SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING TARGETED ADVERTISING THROUGH TRAFFIC ANALYSIS IN A NETWORK ENVIRONMENT

• US 20110302026A1
• Filed: 06/03/2010
• Published: 12/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kanakarajan, Ravindranath C., Bhamidipati, Praveen
• Granted Patent: US 9,135,352 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.45
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0246 Traffic
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/101 Access control lists [ACL]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/564 Enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data

Abstract

An example method includes receiving packets associated with network traffic and identifying location information associated with an end user related to the network traffic. The method also includes extracting keywords from the network traffic, the keywords and the location information are used as a basis for rendering an advertisement on digital signage that is physically proximate to a current location of the end user. In other embodiments, the network traffic can be matched against access control lists, which are configured with Internet protocol (IP) addresses relating to search engines. Additionally, the network traffic can be classified based on fields in the packets, wherein the fields include a source Internet protocol (IP) address, a destination IP address, and a transmission control protocol (TCP) port. In more particular embodiments, the network traffic is hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) requests originating from a handheld device operated by the end user.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving packets associated with network traffic;

identifying location information associated with an end user related to the network traffic; and

extracting keywords from the network traffic, wherein the keywords and the location information are used as a basis for rendering an advertisement on digital signage that is physically proximate to a current location of the end user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the network traffic is matched against an access control list, which is configured with Internet protocol (IP) addresses relating to search engines.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

evaluating whether the network traffic is associated with internet activity initiated by the end user; and

copying at least some of the packets for extracting the keywords.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

classifying the network traffic based on fields in the packets, wherein the fields include a source Internet protocol (IP) address, a destination IP address, and a transmission control protocol (TCP) port.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the network traffic is hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) requests originating from a handheld device operated by the end user, and wherein demographic data associated with the end user is identified in the network traffic.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein additional network traffic is received at a network element in order to identify an efficiency metric for the advertisement.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a ranking system is used to determine popularity associated with particular keywords in order to identify the advertisement to be rendered on the digital signage.

8. Logic encoded in one or more tangible media that includes code for execution and when executed by a processor operable to perform operations comprising:

receiving packets associated with network traffic;

identifying location information associated with an end user related to the network traffic; and

extracting keywords from the network traffic, wherein the keywords and the location information are used as a basis for rendering an advertisement on digital signage that is physically proximate to a current location of the end user.

9. The logic of claim 8, wherein the network traffic is matched against an access control list, which is configured with Internet protocol (IP) addresses relating to search engines.

10. The logic of claim 8, the operations further comprising:

evaluating whether the network traffic is associated with internet activity initiated by the end user; and

copying at least some of the packets for extracting the keywords.

11. The logic of claim 8, the operations further comprising:

classifying the network traffic based on fields in the packets, wherein the fields include a source Internet protocol (IP) address, a destination IP address, and a transmission control protocol (TCP) port.

12. The logic of claim 8, wherein additional network traffic is received at a network element in order to identify an efficiency metric for the advertisement.

13. The logic of claim 8, wherein a ranking system is used to determine popularity associated with particular keywords in order to identify the advertisement to be rendered on the digital signage.

14. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory element configured to store data,

a processor operable to execute instructions associated with the data, and

a net flow engine, wherein the processor, the net flow engine, and the memory element cooperate in order to;

receive packets associated with network traffic;

identify location information associated with an end user related to the network traffic; and

extract keywords from the network traffic, wherein the keywords and the location information are used as a basis for rendering an advertisement on digital signage that is physically proximate to a current location of the end user.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising:

an access control list, wherein the network traffic is matched against the access control list, which is configured with Internet protocol (IP) addresses relating to search engines.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the network traffic is evaluated to determine whether it includes a search request initiated by the end user, and wherein at least some of the packets are copied in order to extract the keywords.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the net flow engine is further configured to:

classify the network traffic based on fields in the packets, wherein the fields include a source Internet protocol (IP) address, a destination IP address, and a transmission control protocol (TCP) port.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the network traffic is hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) requests originating from a handheld device operated by the end user, and wherein demographic data associated with the end user is identified in the network traffic.

19. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein additional network traffic is received at a network element in order to identify an efficiency metric for the advertisement.

20. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein a ranking system is used to determine popularity associated with particular keywords in order to identify the advertisement to be rendered on the digital signage.

21. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein space allocation on the digital signage are correlated to popularity associated with specific content being rendered on the digital signage.

22. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein power is reduced for the digital signage based on a level of internet activity.

23. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the apparatus is an access switch positioned at a first hop in a network, and wherein the access switch is configured to identify the location information associated with the end user.