Granted Patent B2

US 11,358,060 · App. 16/939,700 · Granted Jun 14, 2022

Inventors: Justin Thaler (New York, NY); Maxim Sviridenko (New York, NY); Edo Liberty (New York, NY); Prerit Uppal (Sunnyvale, CA); Ron Belmarch (Los Angeles, CA); Jerry Shen (Sunnyvale, CA)

Assignee: YAHOO ASSETS LLC

A63F13/65G07F17/3244G07F17/3276G07F17/3288

Abstract

Claims (63)

1. A method comprising:

creating, by a computing device, an initial number of instances of a contest during a first portion of a contest generation period associated with the contest;

identifying, by the computing device, second and third portions of the contest generation period, the second portion being prior to the third portion and the third portion being a predetermined amount of time before the start time of the contest;

for the second portion of the contest generation period:

estimating, by the computing device, a number of potential contest participants likely to enter the contest during the second portion of the contest generation period; and

creating, by the computing device, an additional number of instances using the estimated number of potential contest participants likely to enter the contest during the second portion of the contest generation period; and

for the third portion of the contest generation period:

prohibiting creation of any instances of the contest.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining, by the computing device, a parameter indicating the initial number of instances of the contest.

3. The method of claim 2 , obtaining further comprising:

receiving, by the computing device, the initial number of instances of the contest from a provider of the contest.

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

using a number of contest participants joining during the second portion of the contest generation period of at least one other contest in determining the estimated of the number of potential contest participants likely to enter the contest during the second portion of the contest generation period.

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

making an initial estimate of potential contest participants likely to enter the contest during the second portion of the contest generation period using a number of contest participants joining during the second portion of the contest generation period of at least one previous contest;

determining a number of openings remaining in the initial number of instances; and

determining the estimated number of potential contest participants likely to enter the contest during the second portion of the contest generation period using the initial estimate and the determined number of openings remaining in the initial number of instances.

6. The method of claim 5 , the creating further comprising:

using an entry slot capacity associated with each of the initial number of instances of the contest in making a determination that the estimated number of potential contest participants likely to enter the contest during the second portion of the contest generation period is less than the entry slot capacity; and

setting the number of additional contest instances to one.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

setting the entry slot capacity of the one additional contest instance to the estimated number of potential contest participants likely to enter the contest during the second portion of the contest generation period.

8. The method of claim 1 , each instance of the additional number of instances replaces a filled contest instance.

9. The method of claim 1 , each instance of the additional number of instances has a number of entry slots set in accordance with an entry slot capacity associated with each of the initial number of instances of the contest.

10. The method of claim 1 , the additional number of instances is set to zero if a start time of the contest is within a given amount of time.

11. The method of claim 10 , the given amount of time falls with the third portion of the contest generation period.

12. The method of claim 1 , creating the additional number of instances further comprising:

ensuring that the additional number of instances satisfies a maintenance number of contest instances.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

monitoring, by the computing device, activity of participants of the contest; and

adjusting, by the computing device, the initial number of instances of a different contest in accordance with the activity.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

in accordance with the activity of the participants of the contest, adjusting, by the computing device and for the different contest, a maintenance number of instances used in creating the additional number of instances in the second portion of the contest generation period of the different contest.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium tangibly encoded with computer-executable instructions that when executed by a processor associated with a computing device perform a method comprising:

creating an initial number of instances of a contest during a first portion of a contest generation period associated with the contest;

identifying second and third portions of the contest generation period, the second portion being prior to the third portion and the third portion being a predetermined amount of time before the start time of the contest;

for the second portion of the contest generation period:

estimating a number of potential contest participants likely to enter the contest during the second portion of the contest generation period; and

creating an additional number of instances using the estimated number of potential contest participants likely to enter the contest during the second portion of the contest generation period; and

for the third portion of the contest generation period:

prohibiting creation of any instances of the contest.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , the estimating further comprising:

making an initial estimate of potential contest participants likely to enter the contest during the second portion of the contest generation period using a number of contest participants joining during the second portion of the contest generation period of at least one previous contest;

determining a number of openings remaining in the initial number of instances; and

determining the estimated number of potential contest participants likely to enter the contest during the second portion of the contest generation period using the initial estimate and the determined number of openings remaining in the initial number of instances.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , creating the additional number of instances further comprising:

ensuring that the additional number of instances satisfies a maintenance number of contest instances.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , further comprising:

monitoring activity of participants of the contest; and

adjusting the initial number of instances of a different contest in accordance with the activity.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , further comprising:

in accordance with the activity of the participants of the contest, adjusting, for the different contest, a maintenance number of instances used in creating the additional number of instances in the second portion of the contest generation period of the different contest.

20. A computing device comprising:

a processor;

a non-transitory storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the program logic comprising:

creating logic executed by the processor for creating an initial number of instances of a contest during a first portion of a contest generation period associated with the contest;

identifying logic executed by the processor for identifying second and third portions of the contest generation period, the second portion being prior to the third portion and the third portion being a predetermined amount of time before the start time of the contest;

for the second portion of the contest generation period:

estimating logic executed by the processor for estimating a number of potential contest participants likely to enter the contest during the second portion of the contest generation period; and

creating logic executed by the processor for creating an additional number of instances using the estimated number of potential contest participants likely to enter the contest during the second portion of the contest generation period; and

for the third portion of the contest generation period:

prohibiting logic executed by the processor for prohibiting creation of any instances of the contest.

Assignments (6)