METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING USER BROWSING BEHAVIOR

• US 20150007065A1
• Filed: 06/30/2014
• Published: 01/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: [24]7.ai, Inc.
• Original Assignee: 24/7 Customer Incorporated
• Inventors: KRISHNAMOORTHY, Prabhakaran, CHAKI, Sourabh, VERMA, Neha
• Granted Patent: US 9,661,088 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/760
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

A computer implemented method and an apparatus for determining user browsing behavior are provided. The method comprises associating one or more web pages corresponding to a web domain with tags to configure one or more tagged web pages. The method further comprises facilitating downloading of a control file on a user device upon detecting a first web page access event corresponding to a tagged web page from among the one or more tagged web pages. The control file is configured to facilitate recording of user activity related to a web domain on one or more tabs of a web browser associated with the user device. Furthermore, the method comprises receiving recorded user activity corresponding to at least one web browsing session and determining a user browsing behavior based on the recorded user activity.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

associating one or more web pages corresponding to a web domain with tags by an apparatus to configure one or more tagged web pages;

facilitating downloading of a control file on a user device upon detecting a first web page access event corresponding to a tagged web page from among the one or more tagged web pages by the apparatus, the control file configured to facilitate recording of user activity related to the web domain on one or more tabs of a web browser associated with the user device;

receiving, by the apparatus, recorded user activity corresponding to at least one web browsing session; and

determining, by the apparatus, a user browsing behavior based on the recorded user activity.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a tag from among the tags corresponds to one of a hypertext markup language (HTML) based tag and a Java Script based tag.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the control file is further configured to facilitate recording of the user activity related to the web domain on one or more windows of the web browser associated with the user device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the control file is configured to invoke functions in response to a plurality of user action events to facilitate recording of the user activity, wherein a user action event from among the plurality of user action events corresponds to one of a tab opening event, a tab closing event, a tab switching event, a web page element selection event on a tab from among the one or more tabs, a focus event on the tab, a mouse click event on the tab and a mouse roll-over event on the tab.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the recorded user activity comprises information related to at least one of:

a tab access sequence;

a tab switching sequence;

a tab closing sequence;

a tab active time;

a tab idle time;

a tab visit frequency;

a web page uniform resource locator (URL) associated with each tab from among the one or more tabs;

last active tab;

web page selection events associated with the one or more tabs;

focus events on the one or more tabs;

mouse click events on the one or more tabs; and

mouse roll-over events on the one or more tabs.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the user activity is recorded in one of a browser storage and a cookie storage associated with the user device on an on-going basis prior to the reception of the recorded user activity by the apparatus.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

converting, by the apparatus, the recorded user activity to a structured format configured to facilitate determining of the user browsing behavior.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the structured format is one of a tabular format and a graphical format.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the user browsing behavior comprises:

analyzing the recorded user activity using one or more analytical algorithms upon conversion into the structured format for determining the user browsing behavior, wherein an algorithm from among the one or more analytical algorithms corresponds to one of a logistic regression model based algorithm, a decision tree based algorithm, artificial neural network based algorithm and support vector machines based algorithm.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the apparatus, at least one of user location information, user profile information, user purchase history, user device information, user browser information and user interaction information corresponding to user interactions with one or more active agents for facilitating determining of the user browsing behavior.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein determination of the user browsing behavior corresponds to determining user behavioral attributes related to at least one of a user web page access order corresponding to the web domain, an order of web pages leading into a web page associated with payment for a product or a service, a web page order leading to a web page associated with an external domain, an average time spent on the web domain, a visit frequency corresponding to the web domain and an average time spent on the one or more web pages corresponding to the web domain.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

predicting user intent based on the determined user browsing behavior by the apparatus.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising performing by the apparatus, upon predicting the user intent, at least one of:

proactively provisioning, at least one specific web page from among the one or more web pages related to the web domain during an ongoing user web browsing session;

offering assistance through interaction with an active agent using one of a text chat medium, a voice chat medium and a video chat medium;

offering at least one discount at an appropriate web page from among the one or more web pages related to the web domain; and

providing at least one promotional offer at an appropriate web page from among the one or more web pages related to the web domain.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one web page from among the one or more web pages corresponding to the web domain comprises dynamically updated content.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein recording the user activity related to the web domain comprises recording the user activity related to one or more updated sections on the at least one web page comprising the dynamically updated content.

16. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory having stored therein machine executable instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to;

associate one or more web pages corresponding to a web domain with tags to configure one or more tagged web pages;

facilitate downloading of a control file on a user device upon detecting a first web page access event corresponding to a tagged web page from among the one or more tagged web pages, the control file configured to facilitate recording of user activity related to the web domain on one or more tabs of a web browser associated with the user device;

receive recorded user activity corresponding to at least one web browsing session; and

determine a user browsing behavior based on the recorded user activity.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein a tag from among the tags corresponds to one of a hypertext markup language (HTML) based tag and a Java Script based tag.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the control file is further configured to facilitate recording of the user activity related to the web domain on one or more windows of the web browser associated with the user device.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the control file is configured to invoke functions in response to a plurality of user action events to facilitate recording of the user activity, wherein a user action event from among the plurality of user action events corresponds to one of a tab opening event, a tab closing event, a tab switching event, a web page element selection event on a tab from among the one or more tabs, a focus event on the tab, a mouse click event on the tab and a mouse roll-over event on the tab.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the recorded user activity comprises information related to at least one of:

a tab access sequence;

a tab switching sequence;

a tab closing sequence;

a tab active time;

a tab idle time;

a tab visit frequency;

a web page uniform resource locator (URL) associated with each tab from among the one or more tabs;

last active tab;

web page selection events associated with the one or more tabs;

focus events on the one or more tabs;

mouse click events on the one or more tabs; and

mouse roll-over events on the one or more tabs.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the user activity is recorded in one of a browser storage and a cookie storage associated with the user device on an on-going basis prior to the reception of the recorded user activity by the apparatus.

22. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

convert the recorded user activity to a structured format configured to facilitate determining of the user browsing behavior.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the structured format is one of a tabular format and a graphical format.

24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein determining the user browsing behavior comprises analyzing the recorded user activity using one or more analytical algorithms upon conversion into the structured format for determining the user browsing behavior, wherein an algorithm from among the one or more analytical algorithms corresponds to one of a logistic regression model based algorithm, a decision tree based algorithm, artificial neural network based algorithm and support vector machines based algorithm.

25. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

receive at least one of user location information, user profile information, user purchase history, user device information, user browser information and user interaction information corresponding to user interactions with one or more active agents for facilitating determining of the user browsing behavior.

26. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein determination of the user browsing behavior corresponds to determining user behavioral attributes related to at least one of a user web page access order corresponding to the web domain, an order of web pages leading into a web page associated with payment for a product or a service, a web page order leading to a web page associated with an external domain, an average time spent on the web domain, a visit frequency corresponding to the web domain and an average time spent on the one or more web pages corresponding to the web domain.

27. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

predict user intent based on the determined user browsing behavior.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform, upon predicting the user intent, at least one of:

proactively provision, at least one specific web page from among the one or more web pages related to the web domain during an ongoing user web browsing session;

offer assistance through interaction with an active agent using one of a text chat medium, a voice chat medium and a video chat medium;

offer at least one discount at an appropriate web page from among the one or more web pages related to the web domain; and

provide at least one promotional offer at an appropriate web page from among the one or more web pages related to the web domain.

29. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein at least one web page from among the one or more web pages corresponding to the web domain comprises dynamically updated content.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein recording the user activity related to the web domain comprises recording the user activity related to one or more updated sections on the at least one web page comprising the dynamically updated content.

31. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the apparatus is further caused to segment a plurality of users visiting the one or more tagged web pages into homogeneous groups based on commonality in at least one of location, user profile, purchasing history, device information, browser information, agent interaction information and user activity corresponding to the plurality of users.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the plurality of users are segmented into homogenous groups using at least one algorithm from among a probabilistic latent semantic analysis (PLSA) based algorithm and a self-organizing maps based algorithm.

33. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

construct one or more user behavioral models based on the segmentation of the plurality of users into the homogenous groups.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

predict at least one next user action during an on-going web browsing session for at least one user from among the plurality of users based on the one or more user behavioral models and a sequence of tabs visited during the on-going web browsing session.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

determine at least one of an appropriate pre-emptive action and engagement strategy for the at least one user for maximizing business metrics related to at least one of conversion rate and user problem resolution rate.