Selection of advertisements to present on a web page or other destination based on search activities of users who selected the destination

• US 7,685,191 B1
• Filed: 06/16/2006
• Issued: 03/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gula Consulting Limited Liability Company (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Enquisite, Inc.
• Inventors: Zwicky, Richard Kazimierz, Hooge, Todd William, Dunn, Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): Truong, Cam Y T
• Application Number:
  US11/454,299
• Time in Patent Office: 1,376 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3
• US Class Current: 707/706
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A tracking system passively tracks and records searches conducted by actual search engine users. The recorded data for each search event preferably includes the search query submitted, the search engine used, the search result item (e.g., web page) selected, the position (e.g., page number) of this item, and the user'"'"'s IP address. The collected data is aggregated and analyzed to generate data regarding the search queries used to locate and access particular destinations (e.g., web pages and sites). This data may be used for various purposes, such as (1) to, generate reports showing, e.g., how users reach a particular destination from different search engines and geographic locations, (2) to select content to display on a destination page, such that the content is relevant to search queries commonly used to locate that page, and (3) to update the database of one search engine to reflect searches conducted on other search engines.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, the method comprising:

tracking, by using a computer, search activities of actual search engine users over a plurality of different search engines;

programmatically analyzing the tracked search activities to generate statistical data regarding a plurality of unique search queries used by a plurality of users of the plurality of different search engines to locate and access a particular document, said statistical data encompassing user search activities over the plurality of different search engines, wherein the programmatically analyzing is performed by a computer system;

using at least the statistical data regarding the plurality of unique search queries to control automatic selection of advertisements to include in the particular document, wherein the statistical data identifies the search queries used the most frequently over the plurality of different search engines to locate the document, wherein the using at least the statistical data further comprises;

determining a data variance between content of the particular document and at least one search query used to locate the particular document, wherein the at least one search query was previously not identified with the content of the particular document, wherein the automatic selection is thereafter based at least partly on the at least one search query;

determining whether most referrals or a mathematically significant number of referrals from a particular search engine for the particular document correspond to a search query that is algorithmically relevant to the particular document;

when the most referrals or the mathematically significant number of referrals from the particular search engine for the particular document are based on search queries that are not algorithmically relevant, providing advertising based on the search query used in response to a request for the particular document arising from use of that particular search engine and to a predicted user expectation of content, as determined by analyzing the tracked search activities, wherein the advertising is otherwise irrelevant to the particular document; and

otherwise, providing advertising that is algorithmically determined to be relevant to the particular document.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the document is a web page.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein tracking the search activities of users comprises using a browser-executable component embedded in the web page to identify and report, at least, the search queries used by users to locate the web page.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein using the statistical data to control automatic selection of advertisements comprises updating a set of metadata keywords used to select advertisements for display in the document.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertisements include Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertisements are selected based further upon content of the document.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertisements are selected dynamically when a user accesses the document via a search engine, and are selected based further upon an identity of said search engine.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the statistical data includes, for each of a plurality of geographic regions, statistical data regarding search queries used by users in respective geographic regions to locate and access the document, and wherein selection of the advertisement takes into consideration a geographic region of a user who is accessing the document.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertisements comprise dynamic content items.

10. A computer system, the system comprising:

a computer;

computer storage device that stores search event data descriptive of search activities of users over a plurality of different search engines;

an analyzer that analyzes the search event data to identify search queries submitted to the plurality of different search engines to locate and access a particular document, and to identify usage statistics associated with usage of said search queries to locate the document;

a component that uses said search queries and the usage statistics to control automated selection of advertisements displayed on the document wherein the usage statistics identify the search queries used the most frequently over the plurality of different search engines to locate said document, wherein the component further configured;

to determine a data variance between content of the particular document and at least one search query used to locate the particular document, wherein the at least one search query was previously not identified with the content of the particular document, wherein the automatic selection is thereafter based at least partly on the at least one search query;

to determine whether most referrals or a mathematically significant number of referrals from a particular search engine for the particular document correspond to a search query that is algorithmically relevant to the particular document;

to provide advertising based on the search query used in response to a request for the particular document arising from use of the particular search engine and on a predicted user expectation of content as determined by analysis of tracked search activities when the most referrals or the mathematically significant number of referrals from the particular search engine for the particular document are based on search queries that are not algorithmically relevant, wherein the advertising is otherwise irrelevant to the particular document; and

to otherwise provide advertising that is algorithmically determined to be relevant to the particular document.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the document is a web page.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising a browser-executable component that runs from within the web page and reports search event data to the computer storage device.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the document is from a destination web site.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the component controls the selection of advertisements, at least in part, by updating a set of metadata keywords associated with the document, said metadata keywords used by a content selection system to select advertisements to display on the document.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the component compares at least some of the search queries to content of the document to identify search strings that do not appear in said content but are used to locate the document.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the advertisements comprise dynamic content items.