Systems and methods for automatically managing placement of content slots in an information resource

A method for automatically managing placement of content slots in an information resource, wherein the information resource is a web page or other content displayed as part of the execution of an application on a computing device, the method comprising:

• storing, by a memory of a data processing system including one or more processors, computer program instructions including a first set of computer program instructions and a second set of computer program instructions;
• receiving, by the data processing system executing the first set of computer program instructions, from a computing device, a request for content;
• and
• transmitting, by the data processing system executing the first set of computer program instructions, responsive to the request for content, the information resource to the computing device for display thereon, the information resource including a content slot insertion script including the second set of computer program instructions,
• wherein the second set of computer program instructions, when executed by one or more processors of the computing, device responsive to receipt of the information resource by the computing device, cause the computing device to automatically:
• identify a Document Object Model (DOM) tree of the information resource received by the computing device from the data processing system;
• identify one or more DOM elements included in the DOM tree;
• determine, based on the identified DOM elements, one or more candidate third-party content placement locations according to a third-party content placement policy;
• select, from the candidate third-party content placement locations, a third-party content placement location in the DOM tree;
• and
• insert, in the information resource received by the computing device from the data processing system, a computer code corresponding to a third-party content slot, the computer code when executed by the computing device causes the computing device to display a third-party content item at the selected third-party content placement location.

A system for automatically managing placement of content slots in information resources, wherein the information resource is a web page or other content displayed as part of the execution of an application on a computing device, the system comprising:

• a memory to store computer executable instructions that, when executed by one or processors of a computing device, responsive to a request generated by the computing device for content associated with an information resource, cause the computing device to:
• automatically manage at the computing device placement of content slots on the information resource received by the computing device from a content publisher of the information resource, by:
• identifying one or more Document Object Model (DOM) elements included in a DOM tree of the information resource received by the computing device from the content publisher of the information resource;
• using a third-party content placement policy to determine a plurality of candidate third-party content locations in the DOM tree at which to insert a third-party content item based on the identified DOM elements;
• and
• selecting a third-party content placement location of the determined plurality of candidate third-party content placement locations, and
• automatically inserting in the information resource received by the computing device from the content publisher of the information resource, responsive to the request for content, a computer code corresponding to a third-party content slot, wherein the computer code when executed by the computing device causes the computing device to display a third-party content item at the selected third-party content placement location.