WO2015048987A1

WO2015048987A1 - Computer-implemented method, computer-readable medium and computing device for event-related keyword advertising

Info

Publication number: WO2015048987A1
Application number: PCT/EP2013/070483
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jens HEGENBERGER; Gunnar GLÄSER
Original assignee: Zapitano Gmbh
Priority date: 2013-10-01
Filing date: 2013-10-01
Publication date: 2015-04-09

Abstract

For a cost-effective way of keyword advertising, the present invention provides a computer- implemented method, computer-readable medium and computing device for generating and activating in a computer network a keyword advertisement (4b) to be displayed on a third-party website (2a) having access to a search engine (3), the keyword advertisement (4b) being synchronized to a time-limited event having an event duration with a predetermined starting time and a predetermined ending time, comprising steps and modules, respectively for providing a set of trigger keywords (11a) relating to the event, automatically generating at least one advertisement data set (11e) containing hyperlink data of an advertiser's website (4a, 4a'), the set of trigger keywords (11a), and an advertisement body (11d) with at least one of text data, image data, video data, and animation data for display on the third-party website (2a), automatically sending out via a network connection (6) the at least one advertisement data set (11e) for the third-party website (2a), and automatically sending out via a network connection (6) an activation data set (11f) containing computer-readable instructions for the third-party website (2a) to display at least a part of the advertisement body in response to a search by the search engine (3) based on at least one keyword from the set of trigger keywords (11a) during an activation time period at least partially overlapping with the event duration.

Description

Computer-Implemented Method, Computer-Readable Medium and Computing Device for

Event-Related Keyword Advertising

The present invention relates to a computer-implemented method for generating and activating in a computer network a keyword advertisement to be displayed on a third-party website having access to a search engine, the keyword advertisement being synchronized to a time-limited event having an event duration with a predetermined starting time and a predetermined ending time.

Further, the invention relates to a computer-readable medium for storing instructions that are executable by a processing device.

Moreover, the invention relates to a computing device adapted for generating and activating in a computer network a keyword advertisement to be displayed on a third-party website having access to a search engine, the keyword advertisement being synchronized to a time-limited event having an event duration with a predetermined starting time and a predetermined ending time.

Computer-implemented methods, computer-readable media and computing devices for enabling keyword advertising are known from the prior art. Keyword advertising may be regarded as any advertising that is based on specific keywords or phrases which are entered by a user as a search query in the search field. The search field may be implemented in any website and in particular in search websites. The search fields may be linked to search engines. Providers of the websites or search engines offer advertising space for the keyword advertising. Usage of the advertising space may e.g. be charged or ordered as pay-per-action (PPA), such as cost-per- click (CPC), and pay-per-cost (PPC), or cost-per-mille (CPM). Technically, the keyword advertising may involve principles of search engine optimization (SEO). Therefore, e.g. an anchor text, also known as link label, link text or link title, which is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink, may cause a search engine to associate a website having the respective hyperlink with the respective term and to improve a search engine ranking of the website for the respective keyword.

For the advertiser, keyword advertising requires a continuous optimization and high maintenance effort. A percentage of miss-linked or misled users has to be minimized, especially in models based on a CPC, considering costs are to be paid to the provider of the third-party website and/or to another provider offering the service of activating or displaying the keyword advertisement on the third-party website. Therefore, the keywords, terms and formulations of the advertisement have to be carefully selected and designed. At the same time, a ranking of the advertisements has to be continuously monitored and adapted to the current price level, i.e. the cost-per-click-rate. In Germany, for example, the CPC may amount to e.g. EUR 0,08 to 4,00 for e-commerce or up to EUR 10,00 for private health insurance. In these economic sectors, the market is extremely competitive which further complicates successful placement of keyword advertisements.

In view of the difficulties in keyword advertisement mentioned above, an object underlying the present invention is to provide cost-effectively (i.e. precisely and efficiently) placed keyword advertisements.

The object is achieved according to the present invention for the computer-implemented method mentioned in the beginning of the description, in that the method comprises the steps of:

• providing a set of trigger keywords relating to the event,

• automatically generating at least one advertisement data set containing hyperlink data of an advertiser's website, the set of trigger keywords, and an advertisement body with at least one of text data, image data, video data, and animation data for display on the third- party website,

• automatically sending out via a network connection the at least one advertisement data set for the third-party website, and

• automatically sending out via a network connection an activation data set containing computer-readable instructions for the third-party website to display at least a part of the advertisement body in response to a search by the search engine based on at least one keyword from the set of trigger keywords during an activation time period at least partially overlapping with the event duration.

For the computer-readable medium mentioned in the beginning of the description, the object is achieved in that upon execution, the instructions cause the processing device to carry out a method according to the present invention.

For the computing device mentioned in the beginning of the description, the object is achieved in that the computing device comprises an insertion module configured to: • manage a set of trigger keywords relating to the event,

• generate a least one advertisement data set containing hyperlink data of an advertiser's website, the set of trigger words and an advertisement body with at least one of text data, image data, video data, and animation data for display on the third-party website,

• send out via a network connection the at least one advertisement data set for the third- party website, and

• send out via a network connection an activation data set containing computer-readable instructions for the third-party website to display at least a part of the advertisement body in response to a search by the search engine based on at least one keyword from the set of trigger keywords during an activation time period at least partially overlapping with the event duration.

In other words, the present invention enables a keyword advertisement to be generated and activated in a computer network in order to be displayed on a third-party website in a manner synchronized to a time-limited event having an event duration with a predetermined starting time and a predetermined ending time, the third-party website providing access to at least one search field for entering search queries. This involves sending out via a network connection an activation data set containing computer-readable instructions for the third-party website to display at least a part of the advertisement body in response to that at least one keyword from the set of trigger words is entered in the search field during an activation time period at least partially overlapping with the event duration.

The solutions according to the present invention allow for addressing users which were recently not considered for keyword advertising. The users are using the search field in order to find information about the event which for example may be a social event such as a TV-event, i.e. a certain television transmission, a sport event, a political event or any other time-limited event, such as a national holiday or the like, joining numerous users already by their mere interest in the event. An event may also be freely defined by using any product parameter such as a a price, sales figure, sales rank, chart position of a product, such as a recording medium, e.g. a CD, DVD, Blu-ray disc, book, apparel, footwear, accessories, drug, body care product, lifestyle product, electronic product, vehicle, etc. For example, when a certain product parameter drops below or rises above a certain threshold, this may be regarded as an event in the sense of the present invention. The ending time may then be defined e.g. as a point of time when the respective product parameter drops below or rises above another threshold or simply by setting a predefined timeframe as the event duration.

Based on extensive research, the applicant discovered that these users are not properly provided with information such as keyword advertisements linked to keywords referring to respective events. For example, about 25 million search queries directed towards TV-events are entered in Germany per day. The solution according to the present invention enables to provide these users with precise keyword advertising during the event. The users may be led to an event-specific and/or TV-specific website, which may be provided by the advertiser. Thereby, the advertiser may precisely and efficiently acquire new users.

Further, since event-specific keyword advertisement has previously not been carried out, the CPC for this new way of advertising amount to approximately EUR 0,05 to EUR 0,10, which may be regarded as highly cost-efficient in comparison to the CPC of e-commerce and private health insurance mentioned above. The cost-efficiency of the inventive event-related keyword advertising is further improved according to the invention since the activation, i.e. ordering of the advertisement, may be carried out automatically, as all the other steps. Therefore, the respective data sets may be generated and sent automatically and may comprise data packages or multiple data packages as required for example by an application-programming interface (API) of the provider of the third-party website or the advertisement space thereon. The inventive steps may be repeated for any additional advertisement. All steps from generation to activation may be carried out by the advertiser himself by means of a inventive computing device and/or by using an inventive computer-readable medium in order to implement a computer-implemented method according to the invention.

In the following, further improvements of the computer-implemented method, the computer- readable medium and the computing device according to the invention are described. The additional improvements may be combined independently of each other, depending on whether a particular advantage of a particular improvement is needed in a specific application.

According to a first advantageous improvement, the method may further comprise the steps of:

• sending out prior to the starting time via a network connection an application data set containing the advertisement body and a request for general clearance of the advertisement body to be displaced on the third-party website, • receiving via a network connection a clearance confirmation data set, containing a confirmation that the advertisement body is clear for publication,

• marking the advertisement body as ready to be activated after the clearance confirmation data set is received.

Thereby, a desired number of advertisement bodies, i.e. specific keyword advertising contents, may be cleared for publication or retained and/or tagged as ready to be activated when the event takes place. This enables each keyword advertisement to be prepared in a manner matched to the specific event period of the event, i.e. the frequency of occurrence of the event, which for e.g. a TV show may be monthly, weekly or daily event period. It is however also possible that unique events or events with only a yearly event period are addressed by the inventive method. By storing, marking, retaining and/or tagging the advertisement body as ready to be activated after the clearance confirmation data set is received, the advertisement data set or at least the advertisement body is ready to be used in a keyword advertisement as desired for covering the event duration. A keyword advertisement, an advertisement data set or at least an advertisement body which is ready to be activated may be regarded as being paused.

The activation time period may be set to begin at a start point depending on the starting time, and may be set to expire at an end point depending on the ending time. For example, the start point may be one hour before the starting time of a TV show and the end point may be one hour after the ending time of the TV show. Thereby, it may be assured that all users entering search queries containing at least one of the TV show-specific trigger keywords into the search field of the third-party website are provided with a proper keyword advertisement so that they may be guided to the advertiser's website. The start point and end point may of course be chosen as desired in order to provide an activation time period covering the highest traffic of event-related search queries on the third-party website.

The step of providing the set of trigger keywords may further comprise the steps of:

• identifying a number of potential keywords relating to the event,

• forming a keyword test data set from at least some of the number of potential keywords,

• receiving via a network connection a statistic data set with the statistics on the usage of each keyword from the number of keywords on online search queries, and • selecting the set of trigger keywords to be at least one of the keywords from the keyword test data set by applying an evaluation matrix to the statistics.

The evaluation matrix may e.g. consider keywords with the highest frequency in online search queries according to the statistics, to be selected from the number of potential keywords to be included in the set of trigger keywords. Thereby, the keywords in the set of trigger keywords may be precisely chosen to be the most effective and most frequently used keywords relating to the specific event. The event may also be defined in another step prior to providing this set of trigger keywords. Prior to receiving the statistics data set, a request data set containing the keyword test data set and a request for statistics on the usage of each keyword from the number of keywords in online search queries may be sent out via a network connection to a (network) statistics provider.

The step of providing a set of trigger keywords may further comprise the steps of:

• automatically receiving an event data set containing information on the event, and

• automatically identifying a number of potential keywords in the information on the event.

The information on the event may be requested, ordered, retrieved or received periodically. The keywords may be automatically extracted from the information on the event received online, i.e. via a network connection from the information service. For example, for TV-related events, the information on the event may be retrieved from an electronic programme guide (EPG). The EPG-data contains information on the event duration with its predetermined starting time and ending time as well as additional information on any persons, such as celebrities, actors or the like taking part in the event which may be of particular interest for the users, and which may also be evaluated by the evaluation metrics.

The method may further comprise the steps of:

• defining of set of hit keywords representing the advertiser,

• receiving search results as a sequence of online search hits resulting from a probationary online search based on at least one keyword from the set of trigger keywords,

• identifying at least one keyword from the set of hit keywords from the search results, and

• applying a relevance metrics to the at least one keyword from the set of hit keywords identified in the search results. Thereby, at least one direct hit, i.e. a hit keyword mentioning the advertiser, an event-related website or an event-related institution, may be identified. The respective keyword leading to this direct hit may therefore already be regarded as highly efficient and not require any further keyword advertisement in order to lead a user using the respective keywords to the advertisers, an event-related institution or event-related website. The respective keyword may then be marked or stored as a top hit and can be disabled for use in the list of trigger keywords. As a disable keyword, the keyword is excluded from the advertisement data set. A whole list of disabled keywords may be managed as keywords of high relevance leading to direct hits, i.e. internet links to the advertiser or an event-related website.

The disabled keywords or list of disabled keywords may also be used during the advertisement activation period to automatically send out via a network connection a disabling data set for the third-party website, containing computer-readable instructions to deactivate, i.e. disable, the activation of the keyword advertisement in response to any of the disabled keywords entered by the user during the advertisement activation time period. Thereby, it can be avoided that keywords, which by themselves already achieve the effect of leading a user to the advertisement or an event-related website, lead to costs in keyword advertising, which in this special may be saved for the respective disabled keyword.

The method may further comprise a step of controlling the keyword advertisement comprising the steps of:

• monitoring at least one of a recent click rate and a click history data of at least one keyword advertisement during the activation time period,

• calculating a success indicator for the keyword advertisement based on at least one of the recent click rate and the click history data, and

• comparing the success indicator with a predefined performance value.

The recent click rate or click history data may e.g. be requested, ordered received or retrieved from a search engine provider, preferably as a history data set. The specific keyword advertisement or at least the advertisement body thereof may then be evaluated, e.g. by the elevation metrics, in order to calculate the success indicator. The success indicator may be any variable or ratio representing the frequency of clicks per hour, or a general click through-rate of the specific keyword advertisement, meaning a total number of clicks or clicks per hour or any other designated time period carried out by users to which the specific keyword advertising has been displayed. Additionally or alternatively, a dwell time a click depth and/or other interacting page analytics of a registered or non-registered user on the advertiser's website may be taken into account when calculating the success indicator. Further, conversion rates for the specific keyword advertisement may be calculated, wherein the conversion rates may be a rate or total number of users which have registered on the advertiser's or event-related website. Moreover, these registered users may be ranked according to the customer behaviour, wherein the behaviour may be linked to the specific keyword advertising by which the uses have been acquired. Thereby, the specific keyword advertisement may be precisely evaluated.

If the success indicator does not meet the predefined performance value, the step of controlling the keyword advertisement may further comprise at least one of the steps of:

• sending out via a network connection an abortion data set for the third-party website, the abortion data set containing computer-readable instructions to abort the advertisement activation time period for the keyword advertisement,

• sending out via a network connection a variation data set for the third-party website, the variation data set comprising computer-readable instructions to vary the part of the advertisement body to be displayed, and

• sending out via a network connection a replacement data set for the third-part website, the replacement data set comprising computer-readable instructions to replace the keyword advertisement with another keyword advertisement relating another event.

For example, the success indicator may not meet the predefined performance value if the success indicator is smaller than the performance value. In order to then avoid any unnecessary costs arising from the keyword advertisement not having the desired performance, the abortion data set can be used. Should the bad performance of the specific keyword advertisement be due to deficiency in the advertisement body, the advertisement body may be changed by the variation data set. Should another event take place during the activation time of the keyword advertisement relating to the event, then that other event may be used for another keyword advertisement with a better performance than the keyword advertisement not meeting the predefined performance value.

Sending out an abortion data set i.e. aborting a keyword advertisement may also mean that the respective keyword advertisement is being paused. Sending out a variation data set, i.e. varying or modifying the respective keyword advertisement may also mean that the keyword advertisement relating to one event is being paused and instead a different keyword advertisement relating to the same event is being activated. Sending out a replacement data set may also mean that a keyword advertisement relating to one event is being paused and a keyword advertisement relating to another event is being activated.

If, on the other hand, the success indicator exceeds the predefined performance value, the step of controlling the keyword advertisement may further comprise the step of sending out via a network connection any extension data set for the third-party website, the extension data set comprising computer-readable instructions to extend the activation time period. In this case, the success indicator may be greater than the performance value. The keyword advertisement may then be regarded as very effective and therefore it may be desired to adjust the end point of the activation time period to a later point of time in order to benefit from the great effectiveness of the keyword advertisement.

For a computing device, the solution according to the present invention may be improved in that the insertion module is further configured to:

• send out via a network connection an application data set containing the advertisement body, and a request for a general clearance of the advertisement body to be displayed on the third-party website,

• receive via a network connection a clearance confirmation data set containing a confirmation that the advertisement body is clear for publication, and

• store the advertisement body as ready to be activation after the clearance confirmation data set is received.

The computing device may thereby facilitate the managing of an advertisement data set which may be retained, marked, tagged, arranged or ended as desired in order to be stored as ready to be activated when the advertisement body is clear for publication. The computing device may therefore be provided with any digital storing device and graphical user interface suitable and configured to manage at least one application data set in order to enable the computing device to carry out the method according to the present invention.

The insertion module may be further configured to:

• manage a number of potential keywords relating to the event, • form a keyword test data set from at least some of the number of potential keywords,

• receive via a network connection a statistics data set with statistics on the usage of each keyword from the number of keywords in online search queries, and

• select the set of trigger keywords to the at least one of the keywords from the keyword test data set by applying an evaluation metrics to the statistics.

Therefore, the insertion module may also be configured to receive statistical information on the search queries via a network connection. The information may contain statistics on each of the keywords from the test data set, i.e. statistics on the usage of the keywords by users of the search field. The selected keywords may be keywords which are desired for being capable of triggering the display of the keyword advertisement on the third-party website and may be selected based on the frequency of the usage according to the statistics. For example, frequently used keywords may be preferred over seldomly used keywords from the keyword test data set relating to the event.

The computing device may further comprise a controlling module configured to:

• monitor at least one of recent click rate and click history data of at least one keyword advertisement during the activation time period,

• calculate a success indicator for the keyword advertisement based on at least one of the recent click rate and the click history data, and

• compare the success indicator with a predefined performance value.

The controlling module may therefore be provided a graphical user interface and functionality as desired in order to order, request, retrieve or receive recent click rate and click history data of the at least one keyword advertisement. Thereby, the computing device according to the invention may enable to easily control the performance of each keyword advertisement managed with the help of the computing device.

The computing device may further comprise a finishing module configured to disable or delete an advertisement data set. The disablement or deletion, as already described above, may involve disabling or deleting at least parts of the advertisement body and of a trigger keyword set. At least one keyword from the trigger keyword set may be disabled. Disablement or deletion may for example be advisable if a predefined performance value or criterion is not met. The finishing module may provide a graphical user interface in whatever form desired for managing disablement or deletion. Deleted parts of the advertisement data set may also be kept, i.e. stored, retained, marked, tagged or alike, in order to indicate disablement or deletion. Further, the finishing module may carry out and recursively provide an evaluation of the performance of the advertisement data set, e.g. by calculating a success indicator in the manner described above in relation to the controlling module.

In the following, the invention and its improvements are described in greater detail using exemplary embodiments thereof and with reference to the accompanying drawings. As described above, the various features shown in the embodiments may be used independently of each other according to the respective requirements of specific applications.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a system for implementing a method for event-related keyword advertising according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 shows a schematic illustration of an insertion module, a controlling module and a finishing module of a computing device according to the present invention.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic illustration of a step of inserting a keyword advertisement according to the present invention;

Fig. 4 shows a schematic illustration of controlling a keyword advertisement according to the present invention;

Fig. 5 shows a schematic illustration of finishing a keyword advertisement according to the present invention; and

Fig. 6 shows a schematic illustration of a flow of information and data within a method and computing device according to the present invention.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a system for implementing a method on a computing device for event-related keyword advertising according to the present invention. Therefore, Fig. 1 may be regarded as illustrating an architecture of the system 1 for keyword advertising according to the present invention. The system 1 comprises a computing device 1 a according to the present invention. The computing device 1 a may comprise a processing device 1 b, an administration unit 1 c, a data storage unit 1 d and data sources 1 e. An administrator A may be trained and authorized to administer the entire process of keyword advertising by monitoring and manipulating processes carried out in the processing device 1 b of the computing device 1 a, in particular of the administration unit 1 c.

The computing device 1 a, in particular the administration unit 1 c, may interact with a front end 2 of the architecture 1 . Through the front end 2, the computing device 1 a may access or communicate with at least one third-party website 2a which may display at least one advertisement space 2b, a search field 2c, and an information space 2d to a group of users or at least one user U. The computing device 1 a, in particular the data sources 1 e, may further comprise an analysation module 1 f configured to analyse the usage of the event-related website 4a by users U and registered users R. The behaviour of registered users R may further be analysed in a registration module 1 g. Data from the analysation module 1 f and the registration module 1 g may be accessed or imported to the data storage unit 1 d, in particular to a user module 1 h thereof. The third-party website 2a, in particular the search field 2c, may be connected or linked to a search engine 3 which may comprise an advertisement module 3a, e.g. a search engine advertisement module (SEA), and an optimization module 3b, e.g. a search engine optimization module (SEO).

An advertiser 4 may have at least one event-related website 4a, 4a' and wish to place at least one keyword advertisement 4b in the advertisement space 2b of the third-party website 2a when one of the users U, R enters a trigger keyword into the search field 2c. When the user U clicks onto the keyword advertisement 4b during an activation time period of the keyword advertisement 4b, the user is led to the event-related website 4a, 4a'. Therefore, the keyword advertisement 4b is linked to the event-related website 4a, 4a' by at least one hyperlink. The front end 2 or at least the event related website 4a, 4a' as a part thereof may also be a destination or lead of the hyperlink underlying the keyword advertisement 4b and/or the advertisement space 26 wherein the keyword advertisement is located. The search field 2c may also be regarded as a part of the search engine 3.

The user U may register at the event-related website 4a, 4a' and thereby become a registered user R. The event-related website 4a (public access) may be displaced to non-registered users U or registered users R which are momentarily not logged into their account provided by the advertiser 4. Therefore, the event-related website 4a in the mode for non-registered users U or for registered users R which are momentarily not logged into their account is associated to the front end 2 as a part of the internet freely accessible. In a mode for registered users R who are logged in, the event-related website 4a' (restricted access) is associated to the advertiser 4 in order to illustrate that, on the one hand, the registered user R is enabled to have full access to the event- related website 4a' or at least have a broader access to the event-related website 4a' than the unregistered user U. On the other hand, the advertiser 4 may have available user data, such as full name, address, credit card and/or bank account data etc. of the registered user R, who may also now be regarded as a part of a community organised by means of the advertiser's website 4a' which therefore may include e.g. a chat forum or pin board, which may only be accessible on the advertiser's website 4a' in the mode for registered users R.

An event module 1 i of the storage unit 1 d may store event-related information. The event-related information may be ordered, received, requested and/or retrieved from external data sources 5, which may comprise an event information module 5a and an attender module 5b. The event information module 5a may store and provide data relating to at least one time-limited event. The attender module 5b may store and provide data concerning the attendants or participators in the event. For example, in relation to a TV-event, the event module 5a may store and provide EPG-data and the attendance module 5b may provide attendance data, such as attendance figures, numbers of spectators and alike.

Within the system 1 , the computing device 1 a as well as the processing device 1 b, the administration unit 1 c, the data storage unit 1 d, the data sources 1 e, and the front end 2, the search engine 3, the advertiser 4 and the external data sources 5 may be connected to each other and to the administrator A via network connections 6. The network connections 6 may be used to send and receive data sets and packages in a bi-directional manner. The direction of the network connections 6 indicated in Fig. 1 merely imply a general direction of data flow but should not be understood as limiting the functionality of the network connections 6. Further, the system 1 , especially the computing device 1 a, may comprise or have access to at least one computer- readable medium 7 storing instructions for carrying out the inventive method.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic illustration of modules which may be included or handled by the computing device 1 a according to the present invention. An application 10 for managing the system 1 according to the present invention may be running on the computing device 1 a, in particular on the processing unit 1 b of the computing device 10 may be configured to involve the administration unit 1 c, the data storage unit 1 b, the data sources 1 e, the analysation module 1 f, the registration module 1 g, the user module 1 h, the event module 1 i, the event-related website 4a, the keyword advertisement 4b, the event module 5a and the attender module 5b. The application 10 may comprise an insertion module 1 1 , a controlling module 12 and a finishing module 13. The insertion module 1 1 may be configured to store, manage and display a set of trigger keywords 1 1 a, a set of hit keywords 1 1 b, a set of disabled keywords 1 1 c, an advertisement body 1 1 d, an advertisement data set 1 1 e, an activation data set 1 1 f, a request data set 1 1 g, a confirmation data 1 1 h, a keyword test data set 1 1 i, a statistics data set 1 1j, an application data set 1 1 k and an event data set 1 11. A set of trigger keywords 1 1 a may comprise all keywords which are desired for triggering display of the keyword advertisement 4b on the third-party website 2a. The keyword advertisement 4b may comprise at least in part the advertisement body 1 1 d. The set of hit keywords 1 1 b may comprise keywords which represent the advertiser 4. The set of disabled keywords 1 1 c may comprise all keywords which have been disabled to trigger the display of the keyword advertisement 4b on the third-party website 2a. The advertisement body 1 1 d may comprise at least one of text data, image data, video data and animation data for display on the third-party website 4a.

The advertisement data set 1 1 e as well as the application data set 1 1 k may comprise a set of trigger keywords 1 1 a and the advertisement body 1 1 d. The activation data set 1 1 f may comprise computer-readable instructions for the third-party website to display at least a part of the advertisement body 1 1 d in response to the at least one keyword from the set of trigger keywords 1 1 a is entered in the search field 2c during activation time period at least partially overlapping with an even duration of the event. The application data set 1 1 k may comprise a request for clearance of the advertisement body 1 1 d to be displayed on the third party website 2a. The request data set 1 1 g may contain the keyword test data set 1 1 i. The keyword test data set 1 1 i may comprise at least one potential keyword relating to the event to be tested in an online search for relevancy. The confirmation data set 1 1 h may comprise a confirmation that the advertisement body 1 1 d is clear for publication on the third-party website. The statistics data set 1 1j may comprise statistics on keywords, especially keywords from the keyword test data set 1 1 i.

The controlling module 12 may be configured to store, manage and display an abortion data set 12a, a variation data set 12b, a replacement data set 12c and an extension data set 12d as well as to adjust parameters of a keyword advertisement, such as e.g. the CPC, and/or to activate or pause the keyword advertisement 4b. The abortion data set 12a contains computer-readable instructions for the third-party website 2a, to abort the advertisement activation time period for the keyword advertisement 4b, which may thereby be paused. The variation data set 12b may contain computer-readable instructions for the third-party website 2a, to vary the part of the advertisement body 1 1 d to be displayed. The replacement data set 12c may comprise computer- readable instructions for the third-party website to replace the keyword advertisement 4b with another keyword advertisement 4b relating to another event. Replacement or variation may also mean that a keyword advertisement 4b, an advertisement data set 1 1 e or at least an advertisement body 1 1 d is deactivated or paused, and another keyword advertisement 4b, another advertisement data set 1 1 e or an advertisement body 1 1 d is activated instead.

The abortion data set 12a, the variation data set 12b and the replacement data set 12c may be especially sent out via a network connection 6, if a success indicator calculated from a recent click rate and/or a recent click history of a respective keyword advertisement 4b monitored with the help of the controlling module 12 does not meet a predefined performance value managed by the controlling module 12. The extension data set 12d may be sent out a via a network connection, if the success indicator exceeds the predefined performance value and may comprise computer-readable instructions for the third-party website 2a to extend the activation time period.

The finishing module 13 may be configured to store, manage and display a set of disabled advertisements 13a and a set of deleted advertisements 13b. The set of disabled advertisements 13a may comprise all keyword advertisements 4b, or at least one of their set of trigger keywords 1 1 a and advertisement body 1 1 d, which are disabled. The set of deleted advertisements 13b may comprise all keyword advertisements 4b or at least one of their set of trigger keywords 1 1 a and advertisement body 1 1 d which have been deleted.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic illustration in the form of a flow chart of a step of inserting 100 at least one keyword advertisement 4b for the third-party website 2a carried out in a method according to the present invention. The insertion step 100 may begin with a step of importing 101 from at least one of the external data sources 5, the data storage unit 1 d and the data sources 1 e data regarding the event, e.g. EPG-data. In a step of handling further event data 102, further event data like hyperlinks on the advertiser's website 4a regarding the event may be identified. In an internal data step 103, data on the event, e.g. concerning celebrities and hash tags regarding the event, which may be especially managed in the data storage unit 1 d, may be managed. In an event data step 104, the event data gained in the importing step 101 may be analysed and managed, e.g. EPG-data may be analysed to identify a title of a TV-event, a TV channel, a genre and the like.

In a link generation step 105, following the further event data step 102, a uniform resource locator (URL), i.e. a web address or at least a link leading thereto, may be generated from the data gained in the further data step 102. In a step 106 of providing trigger keywords, the internal data gained from the internal data step 103, and the event data gained from event data step 104 may be used for providing at least one set of trigger keywords 1 1 a. In a recursive keyword step 107, trigger key words in other or earlier keyword advertisements 4b may be evaluated for use in the step 106 of providing trigger key words 106.

In a step 108 of generating an advertisement data set 1 1 e, the data gained from link generation step 105 and the step 106 of providing trigger keywords may be used in connection with a respective advertisement body 1 1 d at hand in order to generate and activate the keyword advertisement 4b. Therefore, additionally, in a step 109, SEO-data may be used to decide whether keywords, e.g. from the keyword test data set 1 1 i, are used in the step 108 of generating the advertisement data set 1 1 e. In a step 1 10 of using SEA-data, the effect of the planned keyword advertisement 4b may be estimated, e.g. cost-per-click may be estimated and evaluated in order to be taken into account in the step 108 of generating the advertisement data set 1 1 e. In a recursive advertisement step 1 1 1 , information regarding earlier keyword advertisements 4b may be used, e.g. the results of the earlier keyword advertisements 4b may be analysed in order to enhance the step 108 of generating the advertisement data set 1 1 e. Hence, may freshly acquired and/or recursive parameters may be used to decide whether a keyword is good to be used in the step 108 of generating there advertisements data set 1 1 i or whether a keyword is not used, i.e. discarded.

In a step 1 12 of deciding to use the keyword advertisement 4b, it is decided that the advertisement data set 1 1 e gained from step 108 of generating the advertisement data set 1 1 e or at least the set of trigger keywords 1 1 a from the step 106 of providing trigger keywords is used, i.e. it is desired to place the keyword advertisement 4b in the advertisement space 2b of the third-party website upon entry by a user U of at least one keyword from the set of trigger keywords 1 1 a into the search field 2c. Alternatively or additionally, if in step 1 12 only the set of trigger keywords 1 1 a is at hand, in a step 1 13 of providing the advertisement body 1 1 d, the set of trigger keywords 1 1 a and the advertisement body 1 1 d may be joined to form at least a part of the advertisement data set 1 1 e. In an activation step 1 14 following step 1 12 of deciding to use the advertisement data set 1 1 e, the activation data set 1 1 f may be sent out via a network connection in order to display at least a part of the advertisement body 1 1 d in response to that at least one keyword from the set of trigger keywords 1 1 a is entered in the search field 2c.

In a step 1 15 of deciding not to use the advertisement 4b, it may be decided that the advertisement data set 1 1 e or at least the set of trigger keywords 1 1 a gained from step 108 of generating the advertisement data set 1 1 e is not used, which may mean that the advertisement data set 1 1 e is deleted or disabled. In a step 1 16 of internal documentation, all data gained in previous steps may be stored and analysed. Additionally, all data gained from the activation step 1 14 may be stored and analysed. All steps 101 to 1 16 may be carried out periodically in whatever cycle desired for the insertion step 100. The insertion step 100 may at least comprise the step 100 of providing a set of trigger keywords, the step 108 of generating at least one advertisement data set 1 1 e, a step of automatically sending out via a network connection the at least one advertisement data set 1 1 e, the step of automatically sending out via a network connection the activation data set 1 1 f. All steps 101 to 1 16 may be designed to run automatically and to be manipulated, stopped, halted, aborted and resumed by the administrator A.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic illustration of a controlling step 200 for controlling a keyword advertisement 4b according to a method for keyword advertisement in a system 1 in line with the present invention. The controlling step 200 may comprise a step 201 of triggering control of at least one keyword advertisement 4b. The step 201 of triggering control may be carried out periodically in whatever cycle desired for controlling the keyword advertisement. For example, the step 201 of triggering control may be carried out every 15 minutes, every 30 minutes or every hour. In a step 202 of performance evaluation, at least one of a recent click rate, a click history, average cost over a certain time period, overall costs, placement, etc. of the at least one keyword advertisement 4b may be monitored during the activation time period. A success indicator for the keyword advertisement 4b may be calculated based on the recent click rate and the click history data, and the success indicator may be compared to a predefined performance value. Therefore, in a step 203 of monitoring the keyword advertisement, at least one of the recent click rate, the click history and the further statistics about the performance of the keyword advertisement 4b may be requested, retrieved and received as SEO-data regarding the third- party website 2a.

Additionally, in a recursive data evaluation step 204, data about the performance of the keyword advertisement 4b, which may e.g. be stored in the data storage unit 4d, may be requested, accessed or retrieved in order to be used in the step 202 of performance evaluation. In a step 205 of deciding to intervene, it may decided that the success indicator gained from step 202 of carrying out performance evaluation doe not meet the predefined performance value or exceeds the predefined performance value. In an intervention step 206, it may then be intervened. If the success indicator does not meet the predefined performance value, the intervention step 206 may comprise at least one of the steps of sending out via a network connection the abortion data set 12a, the variation data set 12b and the replacement data set 12c. If the success indicator exceeds the predefined performance value, the intervention step 206 may comprise the step of sending out via a network connection 6 the extension data set 12d. Alternatively, in a step 207 of deciding to maintain the keyword advertisement 4b, it may be decided that the keyword advertisement 4b should be maintained as currently active. In a further internal control step 208, all data leading to the step 207 of deciding to maintain the keyword advertisement may be stored and analysed for future decisions in the step 200 of controlling the keyword advertisement 4b. Also, all data gained and leading to the step 205 of deciding to intervene may be stored and analysed in the step 208 of further internal control.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic illustration of a step 300 of finishing a keyword advertisement 4b in a system 1 where a method according to the invention is applied. The finishing step 300 may comprise a step 301 of triggering the finish of a keyword advertisement 4b. The step 301 may be carried out periodically in whatever cycle desired, e.g. once, twice or three times per day for every keyword advertisement 4b. The step 301 may evoke a step 302 of performance assessment, where the performance of the keyword advertisement 4b is assessed. In a step 303 of SEO-data evaluation, a SEO-data on the keyword advertisement, such as statistical data on the keywords from the set of trigger words 1 1 a and possible hit keywords connected thereto, may be requested, received and retrieved in order to be used in the step 302 of performance assessment. In a step 304 of SEA-data evaluation, SEA-data, i.e. statistical information on the performance of the keyword advertisement 4b, may be ordered, requested, received or retrieved in order to be used in the step 302 of performance assessment. Additionally, in a recursive data evaluation step 305, data about earlier performance, i.e. the performance history of the keyword advertisement 4b, may be accessed, requested, received and retrieved from the data storage unit 1 d in order to be used in the step 302 of performance assessment. In a step 306 of deciding to finish the keyword advertisement 4b, it may decided that the step 302 of performance assessment led to the conclusion that the keyword advertisement 4b should not be used anymore. Then, in a step 307 of disabling or deleting the keyword advertisement, the keyword advertisement is moved or associated to the set of disabled advertisements 13a or the set of deleted advertisements 13b, respectively.

In a step 308 of deciding to keep the keyword advertisement 4b, step 302 of performance assessment may have led to the conclusion that the keyword advertisement 4b should be held available for further use in the system 1 . The step 308 of deciding to keep the keyword advertisement 4b may be based on the fact that success indicators calculated for the respective keyword advertisement 4b exceed or at least meet predefined performance values. All data and information leading to the step 308 of deciding to keep the advertisement may then be stored and analysed in a final internal control step 309. In the final internal control step 309, also all information leading to the step 306 of deciding to finish the advertisement may be stored and analysed. Therefore, only information generated and analysed during the step 300 of finishing a keyword advertisement 4b, especially during the step 302 of performance advertisement, e.g. the performance indictors calculated meanwhile, may be fed back to the step of inserting 100 at least one keyword advertisement 4b, especially to the recursive advertisement step 1 1 , but also the step 106 of providing trigger keywords, the recursive key word step 107 and/or the step 108 of generating the advertisement data set 1 1 e.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic illustration of a flow of information and data within a method and computing device 1 a according to the present invention, which may be regarded as a method step 400 of general data management. The step 400 of general data management may comprise an internal parameter step 401 and an external parameter step 402. In the internal parameter step 401 , information and data from the data storage unit 1 d and the data sources 1 e is used by the computing device 1 a, in particular by the administration unit 1 c. In the external parameter step 402, external data and information from the external data sources 5, the front end 2 and the search engine 3 is used. Data and information from the advertiser 4 may be used as well in the internal parameter step 401 as in the external parameter step 402.

In an input parameter step 403, all data and information gathered in the internal parameter step 401 and the external parameter step 402 may be combined to input parameters of the computing device 1 a, in particular of the administration unit 1 c and the processing unit 1 b thereof. In a step 404 of processing the input parameters, all rules and principles underlying the method according to the present invention may be applied to the input parameters. Thereby, the input parameters are processed to output parameters.

In an output parameter step 405, the output parameters are managed and handled. Following the output parameter step 405, an apply parameter step 406 is carried out in that e.g. the output parameters are used for controlling external APIs. In particular, the output parameters may be used in the apply parameter step 406 to provoke actions in the front end 2 and the search engine 3. Said actions can be any action such as requesting and retrieving data and information or sending out any one of the data sets mentioned herein.

Further, in a regulation step 407, all parameters from the output parameter 405 may be checked against the guidelines and regulations underlying a method according to the present invention and/or may be used to revise these guidelines and regulations. In the regulation step 407, the output parameters may be processed in such a way that they influence the input parameter step 403, i.e. the management and handling of the input parameters, as well as the step 404 of processing the input parameters, i.e. the step of applying the rules and principles underlying the present invention to the input parameters. In other words, in the regulation step 407, data and information, such as output parameters for the front end 2 and the search engine 3 are fed back to the input parameter step 403 and the step of processing input parameters 404.

Alternatively or additionally, in the regulation step 407, the guidelines and regulations may be fed to the step 404 of processing the input parameters from outside, i.e. the guidelines and rules are not an integrated part of the step 404 of processing the input parameters which may be carried out by a rules-engine as a framework for implementing the method according to the present invention.

Deviations from the above-described embodiments are possible within the inventive idea and without departing from the scope and effect of the present invention:

The system 1 may comprise computing devices 1 a, processing devices 1 b, administration units 1 c, data storage units 1 d, data sources 1 e, analysation modules 1 f, registration modules 1 g, user modules 1 h, event modules 1 i, front ends 2, third-party websites 2a, advertisement spaces 2b, search fields 2c, information spaces 2d, search engines 3, advertisement modules 3a, organisation modules 3b, advertisers 4, event-related websites 4a, 4a', keyword advertisements 4b, external data sources 5, event information modules 5a, attender modules 5b, network connections 6 and computer-readable media 7 in whatever number and form required for managing, handling, transmitting, storing, ordering, receiving and/or retrieving data and information for carrying out the method according to the present invention. It may be desired but it is not obligatory that the advertiser's website 4a, 4a' has a mode for non-registered users U and registered users R. Alternatively, the advertiser's website 4a, 4a' may only have a single mode in which it is freely accessible for all users. It should be understood that, especially in case of the network connections 6, any wired or wireless connections may be used. The network connections 6 may be understood as any form of digital or non-digital system bus systems using any appropriate algorithm to exchange information. The computing device 1 a may be understood as a single computer and the administrator A may use this computer which may be a standard desktop computer with standard input and output devices configured for using the computer. The administrator A may also be understood as a network computer, work station or any other electronic device which is able to control the system 1 .

The application 10 may comprise insertion modules 1 1 , controlling modules 12 and finishing modules 13 in whatever number and form required. The insertion module 1 1 may comprise sets of trigger keywords 1 1 a, sets of hit keywords 1 1 b, sets of disabled keywords 1 1 c, advertisement bodies 1 1 d, advertisement data sets 1 1 e, activation data sets 1 1 f, request data sets 1 1 g, confirmation data sets 1 1 h, keyword test data sets 1 1 i, statistical data sets 1 1j, application data sets 1 1 k and event data set 1 11 in whatever number and form required. The controlling module 12 may comprise abortion data sets 12a, variation data sets 12b, replacement data sets 12c and extension data sets 12d in whatever number and form required. The finishing module 13 may comprise set of disabled advertisements 13a and sets of deleted advertisements 13b in whatever number and form required and may carry out an extensive analysation and evaluation of the performance of a keyword advertisement 4b. All data sets, bodies and spaces mentioned above may comprise any fields, packages and spaces required for managing, handling, storing, displaying, manipulating, marking, tagging, entering and sending out data.

The inventive method may comprise insertion steps 100, controlling steps 200, and finishing steps 300 in whatever number form desired. The insertion step 100 may comprise importing steps 101 , further event data steps 102, internal data steps 103, event data steps 104, link generation steps 104, steps of providing trigger keywords 106, recursive keyword steps 107, steps of generating advertisement data 108, SEO-data steps 109, SEA-data steps 1 10, recursive advertisement steps 1 1 1 , steps of deciding to use an advertisement 1 12, steps of providing advertisement bodies 1 13, activation steps 1 14, steps of deciding not to use to an advertisement 1 15 and steps of internal documentation 1 16 in whatever number and sequence required in order to generate, insert and activate a keyword advertisement 4b according to the present invention.

The controlling step 200 may comprise steps of triggering control 201 , steps of performance evaluation 202, steps of monitoring keyword advertisements 303, recursive data evaluation steps 204, steps of deciding to intervene 205, intervention steps 206, steps of deciding to maintain keyword advertisements 207 and further internal control steps 208 in whatever number and sequence required for carrying out the steps of controlling a keyword advertisement 4b according to the present invention.

The finishing step 300 may comprise steps of triggering finish 301 , steps of performance assessing 302, SEO-data evaluation steps 303, SEA-data evaluation steps 304, recursive data evaluation steps 305, steps of deciding to finish an advertisement 306, steps of disabling/deleting an advertisement 307, steps of deciding to keep an advertisement 308 and final internal control steps 309 in whatever number and sequence required for finishing a keyword advertisement 4b according to the present invention. Reference Signs List

No. Part

400 step of general data manipulation

401 internal parameter step

402 external parameter step

403 input parameter step

404 step of processing input parameters

405 output parameter step

406 apply parameter step

407 regulation step

A administrator

U user

R registered user

Claims

Claims A computer-implemented method for generating and activating in a computer network a keyword advertisement (4b) to be displayed on a third-party website (2a) having access to a search engine (3), the keyword advertisement (4b) being synchronized to a time-limited event having an event duration with a predetermined starting time and a predetermined ending time, the method comprising the steps of: providing a set of trigger keywords (1 1 a) relating to the event, automatically generating at least one advertisement data set (1 1 e) containing hyperlink data of an advertiser's website (4a, 4a'), the set of trigger keywords (1 1 a), and an advertisement body (1 1 d) with at least one of text data, image data, video data, and animation data for display on the third-party website (2a), automatically sending out via a network connection (6) the at least one advertisement data set (1 1 e) for the third-party website (2a), and automatically sending out via a network connection (6) an activation data set (1 1 f) containing computer-readable instructions for the third-party website (2a) to display at least a part of the advertisement body (1 1 d) in response to a search by the search engine (3) based on at least one keyword from the set of trigger keywords (1 1 a) during an activation time period at least partially overlapping with the event duration. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: sending out prior to the starting time via a network connection (6) an application data set(1 1 k) containing the advertisement body (1 1 d), and a request for a general clearance of the advertisement body (1 1 d) to be displayed on the third-party website (2a), receiving via a network connection a clearance confirmation data set (1 1 h), containing a confirmation that the advertisement body (1 1 d) is clear for publication, marking the advertisement body (1 1 d) as ready to be activated after the clearance confirmation data (1 1 h) set is received. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the activation time period is set to begin at a start point depending on the starting time, and is set to expire at an end point depending on the ending time. The method according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the step of providing the set of trigger keywords (1 1 a) further comprises the steps of: identifying a number of potential keywords relating to the event, forming a keyword test data set (1 1 i) from at least some of the number of potential keywords, receiving via a network connection (6) a statistics data set (1 1j) with the statistics on the usage of each keyword from the number of keywords in online search queries, and selecting the set of trigger keywords (1 1 a) to be at least one of the keywords from the keyword test data set (1 1 i) by applying an evaluation metrics to the statistics. The method according to one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the step of providing a set of trigger keywords (1 1 a) further comprises the steps of: automatically receiving an event data set (1 11) containing information on the event, and automatically identifying a number of potential keywords in the information on the event. The method according to one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising the steps of: defining a set of hit keywords (1 1 b) representing the advertiser (4), receiving search results as a sequence of online search hits resulting from a probationary online search based on at least one keyword from the set of trigger keywords (1 1 a), identifying at least one keyword from the set of hit keywords (1 1 b) in the search results, and applying relevance metrics to the at least one keyword from the set of hit keywords (1 1 b) identified in the search results. The method according to one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a step of controlling the keyword advertisement (4b) comprising the steps of: monitoring at least one of a recent click rate and a click history data of at least one keyword advertisement (4b) during the activation time period, calculating a success indicator for the keyword advertisement (4b) based on at least one of the recent click rate and the click history data, and comparing the success indicator with a predefined performance value. The method according to claim 7, wherein if the success indicator does not meet the predefined performance value, the step of controlling the keyword advertisement (4b) further comprises at least one of the steps of: sending out via a network connection (6) an abortion data set (12a) for the third-party website (2a), the abortion data set (12a) containing computer-readable instructions to abort the advertisement activation time period for the keyword advertisement (4b), sending out via a network connection (6) a variation data set (12b) for the third-party website (2a), the variation data set (12b) comprising computer-readable instructions to vary the part of the advertisement body (1 1 d) to be displayed, and sending out via a network connection (6) a replacement data set (12c) for the third-party website (2a), the replacement data set (12c) comprising computer-readable instructions to replace the keyword advertisement (4b) with another keyword advertisement (4b) relating to another event, The method according to one of claims 7 or 8, wherein if the success indicator exceeds the predefined performance value, the step of controlling the keyword advertisement (4b) further comprises the step of: sending out via a network connection (6) an extension data set (12d) for the third-party website (2a), the extension data set (12e) comprising computer-readable instructions to extend the activation time period. 0. A computer-readable medium (7) storing instructions that are executable by a processing device (1 b) and upon such execution cause the processing device (1 b) to carry out a method according to at least one of claims 1 to 9.

1 . A computing device (1 a) adapted for generating and activating in computer network a

keyword advertisement (4b) to be displayed on a third-party website (2a) having access to a search engine (3), the keyword advertisement (4b) being synchronized to a time-limited event having an event duration with a predetermined starting time and a predetermined ending time, the computing device (1 a) comprising an insertion module (1 1 ) configured to: manage a set of trigger keywords (1 1 a) relating to the event,

generate at least one advertisement data set (1 1 e) containing hyperlink data of an advertiser's website (4a, 4a'), the set of trigger keywords (1 1 a), and an advertisement body (1 1 d) with at least one of text data, image data, video data, and animation data for display on the third-party website (2a),

send out via a network connection (6) the at least one advertisement data set (1 1 e) for the third-party website (2a), and

send out via a network connection (6) an activation data set (1 1 f) containing computer- readable instructions for the third-party website (2a) to display at least a part of the advertisement body in response to a search by the search engine (3) based on at least one keyword from the set of trigger keywords (1 1 a) during an activation time period at least partially overlapping with the event duration.

2. The computing device (1 a) according to claim 1 1 , wherein the insertion module (1 1 ) is further configured to:

send out via a network connection (6) an application data set (1 k) containing the advertisement body (1 1 d), and a request for a general clearance of the advertisement body (1 1 d) to be displayed on the third-party website (2a),

receive via a network connection (6) a clearance confirmation data set (1 1 h) containing a confirmation that the advertisement body (1 1 d) is clear for publication,

store the advertisement body (1 1 d) as ready to be activated after the clearance confirmation data set (1 1 h) is received

3. The computing device (1 a) according to claim 1 1 or 12, wherein the insertion module is further configured to:

manage a number of potential keywords relating to the event,

form a keyword test data set (1 1 i) from at least some of the number of potential keywords, receive via a network connection (6) a statistics data set (1 1j) with statistics on the usage of each keyword from the number of keywords in online search queries, and

select the set of trigger keywords (1 1 a) to be at least one of the keywords from the keyword test data set (1 1 i) by applying an evaluation metrics to the statistics.

4. The computing device (1 a) according to at least one of claims 1 1 to 13, further comprising a controlling module (12) configured to:

monitor at least one of recent click rate and click history data of at least one keyword advertisement (4b) during the activation time period,

calculate a success indicator for the keyword advertisement (4b) based on at least one of the recent click rate and the click history data, and

compare the success indicator with a predefined performance value.

5. The computing device (1 a) according to at least one of claims 1 1 to 14, further comprising a finishing module (13) configured to disable or delete an advertisement data set (1 1 e).