Advertising Futures Marketplace Methods and Systems

Abstract

Methods and systems provide information products relating to past, present and future advertising transactions (i.e., contracts to place advertisements in various media) to enable a marketplace in advertising products. Information regarding a plurality of advertising transactions are gathered. Data is analyzed to determine its attributes. Some attribute values are transformed and the attribute values are stored in a database. Attributes are organized or indexed according to a taxonomy of attributes to provide indexes to advertising transaction records. Indexes and benchmarks for various selected types of advertising transactions can be generated by selecting certain records from the database and aggregating the data or otherwise synthesizing information products, such as benchmarks and market entities for the selected types of advertising transactions. Information products may be published and syndicated as market indexes and benchmarks.

1 . A computer system, comprising:
 a programmable processor;   a network interface coupled to the programmable processor and configured to enable the programmable processor to communicate via a network; and   a memory coupled to the programmable processor,   wherein the programmable processor is configured with executable instructions to perform steps comprising:
 receiving data summarizing a plurality of advertising placement transactions; 
 extracting values of advertising attributes from the captured advertising transaction data; 
 organizing the extracted advertising transaction attribute values according to a taxonomy; and 
 storing the values of the attributes according to the taxonomy. 
   
     
     
         2 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the programmable processor is configured with executable instructions to perform further steps comprising aggregating advertising transactions selected according to one or more attributes to provide a common market index of advertising transactions. 
     
     
         3 . The computer system of  claim 2 , wherein the programmable processor is configured with executable instructions to perform steps such that aggregation includes a process selected from the group consisting of: averaging prices of the selected advertising transactions; volume-weighted averaging of prices of the selected advertising transactions; booking-time-weighted averaging of prices of the selected advertising transactions; flight-time-weighted averaging of prices of the selected advertising transactions; calculating a rolling average price of the selected advertising transactions; calculating a moving average price of the selected advertising transactions; dynamically averaging prices of the selected advertising transactions; calculating a mean point of the selected advertising transactions; calculating a median point of the selected advertising transactions for a selected time period; pre-processing the transaction data; grouping transactions according to a single attribute of advertising transactions; grouping transactions according to a pre-defined group of attributes of advertising transactions; and grouping transactions according to a dynamic group of standard attributes of advertising transactions. 
     
     
         4 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the programmable processor is configured with executable instructions to perform further steps comprising:
 sampling a set of advertising transactions selected based on the extracted attribute values; and   determining a benchmark based on the sampled set of advertising transactions.   
     
     
         5 . The computer system of  claim 4 , wherein the programmable processor is configured with executable instructions to perform steps such that:
 the step of sampling a set of advertising transactions based on the determined attribute values comprises selecting advertising transactions having an attribute value indicating transactions for a type of advertising selected from the group consisting of electronic display advertising, mobile advertising, search advertising, video advertising, game advertising, radio advertising, television advertising, product placement advertising, direct marketing adverting and telemarketing advertising; and   the step of determining a benchmark based on the sampled set of advertising transactions comprises determining an advertising reference entity for the selected type of advertising.   
     
     
         6 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the programmable processor is configured with executable instructions to perform further steps comprising:
 sampling a set of advertising transactions selected based on the extracted attribute values; and   synthesizing an advertising reference entity based on the sampled set of advertising transactions.   
     
     
         7 . A method of aggregating advertising transactions, comprising:
 capturing in a computer system advertising transaction data from a stream of advertising transaction records received from a source of advertising transaction data;   determining values of advertising transaction attributes within extracted advertising transactions;   organizing the extracted advertising transactions into tiers according to a taxonomy of advertising transaction attributes;   sampling a set of advertising transactions based upon at least one selected attribute value;   synthesizing an advertising reference entity based upon and representative of the sampled set of advertising transactions; and   generating an electronic display of the synthesized advertising reference entity.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the taxonomy includes an advertising product context overlap tier. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 calculating a value of the synthesized advertising reference entity; and   publishing the value of the advertising reference entity on a timely and consistent basis over time.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 syndicating the publication of the value of the advertising reference entity; and   establishing the advertising reference entity as an advertising market benchmark for subsequent transactions.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising archiving the published advertising reference entity in a relational database. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising providing a user interface whereby a party may view underlying advertising reference entity composition and pricing information. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising displaying the transaction records in tiers according to the taxonomy of advertising transaction attributes. 
     
     
         14 . A method of aggregating advertising transactions, comprising:
 capturing in a computer system advertising transaction data from a stream of advertising transaction records received via a network from a source of advertising transaction data;   determining values of standard attributes within extracted advertising transactions;   sampling a set of advertising transactions based upon the determined attribute values;   calculating an advertising product composite price based on the sampled set of advertising transactions within an identified transaction timeframe;   publishing the advertising product composite price to a marketplace on a timely and consistent basis;   syndicating the publication of the advertising product composite price; and   establishing the advertising product composite price as an advertising composite price benchmark for subsequent transactions.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the advertising product composite price is determined by an advertising product composite price engine operating in the computer system, wherein the composite price engine performs steps comprising a volume-weighted composite price for the sampled set of advertising transactions within the identified transaction timeframe. 
     
     
         16 . A computer system, comprising:
 a programmable processor;   a network interface coupled to the programmable processor and configured to enable the programmable processor to communicate via a network; and   a memory coupled to the programmable processor,   wherein the programmable processor is configured with executable instructions to perform steps comprising:
 receiving answers to survey questions from market participants in advertising markets wherein the survey questions are configured to solicit information about advertising activity levels in the advertising markets; 
 transforming the received survey answers into at least one advertising activity level score; and 
 indexing the advertising activity level score to establish an advertising activity level benchmark for a type of advertising activity, wherein the advertising activity levels are selected from the group consisting of purchasing activity levels, selling activity levels, viewing activity levels, marketing activity levels, inquiry activity levels, hiring activity levels, account visit activity levels, and request for proposal activity levels. 
   
     
     
         17 . The computer system of  claim 16 , wherein the programmable processor is further configured with executable instructions to perform further steps comprising:
 publishing the indexed advertising activity level score as an advertising activity index;   syndicating the indexed advertising activity level score; and   archiving the indexed advertising activity level score.   
     
     
         18 . A computer system, comprising:
 a programmable processor;   a network interface coupled to the programmable processor and configured to enable the programmable processor to communicate via a network; and   a memory coupled to the programmable processor,   wherein the programmable processor is configured with executable instructions to perform steps comprising:
 receiving answers to survey questions from market participants in advertising markets wherein the survey questions are configured to solicit information about future or proposed advertising activity levels in the advertising markets for a predetermined future time period; 
 transforming survey answers into at least one future advertising activity level score; and 
 indexing the future advertising activity level score to establish a future advertising activity level benchmark for a type of advertising activity, wherein the advertising activity levels are selected from the group consisting of purchasing activity levels, selling activity levels, viewing activity levels, marketing activity levels, inquiry activity levels, hiring activity levels, account visit activity levels, and request for proposal activity levels. 
   
     
     
         19 . The computer system of  claim 18 , wherein the programmable processor is further configured with executable instructions to perform further steps comprising:
 publishing the indexed future advertising activity level score as a future advertising activity index;   syndicating the indexed future advertising activity level score; and   archiving the indexed future advertising activity level score.