REFERRER-BASED WEBSITE PERSONALIZATION

• US 20090327863A1
• Filed: 06/30/2008
• Published: 12/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AirBNB Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kessler, Carl Shawn, Hoyos, Carlos A., Holt, Alexander Wolcott, Moran, Michael E.
• Granted Patent: US 8,413,042 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/234
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Personalization of content of a web site for a user based on a web site that a user arrives from is disclosed. For example, the content of the web site from which the user arrives (i.e. the originating page), as well as the content of the web page the user has arrived to (i.e. the target page), may be categorized as pertaining to particular subjects or topics. Any time a user comes from an originating page, the subject categories for the originating page and the target page may be compared to determine if like categories exist between the pages. In the event that like categories are found, the target page may be personalized based on those categories.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for personalizing content of an electronic document, comprising:

receiving a request for a first electronic document, wherein the request includes an indication of a second electronic document, and wherein the second electronic document includes a reference to the first electronic document;

retrieving a copy of the second electronic document;

determining one or more categories related to content of the second electronic document;

personalizing one or more elements of the first electronic document based on the identified one or more determined categories; and

responding to the request by transmitting the personalized first electronic document to a requesting entity.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the personalized elements of the first electronic document provides content related to one of the determined categories included in the second electronic document.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the determined categories is related to a subject, a content type, a language, and a geographical location associated with the second electronic document.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the personalized elements of the first electronic document provides a reference to content related to one of the determined categories.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the personalized elements of the first electronic documents includes an advertisement of a product or service related to one of the determined categories.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising, monitoring whether the requesting entity accesses the personalized content.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to receiving the request, adding a source network address associated with the second electronic document to a queue of referring network addresses.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the request is a hypertext transfer protocol (http) request and wherein the indication of the reference to the first electronic document is included in an http referrer header.

9. A computer-readable storage medium containing a program, which, when executed by the computer performs an operation for personalizing content of an electronic document, comprising:

receiving a request for a first electronic document, wherein the request includes an indication of a second electronic document, and wherein the second electronic document includes a reference to the first electronic document;

retrieving a copy of the second electronic document;

determining one or more categories related to content of the second electronic document;

personalizing one or more elements of the first electronic document based on the identified one or more determined categories; and

responding to the request by transmitting the personalized first electronic document to a requesting entity.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein one of the personalized elements of the first electronic document provides content related to one of the determined categories included in the second electronic document.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein at least one the determined categories is related to a subject, a content type, a language, and a geographical location associated with of the second electronic document.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein one of the personalized elements of the first electronic document provides a reference to content related to one of the determined categories.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein one of the personalized elements of the first electronic documents includes an advertisement of a product or service related to one of the determined categories.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the operation further comprises, monitoring whether the requesting entity accesses the personalized content.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the operation further comprises, in response to receiving the request, adding a source network address associated with the second electronic document to a queue of referring network addresses.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the request is an hypertext transfer protocol (http) request and wherein the indication of the reference to the first electronic document is included in an http referrer header.

17. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory containing a program, which, when executed by the processor, is configured to personalize content of an electronic document by performing the steps of;

receiving a request for a first electronic document, wherein the request includes an indication of a second electronic document, and wherein the second electronic document includes a reference to the first electronic document;

retrieving a copy of the second electronic document;

determining one or more categories related to content of the second electronic document;

personalizing one or more elements of the first electronic document based on the identified one or more determined categories; and

responding to the request by transmitting the personalized first electronic document to a requesting entity.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein one of the personalized elements of the first electronic document provides content related to one of the determined categories included in the second electronic document.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein at least one the determined categories is related to a subject, a content type, a language, and a geographical location associated with of the second electronic document.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein one of the personalized elements of the first electronic document provides a reference to content related to one of the determined categories.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein one of the personalized elements of the first electronic documents includes an advertisement of a product or service related to one of the determined categories.

22. The system of claim 17, wherein the steps further comprise monitoring whether the requesting entity accesses the personalized content.

23. The system of claim 17, wherein the steps further comprise, in response to receiving the request, adding a source network address associated with the second electronic document to a queue of referring network addresses.

24. The system of claim 17, wherein the request is a hypertext transfer protocol (http) request and wherein the indication of the reference to the first electronic document is included in an http referrer header.