Web advertising method

• US 8,635,327 B1
• Filed: 04/12/2000
• Issued: 01/21/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Soverain IP, LLC
• Original Assignee: Soverain Software LLC
• Inventors: Levergood, Thomas Mark, Stewart, Lawrence C., Payne, Andrew C., Morris, Stephen J., Treese, George W.
• Primary Examiner(s): WINDER, PATRICE L
• Application Number:
  US09/548,235
• Time in Patent Office: 5,032 Days
• Field of Search: 705/10, 705/26, 705/14, 705/30, 705/34, 705/89, 705/29, 705/39, 709/203, 709217-219, 709/224
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources

Abstract

Link traversals leading from an advertisement on the Web to a product page are determined. The determined link traversals are used as a basis for charging for advertising, for example, by counting the number of link traversals from the advertising page to a product page, or by counting the number of sales resulting from such traversals. The effectiveness of advertising on the Web is evaluated by measuring the number of sales or transactions resulting from link traversals from the advertisement to the page.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

producing, by a computing device, an access history profile by filtering one or more transaction logs originating from one or more servers to select transactions associated with a session identifier, wherein the session identifier is distinct from identification of a client or a user of the client, wherein the session identifier identifies a series of related requests made by the client to the one or more servers, wherein the one or more servers are configured to receive a request from the client that does not include a session identifier;

determining link traversals from an advertising page to a product page by evaluating the access history profile;

determining accesses to the product page resulting from the link traversals to the product page; and

determining an amount to charge a merchant for advertising based on the determined accesses to the product page, a particular link traversal to the product page, or the number of sales resulting from a path comprising the determined link traversals from the advertising page to the product page.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising recording the link traversals in the one or more transaction logs.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more transaction logs are stored on a server.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring the frequency or duration of access to the product page.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising recording the frequency or duration of access to the product page in a transaction log stored on a server.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising counting accesses to the product page exclusive of repeated requests from a common client.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the counting is performed by the server.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

counting the frequency of accesses to the product page;

measuring the time intervals between repeated accesses from a common client; and

excluding the counting of those accesses that fall within a defined period of time.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the counting is performed by the server.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

recording the frequency or duration of access to the product page by keeping a history of each client access to the page in a transaction log;

producing an access history from the transaction log;

wherein the access history is produced by filtering transaction logs from one or more servers to select only transactions involving a particular user ID; and

producing marketing feedback based on the access history.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the marketing feedback is selected from the group consisting of:

user demand, access pattern, and relationships between customer demographics and accessed pages and access patterns.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising evaluating the transaction log to identify the most popular links to the product page.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising inserting a new link to provide more direct access to the page.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the new link is inserted in a location based upon information contained in the transaction log.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the session identifier is appended to each subsequent request of the series of related requests within a session.

49. The method of claim 1, wherein the session identifier comprises a user identifier.

16. A computer-implemented system comprising:

means for producing an access history profile by filtering one or more transaction logs originating from one or more servers to select transactions associated with a session identifier wherein the session identifier is distinct from identification of a client or a user of the client, wherein the session identifier identifies a series of related requests made by the client to the one or more servers, wherein the one or more servers are configured to receive a request from the client that does not include a session identifier;

means for determining link traversals from an advertising page to a product page by evaluating the access history profile;

means for determining accesses to the product page resulting from the link traversals to the product page; and

means for determining an amount to charge a merchant for advertising based on the determined accesses to the product page, a particular link traversal to the product page, or the number of sales resulting from a path comprising the determined link traversals from the advertising page to the product page.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the session identifier is appended to each subsequent request of the series of related requests within a session.

50. The system of claim 16, wherein the session identifier comprises a user identifier.

18. A computer-implemented method comprising:

determining, by a computing device, link traversals from an advertising page to a product page by evaluating one or more transaction logs including session identifier information, wherein the session identifier is distinct from identification of a client or a user of the client, wherein the session identifier identifies a series of related requests made by the client to the one or more servers wherein the one or more servers are configured to receive a request from the client that does not include a session identifier, and, wherein the transaction logs originate from the one or more servers;

determining accesses to the product page resulting from the link traversals to the product page; and

determining an amount to charge a merchant for advertising based on the determined accesses to the product page, a particular link traversal to the product page, or the number of sales resulting from a path comprising the determined link traversals from the advertising page to the product page.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising recording the link traversals in the one or more transaction logs.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the one or more transaction logs are stored on a server.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising monitoring the frequency or duration of access to the product page.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising recording the frequency or duration of access to the product page in a transaction log stored on a server.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising counting accesses to the product page exclusive of repeated requests from a common client.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the counting is performed by the server.

25. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

counting the frequency of accesses to the product page;

measuring the time intervals between repeated accesses from a common client; and

excluding the counting of those accesses that fall within a defined period of time.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the counting is performed by the server.

27. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

recording the frequency or duration of access to the product page by keeping a history of each client access to the page in a transaction log;

producing an access history from the transaction log;

wherein the access history is produced by filtering transaction logs from one or more servers to select only transactions involving a particular user ID; and

producing marketing feedback based on the access history.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the marketing feedback is selected from the group consisting of:

user demand, access pattern, and relationships between customer demographics and accessed pages and access patterns.

29. The method of claim 27, further comprising evaluating the transaction log to identify the most popular links to the product page.

30. The method of claim 27, further comprising inserting a new link to provide more direct access to the page.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the new link is inserted in a location based upon information contained in the transaction log.

32. The method of claim 18, wherein the session identifier is appended to each subsequent request of the series of related requests within a session.

51. The method of claim 18, wherein the session identifier comprises a user identifier.

33. A computer-implemented method comprising:

producing, by a computing device, an access history profile by filtering one or more transaction logs originating from one or more servers to select transactions associated with a session identifier, wherein the session identifier is distinct from identification of a client or a user of the client, wherein the session identifier identifies a series of related requests made by the client to the one or more servers, wherein the one or more servers are configured to receive a request from the client that does not include a session identifier; and

determining, by evaluating the access history profile, an amount to charge a merchant for advertising based on a determination of link traversals from an advertising page to a product page, a determination of accesses to the product page resulting from the link traversals to the product page, or the number of sales resulting from a path comprising the determined link traversals from the advertising page to the product page.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising recording the link traversals in the one or more transaction logs.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the one or more transaction logs are stored on a server.

36. The method of claim 33, further comprising monitoring the frequency or duration of access to the product page.

37. The method of claim 36, further comprising recording the frequency or duration of access to the product page in a transaction log stored on a server.

38. The method of claim 36, further comprising counting accesses to the product page exclusive of repeated requests from a common client.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the counting is performed by a server.

40. The method of claim 37, further comprising:

counting the frequency of accesses to the product page;

measuring the time intervals between repeated accesses from a common client; and

excluding the counting of those accesses that fall within a defined period of time.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the counting is performed by the server.

42. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

recording the frequency or duration of access to the product page by keeping a history of each client access to the page in a transaction log;

producing an access history from the transaction log;

wherein the access history is produced by filtering transaction logs from one or more servers to select only transactions involving a particular user ID; and

producing marketing feedback based on the access history.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the marketing feedback is selected from the group consisting of:

user demand, access pattern, and relationships between customer demographics and accessed pages and access patterns.

44. The method of claim 42, further comprising evaluating the transaction log to identify the most popular links to the product page.

45. The method of claim 42, further comprising inserting a new link to provide more direct access to the page.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the new link is inserted in a location based upon information contained in the transaction log.

47. The method of claim 33, wherein the session identifier is appended to each subsequent request of the series of related requests within a session.

48. The method of claim 33, wherein the session identifier comprises a user identifier.