Is There An OSS Implementation Of Google AdWords

Question

Is there an open source implementation of Google AdWords, or is the technology protected in some way (such as being patented)?

Edit: To clarify, I'm looking for a 3rd party implementation of an AdWords-like system (that has nothing to to with Google AdWords beyond the concept and superficial similarity).

Answer 1

Depending on what part of the system you are looking to replicate you should give OpenX ad server a try. You can install it on your own servers or use their hosted version. There are other open source ad servers but this one seems to work pretty well.