Systems and methods for improved sorting using intelligent partitioning and termination

A system for providing electronic content comprising an electronic announcement stored in a database to a web server by sorting electronic bids to display the electronic content on a web page, the system comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to:
• receive, at an electronic announcement distribution server from one or more computing devices corresponding to one or more electronic announcement creators, a plurality of electronic bids over a network, wherein each of the plurality of electronic bids relates to a request to display an electronic announcement on a web page and includes an electronic bid price and an electronic bid allocation, the electronic bid allocation being a weighting factor for affecting the likelihood of an electronic bid being selected as a winning electronic bid;
• form, by at least one processor, an electronic bid set including the plurality of electronic bids, and further indexing the bid set in an array on the electronic announcement distribution server;
• set, by the at least one processor, a cumulative electronic bid allocation equal to a first value;
• recursively partition the electronic bid set into a plurality of electronic bid subsets, wherein recursively partitioning the electronic bid set comprises:
• identifying a sample electronic bid set comprising one or more randomly selected electronic bids from the electronic bid set;
• select, by the at least one processor, an asymmetric pivot using a rank statistic of the sample electronic bid set;
• partition the electronic bid set about the pivot;
• identify, by the at least one processor, whether the sample electronic bid set has only one electronic bid;
• and
• if the sample electronic bid set only has one electronic bid:
• add, by the at least one processor, the electronic bid allocation of the only one electronic bid to the cumulative electronic bid allocation;
• determine, by the at least one processor, whether the cumulative electronic bid allocation exceeds a second value;
• and
• if the cumulative electronic bid allocation does exceed the second value, terminate, by the at least one processor, the recursive partitioning of electronic bids;
• identify a set of eligible electronic bids from the electronic bid set;
• identify one or more available electronic announcement slots on at least one web page;
• and
• provide, to a web server corresponding to the at least one web page in communication with the electronic announcement distribution server, an electronic announcement corresponding to at least one electronic bid in the set of eligible electronic bids.

A computer-readable storage medium including instructions for providing electronic content comprising an electronic announcement stored in a database to a web server by sorting electronic bids to display the electronic content on a web page which, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform steps comprising:

• receiving, at an electronic announcement distribution server from one or more computing devices corresponding to one or more electronic announcement creators, a plurality of electronic bids over a network, wherein each of the plurality of electronic bids relates to a request to display an electronic announcement on a web page and includes an electronic bid price, and an electronic bid allocation, the electronic bid allocation being a weighting factor for affecting the likelihood of an electronic bid being selected as a winning electronic bid;
• forming, by at least one processor, a first electronic bid set including the plurality of electronic bids, and further indexing the bid set in an array on the electronic announcement distribution server;
• setting, by the at least one processor, a cumulative electronic bid allocation equal to a first value;
• recursively partitioning, using the at least one processor, the first electronic bid set into a plurality of electronic bid subsets, wherein recursively partitioning the electronic bid set comprises:
• identifying a sample electronic bid set comprising one or more randomly selected electronic bids from the electronic bid set;
• selecting, by the at least one processor, an asymmetric pivot using a rank statistic of the sample electronic bid set;
• partitioning the electronic bid set about the pivot;
• identifying, by the at least one processor, whether the sample electronic bid set has only one electronic bid;
• and
• if the sample electronic bid set only has one electronic bid:
• adding the electronic bid allocation of the only one electronic bid to the cumulative electronic bid allocation;
• determining whether the cumulative electronic bid allocation exceeds a second value;
• and
• if the cumulative electronic bid allocation does exceed the second value, terminating, by the at least one processor, the recursive partitioning of electronic bids;
• identifying, using the at least one processor, a set of eligible electronic bids from the electronic bid set;
• identifying one or more available electronic announcement slots on at least one web page;
• and
• providing, to a web server corresponding to the at least one web page in communication with the electronic announcement distribution server, an electronic announcement corresponding to at least one electronic bid in the set of eligible electronic bids.