APPLYING A COMPETITIVENESS VALUE IN DETERMINING A CONTENT ITEM TO PRESENT TO A USER OF AN ONLINE SYSTEM

1 . A method comprising:

obtaining, at an online system, product data from a plurality of third party systems describing characteristics of products being offered by each of the third party systems, the characteristics including a price associated with each of the products;

receiving, at the online system from one of the third party systems, a content item for presentation to one or more users of the online system, the content item including a creative presenting content describing one of the products and criteria for presenting the content item to the one or more users;

comparing, by the online system based on the obtained product data, the price of the one of the products to one or more other prices for the product being offered by other third party systems;

determining a competitiveness value for the product offered by the third party system relative to the one or more other prices for the product being offered by other third party systems;

providing in a user interface to the third party system a visual representation of the competitiveness value for the product indicating where the price for the product falls relative to the one or more other prices from the other third party systems;

receiving, from the third party system, an adjustment in the price for the product based on the visual representation;

identifying an opportunity to present the content item to a user of the online system;

retrieving one or more candidate content items for the opportunity, the one or more candidate content items including the content item and being retrieved based on characteristics of the user stored in a user profile of the user;

determining a score for each of the retrieved candidate content items including the content item based at least in part on the characteristics of the user matching the criteria for presenting the content item;

adjusting the score of the content item based on the adjustment in the price for the product;

selecting a candidate content item with a highest score among the one or more candidate content items for the opportunity; and

providing the selected candidate content item for display on a client device of the user.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining that the competitiveness value for the product offered by the third party system relative to the one or more other prices for the product being offered by other third party systems is below a threshold value; and

providing the third party system with a notification indicating where the price for the product being offered by the third party system is in relation to the prices for the product being offered by the other third party systems.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

receiving, from a client device of the third party system, a selection of the notification; and

responsive to receiving the selection, providing the third party system with a graphical representation for the price of the product being offered by the third party system in a user interface of the client device of the third party system.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a higher competitiveness value increases the score of the content item relative to a lower competiveness value.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein a lower competitiveness value decreases the score of the content item relative to a lower competiveness value.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the competiveness value is proportionate to a deviation of the price for the product relative to an average price of the product being offered by the other third party systems.

7 . A method comprising:

comparing, by an online system, a price of a product received from a third party system to one or more other prices for the product being offered by other third party systems;

determining a competitiveness value for the product offered by the third party system relative to the one or more other prices for the product being offered by other third party systems; and

responsive to identifying an opportunity to present the content item to a user of the online system,

retrieving one or more candidate content items for the opportunity, the one or more candidate content items including the content item and being retrieved based on characteristics of the user stored in a user profile of the user;

determining a score for each of the retrieved candidate content items including the content item based at least in part on the characteristics of the user matching criteria for presenting the content item;

adjusting the score of the content item based on the competitiveness value for the product, where a higher competitiveness value increases the score of the content item relative to a lower competiveness value;

selecting a candidate content item with a highest score among the one or more candidate content items for the opportunity; and

providing the selected candidate content item for display on a client device of the user.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

obtaining, at the online system, product data from the third party system describing characteristics of the product being offered by the third party system, the characteristics including the price associated with the product; and

receiving the content item at the online system for presentation to one or more users of the online system, the content item including a creative presenting content describing the product and criteria for presenting the content item to the one or more users;

9 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

determining that the competitiveness value for the product offered by the third party system relative to the one or more other prices for the product being offered by other third party systems is below a threshold value; and

providing the third party system with a notification indicating where the price for the product being offered by the third party system is in relation to the prices for the product being offered by the other third party systems.

10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

receiving, from a client device of the third party system, a selection of the notification; and

responsive to receiving the selection, providing the third party system with a graphical representation for the price of the product being offered by the third party system in a user interface of the client device of the third party system.

11 . The method of claim 7 , wherein a higher competitiveness value increases the score of the content item relative to a lower competiveness value.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein a lower competitiveness value decreases the score of the content item relative to a lower competiveness value.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the competiveness value is proportionate to a deviation of the price for the product relative to an average price of the product being offered by the other third party systems.

14 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

compare a price of a product received from a third party system to one or more other prices for the product being offered by other third party systems;

determine a competitiveness value for the product offered by the third party system relative to the one or more other prices for the product being offered by other third party systems; and

responsive to identifying an opportunity to present the content item to a user of the online system,

retrieve one or more candidate content items for the opportunity, the one or more candidate content items including the content item and being retrieved based on characteristics of the user stored in a user profile of the user;

determine a score for each of the retrieved candidate content items including the content item based at least in part on the characteristics of the user matching criteria for presenting the content item;

adjust the score of the content item based on the competitiveness value for the product, where a higher competitiveness value increases the score of the content item relative to a lower competiveness value;

select a candidate content item with a highest score among the one or more candidate content items for the opportunity; and

provide the selected candidate content item for display on a client device of the user.

15 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:

obtain product data from the third party system describing characteristics of the product being offered by the third party system, the characteristics including the price associated with the product; and

receive the content item at the online system for presentation to one or more users of the online system, the content item including a creative presenting content describing the product and criteria for presenting the content item to the one or more users;

16 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:

determine that the competitiveness value for the product offered by the third party system relative to the one or more other prices for the product being offered by other third party systems is below a threshold value; and

provide the third party system with a notification indicating where the price for the product being offered by the third party system is in relation to the prices for the product being offered by the other third party systems.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:

receive, from the third party system, a selection of the notification; and

provide the third party system with a graphical representation for the price of the product being offered by the third party system in a user interface of the client device of the third party system.

18 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein a higher competitiveness value increases the score of the content item relative to a lower competiveness value.

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein a lower competitiveness value decreases the score of the content item relative to a lower competiveness value.

20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the competiveness value is proportionate to a deviation of the price for the product relative to an average price of the product being offered by the other third party systems.