Independent targeted sponsored content management system and method

• US 10,380,648 B2
• Filed: 12/09/2016
• Issued: 08/13/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Dubey, Sanjay Sureshchandra, Mehta, Nihar N, Kshetramade, Sanjay, Kannan, Ashvin, Miyamoto, Carleton
• Primary Examiner(s): Refai, Sam
• Assistant Examiner(s): Robinson, Kyle G
• Application Number:
  US15/374,004
• Publication Number:
  US 20170154363A1
• Time in Patent Office: 977 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0842 for multiprocessing or multitasking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0246 Traffic
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

A system may include a database configured with individual partitions, one of the partitions corresponding to a sponsored content campaign of a social network. The system may further include multiple servers each communicatively coupled to the database, and each configured to implement a campaign having a campaign termination criterion. Each of the servers may include a processor configured to track sponsored content event data received from a user device based on the campaign and transmit the event data to the database and terminate the campaign based on a comparison of the event data as received from a partition of the database corresponding to the campaign and an estimation of event data not received from the database. The database may be configured to store the event data as received from the servers in the partition corresponding to the campaign upon receipt of the event data.

Claims

1. A method for managing a sponsored content campaign using a plurality of hardware processors, each of the hardware processors communicatively coupled to a database and configured to implement a portion of the sponsored content campaign, the method comprising:

providing, by a hardware processor of the plurality of hardware processors;

tracked sponsored content event data to the database;

providing, by the hardware processor, tracked sponsored content data to other hardware processors of the plurality of hardware processors at fixed time intervals; and

terminating the portion of the sponsored content campaign based on a comparison of (a) the sponsored content event data as received from the database corresponding to the sponsored content campaign and (b) an estimation of received tracked sponsored content event data received at the database from the other hardware processors to (c) termination criterion of the sponsored content campaign.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the database includes data stored thereon that corresponds to multiple sponsored content campaigns, and wherein a partition of partitions of the database corresponds to multiple sponsored content campaigns associated with a sponsoring entity of the sponsored content campaigns.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the partition corresponds to all sponsored content campaigns associated with the sponsoring entity.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein each sponsoring entity corresponding to at least one of the sponsored content campaigns stored in the database corresponds to a different one of the partitions, and wherein each of the sponsored content campaigns corresponding to the sponsoring entity corresponds to the partition corresponding to the sponsoring entity.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein each sponsored content campaign and each sponsoring entity individually correspond to only one of the partitions and wherein each partition corresponds to only one of the sponsoring entities.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein each sponsored content event data is associated with a unique identifier.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the termination criterion includes a minimum number of sponsored content events and a maximum number of sponsored content events.

8. A non-transitory machine-readable medium including instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a machine, configure the machine to perform operations comprising:

providing tracked sponsored content event data to a database; and

periodically providing received tracked sponsored content data to other machines; and

terminating a portion of a sponsored content campaign based on a comparison of (1) the sponsored content event data as received from the database corresponding to the sponsored content campaign and (2) an estimation of received tracked sponsored content event data received at the database from the other machines to (3) termination criterion of the sponsored content campaign.

9. The medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions for tracking the sponsored content event data include instructions for de-duplicating sponsored content event data that corresponds to a single sponsored content event, wherein a duplicate sponsored content event data is not transmitted to the database.

10. The medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions for de-duplicating the sponsored content event data include instructions for comparing between sponsored content event data and an associated sponsored content item.

11. The medium of claim 9, further comprising instructions for determining if the estimation of sponsored content event data received at the database from another machine was accurate and in response to determining the estimate was inaccurate and the termination criterion were not met or exceeded, reopening the sponsored content campaign.

12. The medium of claim 11, wherein the estimation of sponsored content event data is based on sponsored content event data as stored in the database.

13. The medium of claim 8, wherein the termination criterion includes a minimum number of sponsored content events and a maximum number of sponsored content events.

14. A system comprising:

hardware processors;

a database communicatively coupled to the one or more hardware processors, the database configured data corresponding to a sponsored content campaign of a social network, the sponsored content campaign having a campaign termination criterion, the one or more hardware processors respectively configured to implement a portion of the sponsored content campaign;

one or more memories communicatively coupled to the one or more hardware processors, the one or more memories including instructions stored thereon that;

when executed by the one or more hardware processors, cause the one or more hardware processors to perform operations, the operations comprising;

providing, by a hardware processor of the hardware processors, tracked sponsored content event data to the database;

terminating the portion of the sponsored content campaign implemented on a corresponding one of the hardware processors based on a comparison of a combination of (1) the sponsored content event data as received from the database corresponding to the sponsored content campaign and (2) an estimation of sponsored content event data received at the database from other hardware processors of the hardware processors to (3) the termination criterion.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured to track the sponsored content event data by de-duplicating sponsored content event data that corresponds to a single sponsored content event, wherein a duplicate sponsored content event data is not transmitted to the database, wherein de-duplicating includes comparing between sponsored content event data and an associated sponsored content item.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the database is configured to store the sponsored content event data as received from the one or more hardware processors in a partition corresponding to the sponsored content campaign and provide the received sponsored content data to each of the one or more hardware processors at fixed time intervals.

17. The system of claim 14, further comprising a campaign consumption module coupled to the servers configured to determine if the estimation of sponsored content event data received at the database from another server of the plurality of servers was accurate and in response to determining the estimate was inaccurate and the termination criterion were not met or exceeded, reopening the sponsored content campaign.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the estimation of sponsored content event data is based on sponsored content event data as stored in the database.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein the termination criterion includes a minimum number of sponsored content events and a maximum number of sponsored content events.

20. The system of claim 14, wherein each sponsored content event data is associated with a unique identifier.