System and method for identifying and retrieving targeted advertisements or other related documents

1. A computer-implemented method for selecting one or more targeted advertisements to be displayed along with a set of search results, wherein a computer system for implementing the method is programmed with an ad targeting module including a build campaign match sub-module, a choose best campaign sub-module and a choose advertisement sub-module, and includes a database storage system storing one or more campaigns each campaign being associated with a set of documents and at least one advertisement, the method comprising:

(i) analyzing the search result set, using the build campaign match sub-module of the ad targeting module by determining, for each of the identified campaigns, a campaign intersection size score representing a percentage of a number of documents within the search results set corresponding with documents within each of the identified campaigns; and determining, for each of the identified campaigns, a results intersection size score representing a percentage of a number of documents within each of the campaigns corresponding with documents within the search results set to calculate at least one intersection score between the search result set and at least one of the one or more campaigns wherein the one or more campaigns comprise a listing of documents that represent the likely results for a search in an advertiser's area of interest;

(ii) selecting a matching campaign from the one or more campaigns, using the choose best campaign sub-module, based on the at least one intersection score, and

(iii) selecting at least one advertisement from the matching campaign, using the choose advertisement sub-module; and

(iv) causing the at least one advertisement selected from the matching campaign to be displayed with the search result set.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the search results include links to documents within a set of documents related to a subject.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the documents are web pages and the links are uniform resource locators.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the search results are generated by a search engine internal to the computer system.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the search results are generated by a search engine external to the computer system and transmitted to the computer system via a network.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the at least one advertisement selected from the matching campaign to be displayed with the search result set is transmitted to an external computer system associated with the search engine.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: identifying all campaigns that have at least one document relating to the search results set using a find all possible campaigns sub-module of the ad targeting module.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the step of selecting a matching campaign from the one or more campaigns, using the choose best campaign sub-module, further comprises:

calculating a campaign score for each of the identified campaigns wherein the campaign score sums the campaign intersection size score and the results intersection size score.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising selecting one of the identified campaigns based on the campaign score.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the one advertisement for each of the selected campaigns are displayed according to the campaign score with the campaign having the higher campaign score being given a better display position relative to the other campaigns.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising: selecting a plurality of campaigns from the identified campaigns based on the campaign scores for each of the identified campaigns; and causing the display of one advertisement for each of the selected campaigns.

12. A system for selecting one or more targeted advertisements to be displayed along with a set of search results, the system comprising:

a computer system programmed with an ad targeting module including a build campaign match sub-module, a choose best campaign sub-module, and a choose advertisement sub-module;

a database storage system storing one or more campaigns each campaign being associated with a set of documents and at least one advertisement;

wherein the computer system executes the ad targeting module to:

(i) identify all campaigns from the one or more campaigns that have at least one document relating to a search result set generated by a search engine in response to a keyword;

(ii) analyze the search results set, using the build campaign match sub-module of the ad targeting module by determining, for each of the identified campaigns, a campaign intersection size score representing a percentage of a number of documents within the search results set corresponding with documents within each of the identified campaigns; and determining, for each of the identified campaigns, a results intersection size score representing a percentage of a number of documents within each of the campaigns corresponding with documents within the search results set, to calculate at least one intersection score between the search result set and at least one of the one or more campaigns wherein the one or more campaigns comprise a listing of documents that represent the likely results for a search in an advertiser's area of interest;

(iii) select a matching campaign from the one or more campaigns, using the choose best campaign sub-module, based on the at least one intersection score, and

(iv) select at least one advertisement from the matching campaign, using the choose advertisement sub-module; and

(v) cause the at least one advertisement selected from the matching campaign to be displayed with the search result set.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the search results include links to documents within a set of documents related to a subject.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the documents are web pages and the links are uniform resource locators.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the search results are generated by a search engine internal to the computer system.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the search results are generated by a search engine external to the computer system and transmitted to the computer system via a network.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the at least one advertisement selected from the matching campaign to be displayed with the search result set is transmitted to an external computer system associated with the search engine.

18. The system of claim 12 , wherein the computer system executes the ad targeting module to:

identify all campaigns that have at least one document relating to the search results set using a find all possible campaigns sub-module of the ad targeting module.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the step of selecting a matching campaign from the one or more campaigns, using the choose best campaign sub-module, further comprises: calculating a campaign score for each of the identified campaigns wherein the campaign score sums the campaign intersection size score and the results intersection size score.

20. The system of claim 19 , further comprising selecting one of the identified campaigns based on the campaign score.

21. The system of claim 20 , wherein the one advertisement for each of the selected campaigns are displayed according to the campaign score with the campaign having the higher campaign score being given a better display position relative to the other campaigns.

22. The system of claim 19 , wherein execution of the ad targeting module further comprises: selecting a plurality of campaigns from the identified campaigns based on the campaign scores for each of the identified campaigns; and causing the display of one advertisement for each of the selected campaigns.

23. A computer program product including a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method for selecting one or more targeted advertisements to be displayed along with a set of search results, said method comprising:

providing a system including a computer system and a database storage system storing one or more campaigns each campaign being associated with a set of documents and at least one advertisement, the computer system programmed with distinct software modules, and wherein the distinct software modules include an ad targeting module including a build campaign match sub-module, a choose best campaign sub-module, and a choose advertisement sub-module;

identifying all campaigns that have at least one document relating to a search result set generated by a search engine in response to a keyword;

analyzing the search results set, using the build campaign match sub-module of the ad targeting module by determining, for each of the identified campaigns, a campaign intersection size score representing a percentage of a number of documents within the search results set corresponding with documents within each of the identified campaigns; and determining, for each of the identified campaigns, a results intersection size score representing a percentage of a number of documents within each of the campaigns corresponding with documents within the search results set, to calculate at least one intersection score between the search result set and at least one of the one or more campaigns wherein the one or more campaigns comprise a listing of documents that represent the likely results for a search in an advertiser's area of interest;

selecting a matching campaign from the one or more campaigns, using the choose best campaign sub-module, based on the at least one intersection score, and

selecting at least one advertisement from the matching campaign, using the choose advertisement sub-module; and

causing the at least one advertisement selected from the matching campaign to be displayed with the search result set.

24. The computer program product of claim 23 , wherein the search results include links to documents within a set of documents related to a subject.

25. The computer program product of claim 24 , wherein the documents are web pages and the links are uniform resource locators.

26. The computer program product of claim 23 , wherein the search results are generated by a search engine internal to the computer system.

27. The computer program product of claim 23 , wherein the search results are generated by a search engine external to the computer system and transmitted to the computer system via a network.

28. The computer program product of claim 27 , wherein the at least one advertisement selected from the matching campaign to be displayed with the search result set is transmitted to an external computer system associated with the search engine.

29. The computer program product of claim 23 , wherein the computer system executes the ad targeting module to: identify all campaigns that have at least one document relating to the search results set using a find all possible campaigns sub-module of the ad targeting module.

30. The computer program product of claim 29 , wherein the step of selecting a matching campaign from the one or more campaigns, using the choose best campaign sub-module, further comprises: calculating a campaign score for each of the identified campaigns wherein the campaign score sums the campaign intersection size score and the results intersection size score.

31. The computer program product of claim 30 , further comprising selecting one of the identified campaigns based on the campaign score.

32. The computer program product of claim 31 , wherein the one advertisement for each of the selected campaigns are displayed according to the campaign score with the campaign having the higher campaign score being given a better display position relative to the other campaigns.

33. The computer program product of claim 30 , wherein execution of the ad targeting module further comprises: selecting a plurality of campaigns from the identified campaigns based on the campaign scores for each of the identified campaigns; and causing the display of one advertisement for each of the selected campaigns.