A method for providing a search result list. The method includes receiving a search request from a searcher (12). In a database of search listings (24) in which each search listing is associated with an advertiser (30) and includes at least one search term and a bid amount by the advertiser, search listings generating a match with the search request are identified. A predetermined number of identified search listings (38) are selected according to bid amount for display to the searcher (16). The identified search listings are arranged for display in a random order as the search result list. The search result list is then communicated to the searcher.

Improved system and method for influencing a position on a search result list generated by a computer network search engine

A method and system for placement of graphical objects on a page to optimize the occurrence of an event associated with such objects. The graphical objects might include, for instance, advertisements on a webpage, and the event would include a user clicking on that ad. The page includes positions for receipt of the object material. Data regarding the past performance of the objects is stored and updated as new data is received. A user requests a page from a server associated with system. The server uses the performance data to derive a prioritized arrangement of the objects on the page. The server performs a calculation regarding the likelihood that an event will occur for a given object, as displayed to a particular user. The objects are arranged according to this calculation and returned to the user on the requested page. The likelihood can also be multiplied by a weighting factor and the objects arranged according to this product.

Method and system for optimum placement of advertisements on a webpage

A method and apparatus for managing search listings in a search database include storing one or more search listings for an advertiser. Each search listing includes an associated search term. The system receives from the advertiser identification information for a search listing and a desired rank for the identified search listing, a maximum cost per click for the search listing, or both. The system stores the desired rank and/or maximum cost per click for the search listing. The system then determines a cost per click for the identified search listing based on the desired rank and other search listings which include the search term associated with the identified search listing.

System and method for providing place and price protection in a search result list generated by a computer network search engine

Described herein are methods for creating categorized documents, categorizing documents in a distributed database and categorizing Resulting Pages. Also described herein is an apparatus for searching a distributed database. The method for creating categorized documents generally comprises: initially assuming all documents are of type 1; filtering out all type 2 documents and placing them in a first category; filtering out all type 3 documents and placing them in a second category; and defining all remaining documents as type 4 documents and placing all type 4 documents in a third category. The apparatus for searching a distributed database generally comprises at least one memory device; a computing apparatus; an indexer; a transactional score generator; and a category assignor; a search server; and a user interface in communication with the search server.

Method and apparatus for categorizing and presenting documents of a distributed database

A database search system includes a database of search terms, each search term associated with a bid amount payable by an advertiser of a plurality of advertisers and a search engine responsive to search queries from searchers for searching the database. A flight management agent is responsive to advertiser-specified parameters for adjusting bid amounts of search listings to manage expenditures over a time interval.

Automatic flight management in an online marketplace

As a result of the distribution of interrelated information over several different information systems, the interconnection of information systems has increased in recent years. However, a purely technical interconnection is insufficient for users who need to find their way to information they are looking for. Thesauri are a proven means to identify documents, e.g., books of interest in a library. For different domains, different thesauri are available, which can be used in information systems as well, e.g., for the indexing and retrieval of data objects. Thus, the interconnection of information systems raises the need to integrate related thesauri. Furthermore, recent advances in open interoperability technologies (World Wide Web, CORBA, and Java) offer the potential for completely new technical solutions for employing thesauri. This paper presents an approach for integrating multiple thesaurus databases. It concentrates on the integration of distributed and heterogeneous thesaurus databases and the integration of multilingual and monolingual thesauri. The software architecture takes advantage of the most advanced Internet and CORBA technology currently available in public domain and in commercial implementations.

Corinna Habeck

Papers

Thesaurus federations: loosely integrated thesauri for document retrieval in networks based on Internet technologies