System and method for the presentation of advertisements

Abstract

A system and method for the presentation of advertisements is present. According to one embodiment, a number of impressions of an advertisement message are presented over a computer network such as the Internet to a variety of viewer computers. Depending on the actions taken by the viewers (e.g., whether the Viewer selects the advertising message and accesses a web-link to the advertiser's web-site), bonus exposure (e.g., an additional number of impressions provided to the viewers) of the advertising message is given.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for the presentation of at least one advertisement message to viewers of at least one website, the system comprising:
 one or more processors; and   one or more storage devices in communication with the one or more processors, the one or more storage devices including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, enable the one or more processors to perform a method comprising the steps of:   presenting at least one instance of an advertisement message on the website to one or more viewers browsing the website, the at least one instance of the advertisement message being presented subject to an advertising budget and in exchange for a fee according to a pricing model that includes a performance-based pricing incentive for an entity,   storing, in the one or more storage devices, a record of viewer action associated with the at least one instance of the advertisement message, and   awarding, based at least in part on the record, the performance-based pricing incentive, wherein the incentive comprises a decrease in the fee calculated on a basis of the viewer action, in response to an increase in the viewer action.   
     
     
         2 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the fee comprises cost per thousand impressions. 
     
     
         3 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the fee comprises cost per purchase transaction. 
     
     
         4 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the fee comprises cost per name. 
     
     
         5 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein storing the record of viewer action comprises storing a record of a click. 
     
     
         6 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein storing the record of viewer action comprises storing a record of a purchase transaction. 
     
     
         7 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein storing the record of viewer action comprises storing a record of viewer information. 
     
     
         8 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein awarding the performance-based pricing incentive comprises determining a level of interest in the advertisement message by the viewers based at least in part on the stored record. 
     
     
         9 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the entity comprises one of an advertiser or a buyer of the advertisement message presentation. 
     
     
         10 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the entity provides at least one of a good and a service, the at least one of a good and a service being a subject of the advertisement message. 
     
     
         11 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the fee comprises cost per click. 
     
     
         12 . A system for the presentation of at least one advertisement message to viewers of at least one website, the system comprising:
 one or more processors; and   one or more storage devices in communication with one or more processors, the one or more storage devices including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, enable the performance of a method comprising the steps of:
 receiving at one or more processors at least one instance of an advertisement message; 
 receiving, at one or more processors, an instruction to present at least one instance of the advertisement message to a viewer computer based on a request received from the viewer computer via the Internet, wherein:
 presentation of the at least one instance of the advertisement message on a first website by one or more processors is subject to an advertising budget; and 
 the at least one instance of the advertisement message is presented on the first website by one or more processors in exchange for a fee according to a pricing model that includes a performance-based pricing incentive; 
 
 presenting, with one or more processors, the at least one instance of an advertisement message on the first website in response to a request received via the Internet from a computer of one or more viewers browsing the first website, 
 storing with one or more processors, in one or more storage devices, a record of viewer action associated with the at least one instance of the advertisement message, and 
 awarding with one or more processors, based at least in part on the record of viewer action, the performance-based pricing incentive, wherein the incentive comprises a decrease in the fee calculated on a basis of the viewer action, in response to an increase in the viewer action. 
   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein storing the record of viewer action comprises storing a record of a click by the viewer of the at least one instance of the advertisement message on the first website. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the click by the viewer causes a request to browse a second website, where the first and second websites are different. 
     
     
         15 . The system according to  claim 12 , wherein storing the record of viewer action comprises storing a record of a purchase transaction completed on a second website, where the first and second websites are different. 
     
     
         16 . The system according to  claim 12 , wherein storing the record of viewer action comprises storing a record of viewer information received from the viewer computer via the Internet. 
     
     
         17 . A system for the presentation of at least one advertisement message to viewers of at least one website, the system comprising:
 a processor; and   a storage device in communication with the processor, the storage device including instructions that, when executed by the processor, enable the performance of a method comprising the steps of:   (a) receiving with the processor an instruction to present at least one instance of an advertisement message subject to an advertising budget and in exchange for a fee according to a pricing model that includes a performance-based pricing incentive for an entity,   (b) presenting with the processor the at least one instance of an advertisement message on the website to one or more viewers browsing the website,   (c) storing with the processor, in the storage device, a record of viewer action associated with the at least one instance of the advertisement message,   (d) awarding with the processor, based at least in part on the record, the performance-based pricing incentive, wherein the incentive comprises a decrease in the fee calculated on a basis of the viewer action, in response to an increase in the viewer action, and   (e) if the advertising budget has not been exceeded, repeating steps (b)-(e).