Event collection architecture

• US 20020103664A1
• Filed: 10/22/2001
• Published: 08/01/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: Olsson, Anders, Liljenback, Martin
• Granted Patent: US 7,680,672 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/103 Workflow collaboration or project management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

The present invention relates to an event tracking server that determines event tracking information related to a user'"'"'s interaction with a server device on a computer network, such as a server device for a Web site. The event tracking server determines the event tracking information by first receiving an event signal from a client device associated with the user, wherein the user used the client device to interact with the server device. The event signal includes an event ID and data that describes the user'"'"'s interaction with the server device. The event tracking server then retrieves a set of instructions that correspond to the event ID included in the event signal and extracts the descriptive data from the event signal in accordance with the retrieved instructions. The retrieved data is then stored in a database. The user interaction with the server device can include various actions, such as downloading a file, placing or removing an item into or from an electronic shopping cart, purchasing an item, or using a search capability of a search engine.

Claims

1. A method of determining event-tracking information related to a user on a computer network, comprising:

receiving an event signal from a client device associated with the user, wherein the event signal comprises data that is descriptive of a user interaction with a server device of the computer network;

retrieving a set of instructions that correspond to the data included in the event signal;

extracting the data from the event signal in accordance with the retrieved instructions;

storing the data in a database.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the event signal includes a tag that denotes at least one item of data that is descriptive of the user interaction, and wherein the set of instructions includes an identification of the tag so that the item of data can be located in the event signal.

3. A method as defined in claim 2, additionally comprising extracting the item of data that is denoted by the tag identified in the instructions.

4. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the event signal includes an event ID and wherein retrieving a set of instructions that correspond to the data included in the event signal comprises retrieving a set of instructions that correspond to the event ID.

5. A method as defined in claim 4, additionally comprising maintaining a list of event IDs and a set of instructions that correspond to each event ID.

6. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein a gateway module extracts the data from the event signal, and additionally comprising distributing a plurality of received event signals among several gateway modules in order to balance a load of received event signals among the several gateway modules.

7. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the gateway modules create a data file that contains the extracted data and stores the data file in a database, and wherein the gateway module communicate with the database according to structured query language.

8. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the event signal conforms to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol.

9. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the event signal is received from a client device that generated the event signal in response to executing code embedded in a Web page that the client device received from the server device.

10. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the user interaction with the server device of the computer network comprises the user removing an item from or inserting an item into a shopping cart maintained by the server device.

11. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the user interaction with the server device of the computer network comprises the user downloading a file from the server device over the computer network.

12. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the user interaction with the server device of the computer network comprises the user conducting a search using the server device.

14. A method as defined in claim 13, wherein the request includes an event ID, and additionally comprising retrieving a set of instructions that correspond to the event ID, wherein the instructions govern the extraction of the event tracking information from the request.

15. A method as defined in claim 14, wherein extracting the event-tracking information from the request comprises extracting the event-tracking information in accordance with the retrieved instructions.

16. A method as defined in claim 13, wherein the event tracking information relates to user interaction with a server device of the network, and wherein the server device served the specially-formatted Web page to the user.

17. A method as defined in claim 16, wherein the user interaction with the server device of the computer network comprises the user removing an item from or inserting an item into a shopping cart maintained by the server device.

18. A method as defined in claim 16, wherein the user interaction with the server device of the computer network comprises the user downloading a file from the server device over the computer network.

19. A method as defined in claim 16, wherein the user interaction with the server device of the computer network comprises the user conducting a search using the server device.

20. A method as defined in claim 13, wherein a gateway module extracts the event tracking information, and additionally comprising distributing a plurality of received requests among several gateway modules in order to balance a load of received requests among the several gateway modules.

21. A method as defined in claim 13, wherein the record in the event-tracking file is created according to structured query language.

13. A method of determining event-tracking information from a network user, the method comprising:

receiving a request from a network user which includes a request to record event-tracking information in an event-tracking file wherein said request received is originally contained in a specially-formatted Web page and wherein said request includes the event tracking information;

extracting the event-tracking information from the request; and

creating a record in an event-tracking file containing event-tracking information.

22. A program product for use in a processor that executes program steps recorded in a computer-readable media to perform a method for determining event-tracking information related to a user on a computer network, the program product comprising:

a recordable media;

a program of computer-readable instructions executable by the processor to perform operations comprising;

receiving an event signal from a client device associated with the user, wherein the event signal comprises data that is descriptive of a user interaction with a server device of the computer network;

retrieving a set of instructions that correspond to the data included in the event signal;

extracting the data from the event signal in accordance with the retrieved instructions;

storing the data in a database.

23. A program product as defined in claim 22, wherein a gateway module extracts the data from the event signal, and wherein the operations further comprise distributing a plurality of received event signals among several gateway modules in order to balance a load of received event signals among the several gateway modules.

24. A program product as defined in claim 22, wherein the user interaction with the server device of the computer network comprises the user removing an item from or inserting an item into a shopping cart maintained by the server device.

25. A program product as defined in claim 22, wherein the user interaction with the server device of the computer network comprises the user downloading a file from the server device over the computer network.

26. A program product as defined in claim 22, wherein the user interaction with the server device of the computer network comprises the user conducting a search using the server device.

28. A system as defined in claim 27, wherein the event signal conforms to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol.

29. A system as defined in claim 27, wherein the event signal is received from a client device that generated the event signal in response to executing code embedded in a Web page that the client device received from the server device.

27. A system that captures event-tracking information related to a user on a computer network, the system comprising one or more processors that execute program instructions and receive a data set, wherein the program instructions are executed to cause the processor to:

receive an event signal from a client device associated with the user, wherein the event signal comprises data that is descriptive of a user interaction with a server device of the computer network;

retrieve a set of instructions that correspond to the data included in the event signal;

extract the data from the event signal in accordance with the retrieved instructions;

store the data in a database.

30. A program product for use in a processor that executes program steps recorded in a computer-readable media to perform a method for determining event-tracking information related to a user on a computer network, the program product comprising:

a recordable media;

a program of computer-readable instructions executable by the processor to perform operations comprising;

receiving a request from a network user which includes a request to record event-tracking information in an event-tracking file wherein said request received is originally contained in a specially-formatted Web page and wherein said request includes the event tracking information;

extracting the event-tracking information from the request; and

creating a record in an event-tracking file containing event-tracking information.

31. A program product as defined in claim 30, wherein a gateway module extracts the event tracking information, and wherein the operations further comprise distributing a plurality of received requests among several gateway modules in order to balance a load of received requests among the several gateway modules.

32. A method as defined in claim 30, wherein the record in the event-tracking file is created according to structured query language.

33. A system that captures event-tracking information related to a user on a computer network, the system comprising one or more processors that execute program instructions and receive a data set, wherein the program instructions are executed to cause the processor to:

receive a request from a network user which includes a request to record event-tracking information in an event-tracking file wherein said request received is originally contained in a specially-formatted Web page and wherein said request includes the event tracking information;

extract the event-tracking information from the request; and

create a record in an event-tracking file containing event-tracking information.