Marketing method and system using domain knowledge

• US 8,788,321 B2
• Filed: 09/04/2007
• Issued: 07/22/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thomas Publishing Company
• Original Assignee: Thomas Publishing Company
• Inventors: Lettow, Kenneth M. Jr., Gennaro, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Brandenburg, William A
• Assistant Examiner(s): BUSCH, CHRISTOPHER CONRAD
• Application Number:
  US11/849,532
• Publication Number:
  US 20080059310A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,513 Days
• US Class Current: 705/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement

Abstract

A method of evaluating advertising is disclosed based on analysis of user behavior in a market focused directory. Users actions are logged over a given time period. Implicit measures are derived from the log files and read into one or more databases. The implicit measures are aggregated across a plurality of user sessions and a report of the user behavior with respect to a single URL or a comparison between URLs is created.

Claims

1. A computer based method of evaluating advertising comprising:

collecting data that is relevant to a target audience from a plurality of advertisers;

providing a taxonomy for associating one or more uniform resource locators with one or more headings in a plurality of headings based in part on the data collected from the plurality of advertisers;

providing, over a network to a computational device, a searchable market focused directory of a plurality of uniform resource locators (URLs) categorized under a plurality of headings according to the taxonomy wherein the market focused directory is communicatively coupled to the computational device and performs steps comprising;

receiving a search query;

logging the search query into a log file;

matching the search query with one or more headings in the market focused directory;

retrieving one or more search results based on the search query, wherein at least one search result comprises one or more of the uniform resource locators categorized under the matched headings; and

presenting at least a portion of the retrieved search results to the user;

storing, in a computer readable medium in a memory device, the market focused directory;

storing executable computer code in a computer processor linked to the computer readable medium in the memory device;

logging, in a computer readable medium in the memory device, over a specified time period, by executing the computer code using the computer processor, one or more users'"'"' actions in using the market focused directory into one or more log files;

processing, by one or more processors, the log files to derive implicit measures from the users'"'"' actions, the implicit measures comprising durations and exit percentages;

reading, from the computer readable medium in the memory device, the implicit measures into one or more databases;

aggregating, by the processors, the implicit measures regarding a single URL across a plurality of user sessions;

averaging, by the processors, the implicit measures regarding a single URL under a single heading across a plurality of user sessions;

obtaining the user'"'"'s Internet Protocol address from a server;

cross-referencing, by the processors, the Internet Protocol address against a database to obtain geolocation information with respect to the user, the geolocation information includes data associated with an organization name of an IP address'"'"'s owner;

creating, by the processor, a report of the user behavior comprising the cross-referenced geolocation information data of the user and the averaged implicit measures;

providing one or more log files containing financial information;

processing the one or more log files containing financial information to obtain processed financial information suitable to correlate with implicit measures;

combining the processed financial information suitable to correlate with implicit measures with the geolocation information; and

calculating a return on investment for one or more headings based on the combined geolocation information, implicit measures, and processed financial information.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

aggregating the implicit measures regarding one or more additional URLs; and

creating reports of user behavior for each of the one or more URLs.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

aggregating the implicit measures regarding a plurality of URLs as a group;

comparing the aggregated implicit measures pertaining to one or more single URLs with the aggregated implicit measures pertaining to the group of URLs; and

creating a report of the compared aggregated implicit measures.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

aggregating the implicit measures regarding a plurality of URLs as a group;

comparing the aggregated implicit measures pertaining to one or more single URLs having a common characteristic with the aggregated implicit measures pertaining to the group of URLs; and

creating a report of the compared aggregated implicit measures.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising outputting the report to an output device.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising outputting the report to a storage device.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

logging, over a second specified time period, one or more users'"'"' actions in using the market focused directory into one or more additional log files;

processing the additional log files to derive additional implicit measures from the users'"'"' actions;

reading the additional implicit measures into one or more databases;

aggregating the additional implicit measures regarding a single URL across a plurality of user sessions;

comparing the aggregated implicit measures to the aggregated additional implicit measures for the same URLs; and

creating a report of the comparison.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

reassigning one or more URLs to one or more different headings within the market focused directory.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing one or more databases having computed legacy implicit measures; and

comparing legacy implicit measures to present implicit measures.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing one or more databases having computed legacy implicit measures; and

comparing legacy implicit measures from a first time period to legacy implicit measures from a second time period.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

analyzing the aggregated implicit measures to determine user behavior related to use of the URL.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the report of the user behavior further comprises a plurality of aggregated implicit measures under two or more headings.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

averaging, by the processors, the implicit measures regarding one or more additional URLs under the single heading across a plurality of user sessions;

creating, by the processor, a report of the user behavior comprising a comparison of the averaged implicit measures of the single URL and the additional URLs.

14. A non-transitory machine readable storage medium containing an executable code configured to perform the method comprising the steps of:

collecting data that is relevant to a target audience from a plurality of advertisers;

providing a taxonomy for associating one or more uniform resource locators with one or more headings in a plurality of headings based in part on the data collected from the plurality of advertisers;

providing, over a network to a computational device, a searchable market focused directory of a plurality of uniform resource locators (URLs) categorized under a plurality of headings according to the taxonomy wherein the market focused directory is communicatively coupled to the computational device and performs steps comprising;

receiving a search query;

logging the search query into a log file;

matching the search query with one or more headings in the market focused directory;

retrieving one or more search results based on the search query, wherein at least one search result comprises one or more of the uniform resource locators categorized under the matched headings; and

presenting at least a portion of the retrieved search results to the user;

storing, in a computer readable medium in a memory device, the market focused directory;

storing executable computer code in a computer processor linked to the computer readable medium in the memory device;

logging, in a computer readable medium in the memory device, over a specified time period, by executing the computer code using the computer processor, one or more users'"'"' actions in using the market focused directory into one or more log files;

processing, by one or more processors, the log files to derive implicit measures from the users'"'"' actions regarding one or more URLs, the implicit measures comprising durations and exit percentages;

reading, from the computer readable medium in the memory device, the implicit measures into one or more databases;

aggregating, by the processors, the implicit measures regarding a single URL across a plurality of user sessions;

averaging, by the processors, the aggregated implicit measures for a single URL across a plurality of user sessions;

obtaining the user'"'"'s Internet Protocol address from a server;

cross-referencing, by the processors, the Internet Protocol address against a database to obtain geolocation information with respect to the user, the geolocation information includes data associated with an organization name of an IP address'"'"'s owner;

creating, by the processor, a report of the user behavior comprising the cross-referenced geolocation information data of the user and the average durations for the single URL; and

providing one or more log files containing financial information;

processing the one or more log files containing financial information to obtain processed financial information suitable to correlate with implicit measures;

combining the processed financial information suitable to correlate with implicit measures with the geolocation information; and

calculating a return on investment for one or more headings based on the combined geolocation information, implicit measures, and processed financial information.

15. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more memory components functionally coupled to the one or more processors; and

a machine-readable medium having machine-readable program code therein for directing operation of the system;

wherein machine-readable program code is configured to cause the computer to carry out the method comprising the steps of;

collecting data that is relevant to a target audience from a plurality of advertisers;

providing a taxonomy for associating one or more uniform resource locators with one or more headings in a plurality of headings based in part on the data collected from the plurality of advertisers;

providing, over a network to a computational device, a searchable market focused directory of a plurality of uniform resource locators (URLs) categorized under a plurality of headings according to the taxonomy wherein the market focused directory is communicatively coupled to the computational device and performs steps comprising;

receiving a search query;

logging the search query into a log file;

matching the search query with one or more headings in the market focused directory;

retrieving one or more search results based on the search query, wherein at least one search result comprises one or more of the uniform resource locators categorized under the matched headings; and

presenting at least a portion of the retrieved search results to the user;

storing, in a computer readable medium in a memory device, the market focused directory;

storing executable computer code in a computer processor linked to the computer readable medium in the memory device;

logging, in a computer readable medium in the memory device, over a specified time period, by executing the computer code using the computer processor, one or more users'"'"' actions in using the market focused directory into one or more log files;

processing, by one or more processors, the log files to derive implicit measures from the users'"'"' actions regarding one or more URLs, the implicit measures comprising durations and exit percentages;

reading, from the computer readable medium in the memory device, the implicit measures into one or more databases;

aggregating, by the processors, the implicit measures regarding a single URL across a plurality of user sessions;

averaging, by the processors, the aggregated implicit measures for a single URL across a plurality of user sessions;

obtaining the user'"'"'s Internet Protocol address from a server;

cross-referencing, by the processors, the Internet Protocol address against a database to obtain geolocation information with respect to the user, the geolocation information includes data associated with an organization name of an IP address'"'"'s owner;

creating, by the processor, a report of the user behavior comprising the cross-referenced geolocation information data of the user and the average durations for the single URL;

providing one or more log files containing financial information;

processing the one or more log files containing financial information to obtain processed financial information suitable to correlate with implicit measures;

combining the processed financial information suitable to correlate with implicit measures with the geolocation information; and

calculating a return on investment for one or more headings based on the combined geolocation information, implicit measures, and processed financial information.

16. A computer based method of evaluating advertising comprising:

collecting data that is relevant to a target audience from a plurality of advertisers;

providing a taxonomy for associating one or more uniform resource locators with one or more headings in a plurality of headings based in part on the data collected from the plurality of advertisers;

providing, over a network to a computational device, a market focused directory of a plurality of uniform resource locators (URLs) categorized under a plurality of headings according to the taxonomy wherein the market focused directory is communicatively coupled to the computational device and performs steps comprising;

receiving a search query;

logging the search query into a log file;

matching the search query with one or more headings in the market focused directory;

retrieving one or more search results based on the search query, wherein at least one search result comprises one or more of the uniform resource locators categorized under the matched headings; and

presenting at least a portion of the retrieved search results to the user;

storing, in a computer readable medium in a memory device, the market focused directory;

storing executable computer code in a computer processor linked to the computer readable medium in the memory device;

logging, in a computer readable medium in the memory device, over a specified time period, by executing the computer code using the computer processor, one or more users'"'"' actions in using the market focused directory into one or more log files;

processing, by one or more processors, the log files to derive implicit measures from the users'"'"' actions regarding one or more URLs, the implicit measures comprising durations and exit percentages;

reading, from the computer readable medium in the memory device, the implicit measures into one or more databases;

aggregating, by the processors, the implicit measures regarding a single URL across a plurality of user sessions;

averaging, by the processors, the aggregated implicit measures for a single URL across a plurality of user sessions;

obtaining the user'"'"'s Internet Protocol address from a server;

cross-referencing, by the processors, the Internet Protocol address against a database to obtain geolocation information with respect to the user, the geolocation information includes data associated with an organization name of an IP address'"'"'s owner;

creating, by the processor, a report of the user behavior comprising the cross-referenced geolocation information data of the user and the average durations for the single URL;

providing one or more log files containing financial information;

processing the one or more log files containing financial information to obtain processed financial information suitable to correlate with implicit measures;

combining the processed financial information suitable to correlate with implicit measures with the geolocation information; and

calculating a return on investment for one or more headings based on the combined geolocation information, implicit measures, and processed financial information.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

comparing the implicit measure of the single URL with implicit measure of one or more of the one or more URLs other than the single URL.