System and method of collecting and analyzing clickstream data

• US 9,092,788 B2
• Filed: 10/24/2007
• Issued: 07/28/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: comScore, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Compete, Inc. (comScore, Inc.)
• Inventors: Cancel, David, Gillett, Christopher C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Thuong
• Application Number:
  US11/923,454
• Publication Number:
  US 20080183805A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,834 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/219, 709/224, 705/8, 705/10, 715/745
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

An aspect of the present invention relates to tracking a computer user'"'"'s behavior and providing related visual media segments with a graphical user interface. In embodiments, the visual media segments are slide-in visual media segments and the user has preemptive control over certain aspects of the visual media segments.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving the web browser click event data from a data collection agent (DCA), as a click-stream, at a data collection server (DCS), to record and provide user on-line activity

synchronizing the recording of web browser click event data at the DCA by obtaining a time stamp from the DCS;

identifying a value of a presentation parameter, wherein the value of the presentation parameter is controllable by the user;

based on the value of the presentation parameter, identifying a frequency of communication; and

sending communications to the user, wherein a content of each communication is identified based on an analysis of the user on-line activity received from the DCA and demographic information of the user, and wherein the communications are sent at the identified frequency.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the click-stream is transmitted by at least one of HTTP and HTTPS.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the web browser click event data are used to draw a competitive comparison of web site viewing trends.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the DCA includes a browser event plug-in that:

determines which of the web browser click event data are pertinent and which are non-pertinent; and

discards the web browser click event data that are non-pertinent.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the web browser click event data are ordered into categories of collected events.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the click-stream is analyzed to obtain a pattern of user web browsing behavior.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein when the pattern of user web browsing behavior is detected, a new visual media segment is generated requesting further user action.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the web browser click event data comprises at least one of URL information of a web site visited, user ID, date, time, and event type.

9. A system comprising:

a data collection agent (DCA) that records web browser click events, and transmits a click-stream of the web browser click events to a data collection server (DCS) that resides on a computer, in which the DCS;

receives the click-stream of the web browser click events;

collects user on-line activity based on the click-stream of the web browser click events;

synchronizes the recording of web browser click event data by sending a time stamp to the DCA; and

sends communications to the user at a frequency determined in part by a value of a presentation parameter, wherein;

a content of the communication is identified based on patterns of user web browsing behavior detected by a rules engine of the DCS and user demographic information; and

the value of the presentation parameter may be controlled by the user; and

the rules engine of the DCS that detects a pattern of user web browsing behavior from the user on-line activity.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the click-stream is transmitted by at least one of HTTP and HTTPS.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the user web browsing behavior is used to draw a competitive comparison of web site viewing trends.

12. The system of claim 9, further comprising an event state machine (ESM) that (1) processes the transformed web browser click events to determine which transformed web browser click events are pertinent and which are non-pertinent and (2) discards non-pertinent transformed web browser click events.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the web browser click events are ordered into categories of collected events.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein when the rules engine detects the pattern of user web browsing behavior, the rules engine initiates a new visual media segment requesting further user action.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the web browser click events comprise at least one of URL information of a web site visited, user ID, date, time, and event type.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the DCA connects with the DCS to obtain a time stamp that is used to synchronize the recording of the web browser click events from a plurality of users.