U.S. patent application number 14/284086 was filed with the patent office on 2016-06-02 for web advertising campaign management system and method.
This patent application is currently assigned to WEBAD CAMPAIGN ANALYTICS LP. The applicant listed for this patent is WEBAD CAMPAIGN ANALYTICS LP. Invention is credited to Neil Dholakia, Carolyn C. Faour, Bruce C. Macartney-Filgate, Edelmiro Perez, JR..
Application Number | 20160155149 14/284086 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 26867917 |
Filed Date | 2016-06-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160155149 |
Kind Code |
A9 |
Macartney-Filgate; Bruce C. ;
et al. |
June 2, 2016 |
WEB ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD
Abstract
Events generated by customer interaction during an
internet-based session are made available for use by a system for
tracking the effectiveness of web advertising campaigns. Event
occurrences are collected for evaluation to determine whether
campaign goals are being met. Campaigns are defined by rules
indicating which ad content is to be displayed to which customers.
Event types to be reported are selected depending on the needs of
the particular campaign.
Inventors: |
Macartney-Filgate; Bruce C.;
(Austin, TX) ; Perez, JR.; Edelmiro; (Round Rock,
TX) ; Faour; Carolyn C.; (Austin, TX) ;
Dholakia; Neil; (Austin, TX) |
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Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
WEBAD CAMPAIGN ANALYTICS LP |
AUSTIN |
TX |
US |
|
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Assignee: |
WEBAD CAMPAIGN ANALYTICS LP
AUSTIN
TX
|
Prior
Publication: |
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Document Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20140257986 A1 |
September 11, 2014 |
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Family ID: |
26867917 |
Appl. No.: |
14/284086 |
Filed: |
May 21, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11358149 |
Feb 21, 2006 |
8781895 |
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14284086 |
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09739064 |
Dec 18, 2000 |
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11358149 |
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60172279 |
Dec 17, 1999 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/14.56 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/02 20130101;
G06Q 10/103 20130101; G06Q 30/0269 20130101; G06Q 30/0244 20130101;
G06Q 30/0258 20130101; G06Q 30/0254 20130101; G06Q 30/0242
20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 30/02 20060101
G06Q030/02 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: registering a first
event handler associated with a first advertising campaign to
receive event messages of a first event type from among a plurality
of event types, wherein each of the plurality of event types is a
distinct type of event resulting from one or more occurrences
related to a web page and associated with user interaction with the
web page; registering a second event handler associated with a
second advertising campaign to receive event messages of a second
event type from among the plurality of event types; one or more
applications executing on one or more servers generating display
content for the web page and transmitting the display content to
the user via the communications network; receiving input from a
user of the web page via a communications network; determining,
based on the received input, events associated with web page
activity of the user to be events defined by the first advertising
campaign and the second advertising campaign; one or more
applications executing on the one or more servers generating a
first event message of the first event type based on a first
determined event of the determined events; the one or more
applications executing on the one or more servers generating a
second event message of the second event type based on a second
determined event of the determined events; forwarding at least the
first event message and at least the second event message to the
respective first event handler and the second event handler
registered to receive event messages of the respective first event
type of the first event message and the second event type of the
second event message; the first event handler modifying operation
of the one or more applications based on the forwarded first event
message being of the first event type to generate first modified
display content comprising at least a first advertisement from the
first advertising campaign; the second event handler modifying
operation of the one or more applications based on the forwarded
second event message being of the second event type to generate
second modified display content comprising at least a second
advertisement from the second advertising campaign; and
transforming the display content of the web page to comprise the
first modified display content and the second modified display
content to present the first advertisement and the second
advertisement to the user via the communications network.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein two or more of the plurality of
event handlers are registered to receive event messages of the
first event type and further comprising forwarding each event
message associated with the one or more identified events
associated with the first event type to each of the two or more of
the plurality of handlers registered to receive event messages of
the first event type.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein modifying includes modifying the
display content to present one or more users of the web page an
option to purchase a product or service at a discount from a
regular price for such purchase.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of advertising
campaigns are associated with the first event handler, and wherein
the first event handler modifies operation of the one or more
applications, based on the forwarded first event message, to
generate the first modified display content comprising at least a
third advertisement from one of the advertising campaigns of the
plurality of advertising campaigns and at least a fourth
advertisement from another of the advertising campaigns of the
plurality of advertising campaigns.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first event handler registers
with an event router to be associated with the first advertising
campaign and wherein the event router routes event messages
associated with the one or more identified events related to the
first advertising campaign of the first event type to the first
event handler.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first event handler updates a
database upon receipt of each event message of the first event
type.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first advertising campaign is
comprised of a set of rules used to define applicability of the
first advertisement for display content, further comprising a
campaign manager application, executing on the one or more servers
and having access to a database updated by the first event handler,
modifying the set of rules based on updates from the first event
handler.
8. The method of claim 1, transmitting the transformed display
content of the web page comprising the first modified display
content and the second modified display content to at least one of
one user or more users of the web page to present the first
advertisement and the second advertisement.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising selecting the first
advertisement from the first advertising campaign based on an
identity of the at least one user of the one or more users.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first event handler is
registered to receive event messages of the first event type from
among the plurality of event types and not event messages of the
second event type from among the plurality of event types.
11. A system comprising: one or more servers that generates display
content of a web page for transmission to one or more users of the
web page via a communications network, wherein the one or more
servers receive input from the one or more users via the
communications network, and wherein the one or more servers are
configured to determine, based on the received input, events
associated with web page activity of at least one user of the one
or more users to be identified events related to a plurality of
advertising campaigns, wherein the identified events are associated
with event types, wherein each of the event types is a distinct
type of event that results from one or more occurrences related to
a web page; a first event handler registered to receive event
messages of at least a first event type of event types; a second
event handler registered to receive event messages of at least a
second event type of the event types, wherein event messages of the
first event type result from occurrences related to a first type of
activity on the web page and event messages of the second event
type result from occurrences related to a second type of activity
on the web page; one or more server applications executing on the
one or more servers generating one or more event messages based on
the determined identified events related to the advertising
campaigns, and further associating the one or more event messages
with the one or more event types associated with the identified
events and identifying each event type of each one or more event
messages by including identifying information in the one or more
event messages; and an event router, receiving the one or more
event messages, that forwards at least one of the received one or
more event messages to the first event handler when the received
one or more event messages is associated with the first event type,
and that forwards at least one of the received one or more event
messages to the second event handler when the received one or more
event messages is associated with the second event type; wherein
the first event handler provides a first input to the one or more
servers, based on the forwarded one or more event messages of the
first event type, and the one or more servers generate first
modified display content comprising at least a first advertisement
from a first advertising campaign of the advertising campaigns in
response to the first input; wherein the second event handler
provides second input to the one or more servers, based on the
forwarded one or more event messages of the second event type, and
the one or more servers generates second modified display content
comprising at least a second advertisement from a second
advertising campaign of the advertising campaigns in response to
the second input; and wherein the one or more servers transmits
display content comprising at least one of the first modified
display content and the second modified display content to the at
least one user of the one or more users via the communications
network.
12. The system of claim 11, further comprising a plurality of event
handlers registered to receive event messages of the first event
type and further wherein the event router forwards each event
message associated with the one or more identified events of the
first event type to each of the plurality of event handlers
registered to receive event messages of the first event type.
13. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more servers
modifies the display content to present one or more users of the
web page an option to purchase a product or service at a discount
from a regular price for such purchase.
14. The system of claim 11, wherein a plurality of advertising
campaigns are associated with the first event handler, and wherein
the first event handler modifies operation of the one or more
server applications, based on the forwarded first event message, to
generate the first modified display content comprising at least a
third advertisement from one of the advertising campaigns and at
least a fourth advertisement from another of the advertising
campaigns.
15. The system of claim 11, wherein the first event handler
registers with the event router to be associated with the first
advertising campaign and wherein the event router routes event
messages associated with the one or more identified events of the
first event type related to the first advertising campaign to the
first event handler.
16. The system of claim 11, further comprising a database coupled
to the first event handler, wherein the first event handler updates
the database upon receipt of each event message of the first event
type.
17. The system of claim 11, wherein the first advertising campaign
is comprised of a set of rules used to define applicability of the
first advertisement for display content, further comprising a
campaign manager application executing on the one or more servers
and having access to a database updated by the first event handler,
wherein the campaign manager application modifies the set of rules
based on updates to the database by the first event handler.
18. The system of claim 11, wherein the first advertisement is
selected from the advertising campaign for display content based on
an identity of one or more users of the web page.
19. The system of claim 11, further comprising a plurality of event
handlers including the first event handler and the second event
handler, wherein the first event handler of the plurality of event
handlers is registered to receive event messages of the first event
type from among the plurality of event types and not event messages
of the second event type from among the plurality of event
types.
20. A non-transitory machine readable storage medium containing
machine readable instructions that when executed causes a data
processing system to perform a method, comprising: registering a
first event handler associated with a first advertising campaign to
receive event messages of a first event type from among a plurality
of event types, wherein each of the plurality of event types is a
distinct type of event resulting from one or more occurrences
related to a web page and associated with user interaction with the
web page; registering a second event handler associated with a
second advertising campaign to receive event messages of a second
event type from among the plurality of event types; one or more
applications executing on one or more servers generating display
content for the web page and transmitting the display content to
the user via the communications network; receiving input from a
user of the web page via a communications network; determining,
based on the received input, events associated with web page
activity of the user to be events defined by the first advertising
campaign and the second advertising campaign; one or more
applications executing on the one or more servers generating a
first event message of the first event type based on a first
determined event of the determined events; the one or more
applications executing on the one or more servers generating a
second event message of the second event type based on a second
determined event of the determined events; forwarding at least the
first event message and at least the second event message to the
respective first event handler and the second event handler
registered to receive event messages of the respective first event
type of the first event message and the second event type of the
second event message; the first event handler modifying operation
of the one or more applications based on the forwarded first event
message being of the first event type to generate first modified
display content comprising at least a first advertisement from the
first advertising campaign; the second event handler modifying
operation of the one or more applications based on the forwarded
second event message being of the second event type to generate
second modified display content comprising at least a second
advertisement from the second advertising campaign; and
transforming the display content of the web page to comprise the
first modified display content and the second modified display
content to present the first advertisement and the second
advertisement to the user via the communications network.
21. A non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 20,
wherein two or more of the plurality of event handlers are
registered to receive event messages of the first event type and
further comprising forwarding each event message associated with
the one or more identified events associated with the first event
type to each of the two or more of the plurality of handlers
registered to receive event messages of the first event type.
22. A non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 20,
wherein modifying includes modifying the display content to present
one or more users of the web page an option to purchase a product
or service at a discount from a regular price for such
purchase.
23. A non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 20,
wherein a plurality of advertising campaigns are associated with
the first event handler, and wherein the first event handler
modifies operation of the one or more applications, based on the
forwarded first event message, to generate the first modified
display content comprising at least a third advertisement from one
of the advertising campaigns of the plurality of advertising
campaigns and at least a fourth advertisement from another of the
advertising campaigns of the plurality of advertising
campaigns.
24. A non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 20,
wherein the first event handler registers with an event router to
be associated with the first advertising campaign and wherein the
event router routes event messages associated with the one or more
identified events related to the first advertising campaign of the
first event type to the first event handler.
25. A non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 20,
wherein the first event handler updates a database upon receipt of
each event message of the first event type.
26. A non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 20,
wherein the first advertising campaign is comprised of a set of
rules used to define applicability of the first advertisement for
display content, further comprising a campaign manager application,
executing on the one or more servers and having access to a
database updated by the first event handler, modifying the set of
rules based on updates from the first event handler.
27. A non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 20,
transmitting the transformed display content of the web page
comprising the first modified display content and the second
modified display content to at least one user of one or more users
of the web page to present the first advertisement and the second
advertisement.
28. A non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 27,
further comprising selecting the first advertisement from the first
advertising campaign based on an identity of the at least one user
of the one or more users.
29. A non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 20,
wherein the first event handler is registered to receive event
messages of the first event type from among the plurality of event
types and not event messages of the second event type from among
the plurality of event types.
Description
PRIORITY CLAIM
[0001] The present application is a continuation application of
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/358,149, filed on Feb. 21,
2006, titled "Web Campaign Promotion System And Method," which
claims priority based upon Provisional Application Filing No.
60/172,279 filed Dec. 17, 1999 titled Personalized Web Campaign
Promotion System With Campaign Effectiveness Tracking," the
disclosures of which are both incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates generally to computer systems
that communicate of the internet, and more specifically to a system
and method for tracking the effectiveness of advertising campaigns
over internet systems.
[0004] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0005] Advertising over the internet has become extremely common.
In many cases, paid advertising is the primary source of revenue
for internet content providers. For others, advertisements can
direct potential customers to additional products available, and
promote products that the content provider wants or needs to
sell.
[0006] An important goal of advertising, especially in a medium
such as the internet, is to direct the advertising to customers
most likely to buy the product. Various types of customer profiling
is becoming common, with choice of advertisements dynamically
selected based upon information collected about the person
accessing a web page, and upon purchasing or viewing patterns that
person is currently demonstrating. An example of such advertising
technique is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,710,887, issued to Chelliah
et al. Many other examples of advertising based upon purchaser
identification are known in the art.
[0007] One common advertising technique is to provide a selected
portion of a web page for displaying advertisements. This portion
is usually at the top of a displayed page, where a potential
purchaser will encounter it when the page is first loaded. If the
person viewing the page is interested in the product or service
depicted I the advertisement, usually clicking on the advertisement
will take that person to another web page where the product or
service can be purchased, or additional information found. This
approach is often generally referred to as banner advertising,
because the selected portion is a rectangular banner shape at the
top of the page.
[0008] Numerous approaches are in use for selecting the particular
ads to be displayed to a particular customer. A common problem with
many approaches is determining how effective they are, during and
after an advertising campaign. Although various purchaser profiles
can be selected in advance to determine which customers will be
shown which advertisements, it is often difficult to find out after
the fact whether the campaign was, in fact, effective.
[0009] It would be desirable to provide a system and method that
not only allowed advertising campaigns to be defined, but that
allowed the effectiveness of the campaign to be monitored. It would
further be desirable for such a system and method to be compatible
with current web-based internet systems, and be easy to use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] In accordance with the present invention, events generated
by customer interaction during an internet-based session are made
available for use by a system for tracking the effectiveness of web
advertising campaigns. Event occurrences are collected for
evaluation to determine whether campaign goals are being met.
Campaigns are defined by rules indicating which ad content is to be
displayed to which customers. Events types to be reported are
selected depending on the needs of the particular campaign.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] The novel features believed characteristic of the invention
are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself however,
as well as a preferred mode of use, further objects and advantages
thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following
detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
[0012] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system for use
over the internet;
[0013] FIG. 2 is a simplified diagram of a display;
[0014] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a system for handling events
generated by numerous applications; and
[0015] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a preferred system for managing
advertising campaigns.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0016] The present invention is described in the context of the
following implementation. Those skilled in the art will recognize
that numerous alternative implementations can be used to accomplish
the following described results and goals.
[0017] FIG. 1 illustrates, at a high level, a typical system 10
used to implement the preferred embodiment. A browser 12, used by a
customer, connects to a server 14 through the internet 16, or other
suitable communications network. Server 14 is responsible for
responding to requests received from browser 12, and provides
content to be displayed on display 18.
[0018] As described below, server 14 also provides advertisements
to be displayed. The selection of advertisements to be displayed
depends upon several factors, including what ad campaigns are
currently in effect and who the customer is. In response to actions
taken by the customer, selected events are generated by
applications running on server 14, and are forwarded to event
handler 20. In the preferred embodiment, event handler 20 is an
application dedicated to supporting one or more advertising
campaigns, and deals with the various events in a manner that will
facilitate analysis of the effectiveness of the campaigns. Various
reports 22 are generated using the data processed by event handler
20.
[0019] FIG. 2 shows a typical web page layout that is suitable for
use in the preferred embodiment. Numerous alternative arrangements
are known to those skilled in the art, but layout 28 will serve to
demonstrate features of interest for all layouts. Typically, each
web page includes content 30, which may include text, graphics, and
additional items such as dialog boxes and various controls that may
be manipulated by the viewer. It is common for index and other
information 32 to be included in some portion of the page layout.
For purposes of the present invention, a portion of the page is
reserved for banner advertisements 34. As known in the art, such
advertisements are generally selected dynamically, potentially
being different for every different viewer of the same page.
[0020] Each time a page is selected for viewing, server 14 includes
a graphic that will be located in the banner ad region 34. The
graphic to be displayed is preferably selected according to
campaign rules provided by a campaign manager (not shown). Each ad
will have a type, and other information to enable effectiveness
tracking to be performed, as described below. As is known in the
art, a viewer can select (click on) the banner ad 34, and will be
connected with another web page.
[0021] FIG. 3 illustrates a preferred technique for handling events
such as those used to track the effectiveness of web advertising
campaigns. Several server applications 40 execute on server 14, or
associated hardware. During the course of that execution, various
events occur that need to be reported. These events include those
related to the advertising campaign, as well as others. In the
preferred embodiment, every event generates a message to a router
42, which distributes them to event handler applications 44, 46,
48.
[0022] Event messages received by router 42 all have a type, and
other identifying information. Handlers 44-46 register to receive
events of selected types, with tables in router 42 maintaining the
registration information. Several handlers can register to receive
the same events, and router 42 forwards the messages to every
register handler each time an event is received from an application
40. Thus, the system shown in FIG. 3 is a generic event routing
system that is also used for applications other than the web
advertising campaign described herein.
[0023] Each campaign can have one or more handlers 44-46, or
several campaigns can use the same handler. Correspondence of
handlers to campaigns is selected to meet the needs of each
installation. In a simple implementation, each separate campaign
uses a separate event handler to deal with all events related to
the campaign. When an advertising campaign is started, a new
handler is defined and instantiated to handle events for that
campaign. The handler registers with event router 42 to receive all
events that are of interest to the campaign, as described below.
Because different campaigns may be interested in different types of
events, the use of a generic router 42 can simplify the overall
implementation of the campaign management system. However, any
system that can generate message as described below can be utilized
to implement the effectiveness tracking system.
[0024] FIG. 4 illustrates the major parts of a preferred system to
implement and track advertising campaigns. Server application 52
receives customer inputs, and generates content to be returned to
the customer over the internet. The returned content includes
advertisements for selected pages, and does not for others. As
server application 52 generates events, messages are sent through
router 58 to an event handler 60 designated for use by this
campaign. Handler 60 verifies the events it receives, performs some
processing on them and updates data stored in a database 62. For
example, if handler 60 is registered to receive events generated
when a customer actually purchases an advertised product, it can
then update database 62 each time a purchase is made.
[0025] Server application 52 uses rules from rules tables 54 to
determine which ads to include with the content being sent to the
customer. These rules are defined by a campaign manager application
56, which works with one or more business users to define the
campaigns to be run. The manager 56 also receives feedback from
database 62; that feedback indicates how the campaign is doing. In
response to such feedback, campaigns can be modified, cancelled,
and so forth.
[0026] In addition, handler 60 can modify operation of content
display handled by application 52. For example, a product discount
can be given to those customers who purchase a product in response
to the ad campaign. For example, an event referred to as a
"click-through" occurs when a customer responds to a banner ad by
clicking on it, and is taken to a page from which the product can
be purchased. By watching for such click-through events, handler 60
can notify application 52 that a discount is to given to a customer
for a session that generated the click-through. Other modifications
can be made in response to campaign events, and can modify the
content sent to customers, and the terms of the product sales, in a
similar manner.
[0027] Each campaign therefore includes two major parts; a set of
rules defining what ads will be shown and under what circumstances,
and a selection of events to be retained to analyze the results of
the campaign. The business user managing the campaign has a number
of capabilities to manage it. These include defining ad content and
associating it with products. Also included is the ability to
associate discounts with a click-through as described above. Rules
can be defined to evaluate system and customer data, which then
allows ads to be displayed for selected customers meeting certain
criteria. Criteria can be based on customer information, including
individual information such as personal buying history. It may also
be based on broader profiles, such as age, sex, and income.
[0028] A campaign is made up of sets of rules used to define what
products are covered, what discounts, if any, will be offered and
to whom, to whom the ads will be displayed, and a time period in
which the campaign is active. Additional rules may be included if
desired. Default ad content must be defined in the system so that
all banners contain ad content. If none of the ad campaigns
currently in effect match a rule, the default content can be
displayed.
[0029] Campaigns are preferably defined for specified dates and
time periods. A campaign can also be defined until specified
events, internal or external, occur. For example, if a campaign is
run to sell products in an overstock condition, the campaign can be
defined to run until the overstock condition disappears. In a
similar manner, rules can preferably be defined that take into
consideration conditions in the supply chain. A sale can be
suspended if suppliers run into short supply on sale items or
components for them. A campaign can be suspended at any time in
response to input from a person working with the campaign manager
application 56.
[0030] Generally several campaigns will be running concurrently. It
is possible that several campaigns will contain rules that would
call for add banners to be displayed for more than one at a given
time. Such conflicts can be handled by additional rules that define
a preference for one over the other. Another approach is to define
a weighting factor, so that overlapping campaigns will share ad
time before the customer base. Such scheduling and preference
algorithms are generally known in the art, and will not be
described here in detail.
[0031] A campaign also specifies what will be tracked in order to
determine its effectiveness. This can involve simple data
collection, such as collecting only the number of times a banner
for the product is displayed and the number of purchases made of
the product. Somewhat more sophisticated information will generally
be desired, however. For example, a count of the number of
click-throughs that occur tends to indicate the actual
effectiveness of an ad banner. Also, subsequent purchases by the
same customer who viewed an ad banner is more useful than a simple
count of sales. Data tracking the number of inquiries for detailed
information in response to a click-through, and the time such
information is displayed before being replaced by another page, can
provide highly detailed information regarding the success of the
campaign in attracting customer attention.
[0032] Although click-throughs have been described in conjunction
with ad banners at the top of a web page, it will be recognized by
those skilled in the art that ad content can be displayed in other
circumstances. For example, when a customer is browsing through
products or services offered by a business, indications of special
offers can be displayed in any format. Selection (click-through)
for these indicators acts in a manner similar to that described
above for banner ads. In fact, in many campaigns, the rules for
display of special offers and sales will limit ad display to
customers who have already shown that they are serious about buying
from the company. IN a similar manner, one common rule that can be
used to define a campaign is to make special offers to customers
who have already purchased one or more products, or placed them in
a shopping cart for purchase.
[0033] As described above, numerous types of events are used to
control the campaign, and to track its effectiveness. Some events
are used primarily for campaign control, while others are used for
effectiveness tracking. Many events are used for both, depending on
the rules used to control the campaign, and the degree of tracking
desired. Some of the types of events preferably included are:
[0034] Session start and session end, when a session is established
or completed for a customer. A timestamp is preferably
included.
[0035] Authentication, when a user is successfully identified.
[0036] Begin shopping and end shopping, when a user enters or
leaves a shopping workflow.
[0037] Product details requested, when so requested by a user.
[0038] Events indicating that a product is added to, or removed
from, the customer's shopping cart.
[0039] Purchase of a product, or order of a product to be
shipped.
[0040] Beginning or ending a product configuration session.
[0041] An impression event when an ad is rendered for a
customer.
[0042] Profile match, when a profile match is found as a result of
a rules evaluation.
[0043] Click-through events for any click-throughs, including those
for up-sell ads and cross-sell ads.
[0044] Remote system events, including click-through to a remote
URL, and a referral from another domain to the local domain.
[0045] Effectiveness tracking may only apply to some of the above
events. The selected events can vary from campaign to campaign.
Occurrences of selected events are logged in tables provided for
the purpose in database 62, and statistical evaluations can be
created and studied at leisure through the campaign manager
application 56. If any events are not recognized by handler 60 when
they are received, they can be included in a table reserved for
unrecognized or otherwise untracked events.
[0046] Tracking events for a campaign can be turned on and off
independently from a campaign itself. This can be useful when
tracking data is not needed, or only a subset is needed. Once a
campaign has been shown to be satisfactorily effective, tracking
can be minimized, or even eliminated except for periodic reviews.
This simplifies reporting by avoiding the need to record every
event when doing so is not very useful.
[0047] To attain the above objectives requires only minimal
modification of existing code. Events, or a similar reporting
system, are already included in most sophisticated web hosting
system. They need merely be modified to ensure that an appropriate
handler receives them for effectiveness tracking to be implemented.
Defining the campaign is a little more complicated, but again can
be done without significantly altering existing code.
[0048] In addition, each web page must have an area set aside to
display the campaign content. In many cases, this is already
provided. In other systems, an area will need to be set aside for
campaign content to be inserted. In either case, a default content,
which could be blank, can be used whenever no campaigns are active,
or whenever no campaigns are triggered to include an ad by the
rules used to define the campaign.
[0049] The described system allows the effectiveness of the
campaign to be easily tracked by capturing events and storing them
to a database or other persistent storage. Once the appropriate raw
data has been collected, it is easily analyzed using widely
available techniques to indicate to a business whether or not the
campaign is actually effective, and how quickly its goals are being
reached.
[0050] While the invention has been particularly shown and
described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be
understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form
and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit
and scope of the invention.
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