Methods and apparatus for generating an online marketing campaign

A method for generating keywords to be used in an online marketing campaign, the method comprising acts of:

• reviewing at least one taxonomy that specifies at least one business service category and a list of keywords that represent a proposed best practices list of keywords for the at least one business service category for use in a search engine and/or online directory, wherein the at least one taxonomy is adaptive based on performance of online marketing campaigns, wherein the performance of online marketing campaigns for at least 100 businesses is evaluated in determining whether to adapt the taxonomy;
• adopting, using at least one processor, a first online marketing campaign for a first business that is based, at least in part, on the taxonomy but that employs at least one new keyword for the at least one business service category that is not included in the proposed best practices list, wherein adopting the first online marketing campaign comprises placing a bid with a search engine on the at least one new keyword and/or purchasing a listing related to the at least one new keyword from an online directory;
• after adopting the first online marketing campaign, evaluating the performance of the at least one new keyword in the first online marketing campaign;
• and
• when it is determined that the at least one new keyword satisfies at least one performance criterion, adding the at least one new keyword to the best practices list of keywords for the at least one business service category.

A method, comprising:

• reviewing a taxonomy that specifies at least one business service category and a list of keywords that represents a proposed best practices list of keywords for the at least one business service category for use in a search engine;
• adopting, using at least one processor, an online marketing campaign that is based, at least in part, on the taxonomy but that employs a new keyword for the at least one business service category that is not included in the proposed best practices list;
• after adopting the online marketing campaign, evaluating performance of the new keyword in the online marketing campaign;
• and
• when it is determined, based on results of the evaluating, that the new keyword satisfies at least one performance criterion, adding the new keyword to the best practices list of keywords for the at least one business service category.

A method of adaptively updating a taxonomy that specifies at least one business service category and a list of keywords that represent a proposed best practices list of keywords for the at least one business service category for use in a search engine, the method comprising:

• generating, using at least one processor, a plurality of online marketing campaigns for a plurality of businesses using the proposed best practices list of keywords, wherein each of the plurality of online marketing campaigns includes at least one keyword from the proposed best practices list, and wherein at least one of the plurality of online marketing campaigns includes a new keyword that is not in the proposed best practices list of keywords;
• after generating the plurality of online marketing campaigns for the plurality of businesses, evaluating performance of the new keyword in the at least one of the plurality of online marketing campaigns that includes the new keyword;
• determining, based on results of the evaluating, whether the new keyword satisfies at least one performance criterion;
• and
• when it is determined that the new keyword satisfies the at least one performance criterion, updating the taxonomy to add the new keyword to the best practices list of keywords for the at least one business service category.

A system, comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one computer readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform:
• reviewing a taxonomy that specifies at least one business service category and a list of keywords that represents a proposed best practices list of keywords for the at least one business service category for use in a search engine;
• adopting an online marketing campaign that is based, at least in part, on the taxonomy but that employs a new keyword for the at least one business service category that is not included in the proposed best practices list;
• after adopting the online marketing campaign, evaluating performance of the new keyword in the online marketing campaign;
• and
• when it is determined, based on results on the evaluating, that the new keyword satisfies at least one performance criterion, adding the new keyword to the best practices list of keywords for the at least one business service category.