(2) col. 1, ln 10-22 - Continuous auctions include those for bidding for Internet search engine key-phrases in order to achieve the highest possible rankings on a search engine. The search engine found at GOTO.COM by Goto.com, Inc. of Pasadena, Calif. is an exemplary continuous auction. In this type of auction, the search engine lists web-page search results for a key-phrase search in the order of bid prices from advertisers. The advertiser with the highest bid for a given key-phrase appears first in the list, the next highest bidder appears second, etc. Since key-phrases are intangible, the same key-phrase can be sold to an unlimited number of users and the auction runs continuously with the rankings changing according to the current bids from advertisers. (3) col. 1, ln 55 - col. 2, ln 31 - The service provided to the bidders may comprise providing ranking of hypertext links to web pages in search results in an on-line web page search engine, wherein ranking of a first hypertext link to a first web page for the first bidder is higher than the ranking of a second hypertext link to a second web page for the second bidder if the first bid is higher than the second bid. The method may comprise placing bids on a plurality of search terms which may be typed into the search engine by search engine users wherein different ranking is determined for each search term, wherein the ranking of the first hypertext link is higher than the second hypertext link if the first bid is higher than the second bid for each of the plurality of search terms. The steps of checking and incrementing are executed for a plurality of search engines for the plurality of search terms. A system for automatically managing the auction for determining relative priority for the service in a system wherein priority is based on the relative value of related bids is further disclosed. The system may comprise a processor electrically connected to a network, which is electrically connected to the plurality of search engines. A database is electrically connected to the system for storing and managing the bids. . . (4) col. 3, ln 33 - col. 4, ln 2 - The server 100 may further comprise a database 104 comprising a relational database management system (RDBMS) 104 for storing bids and data relating to the service provided to the bidders. Bidders may further enter maximum and/or minimum bids into the bidder terminals 175. The online bid management system 102 keeps track of the maximum and minimum bids for each user who enters bids into the bidder terminals 175 into RDBMS 104. The online bid management system 102 will increment the lower bids until they reach desired bidding positions entered by the bidders as long as the bids do not exceed maximum values entered by the respective bidders. Thus, the online bid management system 102 causes the relative priority for providing service to each bidder to exceed the priority for providing service with respect to other bidders as long as the maximum bid is not exceeded, or until a desired position is reached. The online bid management system 102 is further programmed to check and increment the bids a plurality of times, pausing for a fixed period of time between each checking and incrementing. . .