Location retargeting system for online advertising

• US 10,192,241 B2
• Filed: 07/25/2013
• Issued: 01/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yahoo AD Tech LLC
• Original Assignee: Oath Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Li, Wentong, Mao, Yi
• Primary Examiner(s): Brown, Luis A
• Application Number:
  US13/951,091
• Publication Number:
  US 20140032326A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,014 Days
• Field of Search: 705 1458, 705 1449, 705 1463, 705 1464
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0266 based on the position of the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices

Abstract

A system for retargeting customers is based on a mobile device query initiated by a user, and includes a query module configured to receive a query with geographical information from the mobile device and determine geographical identifiers of the mobile device. An indexed database stores an aggregated plurality of customers having a geographical identifier proximate to the determined geographical area, and a processor selects an advertiser located proximate to the determined geographical area. A performance feedback module is configured to assign an effectiveness rating to one or more advertisements provided by the selected advertiser based on marketing attributes of the aggregated plurality of customers. An advertisement recommendation module then recommends one or more advertisements provided by the selected advertiser based on the assigned effectiveness rating, and the aggregated plurality of customers are retargeted by transmitting the recommended advertisements to one or more customers of the aggregated plurality of customers.

Claims

1. A system for retargeting advertisements, the system comprising:

a processor; and

memory comprising instructions that when executed by the processor implement;

an indexed database configured to store advertiser data comprising offline address information of a customer;

a geo-lookup module configured to translate the offline address information into latitude and longitude values;

a geo-indexed cache of at least two tiers, entries of the geo-indexed cache storing information about multiple potential customers, each entry in the geo-indexed cache comprising a key based on the latitude and longitude values, each respective tier of the at least two tiers corresponding to a respective geographic area having a respective geographic resolution among a range of geographic resolutions to permit a range of precision in geographic targeting in the respective area;

a query module configured to receive geo-location information from a mobile device of a user, perform a lookup in the geo-indexed cache using the geo-location information and a desired respective geographic resolution to identify a tier of the at least two tiers, and output location data for the mobile device of the user; and

an ad recommendation module configured to;

receive the location data; and

control transmission of advertisements based on the location data for the mobile device of the user and an advertiser retargeting criterion, the ad recommendation module communicating data defining the advertisements to the user and a plurality of potential customers selected from the geo-indexed cache using the location data, the plurality of potential customers being located in a predetermined area or radius defined by the location data, wherein the controlling transmission comprises using the location data to deliver targeted advertisements to the user and the plurality of potential customers without identifying the user.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein a value corresponding to each key in the geo-indexed cache comprises customer information from the indexed database.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the at least two tiers of the geo-indexed cache comprises a single data structure.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the geo-indexed cache comprises three tiers, including a first tier corresponding to an address, a second tier corresponding to an extended zip code, and a third tier corresponding to a zip code.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the indexed database further comprises census data or third-party data.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the indexed database further comprises data search history data or purchase history data.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a data loading module circuit configured to perform indexing for the geo-indexed cache.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a performance feedback module circuit comprising performance data for different locations.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is distributed across multiple servers using a range-based partition.

10. A method for retargeting advertisements, the method comprising:

translating offline address information of a customer into latitude and longitude values;

in a memory, caching advertiser data into at least two tiers of cached advertiser data, each respective tier of the at least two tiers having a different respective geographical resolution among a range of geographical resolutions to permit a range of precision in geographic targeting in respective areas defined by respective tiers of the at least two tiers, with keys based on the latitude and longitude values, the cached advertiser data including a plurality of entries storing information about multiple potential customers;

receiving geo-location information from a mobile device of a user;

performing a query of at least one tier of the at least two tiers of cached advertiser data using the geo-location information, the at least one tier being defined by a desired geographical resolution;

determining one or more advertisements for the customer based on results of the query; and

sending the one or more advertisements to the user and to a plurality of potential customers selected from the multiple potential customers with information stored in the memory using the geo-location information for the mobile device of the user, the plurality of potential customers being located in a predetermined area or radius defined by location data associated with the geo-location information to deliver targeted advertisements to the user and the plurality of potential customers.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein values associated with the keys comprise customer information from an indexed database of an advertiser associated with the cached advertiser data.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein each of the at least two tiers of the cached advertiser data in the memory comprises a single data structure.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least two tiers comprise a first tier corresponding to an address, a second tier corresponding to an extended zip code, and a third tier corresponding to a zip code.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the offline address information is stored with census data or third-party data.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the offline address information is stored with search history data or purchase history data.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising indexing a cache of at least two tiers based on advertiser proximity.

17. The method of claim 10, further comprising providing feedback regarding advertisement performance in different locations.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein acts of the method are performed by at least two different servers.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, implement a system comprising:

a cache comprising latitude and longitude keys generated from a translation of offline customer address information, and for each key advertiser data attributes, including customer search history or purchase history, the cache being separated into at least two tiers stored as separate data structures, with at least one tier of the at least two tiers comprising keys based on a translation of customer zip code data in the at least two tiers representing decreasing geographic precision or granularity to permit a range of precision in geographic targeting;

a query module in data communication with the cache and configured to receive geo-location information from a mobile device of a user, perform a lookup in the cache using the geo-location information and a desired geographic precision to select a tier among the at least two tiers and provide location data for the mobile device of the user; and

an ad recommendation module in data communication with the query module and the cache and configured to;

receive the location data for the mobile device of the user; and

control transmission of advertisements based on the location data for the mobile device of the user and an advertiser retargeting criterion related to at least one of customer search history or purchase history and a tier of the at least two tiers so that recommended advertisements are sent to the user and to a plurality of potential customers located in a predetermined area or radius defined by the location data for the mobile device of the user, wherein the controlling transmission comprises using the location data to deliver targeted advertisements to the user and the plurality of potential customers.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein at least one of the at least two tiers comprises keys based on a translation of extended zip code for a customer.