Database structure and front end

• US 8,170,912 B2
• Filed: 11/25/2003
• Issued: 05/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gula Consulting Limited Liability Company (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Carhamm Limited LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Bennett, Dominic, Hu, Dan
• Primary Examiner(s): Alvarez, Raquel
• Application Number:
  US10/721,117
• Publication Number:
  US 20050114206A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,080 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14.4, 707/778, 707/807
• US Class Current: 705/14.4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0257 User requested
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method of analyzing online advertising information includes the steps of receiving consumer data from client computers, creating a database based on the consumer data, receiving user selected values from a front end, and extracting data from the database based on the user selected values. The front end may have a selection area with user selectable values that change depending on an initially selected value. In one embodiment, the database comprises an online analytical processing (OLAP) database.

Claims

1. A method of analyzing online advertising information, the method comprising:

receiving consumer data from a plurality of client computers;

creating, in a computer, a database based on the consumer data, wherein the database comprises a plurality of hierarchy tables configured to store at least some of the consumer data, each hierarchy table comprising at least one fact associated with at least one dimension, wherein the plurality of hierarchy tables are arranged such that at least one of the plurality of hierarchy tables has a highest number of dimensions and a second of the plurality of hierarchy tables has a lowest number of dimensions;

receiving user selected values from a front end, the front end having an interface displaying a selection area with user selectable values that change depending on an initially selected value;

extracting data from the plurality of hierarchy tables within the database based on the user selected values;

receiving alert conditions from a user using the front end, the alert conditions comprising dimensions and facts; and

alerting the user when the consumer data meets the alert conditions.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the consumer data comprises a number of impressions of an advertisement.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the consumer data comprises a number of clicks on an advertisement.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the database comprises an online analytical processing (OLAP) database.

5. A computer-readable storage medium comprising code, the code executable by a processor to perform a method, the method comprising:

executing a front end for a database, the database comprising a plurality of hierarchy tables, wherein the plurality of hierarchy tables are arranged in a hierarchy topology with a lowest level hierarchy table of the plurality of hierarchy tables comprising facts associated with a highest number of dimensions and a highest level hierarchy table of the plurality of hierarchy tables comprising facts associated with a single dimension;

displaying an interface of the front end, the interface comprising;

a first selection area for selecting a first value from a first set of values; and

a second area for selecting a second value from a second set of values, the second set of values being automatically displayed by the front end in the second selection area based on the first value, wherein the first and second values refer to a first dimension associated with at least one hierarchy table of the plurality of hierarchy tables within the a database;

receiving alert conditions from a user using the front end, the alert conditions comprising dimensions and facts; and

alerting the user when consumer data in the database meets the alert conditions.

6. The front end of claim 5 wherein the database comprises an online analytical processing (OLAP) database.

7. The front end of claim 5 wherein the first set of values are obtained from the at least one hierarchy table of an online analytical processing (OLAP) database.

8. The front end of claim 5 wherein the first set of values and the second set of values comprise at least one dimension of an online analytical processing (OLAP) database.

9. The front end of claim 5 wherein the database comprises consumer data collected by a client program in a client computer.

10. The front end of claim 9 wherein the consumer data comprise a number of impressions of an advertisement.

11. The front end of claim 9 wherein the consumer data comprises a number of mouse clicks on an advertisement.

12. A method of generating a report, the method comprising:

receiving, in a computer, a plurality of selected dimensions of a database from a front end, the front end having an interface displaying selection areas that are driven by a plurality of hierarchy tables of the database, wherein the plurality of hierarchy tables are arranged in a hierarchy topology with a lowest level hierarchy table of the plurality of hierarchy tables comprising facts associated with a highest number of dimensions and a highest level hierarchy table of the plurality of hierarchy tables comprising facts associated with a single dimension;

determining a first hierarchy table among the plurality of hierarchy tables of the database, the first hierarchy table comprising facts associated with all of the selected dimensions;

extracting data from the first hierarchy table to generate extracted data;

filtering the extracted data using filter parameters received from the front end to generate filtered data;

providing the filtered data to a client computer running the front end;

receiving alert conditions from a user using the front end, the alert conditions comprising dimensions and facts; and

alerting the user when consumer data in the database meets the alert conditions.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein filtering the extracted data includes performing conditional operations on the extracted data.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the first hierarchy table includes data obtained from client programs monitoring a consumer online activity.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the consumer online activity includes clicking on an advertisement.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein each of the plurality of hierarchy tables contains at least one dimension related to online advertising.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein the first hierarchy table includes a fact relating to a number of impressions of an advertisement.

18. The method of claim 12 wherein the first hierarchy table includes a fact relating to a number of clicks on an advertisement.

19. The method of claim 12 further comprising displaying at least some of the filtered data on the client computer.