WO2017105361A1

WO2017105361A1 - A dynamic program allocation method which provides bilateral optimization by analyzing the usage habits of the parties through its internal modules

Info

Publication number: WO2017105361A1
Application number: PCT/TR2016/000179
Authority: WO
Inventors: Okan KONUK; Funda SAHIN
Original assignee: Puzzle Medya Teknolojileri Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi
Priority date: 2015-12-18
Filing date: 2016-12-14
Publication date: 2017-06-22
Also published as: TR201516408A2

Abstract

The present invention relates to a dynamic program allocation method which provides bilateral optimization by analyzing the usage habits of the parties through its internal modules, for the conventional media procurement sequences. The method removes the problems in the process which are related to human resources and transparency, while also providing an allocation solution which increases efficiency thanks to the disclosed dynamic structure.

Description

DESCRIPTION

A DYNAMIC PROGRAM ALLOCATION METHOD WHICH PROVIDES BILATERAL OPTIMIZATION BY ANALYZING THE USAGE HABITS OF THE PARTIES THROUGH ITS INTERNAL MODULES

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Furthermore, the invention eliminates the need for the parties to meet to negotiate the prices and billing after reservation and program allocation in offline advertisement channels such as television, newspapers, radio, billboards, outdoors, cinemas and magazines.

KNOWN ART OF THE INVENTION

The parties which advertise and the parties which broadcast the advertisements have basic priorities that are independent from one another. The priorities for the broadcasting party are the revenue earned by the advertisement program or the high yield per unit for the program, whereas the priorities for the advertising party are that the reservation is accepted with the pre-bargained advertisement cost and that the advertisement is broadcast on the desired program.

In the present environment, those who want to advertise and those who own the advertisement program, have meetings with each other through human oriented communication channels (meetings, e-mail, telephone, etc.) and these meetings are long, complicated and time-consuming in nature and may lead to efforts that do not end in sale, and most importantly, the parties are in a process that does not provide

full satisfaction.

The advertisement spot is a product that cannot be stored. According to the agreement, the price of the product is shaped not beforehand but according to the sum of the requests that were realized afterwards. During the process, the representer of the channel and the agencies or the advertisers contacts each other and they come to an agreement about the month and period, as well as the price of the broadcast. The buyer and the seller spend significant working hours on price negotiation. There is a time limitation for price settlement until the broadcast day; increase in demand causes increase in prices, and scarcity of demand causes decrease in prices. In other words, the sales price is dynamic. This price is determined in certain categories (according to time periods) as unit second price per rating, or as unit second price. After the price is determined, the buyer sends reservation to the demanded places with the settled prices. The buyer sees whether the reservation has been broadcast or not from the broadcast report that they receive the next day.

For example, according to the regulation of the Supreme Board of Radio and Television of Turkey, each TV channel has the right to broadcast 12 minutes of advertisements per hour. Hundreds of TV channels broadcast thousands of advertisement periods. Hundreds of advertisers want to take part in these advertisement periods. For example: 720 seconds x 3 = 2160 seconds of advertisement spots are opened a day in a national television series. Considering the average length of an advertisement spot as 30 seconds, 72 advertisers want to broadcast their advertisement spot in this example.

The conventional methods and the developments made thus far could not overcome significant problems such as the fact that the seller does not know at which price the broadcast will be made at a certain program before the broadcast day and before all demand is collected, that they give a certain price and make agreements with the buyers based on market conditions and the history of the advertisers without having the previously mentioned knowledge, that the buyer cannot be guaranteed to have broadcast as the negotiated price is determined over an unknown condition, that the price which can be broadcasted can only be determined right before the program is to be aired after all demand is seen and that the buyer is not informed about these issues.

Among the conventional solutions, the broadcast-guaranteed bid means that the seller bids prices that are much higher than the market conditions if the buyer requires a broadcast- guaranteed price. This method cannot be implemented. Due to the advertiser not wanting to pay a price above the market conditions and not being completely sure about the market conditions, the seller (1) has developed many methods to increase revenue in the conventional system, and the buyer (2) has discovered these systems and devised new methods as a means of defence. The trust relationship between the parties is very fragile and human-oriented. Therefore, most of the time the parties have question marks in their minds. The buyer can never be sure of the accuracy of the feedback they receive. The seller cannot stand by the prices they mention and cannot be sure whether they realized the demand and pricing they deserve.

In the conventional system, the buyer can only learn that their product has not been broadcast due to low price from the report that is published the next day. However, if they knew that their product was not going to make it, they might have conceded to increase the price. Alternatively, they might have revised their bid to consider other programs where their products would have been broadcast.

Another significant problem of the conventional system is that the buyer is doubtful about whether they made an excessive price deal after the product is broadcast.

Similar alternatives to these problems occur for the seller as well; for example, they ask the question "Would my total revenue be higher if I broadcast a different bid?" Such questions are important for the seller to improve their businesses and maximize their profits.

US 9135632 B2patent presents a method wherein the unsold spots are distributed to certain advertisers in exchange for a net fee. The previously mentioned invention is based on a system infrastructure which allocates the previously unsold spots through shifting or merging.

U.S. Pat. No.5,835,896 is an invention which lists the bids taken from the spot buyers through an online auction and informs the winning bidder.

US20050137958A1 describes a method where the advertisement spot pricing is realized through a flexible database. It aims at increasing the profits of the broadcaster by advertising the spots of the advertisement broadcaster.

US20140114773 is an invention which unilaterally provides a bid-based list of the advertisement spots and its system feedback is limited based on predetermined benchmarks. Furthermore, the advertisement spot owner can only receive bids for the programs they bid and sell; therefore the buyers are limited in their choice of programs. The most significant problem in the previously mentioned inventions and the inventions to be made by those skilled in the art is that the potential buyers can not choose programs and are limited to the inventory pool indicated by the seller.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

FIGURE 1: A diagram showing the path to be taken by the buyer for pricing after choosing the program

FIGURE 2: A diagram showing how all bids are going to be evaluated by the seller while the bids continue FIGURE 3:A diagram showing how all bids are going to be evaluated by the seller at the end of the day

FIGURE 4: A diagram showing how the system is working

FIGURE 5: A diagram showing the criteria defined by the seller on the platform FIGURE 6:A diagram showing the criteria defined by the buyer on the platform FIGURE 7: A diagram showing how the platform responds to the demand DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The implementation of the present invention utilizes the dynamic program allocation method which provides bilateral optimization through its internal modules, for the conventional media procurement sequences. Thus, the method removes the problems in the process which are related to human resources and transparency, while also providing an allocation solution which increases efficiency thanks to the disclosed dynamic structure.

The invention, at its most basic from, comprises a main server (4) directly connected to the internet, a data processing protocol device (DPPD) controlled by the buyers (1) and sellers (2) who are authorized to access this platform where the server shares the processed data and the data provider (5). One of the data processing protocol devices belong to the seller or sellers selling an advertisement channel, while the other device, called the buyer data processing protocol device (BDPPD), belongs to the buyer who wants to participate in the advertorials of the program coming from the seller, or in other words, the buyers who want to broadcast their advertisement. In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the DPPDs of the buyer and the seller can communicate with each other through the platform.

In an embodiment of the invention, the seller transmits the numerical and visual scheme of the program broadcast format where the advertisement will be placed, with their own criteria; this transmission can be a mobile physical medium or can happen through the internet over a closed network. This transmission creates a scheme where the seller combines the criteria with the program limitation over the platform. The BDPPD that connects to the platform can see whether the advertisement it wants to broadcast is suitable to the criteria of the allowed program, thanks to the main server matching process working in the background of the platform. After the potential advertisement is found to be suitable by the system, the buyers start to bid on the platform through the auction system provided by the main server. Each bid sent to the platform is transmitted to the SDPPD according to the seller's criteria. According to a process they prefer, the sellers finalize the bid data, provided to them in a sequence in the platform optimized by the main server and put them in a sequence to broadcast in the allocated program.

The criteria of the system diagram shown in Figure 4, is structured according to the legal and free choices of the seller (1). In this structuring, each criterion creates different choices over the platform. For example; the program owner wants to sell an A advertisement program with a T time in the Z broadcast stream at the Y hour on X date. The seller wants the first advertisement of the A program to be benchmarked to Tl period, so they want to leave the advertisements out of the TlMiN<Tl,Tlor T2<Tbenchmark out of evaluation. Furthermore, they define the following benchmarks (Kl, K2, K3) to the A program with various promotions (PI, P2) and send it to the platform (3).

Tl: First advertisement spot duration

T2: advertisement spot duration

Kl: S4 sector cannot enter A program.

K2: Minimum bidding value should not go below B (bidding base price). K3: Same advertisement can be broadcast 2 times at most.

K4: The last advertisement of the program will be a Public Service Announcement.

GK5: Secret Benchmark: Sequencing will be based on the highest value per unit second. PI: The buyer who gives the highest unit bid for this program will be entitled to 10% bid discount for the next program.

P2: The buyer who is allocated the most advertisement duration on the X date will be entitles to get 10% bid discount on date X+3.

DN1: the price at which the advertisements will certainly be broadcast if the potential buyers pay it

DN2:the price at which the advertisement is guaranteed to be broadcast and which defines the sectoral benchmark of the advertisement before and after it, if the potential buyers pay it

The benchmarks and promotions presented here are of exemplary nature, and the same system can be expanded to cover radio, billboards, TV series, news programs or similar broadcasts in addition to television programs.

PROGRAM 720 Seconds

Kl K2 K3 K4 GK5 PI P2

As mentioned in Figure 1, potential buyers (2) see the programs opened up by the seller (1) over the platform and submit their preferences such as the advertisement data (video, visuals, sound file and similar digital formats) in their inventories, the program where the advertisement is going to be broadcast, its position in the advertorial and pricing benchmark, to the platform (3).The analysis protocol in the main server (4) compares the duration, format and other exemplary benchmarks, mentioned in Figure 6 by the buyer (2), of the advertisement data which are defined according to the seller's (1) diagram in Figure 5, with the benchmarks coming from the seller. This comparison enables the dynamic matching protocol, which is the most important novelty and invention step of the system, in cases where there are multiple advertisement buyers.

Data coming from different buyers (2) is filtered and sequenced based on the benchmarks determined by the seller (l).The equation diagram is presented below to serve as an example

In the instant diagram mentioned in Figures 2 and 3, the main server (4) performs matching according to the previously mentioned bids and as the advertisement 103C of buyer 103 does not match with the unit price data sent to the Data Processing Platform Device (DPPD), and as the buyer 105 does not match the sectoral limitation of the advertisement, they have been removed from the sequence by the main server and this can be seen in the platform. In the instant situation, the main server (4) transmits the data it collects to the SDPPD through the platform (3) and it provides options regarding the revenue accrued by the seller at that moment or whether the other purposes, if any, have been fulfilled or not. Meanwhile, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, the buyers whose bids have not been accepted can instantly receive the bid updates required for the broadcasting of their bids sent to the buyer data processing platform device (BDPPD) from the main server.

For example, the buyer (2) whose bid was rejected due to the unit price is notified to increase their bid. If desired, the buyer can choose "automatic", and define the minimum and maximum prices they are willing to pay. Thus, the main server (4) increases the price of the buyer in order to receive broadcasting rights, and stops at the maximum value.

The main server calculates the option of what the minimum increase in the bid will be or whether it will be increased on an undefined rate, and the bidder is notified. For example, the buyer (2) who is notified that their bid Dl has to be increased at least 15%, can increase the bid in said rate or higher to be included in the sequence or they can retract their advertisement bid and can enter the auction list of another program to broadcast their advertisement. The rate of 15% is of exemplary nature and thanks to the dynamic structure, it can be opened to change or the buyer can clearly state whether they want to be included in the program under the existing conditions. Platform (3) provides another alternative to the buyers who could not enter the existing program, in which they can participate with similar price levels. If the buyer wants to enter the auction list of another program, they can use the same bid for different programs without uploading the advertisement data or they can update their bids for the new programs.

The main server (4) works in coordination with the data provider (5) which transmits the rating data it receives from the previously aired programs. This data can be sent to the platform after being processed in the main server with the mathematical formulations known to those skilled in the art, or they can be directly sent to the seller (1) and then transferred to the platform. With these formulations, the buyers who are aware of the average unit price, Budget / (rating x Seconds) or budget/seconds consisting of the bids made by all buyers, can update their bids.

The buyers can enter the platform with multiple bids in order to benefit from the opportunities provided by the invention. These bids can be active bids or substitute bids. For the substitute bids, the advertisement data is uploaded to the system together with the price benchmark and it can be requested that the empty bids in the bid be filled with this bid. Similarly, the buyer who is in the system with active bids can stop the active bidding procedure by moving their position to the substitute after a while. After these steps, the seller (1) can start filling the program which did not get sufficient bids, with the substitute bids as shown in Figures 2 and 3. In the option which is one of the most important embodiments of the dynamic structure of the invention, the buyer whose bid is not accepted at the first phase can update the bid for the same program and the flow diagram of Figure 2 is utilized again. The buyer who accepts to pay the price recommended to be among the buyers who win the auction and whose advertisements are broadcast, will push at least one user who used to be in the list out of the auction. This is because the T variable which is the total duration of the program is usually a limitation that is determined at the beginning and it's not preferred to have it changed. In this case, the main server (4) sends new data over the platform (3) to the buyer whose bid used to be accepted and who is left out of the auction in the last case, and the process utilized for the last buyer and defined in Figure 7 is repeated.

The above mentioned example shows the working principle of the system and, independent of the price variable, the same options can be provided just for the spot of the advertisement in the program. For example, a buyer who does not fit the price variable together with the sectoral and advertisement sequence limitations will receive a request to make changes in the advertisement according to the benchmarks from the main server (4) through the platform (3). In another embodiment of the invention, the main server (4) can take the previous actions of the users logging into the system, namely the buyers (2) and sellers (1), and can process this data to make recommendations for the currently active program. For example; when a program which appeals to the audience of a user who constantly advertises in the children's stream can be given recommendations to enter a similar program based on previous bids. Similarly, in the program opened up by the sellers, the seller can be informed of the estimated occupancy rate or the potential to reach other criteria defined by the seller can be conveyed to the seller by examining the benchmarks such as the occupancy rate of previous programs.

Another novelty introduced by the present invention is that the options provided by the seller within the scope of promotions (PI, PI) can be processed by the main server and be transferred as data to the BDPPD through the platform. In such an embodiment, both the potential buyers whose bids are accepted at that instant and the buyers whose bids are deemed insufficient for the program can increase their bids in order to benefit from these promotions. This would help the seller achieve maximum profit rate in light of their own criteria. In another embodiment of the invention, in case the program does not receive sufficient bids or the provided bids are below the minimum unit price determined by the seller, the buyer- based options can be provided to the buyers whose bids were not accepted over the platform in order to include them into the system. In another phase of the novelty, in situations where the broadcast of the program has been discontinued, the buyers who bid on the removed program can access the programs that are allocated to them as alternatives through the platform.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the DN1 price which is requested for program allocation without participating in the auction can be determined and this price can be transferred to the buyers DPP device from the main server through the platform. Thus, the buyer who wants to participate in said program can have their advertisement broadcast by paying the determined price without participating in the auction. Moreover, the potential buyer can impose a sectoral limitation on the program slot coming after theirs. The DN2 tariff which will arise in this case and the DN1 tariff which arises in the previous case will be optimized by the main server according to the habits of the users. The main server, which includes the rating and cost formulations known to those skilled in the art, will store the data of each broadcast program in its internal or external memory and process said data to use these formulations for the next program in order to send the DN1 and DN2 tariffs as recommendations to the seller's DPP device through the platform. The prices accepted or updated by said server are published together with the criteria below the auctioned programs. As this process is a system self-fed by the formulations of the previously broadcast programs and the values thereof, the consistency of the system increases as data input to the system is provided, in other words new programs are broadcast and their rating values are automatically entered into the system. An embodiment of the present invention is that the seller allows the buyers meeting the necessary benchmarks early access to a certain program, and allocating first choice to these users.

The main server adds up the spot durations requested with different times, in a manner that would complete the total advertorial period of the program. If the last duration to reach 100% occupancy cannot be achieved with the highest price in line, the next spot in line with the lower price with a correct duration to fill the occupancy takes the place. This allows the total advertorial duration of the program to be filled efficiently. After the mentioned algorithms are applied, the option to reduce the duration of the advertisement can be applied by the system. Thus, the advertiser can cut small durations from each advertisements allocated in the program to make time for a new advertisement. Since this method allows the data to be restructured within the system after the approval of the advertiser, it can be used to fulfil the preferences of both the advertisers and the broadcaster.

In another embodiment of the present invention, in auctions where there are multiple buyers, the BDPPDs are optionally allowed to communicate with each other. Thus, it will be possible to create an auction system among the buyers. Similarly, it can be allowed to have an auction system among the sellers.

When the agreement module, which is one of the most significant novelties of the present invention, is activated; unlike the time consuming and human oriented billing method of the conventional system, bills can be issued proforma based on the accepted advertisements.

When the pricing among the sellers and potential buyers of each program is finished and the accepted advertisements are finally placed into the programs, the system issues proforma bills based on the bids accepted by both parties. Thus, it is no longer necessary to get the approval of the parties once more and the parties can move on to the payment phase immediately thanks to the proforma bills prepared by the main server (4) and submitted to the users (1, 2) through the platform.

All examples and descriptions mentioned in the present specification are present to illustrate the invention for those skilled in the art; the examples, variables and modifications can be diversified without harming the integrity of the invention.

Claims

1. A method which provides bilateral optimization for media procurement sequences through the analysis of the usage habits of the parties, wherein;

The seller (1) data processing protocol device sends restricted program data and the tariff price updated according to the bids made by the buyers, to the main server (4) through the platform (3),

The buyer (2) data processing protocol devices send the restricted bid data

to the main server (4) through the platform (3),

The data collected by the data provider (5) is sent to the main server (4),

The main server (4) sends the collected data to the buyers (2) and sellers (1) by matching it over the platform (3),

The data coming from the seller (1) and the buyer (2) is matched according to the benchmarks of both parties and taken to the stream of the program,

The alternative bids prepared by the main server (4) are sent over the platform (3) to the data owners (1, 2) whose benchmarks do not match, The average unit price of the collected bids are shared instantly with the authorized users,

The agreement of the broadcast programs are completed over the system and the proforma bill sample is sent by the main server (4) through the platform (3) to the users.

2. A method according to Claim 1, characterized in that it allows an auction system to be established among the sellers (1).

3. A method according to Claim 1, characterized in that it allows an auction system to be established among the buyers (2).

4. A method according to Claim 1, characterized in that the data provider (5) can submit its data by directly connecting to the main server (4) or optionally by the seller (1) data processing protocol device through the platform (3).

5. A method according to Claim 1, characterized in that it allows the buyers (2) to move to 5 the substitute bid option while transacting over the automatic auction option.

6. A method according to Claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a main server (4) which has an internal memory and which provides optional bids by analyzing the previous behaviours of the users.

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7. A method according to Claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a main server which performs optimization on the buyer's data file.