Using enhanced ad features to increase competition in online advertising

Abstract

In an online advertising system, advertisers compete with each other for advertising space. There may be multiple advertising positions available, where the placement of advertisements is determined by an auction. To encourage competition, some advertisements may be presented with enhanced features. These enhanced features create an incentive for which advertisers can compete, thereby increasing the effectiveness, usefulness and/or profitability of the advertising system. The application of enhanced features may be determined using at least one or more of pricing information, performance information and advertising information.

1 - 18 . (canceled) 
     
     
         19 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 determining, based on an outcome of an advertisement selection process, a presentation order for a set of advertisements that includes a particular advertisement;   receiving, by at least one processor, data specifying approved enhanced features that have been approved, by an advertiser, to be applied to the particular advertisement;   receiving, by at least one processor and for the particular advertisement, an eligibility score that was computed based on performance information corresponding to the particular advertisement;   determining, by at least one processor, that the eligibility score meets a threshold score for one of the approved enhanced features;   in response to determining that the eligibility score meets the threshold score:
 applying, to the particular advertisement and by at least one processor, the approved enhanced feature corresponding to the threshold score; and 
 providing, by at least one processor and for presentation according to the presentation order, the particular advertisement to which the approved enhanced advertisement feature is applied. 
   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein applying the approved enhanced advertisement feature to the particular advertisement comprises:
 receiving document information corresponding to the document with which the particular advertisement will be presented, the document information including document restrictions that specify enhanced features that are excluded from presentation with the document; and   applying, based on the document information, the approved enhanced feature to the particular advertisement in response to a determination that the approved enhanced feature is eligible for presentation with the document based on the document information.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the approved enhanced advertisement feature includes at least one of (A) increasing a size of the particular advertisement, (B) increasing a font size of text in the particular advertisement, (C) changing a font type of text in the particular advertisement, (D) increasing an amount of text shown in the particular advertisement, (E) providing enhanced color schemes to the particular advertisement, (F) providing the particular advertisement with animation, (G) providing the particular advertisement with video, (H) providing the particular advertisement with sound, (I) providing the particular advertisement with sound effects, (J) providing the particular advertisement with persistence, (K) providing the particular advertisement with a border, (L) providing the particular advertisement with an enhanced border, (M) providing the particular advertisement or in a desired shape, or (N) providing the particular advertisement with programmed interactivity. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein providing the particular advertisement comprises providing the particular advertisement with a search results page. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 19 , comprising selecting the set of advertisements, based at least in part, on information received with a search query. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the eligibility score is determined based on one or more of price information associated with the particular advertisement, performance information associated with the particular advertisement, or a quality measure associated with the particular advertisement. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 19 , comprising sizing one or more advertisements from the set of advertisements based on a measure of quality of the one or more advertisements, wherein the sizing of each of the one or more advertisements is proportional to the measure of quality. 
     
     
         26 . A system, comprising:
 a database storing information corresponding to a plurality of advertisements; and   one or more processors that interact with the database and execute instructions that cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 determining, based on an outcome of an advertisement selection process, a presentation order for a set of advertisements that includes a particular advertisement; 
 receiving, from the database, data specifying approved enhanced features that have been approved, by an advertiser, to be applied to the particular advertisement; 
 receiving, for the particular advertisement, an eligibility score that was computed based on performance information corresponding to the particular advertisement; 
 determining that the eligibility score meets a threshold score for one of the approved enhanced features; 
 in response to determining that the eligibility score meets the threshold score:
 applying, to the particular advertisement, the approved enhanced feature corresponding to the threshold score; and 
 providing, for presentation according to the presentation order, the particular advertisement to which the approved enhanced advertisement feature is applied. 
 
   
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein applying the approved enhanced advertisement feature to the particular advertisement comprises:
 receiving document information corresponding to the document with which the particular advertisement will be presented, the document information including document restrictions that specify enhanced features that are excluded from presentation with the document; and   applying, based on the document information, the approved enhanced feature to the particular advertisement in response to a determination that the approved enhanced feature is eligible for presentation with the document based on the document information.   
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the approved enhanced advertisement feature includes at least one of (A) increasing a size of the particular advertisement, (B) increasing a font size of text in the particular advertisement, (C) changing a font type of text in the particular advertisement, (D) increasing an amount of text shown in the particular advertisement, (E) providing enhanced color schemes to the particular advertisement, (F) providing the particular advertisement with animation, (G) providing the particular advertisement with video, (H) providing the particular advertisement with sound, (I) providing the particular advertisement with sound effects, (J) providing the particular advertisement with persistence, (K) providing the particular advertisement with a border, (L) providing the particular advertisement with an enhanced border, (M) providing the particular advertisement or in a desired shape, or (N) providing the particular advertisement with programmed interactivity. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein providing the particular advertisement comprises providing the particular advertisement with a search results page. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the instruction cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising selecting the set of advertisements, based at least in part, on information received with a search query. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the eligibility score is determined based on one or more of price information associated with the particular advertisement, performance information associated with the particular advertisement, or a quality measure associated with the particular advertisement. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the instruction cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising sizing one or more advertisements from the set of advertisements based on a measure of quality of the one or more advertisements, wherein the sizing of each of the one or more advertisements is proportional to the measure of quality. 
     
     
         33 . A data storage device storing instructions that upon execution by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 determining, based on an outcome of an advertisement selection process, a presentation order for a set of advertisements that includes a particular advertisement;   receiving data specifying approved enhanced features that have been approved, by an advertiser, to be applied to the particular advertisement;   receiving, for the particular advertisement, an eligibility score that was computed based on performance information corresponding to the particular advertisement;   determining that the eligibility score meets a threshold score for one of the approved enhanced features;   in response to determining that the eligibility score meets the threshold score:
 applying, to the particular advertisement, the approved enhanced feature corresponding to the threshold score; and 
 providing, for presentation according to the presentation order, the particular advertisement to which the approved enhanced advertisement feature is applied. 
   
     
     
         34 . The data storage device of  claim 33 , wherein applying the approved enhanced advertisement feature to the particular advertisement comprises:
 receiving document information corresponding to the document with which the particular advertisement will be presented, the document information including document restrictions that specify enhanced features that are excluded from presentation with the document; and   applying, based on the document information, the approved enhanced feature to the particular advertisement in response to a determination that the approved enhanced feature is eligible for presentation with the document based on the document information.   
     
     
         35 . The data storage device of  claim 33 , wherein the approved enhanced advertisement feature includes at least one of (A) increasing a size of the particular advertisement, (B) increasing a font size of text in the particular advertisement, (C) changing a font type of text in the particular advertisement, (D) increasing an amount of text shown in the particular advertisement, (E) providing enhanced color schemes to the particular advertisement, (F) providing the particular advertisement with animation, (G) providing the particular advertisement with video, (H) providing the particular advertisement with sound, (I) providing the particular advertisement with sound effects, (J) providing the particular advertisement with persistence, (K) providing the particular advertisement with a border, (L) providing the particular advertisement with an enhanced border, (M) providing the particular advertisement or in a desired shape, or (N) providing the particular advertisement with programmed interactivity. 
     
     
         36 . The data storage device of  claim 33 , wherein the instruction cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising selecting the set of advertisements, based at least in part, on information received with a search query. 
     
     
         37 . The data storage device of  claim 33 , wherein the eligibility score is determined based on one or more of price information associated with the particular advertisement, performance information associated with the particular advertisement, or a quality measure associated with the particular advertisement. 
     
     
         38 . The data storage device of  claim 33 , wherein the instruction cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising sizing one or more advertisements from the set of advertisements based on a measure of quality of the one or more advertisements, wherein the sizing of each of the one or more advertisements is proportional to the measure of quality.