A method and apparatus determines a minimum price per click for a term in an auction based internet search by determining a search term which has a low price per click; determining a minimum price per click; setting a minimum price per click value for the search term; and thereby increasing revenue generated by the auction based internet search engine. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a minimum price per click for a term in an auction based internet search is determined by creating search volume tiers. Price per click tiers are then created by partitioning search terms within each search volume tier based upon a price per click for each search term. Finally, a plurality of liquidity tiers are created by partitioning search terms in each price per click tier by liquidity of the search term market place. The results of the partitioning is evaluated to determine a price per click increase to one or more particular terms. Methods for determining a minimum price per click for a term in an auction based internet search includes comparing bids for a particular search term with bids for terms which are similar to the particular search term, its category or class of advertiser.
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