TRACKING RESPONSE TO ADVERTISEMENTS

• US 20090157511A1
• Filed: 11/14/2008
• Published: 06/18/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Taylor, Isaac, Spinnell, Spencer, Hashim, Smita, Dunn, Ryan, Crucian, Nicolae
• Granted Patent: US 8,732,006 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.100
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 90/00 Systems or methods specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial or supervisory purposes, not involving significant data processing

Abstract

Custom ad content and ad contact information are identified, for example, received from an advertiser. Input is received selecting to include at least a portion of the ad contact information as unified ad contact information within a print ad including the custom ad content. Further input is received selecting to activate one or more tracking mechanisms associated with the portion of ad contact information. The print ad including the custom ad content and the portion of ad contact information is provided to a publisher. An effectiveness of the ad contact information included in the portion is tracked. The effectiveness of the print ad is reported.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

performing in one or more computers operations comprising;

identifying custom ad content;

identifying ad contact information;

receiving input selecting at least a portion of the ad contact information to be provided within a print ad including the custom ad content;

receiving input selecting to activate one or more tracking mechanisms associated with the portion;

providing the print ad including the custom ad content and the portion to a publisher;

tracking an effectiveness of the print ad using the portion; and

reporting the effectiveness of the print ad.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion includes a web address, and tracking the effectiveness of the print ad includes tracking web traffic to the web address.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion includes a code, and tracking the effectiveness of the print ad includes tracking use of the code.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion includes a telephone number, and tracking the effectiveness of the print ad includes tracking calls to the telephone number.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the telephone number is a toll-free number, the method further comprising:

receiving a request to include a toll-free number in the portion; and

in response to the request, selecting a toll-free number to include in the portion and forwarding calls to the toll-free number to a telephone number associated an advertiser making the request.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion includes SMS information, and tracking the effectiveness of the print ad includes tracking text messages corresponding to the SMS information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion includes web search terms, and tracking the effectiveness of the print ad includes tracking increased web search queries using the web search terms.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion includes a barcode encoding an item of ad contact information, and tracking the effectiveness of the print ad includes tracking the effectiveness of the item of ad contact information.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion is included in a footer included in a lower portion of the print ad.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion is included in a header included in an upper portion of the print ad.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion is positioned along a side of the print ad.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the portion of ad contact information comprises retrieving the ad contact information from a data store including previously collected ad contact information.

13. A method comprising:

performing in one or more computers operations comprising;

identifying custom ad content;

identifying ad contact information;

receiving input selecting a portion of the ad contact information to be provided within an ad including the custom ad content;

receiving input selecting to activate one or more tracking mechanisms associated with the portion;

providing the ad including the custom ad content and the portion to a publisher;

tracking an effectiveness of the ad using the portion; and

reporting the effectiveness of the ad.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the ad comprises an advertisement on television.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the ad comprises an audio advertisement.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the ad comprises an advertisement published online and available over the Internet.

17. A system comprising:

a user interface adapted to interface with a plurality of advertisers;

a unified ad contact information module configured to receive ad contact information from advertisers by way of the user interface;

an ad module configured to;

receive at least a portion of the ad contact information from the unified ad contact information module;

receive ad content from advertisers by way of the user interface; and

provide an ad including the ad content and the portion of ad contact information to one or more publishers for publication; and

a tracking module configured to;

track the effectiveness of the ad using the portion of ad contact information; and

provide tracking data to advertisers.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the portion includes a web address, and a tracking module configured to track the effectiveness of the ad comprises a tracking module configured to track web traffic to the web address.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the portion includes a code, and a tracking module configured to track the effectiveness of the ad comprises a tracking module configured to track use of the code.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the portion includes a telephone number, and a tracking module configured to track the effectiveness of the ad comprises a tracking module configured to track calls to the telephone number.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the portion includes SMS information, and a tracking module configured to track the effectiveness of the ad comprises a tracking module configured to track text messages corresponding to the SMS information.

22. The system of claim 17, wherein the portion includes web search terms, and a tracking module configured to track the effectiveness of the ad comprises a tracking module configured to track increased web search queries using the web search terms.

23. The system of claim 17, wherein the portion includes a barcode encoding an item of ad contact information, and a tracking module configured to track the effectiveness of the ad comprises a tracking module configured to track the effectiveness of the item of ad contact information.

24. The system of claim 17, further comprising a data store including previously collected ad contact information, wherein identifying the portion of ad contact information comprises retrieving the portion of ad contact information from the data store.

25. A system comprising:

means for identifying custom ad content;

means for identifying ad contact information;

means for receiving input selecting a portion of the ad contact information to be provided within a print ad including the custom ad content;

means for receiving input selecting to activate one or more tracking mechanisms associated with the portion;

means for providing the print ad including the custom ad content and the portion to a publisher;

means for tracking an effectiveness of the print ad using the portion; and

means for reporting the effectiveness of the print ad.