Network-based systems and methods for defining and managing multi-dimensional, advertising impression inventory

摘要

A method for representing and managing an inventory of overlapping multi-dimensional items such as advertising or ad impressions. The method uses an inventory management module to generate unique segment identifiers for sets of inventory items by processing descriptions of the sets of impressions including defining criteria. The method includes processing the unique segment identifiers to create a representation of the inventory as a plurality of inventory regions, which may include non-overlapping regions that correspond to inventory items in a single set of the inventory and also include overlapping regions that correspond to inventory items in two or more of the sets (e.g., items that match two or more sets of defining criteria or attributes). Availability and selection of inventory is determined using the information on inventory regions to control effects of cannibalization, such as by implementing logically necessary allocation to only cannibalize a region on a limited or forced basis.

主权项

1. A computer-based method for representing and managing an inventory of advertising space that includes a plurality of advertising products and advertising impressions, comprising:
by a processor, running an inventory management module on a computer; by the inventory management module, generating a unique identifier for each of the advertising products within the inventory; wherein each of the advertising products comprise at least one attribute of a plurality of attributes and a corresponding attribute value; wherein the at least one attribute and corresponding attribute value of one or more of the advertising products has at least one attribute and corresponding attribute value in common with another one of the advertising products; by the processor, processing input records associated with the advertising impressions; determining, by the processor, for each of the processed input records advertising products of the plurality of advertising products that match one or more attributes and corresponding attribute values of the input records, associating, by the processor, each said input record with a representation of matching unique identifiers, and defining, by the processor, an advertising product vector and a count of the advertising impression inventory associated with the advertising product vector; for the inventory, generating by the processor a representation of the inventory as a plurality of inventory regions, wherein each inventory region is identified by the advertising product vector and its count defining a number of the inventory items corresponding to each of the inventory regions; storing the advertising product vectors and their counts; and in response to an inventory availability or forecast request being received by the inventory management module, providing a report that identifies a relevant portion of the counts for one or more of the advertising products in the inventory to a requesting device using the advertising product vectors.