SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SELLING AND DISPLAYING ADVERTISEMENTS OVER A NETWORK

1 - 25 . (canceled)

26 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving a request for advertising content, the request comprising a selection criterion associated with a web page;

identifying, in response to the request, a plurality of advertisements associated with an advertiser;

obtaining contextual information identifying a relevance of the identified advertisements to content within the web page; and

selecting, using at least one processor, a first one of the advertisements for display at a predetermined location within the web page, and a second one of the advertisements for display at a location within the web page that is contextually relevant to the second advertisement, the selection being based on the selection criterion and the contextual information.

27 . The method of claim 26 , further comprising:

computing, based on the contextual information, metrics indicative of the relevance of corresponding ones of the advertisements to the content; and

selecting the second advertisement based on the metrics and the selection criterion.

28 . The method of claim 27 , wherein the selected second advertisement is associated with a maximum of the metrics.

29 . The method of claim 27 , further comprising:

obtaining a subset of the advertisements associated with metrics that exceed a threshold relevance value; and

selecting the second advertisement from the subset based on the selection criterion.

30 . The method of claim 26 , further comprising:

computing metrics indicative of at least one of (i) a past performance of the advertisements on the web page, (ii) a maximum bid associated with the advertisements, or (iii) an actual price paid for the advertisements by an advertiser; and

selecting the second advertisement based on the metrics and the selection criterion.

31 . The method of claim 26 , wherein the selecting comprises:

identifying candidate advertisements based on the selection criterion and the contextual information;

computing, for the web page, yield scores associated with corresponding ones of the candidate advertisements; and

selecting one of the candidate advertisements as the second advertisement based on the yield score.

32 . The method of claim 32 , wherein the computing comprises computing the yield scores based on at least one of (i) metrics indicative of a relevance of the candidate advertisements to the web page, (ii) maximum bid prices associated with the candidate advertisements, (ii) past performances of the candidate advertisements on the web page, (iii) costs-per-click associated with the candidate advertisements, or (iv) actual prices associated with the candidate advertisements.

33 . The method of claim 31 , wherein the selected second advertisement is associated with a maximum of the yield scores.

34 . The method of claim 26 , wherein:

the web page content comprises at least one of metadata, textual content, or graphical content; and

the second advertisement comprises at least a portion of the first advertisement.

35 . The method of claim 26 , wherein the selection criterion comprises at least one of a location of an advertising region within the web page, a size of the advertising region, a format of the advertising region, a publisher of the web page, or a user preference for an advertisement.

36 . An apparatus, comprising:

a storage device that stores a set of instructions; and

at least one processor coupled to the storage device, the at least one processor being operative with the set of instructions in order to:

receive a request for advertising content, the request comprising a selection criterion associated with a web page:

identify, in response to the request, a plurality of advertisements associated with an advertiser;

obtain contextual information identifying a relevance of the identified advertisements to content within the web page: and

select a first one of the advertisements for display at a predetermined location within the web page, and a second one of the advertisements for display at a location within the web page that is contextually relevant to the second advertisement, the selection being based on the selection criterion and the contextual information.

37 . The apparatus of claim 36 , wherein the at least one processor is further operative with the set of instructions to:

compute, based on the contextual information, metrics indicative of the relevance of corresponding ones of the advertisements to the content; and

select the second advertisement based on the metrics and the selection criterion.

38 . The apparatus of claim 37 , wherein the selected second advertisement is associated with a maximum of the metrics.

39 . The apparatus of claim 37 , wherein the at least one processor is further operative with the set of instructions to:

obtain a subset of the advertisements associated with metrics that exceed a threshold relevance value; and

select the second advertisement from the subset based on the selection criterion.

40 . The apparatus of claim 36 , wherein the at least one processor is further operative with the set of instructions to:

compute metrics indicative of at least one of (i) a past performance of the advertisements on the web page, (ii) a maximum bid associated with the advertisements, or (iii) an actual price paid for the advertisements by an advertiser; and

select the second advertisement based on the metrics and the selection criterion.

41 . The apparatus of claim 36 , wherein the at least one processor is further operative with the set of instructions to:

identify candidate advertisements based on the selection criterion and the contextual information;

compute, for the web page, yield scores associated with corresponding ones of the candidate advertisements; and

select one of the candidate advertisements as the second advertisement based on the yield score.

42 . The apparatus of claim 41 , wherein the at least one processor is further operative with the set of instructions to compute the yield scores based on at least one of (i) metrics indicative of a relevance of the candidate advertisements to the web page, (ii) maximum bid prices associated with the candidate advertisements, (ii) past performances of the candidate advertisements on the web page, (iii) costs-per-click associated with the candidate advertisements, or (iv) actual prices associated with the candidate advertisements.

43 . The apparatus of claim 41 , wherein the selected second advertisement is associated with a maximum of the yield scores.

44 . The apparatus of claim 36 , wherein:

the web page content comprises at least one of metadata, textual content, or graphical content;

the second advertisement comprises at least a portion of the first advertisement; and

the selection criterion comprises at least one of a location of an advertising region within the web page, a size of the advertising region, a format of the advertising region, a publisher of the web page, or a user preference for an advertisement.

45 . A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores a set of instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method comprising:

receiving a request for advertising content, the request comprising a selection criterion associated with a web page;

identifying, in response to the request, a plurality of advertisements associated with an advertiser;

obtaining contextual information identifying a relevance of the identified advertisements to content within the web page; and

selecting a first one of the advertisements for display at a predetermined location within the web page, and a second one of the advertisements for display at a location within the web page that is contextually relevant to the second advertisement, the selection being based on the selection criterion and the contextual information.