Method for monitoring and reporting usage of non-hypertext markup language e-mail campaigns

• US 7,366,762 B2
• Filed: 10/04/2005
• Issued: 04/29/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rakuten Group, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Cama, Karl
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung; Zarni
• Application Number:
  US11/243,421
• Publication Number:
  US 20070088785A1
• Time in Patent Office: 938 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/207, 379/93.24
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]

Abstract

A method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for tracking and reporting e-mail campaigns. An instruction set is placed in a tagged e-mail to form a modified e-mail, wherein the data type of the instruction set is set to hypertext markup language. The modified e-mail is sent to a distribution list, wherein the instruction set is executed when the modified e-mail is opened. The instruction set captures and records attributes about a reader of the modified e-mail, requests a web page at a website, passes information about the e-mail and the reader, causes a local server to request the website image from an original version of the website located on an original server in response to the non existence of the web page, causes the original server to capture relevant information about the e-mail and the reader as tracking information, and transmits the captured tracking information to a collection device.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for using an anti-caching graphics interchange format process for tracking and reporting non-hypertext markup language e-mail campaigns, the computer implemented method comprising:

placing an instruction set in a non-hypertext markup language e-mail to form a modified e-mail, wherein a data type of a field for the instruction set is set to hypertext markup language; and

sending the modified e-mail to a server for a distribution list, wherein the instruction set is executed when the modified e-mail is opened, wherein in response to the instruction set executing, capturing and recording attributes about a reader of the modified e-mail, requesting a web page at a website, passing information about the e-mail and the reader, causing a local server to request the website from an original version of the website located on an original server in response to a non-existence of the web page, causing the original server to capture relevant information about the e-mail and the reader as tracking information, and transmitting the captured tracking information to a collection device.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

executing the instruction set in the modified e-mail in response to a selection of an object within the modified e-mail to send information to the collection device about the modified e-mail and the object.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 2, wherein information about the modified e-mail comprises at least one of a date the object was selected and a time the object was selected.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

executing the instruction set in the modified e-mail when an attachment associated with the modified e-mail is opened to send information to the collection device about the modified e-mail and the attachment.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 4, wherein information about the modified e-mail comprises at least one of a date the attachment was opened and a time the attachment was opened.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein information about the modified e-mail comprises at least one of a date the modified e-mail was opened, a time the modified e-mail was opened, a date the modified e-mail was pre-viewed, a time the modified e-mail was pre-viewed, a subject of the modified e-mail, a name of an associated campaign, a user name, a browser type, an e-mail client type, a level of the e-mail client, whether a reader used a replica mailbox database, whether the reader used a master mailbox database, an internet sub-domain, and a transmission control protocol over internet protocol address.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the instruction set comprises at least one of hypertext markup language and extensible markup language.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

executing the instruction set in the modified e-mail when the e-mail is pre-viewed, wherein the instruction set sends information to a collection device about the modified e-mail.