Maximizing revenue with allocation of multiple advertisements on a Web banner

This paper deals with the allocation of multiple advertisements on a Web banner. The purpose is to find a pattern generating algorithm that maximizes the revenue of the allocated advertisements. We set out an extensive simulation using standard banner sizes, primary and secondary sorting criteria for the set of advertisements, and four heuristic algorithms. The heuristic algorithms presented in this paper are the left justified algorithm, the orthogonal algorithm, the GRASP constructive algorithm, and the greedy stripping algorithm. First we investigate the process of finding the optimal solution using brute force search. Then we run two benchmarks, one to compare the heuristics with the optimal solution, and one to gain better insight in the performance of the heuristic algorithms. Finding a suitable pattern generating algorithm is a tradeoff between effectiveness and efficiency. Results indicate that allocating advertisements with the orthogonal and left justified algorithm is most effective. In contrast, allocating advertisements using the GRASP constructive and greedy stripping algorithm is most efficient. Furthermore, the best settings per algorithm for each banner size are presented.