Systems and methods for preserving privacy

• US 10,115,124 B1
• Filed: 04/13/2016
• Issued: 10/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Kamvysselis, Peter Kellis
• Primary Examiner(s): Brown, Luis A
• Application Number:
  US15/097,689
• Time in Patent Office: 930 Days
• Field of Search: 705 144, 705 1441, 705 1442, 705 1473, 726 26, 726 27, 726 28
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/60 Protecting data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6254 by anonymising data, e.g. decorrelating personal data from the owner's identification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0244 Optimization

Abstract

A system collects information from different sources regarding online activities of users and information regarding presentation of additional content. The user online activity information can include an indication of a web page visited (e.g., URL), a time when the web page was visited, and an anonymized identifier for a user device. Additional content service information can include an additional content identifier, a time the additional content was served, and an anonymized identifier for a user device to which the additional content was served. An optimizing engine uses this information to correlate additional content presentation to user online activity while preserving privacy of users. The system can use the correlation information to perform various statistical analyses, including determining the effects of presentation of particular additional content on user online activity, while preserving the privacy of individual users and preventing the information from being linked to a particular user.

Claims

1. A computing system comprising:

a memory for storing instructions;

one or more processors for executing the instructions stored in the memory;

a page link analysis server having a page link analysis history log containing on-line user activity data obtained from a plurality of computing devices,

wherein the on-line user activity data includes on-line user activity data entries, each on-line user activity data entry including an indication of a web page that a user of one of the plurality of computing devices visited, a time stamp indicating a time that the user visited the web page, and an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the one of the plurality of computing devices,

wherein each of at least some of the on-line user activity data entries includes data that was captured and reported to the page link analysis server by an executable program associated with a web browsing application at the one of the plurality of computing devices that corresponds to the entry;

a third party content server having a third party content delivery log containing served content data including a plurality of served content data entries, each served content data entry including an indication of an additional content item that an additional content provider provided for display with primary content of a web page, a time stamp indicating a time that the additional content item was provided, and an IP address of a computing device to which the additional content item was provided,

wherein the third party content delivery log is distinct from the page link analysis history log,

wherein the executable program at a first of the plurality of computing devices is configured to determine and report addresses of additional content items that additional content providers provided for display within primary content of web pages presented at the first computing device, including determining the addresses of the additional content items by (i) monitoring communications corresponding to the additional content items on a particular network port of the first computing device or (ii) analyzing scripts, executable code, embeds, or multimedia content of the additional content items,

wherein the executable program at the first of the plurality of computing devices is further configured to determine redirection information for a link in an additional content item provided for display within primary content of a web page by monitoring for a response to a request initiated by user selection of the link in the additional content item;

an optimizing engine in communication with the page link analysis server and third party content server and having a merged data log, the optimizing engine configured to;

determine that a first on-line user activity data entry received from the page link analysis server correlates to a first served content data entry received from the third party content server by identifying that at least a portion of the IP address included in the first on-line user activity data entry matches at least a portion of the IP address included in the first served content data entry and identifying that the time stamp included in the first on-line user activity data is within a threshold period of the time stamp included in the first served content data entry;

generate an entry in the merged data log indicating an association between the indication of the additional content item included in the first served content data entry and the indication of the web page of the first on-line user activity data entry that the user of the one of the plurality of computing devices visited, wherein the merged data log entry is generated in response to the optimizing engine determining that the first on-line user activity data entry correlates to the first served content data entry; and

provide an indication of a user associated with the IP address of the one of the plurality of computing devices included in the first on-line user activity data entry to an additional content provider associated with the additional content item indicated by the first served content data entry.

2. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the entry in the merged data log includes the IP address of the computing device to which the additional content item was provided as indicated by the first served content data entry, a URL of the web page indicated by the first on-line user activity data entry, and an identifier for the additional content item indicated by the first served content data entry.

3. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the optimizing engine is further configured to:

access a plurality of entries in the merged data log;

identify entries in the plurality of entries in the merged data log that include a general IP address that corresponds to a large number of users; and

remove, from the merged data log, the identified entries that include the general IP address.

4. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the optimizing engine is further configured to:

determine that a second on-line user activity data entry received from the page link analysis server correlates to a second served content data entry received from the third party content server by identifying that at least a portion of the IP address included in the second on-line user activity data entry matches at least a portion of the IP address included in the second served content data entry and identifying that the time stamp included in the second on-line user activity data is within the threshold period of the time stamp included in the second served content data entry;

generate an intermediate merged record indicating an association between the indication of the additional content item included in the second served content data entry and the indication of the web page of the second on-line user activity data entry that the user of the one of the plurality of computing devices visited, wherein the merged data log entry is generated in response to the optimizing engine determining that the second on-line user activity data entry correlates to the second served content data entry, and wherein the merged data log entry includes the IP address of the one of the plurality of computing devices identified by the second on-line user activity data entry;

identify that the IP address included in the intermediate merged record is a general IP address that corresponds to a large number of users; and

discard the intermediate merged record without adding the intermediate merged record to the merged data log in response to identifying that the IP address included in the intermediate merged record is a general IP address that corresponds to a large number of users.

5. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the time stamp for the first on-line user activity data entry indicates a time that occurs after the time indicated by the time stamp for the first served content data entry that is within the threshold period from the time indicated by the time stamp for the first served content data entry.

6. The computing system of claim 1, wherein at least some of the on-line user activity data entries stored at the page link analysis server are dummy entries containing dummy information generated to preserve privacy for users associated with non-dummy entries.

7. The computing system of claim 1 further comprising a third party content effectiveness determination engine configured to:

access the merged data log to identify on-line user activity of users identified by entries in the merged data log;

compare online behaviors of users identified in the entries in the merged data log who have received the additional content item indicated by the first served content data entry to online behaviors of users identified in the entries in the merged data log who have not received the additional content item indicated by the first served content data entry; and

adjust placement criteria for the additional content item indicated by the first served content data entry based on the comparison.

8. The computing system of claim 7, wherein comparing online behaviors of users identified in the entries in the merged data log who have received the additional content item indicated by the first served content data entry to online behaviors of users identified in the entries in the merged data log who have not received the additional content item indicated by the first served content data entry includes determining effects of presentation of the content item by comparing page link analysis histories of users who have received the content item with page link analysis histories of users who have not received the content item.

9. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the executable program at the first of the plurality of computing devices is configured to determine the addresses of the additional content items by analyzing scripts, executable code, embeds, or multimedia content of the additional content items.

10. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of served content data entries include entries generated from sources other than the plurality of computing devices.

11. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

obtaining, by an optimizing engine from a page link analysis server, on-line user activity data identified at a plurality of computing devices, wherein the on-line user activity data includes on-line user activity data entries, each on-line user activity data entry including an indication of a web page that a user of one of the plurality of computing devices visited, a time stamp indicating a time that the user visited the web page, and an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the one of the plurality of computing devices, wherein each of at least some of the on-line user activity data entries includes data that was captured and reported to the page link analysis server by an executable program associated with a web browsing application at the one of the plurality of computing devices that corresponds to the entry;

obtaining, by the optimizing engine from a third party content server, served content data including a plurality of served content data entries, each served content data entry including an indication of an additional content item that an additional content provider provided for display with primary content of a web page, a time stamp indicating a time that the additional content item was provided, and an IP address of a computing device to which the additional content item was provided,

wherein the served content data is maintained separately from the on-line user activity data,

wherein the executable program at a first of the plurality of computing devices is configured to determine and report addresses of additional content items that additional content providers provided for display with primary content of web pages presented at the first computing device, including determining the addresses of the additional content items by (i) monitoring communications corresponding to the additional content items on a particular network port of the first computing device or (ii) analyzing scripts, executable code, embeds, or multimedia content of the additional content items;

wherein the executable program at the first of the plurality of computing devices is further configured to determine redirection information for a link in an additional content item provided for display within primary content of a web page by monitoring for a response to a request initiated by user selection of the link in the additional content item;

determining, by the optimizing engine, that a first on-line user activity data entry correlates to a first served content data entry by identifying that at least a portion of the IP address included in the first on-line user activity data entry matches at least a portion of the IP address included in the first served content data entry and identifying that the time stamp included in the first on-line user activity data is within a threshold period of the time stamp included in the first served content data entry; and

responsive to determining that the first on-line user activity data entry correlates to the first served content data entry;

storing, by the optimizing engine in a merged data log, an association between the indication of the additional content item included in the first served content data entry and the indication of the web page of the first on-line user activity data entry that the user of the one of the plurality of computing devices visited; and

providing, by the optimizing engine, an indication of a user associated with the IP address of the one of the plurality of computing devices included in the first on-line user activity data entry to an additional content serving system associated with the additional content item indicated by the first served content data entry.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising generating an entry in the merged data log that includes the IP address of the computing device to which the additional content item was provided as indicated by the first served content data entry, a URL of the web page indicated by the first on-line user activity data entry, and an identifier for the additional content item indicated by the first served content data entry.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

accessing a plurality of entries in the merged data log;

identifying entries in the plurality of entries in the merged data log that include a general IP address that corresponds to a large number of users; and

removing, from the merged data log, the identified entries that include the general IP address.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

determining that a second on-line user activity data entry received from the page link analysis server correlates to a second served content data entry received from the third party content server by identifying that at least a portion of the IP address included in the second on-line user activity data entry matches at least a portion of the IP address included in the second served content data entry and identifying that the time stamp included in the second on-line user activity data is within the threshold period of the time stamp included in the second served content data entry;

generating an intermediate merged record indicating an association between the indication of the additional content item included in the second served content data entry and the indication of the web page of the second on-line user activity data entry that the user of the one of the plurality of computing devices visited, wherein the merged data log entry is generated in response to the optimizing engine determining that the second on-line user activity data entry correlates to the second served content data entry, and wherein the merged data log entry includes the IP address of the one of the plurality of computing devices identified by the second on-line user activity data entry;

identifying that the IP address included in the intermediate merged record is a general IP address that corresponds to a large number of users; and

discarding the intermediate merged record without adding the intermediate merged record to the merged data log in response to identifying that the IP address included in the intermediate merged record is a general IP address that corresponds to a large number of users.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the time stamp for the first on-line user activity data entry indicates a time that occurs after the time indicated by the time stamp for the first served content data entry that is within the threshold period from the time indicated by the time stamp for the first served content data entry.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein at least some of the on-line user activity data entries are dummy entries containing dummy information generated to preserve privacy for users associated with non-dummy entries.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

accessing the merged data log to identify on-line user activity of users identified by entries in the merged data log;

comparing online behaviors of users identified in the entries in the merged data log who have received the additional content item indicated by the first served content data entry to online behaviors of users identified in the entries in the merged data log who have not received the additional content item indicated by the first served content data entry; and

adjusting placement criteria for the additional content item indicated by the first served content data entry based on the comparison.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein comparing online behaviors of users identified in the entries in the merged data log who have received the additional content item indicated by the first served content data entry to online behaviors of users identified in the entries in the merged data log who have not received the additional content item indicated by the first served content data entry includes determining effects of presentation of the content item by comparing page link analysis histories of users who have received the content item with page link analysis histories of users who have not received the content item.

19. A computing system comprising:

a memory for storing instructions;

one or more processors for executing the instructions stored in the memory;

a page link analysis server having a page link analysis history log containing on-line user activity data obtained from a plurality of computing devices,

wherein the on-line user activity data includes on-line user activity data entries, each on-line user activity data entry including an indication of a web page that a user of one of the plurality of computing devices visited, a time stamp indicating a time that the user visited the web page, and an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the one of the plurality of computing devices,

wherein each of at least some of the on-line user activity data entries includes data that was captured and reported to the page link analysis server by an executable program associated with a web browsing application at the one of the plurality of computing devices that corresponds to the entry;

a third party content server having a third party content delivery log containing served content data including a plurality of served content data entries, each served content data entry including an indication of an additional content item that an additional content provider provided for display with primary content of a web page, a time stamp indicating a time that the additional content item was provided, and an IP address of a computing device to which the additional content item was provided,

wherein the third party content delivery log is distinct from the page link analysis history log,

wherein the executable program at a first of the plurality of computing devices is configured to determine and report addresses of additional content items that additional content providers provided for display within primary content of web pages presented at the first computing device, including determining the addresses of the additional content items by monitoring communications corresponding to the additional content items on a particular network port of the first computing device;

an optimizing engine in communication with the page link analysis server and third party content server and having a merged data log, the optimizing engine configured to;

determine that a first on-line user activity data entry received from the page link analysis server correlates to a first served content data entry received from the third party content server by identifying that at least a portion of the IP address included in the first on-line user activity data entry matches at least a portion of the IP address included in the first served content data entry and identifying that the time stamp included in the first on-line user activity data is within a threshold period of the time stamp included in the first served content data entry;

generate an entry in the merged data log indicating an association between the indication of the additional content item included in the first served content data entry and the indication of the web page of the first on-line user activity data entry that the user of the one of the plurality of computing devices visited, wherein the merged data log entry is generated in response to the optimizing engine determining that the first on-line user activity data entry correlates to the first served content data entry; and

provide an indication of a user associated with the IP address of the one of the plurality of computing devices included in the first on-line user activity data entry to an additional content provider associated with the additional content item indicated by the first served content data entry.