U.S. patent application number 13/924319 was filed with the patent office on 2014-09-18 for taxonomy configuration for page analytics and campaign creation.
This patent application is currently assigned to Turn Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Turn Inc.. Invention is credited to Vishal SHAH, Jonathan SHOTTAN, Doug SMITH, Ozan TURGUT.
Application Number | 20140279724 13/924319 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 51532086 |
Filed Date | 2014-09-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140279724 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
SHOTTAN; Jonathan ; et
al. |
September 18, 2014 |
TAXONOMY CONFIGURATION FOR PAGE ANALYTICS AND CAMPAIGN CREATION
Abstract
A system for creating and using a universal tag to gather
consumer data from a website for the purposes of targeted
advertising is provided. The universal tag system has two main
subsystems. The first subsystem is a configuration system that is
used to define the consumer data to be collected from the website
and to define taxonomy and transformation rules to be applied to
the collected consumer data. The second subsystem is a runtime
system that runs a universal tag client-side script, which is
triggered when a consumer lands on a webpage of the website, for
collecting the defined consumer data. The runtime system then
applies the transformation rules to the collected data and updates
a user profile corresponding to the consumer with the transformed
data. As well, the runtime system applies the taxonomy rules to the
collected data and categorizes the consumer for the purposes of
subsequent targeted advertising.
Inventors: |
SHOTTAN; Jonathan; (San
Francisco, CA) ; SHAH; Vishal; (Saratoga, CA)
; SMITH; Doug; (Orinda, CA) ; TURGUT; Ozan;
(Mountain View, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Turn Inc. |
Redwood City |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Turn Inc.
Redwood City
CA
|
Family ID: |
51532086 |
Appl. No.: |
13/924319 |
Filed: |
June 21, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61801001 |
Mar 15, 2013 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
706/11 ;
707/740 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06N 5/02 20130101; G06F
3/0484 20130101; G06F 40/117 20200101; G06F 40/137 20200101; G06Q
30/0201 20130101; G06F 3/0482 20130101; G06F 16/958 20190101; G06Q
30/0269 20130101; G06Q 30/0277 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
706/11 ;
707/740 |
International
Class: |
G06N 5/02 20060101
G06N005/02 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented method for taxonomy configuration,
comprising: a processor collecting dynamically generated event
data; said processor applying a client-defined transformation to
said collected data and storing said transformation in a user
profile; and said processor applying client-defined taxonomy rules
to said collected data and categorizing users accordingly.
2. A computer-implemented method for taxonomy configuration using a
graphical user interface, comprising: a processor performing the
following in connection with said graphical user interface:
creating a new data contract for a data provider; responsive to
creating the new data contract, choosing to add a taxonomy;
responsive to choosing to add a taxonomy, creating a new taxonomy
hierarchy comprising at least a first node, selecting the first
node to be associated with an event and for which rules are to be
configured; selecting the associated event from event data which
were previously configured when the data provider was configured;
defining one or more rules for the selected event; and associating
the selected event and the defined rules with a particular campaign
beacon from existing campaign beacons.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the new taxonomy hierarchy may be
interactively on the graphical user interface or by uploading data
reflecting a previously defined taxonomy.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein a new campaign beacon is created,
used to be associated with the selected event and the defined
rules, and is added to the existing campaign beacons.
5. The method of claim 2, wherein the selected event occurs and
reflects a conversion, the first node is satisfied, and the
campaign beacon is used to target corresponding consumers or
consider corresponding consumers is future optimization
analyses.
6. The method of claim 2, wherein new rules are added using Boolean
logic.
7. An apparatus for taxonomy configuration using a graphical user
interface, comprising: a graphical user interface for performing
the following: creating a new data contract for a data provider;
responsive to creating the new data contract, choosing to add a
taxonomy; responsive to choosing to add a taxonomy, creating a new
taxonomy hierarchy comprising at least a first node; selecting the
first node to be associated with an event and for which rules are
to be configured; selecting the associated event from event data
which were previously configured when the data provider was
configured; defining one or more rules for the selected event; and
associating the selected event and the defined rules with a
particular campaign beacon from existing campaign beacons.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the new taxonomy hierarchy may
be interactively on the graphical user interface or by uploading
data reflecting previously defined taxonomy.
9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein a new campaign beacon is
created, used to be associated with the selected event and the
defined rules, and is added to the existing campaign beacons.
10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the selected event occurs and
reflects a conversion, the first node is satisfied, and the
campaign beacon is used to target corresponding consumers or
consider corresponding consumers is future optimization
analyses.
11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein new rules are added using
Boolean logic.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent
application Ser. No. 61/801,001, filed Mar. 22, 2013, which
application is incorporated herein in its entirety by this
reference thereto.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Technical Field
[0003] This invention relates generally to digital advertising.
More particularly, this invention relates to a tool for creating
and using a universal tag to gather consumer data for the purposes
of digital advertising.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] The Internet has become a primary source for providing media
and information. For example, it is believed that more news
articles are read online than in print. Videos and television shows
are increasingly viewed through online applications, such as by the
companies, Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube. Many of these online media
companies earn revenue by allowing advertisers to advertise on
their websites. The need of companies with online presence to
generate revenue by selling advertising space on their websites is
met with the need of advertisers to reach consumers via online
advertising. This mutual need has led to the development of a niche
industry, online display advertising. Thus, from the advertisers'
point of view, it is an important aspect of their business to
optimize their digital advertising potential on the Internet.
[0006] Although the system of advertising in print media has been
well established for centuries, the rules for online advertising
are still evolving. As users demand instant access to entertainment
their patience for advertisements rapidly dwindles. For example, if
a user is forced to view a pre-roll advertisement before a video is
displayed, the user may simply click on another window or walk away
from the display screen unto the advertisement is gone. Thus, such
user is not watching the advertisement. If the user is not watching
the advertisement, the advertiser is not receiving the optimal
return on their advertisement.
[0007] Various innovations with regard to Internet-based
advertising have addressed some of these concerns. See, for
example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/617,590, Segment
Optimization for Targeted Advertising and U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 12/410,400, Predicting User Response to Advertisements,
each of which is commonly owned by the assignee of this
application, and each of which is incorporated herein in its
entirety by this reference thereto.
[0008] It has been found that advertiser interaction with the data
elements of the advertiser's webpage may be helpful for the
advertiser. For example, an advertiser may want determine the
behavior of the end user by observing the areas of the website with
which the user interacts. Thus, an advertiser may want to add code
to the advertiser's webpage to collect such behavior information.
Tag management is a technique that has been employed to allow
adding code to the advertiser's webpage. Tag management is a
technique that adds code to an advertiser's webpage by eliminating
the need for advertisers to modify code on each individual webpage
and by allowing marketers, as opposed to information technologists
of an IT department, to control the content on the webpage that
should be observed. Tag management basically operates by causing a
website, when opened in a browser, to deploy a generic piece of
code, such that when the code executes, data is dynamically
collected from that website based on predetermined rules.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] A system for creating and using a universal tag to gather
consumer data from a website and for analyzing the gathered
consumer data is provided. An embodiment of the invention provides
a universal tag system that has two main subsystems. The first
subsystem is a configuration system that is used to define the
consumer data to be collected from the website and to define
taxonomy and transformation rules to be applied to the collected
consumer data. The second subsystem is a runtime system that runs a
universal tag client-side script, which is triggered when a
consumer lands on a webpage of the website, and that is used for
collecting the defined consumer data. The runtime system then
applies the transformation rules to the collected data and updates
a user profile of the consumer with the transformed data. As well,
the runtime system applies the taxonomy rules to the collected data
and categorizes the consumer for the purpose of subsequent targeted
advertising.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing components of a
configuration subsystem and a runtime subsystem of a universal tag
system according to an embodiment;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a data schema used by the
universal tag system according to an embodiment of the
invention;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a universal tag
configuration message sequence for an event definition according to
an embodiment of the invention;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a universal tag
configuration message sequence for a contract definition according
to an embodiment of the invention;
[0014] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram showing the interactions between a
window, a universal tag reporter, presentation server, and a
profile server at runtime according to an embodiment of the
invention;
[0015] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the communication
between universal tag script components when the script is run
according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0016] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram showing a particular universal tag
endpoint internal message sequence according to an embodiment of
the invention;
[0017] FIGS. 8A and 8B show a user interface for a universal tag
data provider list page and a flow diagram for creating a universal
tag for data collection according to an embodiment of the
invention;
[0018] FIG. 9A is a flow diagram for creating a taxonomy hierarchy
and associating an appropriate campaign beacon according to an
embodiment of the invention;
[0019] FIG. 9B is a chart showing an example use case of a user
generating a Key/Value pair of the referrer (URL) to capture when
the consumer has been to the shopping cart page and generating a
taxonomy, which tracks high and low value carts by defining cart
value ranges according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0020] FIG. 10 shows a user interface for creating a data provider
according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0021] FIG. 11 shows details of a user interface for creating a
universal tag bookmarklet according to an embodiment of the
invention;
[0022] FIG. 12 shows a user interface having an installed
bookmarklet in the bookmark bar according to an embodiment of the
invention;
[0023] FIG. 13A shows a user interface having a blank overlay event
inspector panel that was triggered by the installed bookmarklet
according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0024] FIG. 13B shows an example event inspector panel for FIG.
13A, which is populated with data after the user has logged into
the system console according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0025] FIG. 14 shows a user interface having the event inspector
overlay that is populated with configured page elements that may be
captured according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0026] FIG. 15 shows a user interface having a page tree of user
interface elements as well as how a user may input events and save
according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0027] FIG. 16 shows a user interface with which a user may
interactively select an element in the page and the overlay panel
automatically updates to show which item is selected according to
an embodiment of the invention;
[0028] FIG. 17 shows a plurality of panel variations as well as an
error message box for any panel according to an embodiment of the
invention;
[0029] FIG. 18 shows a user interface having an example panel
according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0030] FIG. 19 shows a user interface in which the panel can link
back to the data provider edit page of the console according to an
embodiment of the invention;
[0031] FIG. 20 shows a user interface having an error message about
an error occurring while attempting to retrieve data from the
website according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0032] FIG. 21A shows a user interface in which a user may add an
event manually according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0033] FIG. 21B shows two user interfaces for required type and
attribute of an event added manually according to an embodiment of
the invention;
[0034] FIG. 22 shows a user interface for creating a new data
contract according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0035] FIG. 23 shows a user interface having a general tab for
contract creation in which a user enters the name, currency, and
which advertisers according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0036] FIG. 24A shows a user interface having a list of previously
entered events, which the user may browse according to an
embodiment of the invention;
[0037] FIG. 24B shows user interfaces with which the user may
browse detailed information for a particular event, how to make
transformations on a particular key, and how to add text
descriptions according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0038] FIG. 25A shows a user interface with which new parent nodes
and new child nodes can be set according to an embodiment of the
invention;
[0039] FIG. 25B shows a user interface for creating node rules and
a rule drop down populated with the same events that are available
during the provider setup flow according to an embodiment of the
invention;
[0040] FIG. 26A shows a user interface in which a user may import a
pre-existing taxonomy file according to an embodiment of the
invention;
[0041] FIG. 26B shows a user interface in which a message is
displayed when a taxonomy list is too large to import according to
an embodiment of the invention;
[0042] FIG. 27 shows four user interfaces having variations on
user-created groups by indenting rules according to an embodiment
of the invention;
[0043] FIG. 28 shows a user interface the provides an example
taxonomy and associated rules according to an embodiment of the
invention;
[0044] FIG. 29 shows a user interface in which a campaign beacon
that is associated with a particular contract is created according
to an embodiment of the invention;
[0045] FIG. 30A shows a user interface in which a user may drag and
drop a taxonomy node at any parent or child location according to
an embodiment of the invention;
[0046] FIG. 30B shows a message box with a warning that if the user
drops the node to a parent level, the corresponding rules are lost
according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0047] FIG. 31 shows user interfaces for building a shopping cart
value segment according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0048] FIG. 32 shows a user interface for a user to target ads to
consumers using particular segments according to an embodiment of
the invention; and
[0049] FIG. 33 is a block schematic diagram of a system in the
exemplary form of a computer system according to an embodiment of
the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0050] A system for creating and using a universal tag to gather
consumer data from a website and for analyzing the gathered
consumer data is provided. An embodiment of the invention provides
a universal tag system that has two main subsystems. The first
subsystem is a configuration system that is used to define the
consumer data to be collected from the website and to define
taxonomy and transformation rules to be applied to the collected
consumer data. The second subsystem is a runtime system that runs a
universal tag client-side script, which is triggered when a
consumer lands on a webpage of the website, and that is used for
collecting the defined consumer data. The runtime system then
applies the transformation rules to the collected data and updates
a user profile of the consumer with the transformed data. As well,
the runtime system applies the taxonomy rules to the collected data
and categorizes the consumer for the purpose of subsequent targeted
advertising.
OVERVIEW
[0051] In an embodiment, generic JavaScript code, which may be
referred to in the industry as a pixel of code, is placed on one or
more pages of a particular website and, thereafter, is executed to
collect predefined data from the website when the website pages
load. Such code allows a user, e.g. an advertiser, to select and
capture particular events that occur on the website. For example,
user interface events ("events") occur when a user interacts with
the user interface (UI.) Examples of an event may include, but are
not limited to, a user clicking on a mouse, the cursor hovering
over a user interface element, the loading of a webpage, changing
an input field, and so on. In the embodiment, data resulting from
events are captured, stored, and transformed in real-time. Then,
the stored data are analyzed and used for generating targeted
segments, also referred to as audience creation. For example, a
particular audience may be created by applying a set of rules
against particular data caused by particular occurring events on a
particular website. The created audience may then be used as target
segments for an advertiser.
[0052] As an example, suppose a user clicks on a shopping cart
submission on a particular advertiser's webpage. In the example,
the event is the user clicking on the shopping cart submission.
Suppose that the shopping cart included a mobile device. Thus, in
an embodiment, data reflecting that a particular customer bought
the mobile device are gathered and used for targeted advertising to
that particular customer. As another example, the advertiser may
want to target customers who purchased mobile devices based upon a
different, yet related, advertisement.
[0053] In an embodiment, a console tool with a user interface is
provided to be used in conjunction with the advertiser's website.
The console allows a user to generate the code that is placed on
the particular website for capturing particular data. The code is
referred to herein as a universal tag.
[0054] Consider the example in which a shopping cart for a
particular website is submitted. Suppose this shopping cart has two
products, each with an associated price value and a total price
value for both items. In an embodiment, the universal tag on the
website causes a set of configured rules to be applied against
predefined events that cause the total price value to be captured.
For example, suppose that the webpage has a JavaScript variable
called shopping_cart. In the example, when the shopping cart is
submitted and the subsequent page loads, the value associated with
the shopping cart variable is captured and is found to be $219.
Further in the example, the system determines, based on predefined
taxonomy rules, that the shopping cart value is greater than a
threshold, e.g. $150, and that therefore, the category in which
this particular cart is placed is a high-end category, as opposed
to a medium-end or low-end category. Then, upon determining that
this customer is in the high-end category, the system, having been
previously configured, further advertises to this customer in a
targeted way.
[0055] In an embodiment, a user, such as a marketer, logs into the
console to begin configuring the universal tag and rules so that
consumer data may be collected from a website of interest, e.g. an
advertiser's website. The user selects a bookmarklet that is
provided on the console user interface, e.g. by clicking or
dragging and dropping the bookmarklet onto the bookmark bar of the
browser. The bookmarklet contains JavaScript code that is used to
select the data to be retrieved; the console is used to create the
universal tag and to configure the rules. By selecting such
bookmarklet, an application essentially is injected into the
website. Upon the bookmarklet being selected, the application
displays a window, e.g. an overlaying panel that describes the
unique user interface elements that reside on the particular
webpage of the advertiser's website. The user may interact with the
webpage and with this panel at the same time to select and interact
dynamically with the objects on the webpage in which they are
interested.
[0056] In an embodiment, the end user may manually scroll through a
list of objects, e.g. UI elements, in the panel as well as search
for objects. Or, the user may use a mouse to interact with a
particular object. For example, the user may use the mouse to cause
the display cursor to hover over an object, which causes updates to
be presented to the end user. The updates may include historical
data which were previously collected across all segments from the
same demographic, for example. The user may select such object as
an object of interest.
[0057] In an embodiment, the user can build objects as a generic
set of objects of interest from which data can be collected. Such
generic set of objects resides in one universal tag that the user
may then deploy across all of the webpages of interest. Deploying
the one universal tag causes data about such objects to be
automatically collected and submitted to a repository, such as an
ad server, for subsequent post-processing, such as but not limited
to analysis and audience creation.
[0058] In an embodiment, analytics are applied directly on a
website page. For example, when a marketer arrives at a particular
advertiser's website, the universal tag, which resides at the page,
is executed. When the universal tag is executed, it allows the
marketer to perform analytics on the page with the data that was
collected for each of the objects specified in the universal
tag.
[0059] In an embodiment, indicators, e.g. gear icons, may be
displayed next to objects when the user navigates to the webpage to
indicate that data are being collected for those objects. As well,
the indicators may be linked to historical data about the objects.
For example, when an end user uses a mouse to place the display
cursor over one of such objects, the embodiment causes the system
to present historical data about the object. In this way, the user
can go to the location where that data were collected. The user
does not have to go to a separate summary or data report to access
related data corresponding to a particular object. The data are
brought to the user. As an example, a user logs into a webpage,
sees the gear icons that indicate what the user had instrumented
with his universal tag, and mouse-overs a particular gear to get a
report about the corresponding object on the webpage.
[0060] An embodiment provides site analytics. As an example,
suppose a marketer created a list of products that were being
targeted in the advertising campaign. The embodiment allows the
marketer to color code the products with respect to various
criteria. Thus, for example, the marketer may learn from the color
coded list of products, in combination with the site analytics that
apply the criteria, that "these products drove the most ROI in my
advertising campaign, because given the color, I know that these
products drove high conversion rates." That is, an embodiment links
information from the advertiser's site to the results obtained on
the advertising side and thus closes the loop. Analytics provided
in an advertising platform are made available in the console, thus
allowing marketer to extract the analytics and place the analytics
where the analytics are most relevant, i.e. next to the data that
drives them.
[0061] Ultimately, the marketer may actually create an advertising
campaign dynamically from the console using the universal tag and
corresponding rules. The user may say, "Here's the data I'm
collecting. I see I've collected ten million users' worth of data.
Now with a single click, I may go find those users and target them
with a campaign." The process is driven from the advertiser's site,
as opposed to the user having to navigate to a different
application, such as a service's console, to perform such
process.
An Exemplary Universal Tag System
Overview
[0062] An embodiment can be understood with reference to FIG. 1, a
schematic diagram showing components of a configuration subsystem
102 and a runtime subsystem 104 of a universal tag system 100
("system.") In an embodiment, configuration subsystem 102 defines
which data a universal tag script should collect and how the data
should be used in the ad servers, e.g. by allowing rules about the
data to be configured. Runtime subsystem 104 runs the universal tag
script, collects the data, and feeds the data to ad servers for
storage and any post-processing.
[0063] In an embodiment, components of configuration subsystem 102
comprise but are not limited to a console UI 106, a UI for
collecting live data (also referred to herein as Event Inspector)
108, and a runtime code generator 110. In an embodiment, components
of runtime subsystem 104 comprise but are not limited to a
client-side script 114 and a runtime endpoint 112.
Data Model
[0064] In an embodiment, a data schema or model is provided as
depicted in FIG. 2. It should be appreciated that such particular
details are for the purposes of understanding, are by way of
example, and are not meant to be limiting. Examples of data types
in the schema includes but are not limited to TransformationType,
Transformation Rule, Taxonomy Category, DataProvider, PageEvent,
DataContractKey, etc.
Page Event
[0065] In an embodiment, an event is also referred to herein as a
page event. Page event definitions determine what data a universal
tag script should collect from a advertiser's webpage. These
definitions may be manually entered via console UI 106 or
automatically via the Event Inspector 108. Event inspector 108 may
be a widget inside of an advertiser's webpage, such as for example
a panel overlaying the webpage, which is described in further
detail hereinbelow.
Universal Tag Data Contract
[0066] In an embodiment, a universal tag data contract is created
using the console in conjunction with the advertiser's website. The
data contract is a contract between the advertiser's webpage and
one or more advertisers. The data contract may specify which of the
events on a webpage to capture and how to transform the data from
the captured event from an original format to a format for storage.
A data contract definition may determine how event data that have
been collected may be interpreted for generating user profile data
such as key-values and categorizations. An example of key-value
data is a referrer URL as the key and the URL string as the value.
The transformation in this example is exact, which means keep the
same value as the transformed value. An example categorization is
high-end. Such interpretation may be accomplished by applying the
defined transformation rules and taxonomy rules of the contract to
event data that has been collected.
Configuration System
[0067] In an embodiment, configuration system 102 may be a
client-facing interface which may be used by users, such as but not
limited to marketers, to perform the following but is not limited
to the following: [0068] Create the universal tag; [0069] Define
what data the universal tag may collect at runtime; [0070] Define
how the collected data may be interpreted by related systems via
transformations; and [0071] Define taxonomy rules based on the data
that are collected.
[0072] In an embodiment, configuration system 102 is comprised of
three subsystems: a console UI 106 to create and manage universal
tags; an injected-script application, live UI 108, also referred to
as Event Inspector 108, which a user may use to define
context-specific data points in their live sites; and a listener
application on a server (herein referred to as "presentation
server"), runtime code generator 110, which listens for and
converts new data contracts and new event definitions to runtime
Java code to update existing Java code.
Console UI
[0073] In an embodiment, console UI 106 may be considered a primary
entry point to the workflow of universal tag system 100. Console
106 may be responsible for the creation and management of the
universal tag. A user may be able to define data points, e.g.
events, and be able to view data points that have been designated
for the tag thus far. The events may be entered manually or via
Event Inspector 108. Console 106 may also allow the user to define
data contracts and taxonomy rules using the data points that have
been defined.
[0074] An embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 3, which is a diagram
of a universal tag configuration message sequence for an event
definition. In this embodiment, a console server 302 receives an
instruction to save an event definition and sends such event
definition to be stored at a database 304. As well, console server
302 touches a contract at database 304, which notifies a
presentation server 306 of an update to a contract. Presentation
server 306 requests an updated contract from database 304, which
responds, accordingly. Presentation server 306 rebuilds the
contract and provider runtime objects and sends updated runtime
objects to a presentation server 308. In an embodiment,
presentation server 308 pulls data from presentation server 306,
rather than presentation server 306 pushing the data.
[0075] In FIG. 4, a flow diagram of a universal tag configuration
message sequence for a contract definition in accordance with an
embodiment is provided. Console server 302 receives a request to
save data about contracts and sends such data to database 304 for
storage. Database 304 notifies presentation server 306 of the
update. Presentation server 306 requests the related updated
contract from database 304 and receives such update. Presentation
server 306 generates Java code from corresponding transformation
and taxonomy rules and sends such generated runtime objects to
presentation server 308. In an embodiment, presentation server 308
pulls data from presentation server 306, rather than presentation
server 306 pushing the data.
Event Inspector
[0076] In an embodiment, a universal tag Event Inspector is an
application, which runs in the context of an advertiser's webpage
to enable users such as but not limited to marketers to define
context-specific data collection points without the need for
technical knowledge of the webpage. Such application may be
instantiated on the website by the user clicking an event inspector
bookmark on their browser. The application may be responsible for
providing the client with a user interface, e.g. an event inspector
panel, to explore data on the webpage and to designate for
collection any data that are available to be collected by the
universal tag on the webpage.
[0077] In an embodiment, because such application may modify client
data from an external origin security concerns may be addressed by,
for example, use of a secure top level domain (see FIG. 10;
3.1).
Runtime Java Code Generator
[0078] In an embodiment, presentation server 306 listens for new
data contract definitions or new event definitions. When a new data
contract is detected, the runtime Java code generator on
presentation server 306 generates the Java code for evaluating the
related transformation and taxonomy rules. Presentation server 306
pushes such generated code to presentation server 308 to be
executed at runtime. When a new event definition is detected, the
runtime Java code generator may update a runtime provider object
and push such object to presentation server 308.
[0079] Following are sample new classes and changes to existing
classes for illustrative purposes only and are not meant to be
limiting.
New Classes:
[0080] RuntimeKVTransform; [0081] RuntimeTaxTransform; and [0082]
RuntimePageEvent
Changes to Existing Classes:
[0082] [0083] RuntimeDataContractCorpus must have a
getByProviderId(int); [0084] RuntimeDateContract must have
List<RuntimeTransformation>; [0085] RuntimeDataProvider must
have List<RuntimePageEvent>; and [0086] SegmentRuleBuilder
and SegmentAttributionRuleBuilder must support new SegmentRule
types.
Runtime System
[0087] In an embodiment, runtime system 104 may be an automated
system which is triggered by universal tag script codes which
reside on advertisers' websites. For example, when a website loads,
the universal tag script codes may activate runtime system 104.
Responsibilities of runtime system 104 may include but are not
limited to the following. Here, client-defined refers to the user
such as the marketer and user refers to the consumer at the
website. [0088] Collect the event data the universal tag is
configured to collect; [0089] Apply the client-defined
transformation to the collected data and store such transformation
in the user profile of the consumer; and [0090] Apply the
client-defined taxonomy rules on the collected data and categorize
users accordingly.
[0091] In an embodiment, runtime system 104 may be comprised of two
subsystems: a universal tag script 114 and an endpoint 112 with
which tag script 114 communicates. Endpoint 112 applies the
transformation and taxonomy rules to incoming data.
[0092] A runtime message sequence in accordance with an embodiment
may be understood with reference to FIG. 5, which is a flow diagram
showing the interactions between a window 502 such as the
consumer's browser, a universal tag reporter 504, presentation
server 308, and a profile server 508.
1. A client's user visits a client's website 502 which has the
universal tag script embedded in it. 2. A request is made to
presentation server 308 to provide the universal tag script for a
given provider id. 3. Presentation server 308 gathers the event
definitions relevant to the given provider id. [0093] a. The
presentation server uses the providerId to retrieve a
List<RuntimeDataContract> from the RuntimeDataContractCorpus;
and [0094] b. It also extracts List<RuntimePageEvent> from
the RuntimeDataProvider object (which is retrieved from one of the
RuntimeDataContracts) 4. Presentation server 308 puts the generic
universal tag, along with provider-specific events to collect in
the HTTP response body and sends it back to the client's user's
browser 502. 5. The browser 502 interprets the script, creating
universal tag reporter 504. 6. For each event definition, the
reporter 504 makes API calls to the Window 502 object to resolve
the event expressions. 7. The browser 502 provides evaluated event
data to the reporter 504. 8. The reporter 504 posts a key-value
list of event names and values along with the providerid and userid
to the presentation server 308. 9. The presentation server 308
acknowledges receipt immediately. 10. The presentation server 308
applies transformation and taxonomy rules to the returned keys.
[0095] a. Provider id is used to retrieve relevant
RunTimeDataContracts vis RuntimeDataContractCorpus; and [0096] b.
For each KVTransform and TaxTransform in all RuntimeDataContracts,
run the transforms, resulting in a map of key-values and a list of
category ids for each contract. 11. Presentation server 308
requests the user profile from a profile server 508 for the given
userid. 12. Profile server 508 responds with the user profile. 13.
The user's profile is annotated with the data with transformed
key-values and taxonomy category ids. 14. The annotated profile is
pushed back to Profile server 508. It should be appreciated that
there are two profiles that may be pushed: one for analytics and
one for runtime.
Universal Tag Script
[0097] In an embodiment, the universal tag script runs in the
context of the client's webpage and is responsible for collecting
event data for events which have been defined in configuration
system 102 and for reporting such event data back to runtime
endpoint 112.
[0098] An embodiment of universal tag script components and
communication can be understood with reference to FIG. 6.
Presentation server 308 requests to report data to window 502,
which sends collected data back to presentation server 308. In the
embodiment, window 502 comprises but is not limited to a universal
tag component 602, which communicates with presentation server
through an API component 606 and a reporter component 608. As well,
universal tag component 602 comprises an expression evaluator
comprising a JavaScript interpreter 612 and a DOM Element Value
interpreter 614. JavaScript interpreter 612 communicates with
window API 604 and DOM Element Value interpreter 614 communicates
with DOM API 616.
[0099] It should be appreciated that in an embodiment, having the
tag script on a clients' website may substantially increase the
number of HTTP connections that are made with presentation server
308. Such increase may be mitigated through the use of a caching
reverse proxy.
Runtime Endpoint
[0100] In an embodiment, runtime endpoint 112 runs on presentation
server 308 and is a communication point for the client-side
universal tag script. Universal tag runtime endpoint 112 is
responsible for generating the client-side universal tag script for
a given provider id and providing the list of data collection
points from which to retrieve data. The universal tag script may
then report the data back to such endpoint 112, where the
transformation rules which were defined in the configuration system
102 may be applied. The system may then annotate the given user's
profile with the transformed data and update the profile server
508.
[0101] An example implementation in accordance with an embodiment
is illustrated in FIG. 7, which is a flow diagram showing a
particular universal tag endpoint internal message sequence 700. A
consumer's browser 702 sends a list of collected events and values
and the corresponding provider id to a data provider servlet
application 704. Data provider servlet application 704 sends the
provider id to a runtime data contract corpus 706, which returns a
list of corresponding data contracts. An iterative loop process
convenes. Data provider servlet application 704 sends a request for
a list of corresponding runtime transformations applications from a
runtime data contract application 708. Data provider servlet
application 704 then sends an <event, value> pair to a
runtime transform application 710 to perform the appropriate
transformation on the <event, value> pair. Runtime transform
application 710 returns <key, value> pair and an appropriate
category id. Upon termination of the iterative process, data
provider servlet application 704 sends a user id and the
corresponding list of <key, value> pairs and the user id and
the corresponding category id to a runtime user profile application
712 for storage.
An Exemplary User Interface and Related Workflows
[0102] One or more embodiments of a user interface for a universal
tag management tool and related workflows may be understood with
reference to the following figures. It should be appreciated that
particular details are by way of example and are not meant to be
limiting.
[0103] FIG. 8A is user interface of a universal tag data provider
list page and navigation page as provided in console UI 106, in
accordance with an embodiment. From here, a user may view the list
of existing data providers or may create a new data provider. As
well, the user may view a list of existing data contracts or create
a new data contract.
[0104] As well, FIG. 8B shows a high level workflow of the steps
the user may need to take to create an active universal tag data
collection. It should be appreciated that particular details are by
way of example only and are not meant to be limiting.
[0105] In Step 1, the user sets up a data provider.
[0106] In Step 2, the user selects if the user wants to use a
provider with universal tag availability.
[0107] In Step 3, the user enters allowed domains for universal tag
security.
[0108] Step 4 is optional and is for the user to enter a name for
the process and any notes. Next (step number not listed), the user
decides if he wants to use the Event Inspector. If no, he may add
event definitions manually via the console. If yes, the user
proceeds to Step 5.
[0109] In Step 5, the user drags and drops the Event Inspector
bookmarklet.
[0110] In Step 6, the user enters the URL which launches the first
page of the website for event capture, e.g. the Home page of the
website.
[0111] In Step 7, when the webpage loads, the user clicks the
bookmarklet.
[0112] In Step 8, the Event Inspector panel is displayed.
[0113] In Step 9, the user confirms the data provider in the
provider tab.
[0114] In Step 10, the Event Inspector loads the previously
captured events in the provider tab, if any.
[0115] In Step 11, the user can begin adding new events
interactively or by searching.
[0116] In Step 12, the user navigates to a new page, e.g. shopping
cart.
[0117] In Step 13, the user clicks the bookmarklet again and the
process repeats from Step 8. When the user is finished configuring
the Event Inspector for that particular website, the user may go to
Step 6, in which he may enter a new URL for a new website and
continue with the process. When the user is done completing
configuration for all websites (no step number), control goes to
Step 14.
[0118] In Step 14, the user may choose to view his configuration,
which, in this example is in an application referred to as
"Audience Suite."
[0119] At Step 15, the data provider configuration page is
displayed in the application.
[0120] At Step 16, the data provider configuration page is
refreshed with events that are captured in the Event Inspector as
they are defined.
[0121] At Step 17, the user is done and exits the application.
[0122] FIG. 9A is a flow diagram of a taxonomy setup workflow in
accordance with an embodiment of the invention. It should be
appreciated that particular details are by way of example only and
are not meant to be limiting.
[0123] In Step 902, the user creates a new data contract with a
single advertiser.
[0124] In Step 904, the user chooses to add taxonomy.
[0125] In Step 906, the user creates a new taxonomy hierarchy
through importing an existing taxonomy file or interactively.
[0126] In Step 908, the user creates high nodes and low nodes in
the taxonomy. FIG. 9B may be referred to as an example.
[0127] In Step 910, the user selects high node and configures
events and rules, accordingly.
[0128] In Step 912, the user sets an event to shop_cart_value,
which was configured during the data provider configuration as part
of the universal tag.
[0129] In Step 914, the user configures a rule to be value
>$50.
[0130] In Step 916, the user associates a particular advertising
signal, referred to herein as a campaign beacon. This step serves
the purpose of pushing back to the signal information reflecting
the fact that a consumer conversion has been made. A key aspect is
for the system to have the information that converting segments can
then be targeted or considered in further optimization
analyses.
[0131] In Step 918, the user decides if a new campaign beacon needs
to be created. If no, in Step 920, the user chooses an existing
campaign beacon. If yes, in Step 922, the user creates a new
campaign beacon.
[0132] In Step 924, the user enters particular settings for the new
campaign beacon.
[0133] In Step 926, the user decides if he should select a cart
value. If no, the taxonomy process ends. If yes, in Step 928, the
user associates the selected cart value with the appropriate
event.
[0134] FIG. 9B is a sample user story to accompany the taxonomy
setup workflow of FIG. 9A in accordance with an embodiment of the
invention.
[0135] FIG. 10 shows a user interface for creating a data provider
in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In an
embodiment, the controls are progressively dynamic 3.0. In cases
where a market is available, only those markets where universal
tags are enabled allow the second radio button selection, otherwise
the default is on the standard provider. In an embodiment, an add
inline help link for the top level domains field is provided 3.1.
On a "Next" submit, the form should validate URLs entered in top
level domains 3.2. It is believed that most of the time the user
may enter data correctly, such that the process continues to the
next step. In the event that the domain is mistyped, a message is
shown.
[0136] FIG. 11 shows a user interface for creating a universal tag
bookmarklet in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In
an embodiment, the JavaScript text is copied to the clipboard when
the user clicks "this code" 4.0. Such process to create a bookmark
may be done manually or the drag and drop bookmarklet may be found
to be an easier method. In an embodiment, the user may not be able
to save the data provider with no events details 4.1. The button
may be disabled. The cancel button cancels out of the data provider
creation workflow. Back returns to the previous page where the user
enters data provider metadata.
[0137] FIG. 12 shows a user interface showing the installed
bookmarklet in the bookmark bar in accordance with an embodiment of
the invention. The bookmarklet is shown to have been dragged to the
bookmark in this case 5.0. Sample JavaScript code is shown.
[0138] FIG. 13A shows a user interface showing a blank overlay
event inspector panel that was triggered by the installed
bookmarklet according to an embodiment of the invention. The
bookmarklet triggers the sidebar overlay, which displays the page
elements that may be captured 6.0. The panel may be wider and
support more tabs when necessary, when other groups are needed, for
example. The user may need to be logged in to use the event
inspector 6.1. The panel may link the user to the login page. After
login the user should be redirected back to the URL that was
entered. The user may reactivate the bookmarklet, for example.
[0139] FIG. 13B is an example event inspector panel for FIG. 13A,
which is populated with data after the user has logged into the
system console according to an embodiment of the invention.
[0140] FIG. 14 shows a user interface showing the event inspector
overlay that is populated with configured page elements that may be
captured, in accordance with an embodiment. The bookmarklet
triggers the sidebar overlay, which displays the page elements that
can be captured 7.0. The panel may be wider and support more tabs
when necessary (when other groups are needed). The Save button may
have a grey/disable state when there are no events to save,
affording its purpose when it becomes active, e.g. the user selects
something to capture. This gives the user assurance that something
is happening, e.g. feedback. When possible the panel may link back
to an audience suite and this data provider's edit page 7.1. The
initial tab may be "Provider" 7.2. The provider the user selected
in the audience suite may be the default, e.g. in the usual case of
the user starting a new provider in the audience suite, it may be
likely that the correct provider is the last one selected. However,
the drop down allows the user to change data providers. The
objects/events the user previously captured may be shown along with
the current name value 7.3. The user should not be able to change
this name in this context for v1 or the attribute. Also, when the
user chooses another tab, the previously selected objects may show
in the list with the given name. An embodiment does not "hide"
previously configured objects. It may be important to optimize the
panel for efficiency. Form capture may be the main use case and,
therefore, form capture may be presented as a primary interface
element even when it may technically the same as any other HTML
element.
[0141] FIG. 15 shows a user interface showing a page tree of user
interface elements as well as how a user may input events and save
in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The HTML/CSS tab
shows the page tree of UI elements 8.0. This may be separated from
the JavaScript tree because the two tasks may require different
levels of understanding. When the user selects an object/event then
the form fields dynamically display allowing the user to name the
event with a friendly name and the attribute drop down defaults to
a common value (such as "value" for input fields) 8.1. The user may
input many objects/events and then click save.
[0142] FIG. 16 shows a user interface showing that a user may
interactively select an element in the page and the overlay panel
automatically updates to show which item is selected in accordance
with an embodiment of the invention. For example, the user may
interactively select elements in the page and the HTML panel may
update to show which item is selected 9.0. The page listener may
only be active in this mode. The panel tells the user that he may
use the mouse pointer. Because the user may be pointing to an
element on the page that is not the target object, in this mode,
the hierarchy may be shown and may be interactively clicked
9.1.
[0143] FIG. 17 shows a plurality of panel variations as well as an
error message box for any panel in accordance with an embodiment of
the invention. The user may select any object listed 10.0. The form
elements should be listed with the type of element and the best
identifier. In the case of Input elements, Name. The name field is
dynamically shown on Click 10.1. The name persists in the field
until the user saves or closes the panel. On close, the warning
popup should be shown. Scroll bar scrolls the entire panel 10.2. On
first use, the user may likely notice that there is an HTML and a
Forms section. Data are buffered when the form elements with event
names push the HTML section down the panel. The panel height may be
maximized on height given the browser resolution. When the user
types into the search field, the content updates showing only the
objects that match the query (against ID and name) 10.3. An example
of the JavaScript is shown 10.4.
[0144] FIG. 18 shows a user interface showing an example, refined
panel in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. This UI
shows a more refined look and feel for the panel and should be the
guide for the layout and visual design 11.0. The other panels
provided may be wireframes and not pixel perfect.
[0145] FIG. 19 shows a user interface showing how the panel can
link back to the data provider edit page of the console in
accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The panel links
back to the data provider edit page when possible 12.0. The button
is disabled unless manual events are added 12.1. The Event
Inspector events that are updated dynamically do not require
resaving, unless the user changes the name. A polling mechanism
should check to see if new events are added 12.2. When events are
found then a message is shown until the next poll interval.
[0146] FIG. 20 shows a user interface showing an error message
about an error occurring while attempting to retrieve data from the
website in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The
error case shows error a message widget 13.0.
[0147] FIG. 21A shows a user interface showing how a user may add
an event manually in accordance with an embodiment of the
invention. When the user clicks "Add Manual Event" a new line is
added to the table at the end with the [x] button to remove it
14.0. The user then selects the type of captured event 14.1. The
other fields dynamically update based on selection. The user can
select form fields, selection by ID (HTML objects) or CSS
expressions. Each manual entry requires an object identifier (the
name of the form field, the ID or the CSS expression) and the
attribute to capture (value is default for form field, innerHTML
for div, etc.) As much as possible, intelligent defaults are used.
FIG. 21B shows two user interfaces for required type and attribute
of an event added manually according to an embodiment of the
invention.
[0148] FIG. 22 shows a user interface for creating a new data
contract in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. When
the user clicks New Data Contract, the same workflow window as in
regular Data Contracts is loaded 15.0. The provider is either
Universal Tag or not.
[0149] FIG. 23 shows a user interface showing the general tab for
contract creation in which a user enters the name, currency, and
which advertisers in accordance with an embodiment of the
invention. The general tab in the contract creation flow is the
same as regular data contract 16.0. The user may enter name,
currency and which advertisers. The user selects single advertiser
for many use cases including creation of a conversion event that is
used in the campaign suite 16.1.
[0150] FIG. 24A shows a user interface showing a list of previously
entered events, which the user may browse according to an
embodiment of the invention. FIG. 24B shows how, in a user
interface, the user may browse detailed information for a
particular event, how to make transformations on a particular key,
and how to add text descriptions according to an embodiment of the
invention. The user may browse the previously entered event list
for that particular tab 17.0. The user may make transformations on
the key 17.1. When a selection is made requiring a value, the form
field is dynamically shown. A taxonomy capture control 17.2 as a
secondary option is provided. 17.3 shows the user is allowed to add
a character limited description of the data being captured.
[0151] FIG. 25A shows a user interface showing how to set new
parent nodes and new child nodes according to an embodiment of the
invention. FIG. 25B shows a user interface for creating node rules
and a rule drop down populated with the same events that are
available during the provider setup flow according to an embodiment
of the invention. The user can quickly make a taxonomy set using
the New Parent and New Child controls 18.0. When a child node is
created, it requires rules and is denoted as such. When the user
creates a new node, a form control is shown to accept text entry
for name. 18.1. On Enter, the name is created. When the user
selects a node, the rule set to the right is shown 18.2. The first
drop down is populated with the events captured at the provider
level. The operator can be set to equal by default or no setting.
Export has been provided to allow users who feel more comfortable
editing taxonomies in Excel to do so with a taxonomy that has been
begun online, and also support the "saving" of taxonomy in this
manner for future reference or editing 18.3. The rule drop downs
are populated with the same events that are available in Key-Value
and setup during the provider setup flow 18.4. They should be
separated by type.
[0152] FIG. 26A shows a user interface showing a user may import a
pre-existing taxonomy file in accordance with an embodiment of the
invention. The user may import an xls or csv file using the
standard import dialog 19.0.
[0153] FIG. 26B shows a user interface showing a message displayed
when a taxonomy list is too large to import 19.1.
[0154] FIG. 27 shows four user interfaces showing variations on
user-created groups by indenting rules in accordance with an
embodiment of the invention. The rules have been separated from the
taxonomy so as not to conflate these sometimes complex features.
Adding new rules uses Boolean logic, even though the logic may be
off in certain cases (especially AND cases) 2702. The user can then
create a group by indenting, which then flips the Boolean. The
indent button should only be active when there is a possible group
(indent disabled with 1 rule or 2 rules, for example). The Boolean
should default to OR, so that if the user "pre-creates" 4 rules, it
initially makes logical sense. If in 2704 the cart value is 11.2,
both the group rule and the 3rd rule are true, making the 3rd rule
useless in this state. The user should not be able to "pre indent"
rules or indent rules out of order. There may be interim states
that may be illogical without validation 2706. In this case the 1st
rule is useless when the cart value is 11.2. However, this again
may be an interim state until the user creates a new group by
indenting the rule 2708. The add button should add a blank rule
below the currently clicked rule and within that rule's group. The
user can then outdent if desired, but the logic should follow
(flipping Boolean.) The delete button removes the selected rule and
updates any group logic. If the user deletes one of two rules in a
group, the group is then lost and the remaining rule outdents to
the outer rule group, and takes on that rule group Boolean.
[0155] FIG. 28 shows a user interface showing example taxonomy and
associated rules in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
For example, one or more shop-cart-value categories can be created
21.0. In the new beacon example, the advertiser is JCPenney, the
beacon type is Sale, the beacon name is shop_cart_value High, the
action type is click and view through, the action cap is unlimited,
the protocol is https, and options is selected by which the
shopping cart total value is passed on to the campaign beacon.
[0156] FIG. 29 shows a user interface showing how a campaign beacon
that is associated with a particular contract is created in
accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The user can
quickly make a taxonomy set using the New Parent and New Child
controls 22.0. When a child node is created, it requires rules and
is denoted as such.
[0157] FIG. 30A shows a user interface showing how a user may drag
and drop a taxonomy node at any parent or child location in
accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The user can drag
and drop the node using the grippy 23.0. The user can drop the node
at any parent or child location and then tree control should create
a temporary branch for the node. Because the order does not matter
in the taxonomy itself, the child node can be inserted at the end.
When the user drops the node to a parent level, the rules are lost
23.1. The console should warn using a modal dialog.
[0158] FIG. 30B shows a message box with a warning that if the user
drops the node to a parent level, the corresponding rules are lost
according to an embodiment of the invention.
[0159] FIG. 31 shows a user interface showing a segment builder in
accordance with an embodiment of the invention. A segment refers to
a market segment, which is a particular group of consumers defined
based on certain criteria for targeting purposes. For key/value
data, the "Sample" link will write the first entry to the field to
give the user a clue as to format (error prevention) 24.0. The
selection for taxonomy data contracts should match the naming
scheme used in the data contract stage 24.1. If it is shown as
"Taxonomy" there, then use "Taxonomy" here rather than a different
term. When the user selects "Select Categories" for Taxonomy based
segments, the tree control is presented with the taxonomy 24.2. If
nodes are selected the mouse-over behavior should show the
description field for each node when implemented.
[0160] FIG. 32 shows a user interface for a user to target ads to
consumers using particular market segments in accordance with an
embodiment of the invention. When the user is running a campaign,
the shopping cart value, e.g. high, created as a segment in
audience may be used to target those consumers, to show appropriate
marketing 25.0.
[0161] FIG. 33 shows user interfaces for creating a macro for an
event for three different macro types in accordance with an
embodiment of the invention. The types shown for illustrative
purposes are DOM Text 3302; DOM Attribute 3304; and JavaScript
Variable 3306.
An Example Machine Overview
[0162] FIG. 34 is a block schematic diagram of a system in the
exemplary form of a computer system 3500 within which a set of
instructions for causing the system to perform any one of the
foregoing methodologies may be executed. In alternative
embodiments, the system may comprise a network router, a network
switch, a network bridge, personal digital assistant (PDA), a
cellular telephone, a Web appliance or any system capable of
executing a sequence of instructions that specify actions to be
taken by that system.
[0163] The computer system 3500 includes a processor 3502, a main
memory 3504 and a static memory 3506, which communicate with each
other via a bus 3508. The computer system 3500 may further include
a display unit 3510, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) or
a cathode ray tube (CRT). The computer system 3500 also includes an
alphanumeric input device 3512, for example, a keyboard; a cursor
control device 3514, for example, a mouse; a disk drive unit 3516,
a signal generation device 3518, for example, a speaker, and a
network interface device 3520.
[0164] The disk drive unit 3516 includes a machine-readable medium
3524 on which is stored a set of executable instructions, i.e.
software, 3526 embodying any one, or all, of the methodologies
described herein below. The software 3526 is also shown to reside,
completely or at least partially, within the main memory 3504
and/or within the processor 3502. The software 3526 may further be
transmitted or received over a network 3528, 3530 by means of a
network interface device 3520.
[0165] In contrast to the system 3500 discussed above, a different
embodiment uses logic circuitry instead of computer-executed
instructions to implement processing entities. Depending upon the
particular requirements of the application in the areas of speed,
expense, tooling costs, and the like, this logic may be implemented
by constructing an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)
having thousands of tiny integrated transistors. Such an ASIC may
be implemented with CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor),
TTL (transistor-transistor logic), VLSI (very large systems
integration), or another suitable construction. Other alternatives
include a digital signal processing chip (DSP), discrete circuitry
(such as resistors, capacitors, diodes, inductors, and
transistors), field programmable gate array (FPGA), programmable
logic array (PLA), programmable logic device (PLD), and the
like.
[0166] It is to be understood that embodiments may be used as or to
support software programs or software modules executed upon some
form of processing core (such as the CPU of a computer) or
otherwise implemented or realized upon or within a system or
computer readable medium. A machine-readable medium includes any
mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form
readable by a machine, e.g. a computer. For example, a machine
readable medium includes read-only memory (ROM); random access
memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media;
flash memory devices; electrical, optical, acoustical or other form
of propagated signals, for example, carrier waves, infrared
signals, digital signals, etc.; or any other type of media suitable
for storing or transmitting information.
[0167] Further, it is to be understood that embodiments may include
performing operations and using storage with cloud computing. For
the purposes of discussion herein, cloud computing may mean
executing algorithms on any network that is accessible by
internet-enabled or network-enabled devices, servers, or clients
and that do not require complex hardware configurations, e.g.
requiring cables and complex software configurations, e.g.
requiring a consultant to install. For example, embodiments may
provide one or more cloud computing solutions that enable users,
e.g. users on the go, to obtain advertising analytics or universal
tag management in accordance with embodiments herein on such
internet-enabled or other network-enabled devices, servers, or
clients. It further should be appreciated that one or more cloud
computing embodiments may include providing or obtaining
advertising analytics or performing universal tag management using
mobile devices, tablets, and the like, as such devices are becoming
standard consumer devices.
[0168] Although the invention is described herein with reference to
the preferred embodiment, one skilled in the art will readily
appreciate that other applications may be substituted for those set
forth herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the
present invention. Accordingly, the invention should only be
limited by the Claims included below.
* * * * *