Method and apparatus for evaluating visitors to a web server

• US 8,417,557 B2
• Filed: 06/22/2011
• Issued: 04/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: WebTrends Incorporated (WebTrends Holding, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shapira, Elijahu, Montgomery, David S., Boyd, W. Glen
• Primary Examiner(s): Jeanty, Romain
• Application Number:
  US13/166,005
• Publication Number:
  US 20110251904A1
• Time in Patent Office: 657 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7.29
• US Class Current: 705/7.29
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0637 Strategic management or analysis, e.g. setting a goal or target of an organisation; Planning actions based on goals; Analysis or evaluation of effectiveness of goals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06375 Prediction of business process outcome or impact based on a proposed change
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0204 Market segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0246 Traffic
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement

Abstract

Different web pages on a web server are associated with different qualification profiles, each of which is assigned a value by the web-site proprietor. Traffic data hits at the web-site are analyzed to determine which web pages the visitor viewed on the web server. Each qualifying visitor is thereafter associated with a qualification profile and a corresponding value. In another aspect of the invention, visitors arriving as a result of an advertisement on a remote web-site are tracked. The web-site proprietor is consequently able to determine a return on advertising investment based on the value of visitors brought to the site by the tracked advertisement.

Claims

1. A computer storage device having stored thereon computer executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computer system, implement a method for qualifying visitors to a website, comprising:

an act of a computer system to store visit information for a plurality of visitor sessions, each visitor session being associated with a corresponding one visitor;

an act of a computer system to categorize the visit information by product;

an act of a computer system to determine whether each visitor session is fully qualified, moderately qualified, or minimally qualified;

an act of a computer system to compare visit information with requirements of a respective qualification profile and qualify visitors at a qualification level for which the requirements are met; and

,

for each product, an act of a computer system to display the number of visitor sessions that are fully qualified, moderately qualified, and minimally qualified.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an act of a computer system to generate a value for each of a plurality of visitor sessions based on the visit information.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an act of a computer system to generate a total value for the fully qualified visitor sessions;

an act of a computer system to generate a total value for the moderately qualified visitor sessions; and

an act of a computer system to generate a total value for the minimally qualified visitor sessions.

4. The system of claim 3, further comprising:

for each product, an act of a computer system to display the total value for the fully qualified visitor sessions, the total value for the moderately qualified visitor sessions, and the total value for the minimally qualified visitor sessions.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an act of a computer system to generate an average value for the fully qualified visitor sessions;

an act of a computer system to generate an average value for the moderately qualified visitor sessions; and

an act of a computer system to generate an average value for the minimally qualified visitor sessions;

for each product, an act of a computer system to display the average value for the fully qualified visitor sessions, the average value for the moderately qualified visitor sessions, and the average value for the minimally qualified visitor sessions.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein fully qualified indicates a higher visitor quality than moderately qualified, and moderately qualified indicates a higher visitor quality than minimally qualified.

7. A method for qualifying visitors to a website, comprising:

storing visit information to a website for a plurality of visitor sessions in a memory device, each visitor session being associated with a corresponding one visitor;

categorizing the visit information by product in a database;

using a computer configured to correlate a pattern of activity, corresponding to visit information to a website, with a value, determining whether each visitor session is fully qualified, moderately qualified, or minimally qualified;

an act of a computer system to compare visit information with requirements of a respective qualification profile and qualify visitors at a qualification level for which the requirements are met; and

for each product, outputting to a display the number of visitor sessions that are fully qualified, moderately qualified, and minimally qualified.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

generating a value for each of a plurality of visitor sessions based on the visit information.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

generating a total value for the fully qualified visitor sessions;

generating a total value for the moderately qualified visitor sessions; and

generating a total value for the minimally qualified visitor sessions.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

for each product, displaying the total value for the fully qualified visitor sessions, the total value for the moderately qualified visitor sessions, and the total value for the minimally qualified visitor sessions.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

generating an average value for the fully qualified visitor sessions;

generating an average value for the moderately qualified visitor sessions; and

generating an average value for the minimally qualified visitor sessions;

for each product, outputting to a display the average value for the fully qualified visitor sessions, the average value for the moderately qualified visitor sessions, and the average value for the minimally qualified visitor sessions.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein fully qualified indicates a higher visitor quality than moderately qualified, and moderately qualified indicates a higher visitor quality than minimally qualified.