Google Inc.

Alan Wayne Blount

Tarun Kumar Jain

Shivakumar Venkataraman

Srdjan Petrovic

David Lloyd Jones

William Sands Robinson

Arnar Mar Hrafnkelsson

A system for providing advertisements with search results in response to a search query comprises a front end and an advertisement server. The front end is configured: to receive a search query; to send a first search request to a search server and sending a first advertisement request to an advertisement server, wherein the first search request includes the search query or information based on the search query, and wherein the first advertisement request includes the search query or information based on the search query and an indication that an advertisement response is not to be provided; to receive search results from the search server; and to send at least some of the search results to the advertisement server in a second advertisement request, wherein the second advertisement request includes an indication that an advertisement response is to be provided. The advertisement server is configured: in response to receiving the first advertisement request, to search for advertisements related to the search query to produce plural advertisement results each with an associated score; in response to receiving the second advertisement request, to modify the score of at least one of the plural advertisement results; to rank the plural advertisement results according to their scores; to select one or more of the highest ranked plural advertisement results; and to send an advertisement response to the front end, the advertisement response including the selected one or more highest ranked plural advertisement results. The front end is configured to provide the search results with the selected one or more highest ranked plural advertisement results.

Handling search queries

Methods, systems, and apparatus include computer programs encoded on a computer-readable storage medium for selecting content. A method includes: receiving an initial request for content that is to be presented along with search results responsive to a search request; identifying one or more eligible content items from the candidate content items that satisfy the initial request; receiving information describing the search results; re-processing the initial request using the information including one or more of adding other eligible content items, removing one or more previously eligible content items, adjusting a quality score or a bid associated with one or more eligible content items, or re-ranking the eligible content items; conducting an auction based on ranked eligible content items; and selecting one or more content items from among the eligible content items based on the results of the auction and transmitting the selected one or more content items.

Adjusting content selection based on search results

Growing community of inventors

Cambridge, MA, United States of America

Alan Wayne Blount