corresponding to percentage ranges and the computer program code is configured to modify the contract price by:

determining which pricing modification of the plurality of pricing modifications the determined percentage corresponds to; and

applying the determined pricing modification to the contract price.

27 . The computer program product of claim 25 wherein the computer program code is further configured to select an advertising partner, wherein the contract price determination determines the contract price based on the selected advertising partner.