Parsing navigation information to identify interactions based on the times of their occurrences

• US 7,035,925 B1
• Filed: 06/08/2005
• Issued: 04/25/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Revenue Science
• Original Assignee: Revenue Science
• Inventors: Nareddy, Krishnamohan, Uppala, Radha Krishna
• Primary Examiner(s): Najjar, Saleh
• Assistant Examiner(s): KOROBOV, VITALI A
• Application Number:
  US11/149,036
• Time in Patent Office: 321 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/224, 709/203, 709/218, 709/219, 709/225, 709/229, 707 1- 10, 705/14, 705/26, 705/27, 705/37, 705/400, 715/853, 715/854, 725/32, 725/34
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access

Abstract

A method, system and computer-readable medium for analyzing interaction or usage data, such as for customers, is described. Various data parsing information may be defined and used as part of the analysis, such as by using customer-specific information to identify various occurrences of interest. For example, the parser component can use data defining customer-specific categories of content set items and customer-specific types of events of interest. Such high-level types of occurrences can be specified in a variety of ways, such as by using a combination of a logical web site, one or more URIs corresponding to web pages, and/or one or more query strings. In addition, in order to associate the appropriate data parsing information with data to be processed, the data parsing information can also include version information that specifies when it is applicable. The data parsing information may also map actual web sites to logical sites.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for analyzing interaction data to identify occurrences of defined types of interactions by using information about times of the occurrences, the method comprising:

receiving an indication of interaction data that is associated with a content set and that has at least one entry, each entry related to an interaction with the content set and including an indication of when the interaction occurred;

receiving an indication of multiple interaction type definitions that each specify a type of interaction with the content set and that are each applicable to interactions with the content set that occur at indicated times; and

for each entry of the interaction data,

determining whether the entry matches one of the interaction type definitions in such a manner that the related interaction for the entry is of the type specified by that interaction type definition and occurred at a time when that interaction type definition is indicated to be applicable; and

when it is determined that the entry matches one of the interaction type definitions, indicating an occurrence of that interaction type.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the interaction type definitions are associated with one of multiple communication definitions that each specifies a manner of communicating content set interactions and is applicable to communicated interactions that occur at indicated times, and wherein the determining that the entry matches an interaction type definition includes determining that the related interaction for the entry was communicated in the manner specified by the communication definition associated with that interaction type definition and was communicated at a time when that communication definition is indicated to be applicable.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the manner of communicating content set interactions specified by each of the communication definitions includes using a specified group of communication parameters to communicate information related to an interaction.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the interactions are a request for content from the content set, and wherein the indication of when the interaction occurred is a time of the request.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the interactions include providing content from the content set, and wherein the indication of when the interaction occurred is a time of the providing.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the interactions include receiving content from the content set, and wherein the indication of when the interaction occurred is a time of the receiving.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the interactions related to the interaction data entries includes specifying a Uniform Resource Indicator.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the interactions related to the interaction data entries includes requesting that functionality be provided.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the interaction type definitions specifies a range of dates that indicates the times of the interactions with the content set to which the interaction type definition is applicable.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the interaction type definitions specifies a range of hours during each day that indicates the times of the interactions with the content set to which the interaction type definition is applicable.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the interaction type definitions specifies days during each week or during each month that indicates the times of the interactions with the content set to which the interaction type definition is applicable.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the interaction type definitions specifies a version identifier that is associated with a range of time such that the range of time indicates the times of the interactions with the content set to which the interaction type definition is applicable.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the interaction type definitions is an event type definition.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the interaction type definitions is a category type definition.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the interaction type definitions is an exclusion definition.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein one type of interaction has multiple associated interaction type definitions that each specify that one type of interaction but are applicable to interactions that occur at differing indicated times.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein a first entry that is related to a first interaction of the one type that occurred at a first time is determined to match a first of the multiple associated interaction type definitions and wherein a second entry that is related to a second interaction of the one type that occurred at a second time is determined to match a second of the multiple associated interaction type definitions.

18. The method of claim 1 including, before the determining of whether the entries match the interaction type definitions, separating the interaction type definitions into groups based on the indicated times of interactions to which the interaction type definitions are applicable.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein one type of interaction has multiple associated interaction type definitions that each specify that one type of interaction but are applicable to interactions that occur at differing indicated times, and wherein the multiple associated interaction type definitions are separated into different groups.

20. The method of claim 18 including, before each determining of whether an entry matches one of the interaction type definitions, selecting one of the groups of interaction type definitions based on the indicated times of interactions to which the interaction type definitions of that group are applicable, the selecting such that only the interaction type definitions in the selected group are considered when determining whether the entry matches an interaction type definition.

21. The method of claim 18 including, before any determining of whether an entry matches one of the interaction type definitions, selecting one of the groups of interaction type definitions based on the indicated times of interactions to which the interaction type definitions of that group are applicable, the selecting such that only the interaction type definitions in the selected group are considered when determining whether each of the entries matches an interaction type definition.

22. The method of claim 1 including modifying the interaction type definitions based on changes to the content set.

23. The method of claim 1 including wherein the indicating of the occurrences of the interaction types includes generating a report for presentation to a user based on the occurrences.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein each indicating of an occurrence of an interaction type includes storing an indication of the occurrence that includes the time of occurrence of the interaction to which the stored indication corresponds.

25. The method of claim 24 including receiving a request to provide information about occurrences at specified times of occurrence, and providing information from the stored indications about occurrences that correspond to the specified times of occurrence.

26. The method of claim 24 including receiving a request to provide information about occurrences of specified types of interactions, and providing information from the stored indications about occurrences of the specified types of interactions.

27. The method of claim 1 wherein the content set is a web site with multiple web pages.

28. The method of claim 1 wherein the content set is a service providing multiple features.

29. The method of claim 1 wherein the content set is an executing program providing various functionalities.

30. The method of claim 1 wherein the determining of whether the interaction data entries match the interaction type definitions is performed as a service for a customer.

31. A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computing device to analyze data to identify occurrences of defined types of interactions by using information about times of the occurrences, by performing a method comprising:

receiving an indication of data that is associated with a content set and that has at least one entry, each entry related to an interaction with the content set and including an indication of when the interaction occurred;

receiving an indication of multiple definitions that each specify a type of interaction with the content set and that are each applicable to interactions with the content set that occur at indicated times; and

for each entry of the data,

determining whether the entry matches one of the definitions in such a manner that the related interaction for the entry is of the type specified by that definition and occurred at a time when that definition is indicated to be applicable; and

when it is determined that the entry matches one of the definitions, storing an indication of an occurrence of the specified interaction type for that definition.

32. The computer-readable medium of claim 31 wherein the computer-readable medium is a memory of a computer system.

33. The computer-readable medium of claim 31 wherein the computer-readable medium is a data transmission medium transmitting a generated data signal containing the contents.

34. The computer-readable medium of claim 31 wherein the contents are instructions that when executed cause the computing device to perform the method.

35. A computing device for analyzing interaction data to identify occurrences of defined types of interactions by using information about times of the occurrences, comprising:

an interaction data receiver component capable of receiving an indication of interaction data that is associated with a content set and that has at least one entry, each entry related to an interaction with the content set and including an indication of when the interaction occurred;

a definition receiver component capable of receiving an indication of multiple interaction type definitions that each specify a type of interaction with the content set and that are each applicable to interactions with the content set that occur at indicated times; and

an interaction data parsing component capable of, for each entry of the interaction data, determining whether the entry matches one of the interaction type definitions in such a manner that the related interaction for the entry is of the type specified by that interaction type definition and occurred at a time when that interaction type definition is indicated to be applicable, and of indicating an occurrence of an interaction type when it is determined that the entry matches one of the interaction type definitions that specify that interaction type.

36. The computing device of claim 35 wherein the interaction data receiver component, definition receiver component and interaction data parsing component are executing in memory of the computing device.

37. A computing device for analyzing interaction data to identify occurrences of defined types of interactions by using information about times of the occurrences, comprising:

means for receiving an indication of interaction data that is associated with a content set and that has at least one entry, each entry related to an interaction with the content set and including an indication of when the interaction occurred;

means for receiving an indication of multiple interaction type definitions that each specify a type of interaction with the content set and that are each applicable to interactions with the content set that occur at indicated times; and

means for, for each entry of the interaction data,

determining whether the entry matches one of the interaction type definitions in such a manner that the related interaction for the entry is of the type specified by that interaction type definition and occurred at a time when that interaction type definition is indicated to be applicable; and

when it is determined that the entry matches one of the interaction type definitions, indicating an occurrence of that interaction type.

38. A computer-implemented method for analyzing usage data to identify occurrences of defined types of uses, the method comprising:

receiving an indication of usage data associated with a provided service or an executing computer program, the usage data having multiple entries each related to a distinct use of the provided service or executing computer program and each including an indication of when the use occurred;

receiving an indication of multiple definitions that each specify a type of use of the provided service or executing computer program and that each are applicable to uses that occur at indicated times; and

for each entry of the usage data,

determining whether the entry matches one of the definitions in such a manner that the related use for the entry is of the type specified by that definition and occurred at a time when that definition is indicated to be applicable; and

when it is determined that the entry matches one of the definitions, indicating an occurrence of that type of use.

39. The method of claim 38 wherein the provided service or the executing computer program has multiple features available for use, and wherein the types of uses specified by the definitions correspond to uses of one or more of the available features.