Conversion tracking for installation of applications on mobile devices

• US 9,514,478 B2
• Filed: 01/23/2013
• Issued: 12/06/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Liu, Deborah, Mathur, Nipun, Chia, Teck, Raji, Vijaye
• Primary Examiner(s): Meky, Moustafa M
• Assistant Examiner(s): ISLAM, SM ZAKIRUL
• Application Number:
  US13/748,560
• Publication Number:
  US 20140207900A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,413 Days
• Field of Search: 709/216
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/17331 Distributed shared memory [DSM], e.g. remote direct memory access [RDMA]
• 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 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

An application executing on a mobile device, such as an application associated with a social networking system provides a link to install a third-party application. The link may be presented in an advertisement, and the link is used to retrieve data comprising a client application for execution by the mobile device. To track installations, the client application stores an indication that the client application was installed in a shared memory location on the mobile device, as native applications do not have access to cookies. A social networking application executing on the mobile device retrieves the indication the client application was installed from the shared memory location and communicates it to a social networking system for storing in a user profile.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, from an online system, data comprising a client application for execution by an operating system of a mobile device and one or more instructions from the online system that, when executed, writes data to a shared memory location included in the mobile device indicating the client application was installed on the mobile device;

executing the data comprising the client application to install the client application on the mobile device;

responsive to installing the client application on the mobile device, executing the one or more instructions received from the online system;

storing, in the shared memory location on the mobile device, an indication the client application was installed on the mobile device;

retrieving from the shared memory location the stored indication that the client application was installed on the mobile device and a user identification associated with a user of the online system and used by the online system to maintain data associated with the user, the stored indication and the user identification retrieved by an online system application operating on the mobile device; and

sending, from the online system application to the online system, the stored indication that the client application was installed on the mobile device and the user identification.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication the client application was installed includes one or more of a group consisting of:

a client identifier associated with the client application, an identifier of the mobile device, a type of the mobile device, a date and time when the client application was installed, and any combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the online system is a social networking system.

4. A method comprising:

sending, from an online system to a mobile device, a client application and one or more instructions that, when executed, writes data to a shared memory location included in the mobile device indicating whether the client application was installed on the mobile device;

an online system application operating on the mobile device retrieving, from the shared memory location on the mobile device, an indication of whether the client application was installed on the mobile device and user identification information associated with a user of the online system and used by the online system to maintain data associated with the user, the online system application associates the user identification used by the social networking system with the indication of whether the client application was installed on the mobile device;

the online system receiving, from the online system application operating on the mobile device, the indication of whether the client application was installed on the mobile device and the user identification information associated with a user of an online system;

identifying a user profile of a user associated with the user identification information, the user profile maintained by the online system; and

storing the indication of whether the client application was installed on the mobile device in the user profile.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the user identification information associated with the user of the online system is provided by the online system application operating on the mobile device.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

retrieving information describing user interactions with content from the user profile;

determining whether the user interacted with an advertisement associated with the client application prior to receiving the indication the client application was installed on the mobile device;

inferring an advertisement conversion responsive to determining the user interacted with an advertisement associated with the client application prior to receiving the indication the client application was installed on the mobile device; and

providing a notification of the inferred advertisement conversion to a third-party system associated with the client application.

7. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

retrieving information describing user interactions with content from the user profile;

determining whether the user interacted with an advertisement associated with the client application prior to receiving the indication the client application was installed on the mobile device;

inferring an advertisement conversion responsive to determining the user interacted with an advertisement associated with the client application prior to receiving the indication the client application was installed on the mobile device; and

providing a notification of the inferred advertisement conversion to an advertiser associated with the advertisement with which the user interacted.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the notification of the inferred advertisement conversion includes an identification of the user.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the identification of the user comprises a hash value generated by applying a hash function to the user identification information.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

providing information retrieved from the user profile subject to one or more privacy settings to the advertiser associated with the advertisement.

11. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

providing the indication of whether the client application was installed on the mobile device and an identification of the user to a third-party system associated with the client application.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein providing the indication of whether the client application was installed on the mobile device comprises:

providing the indication of whether the client application was installed on the mobile device and a type associated with the mobile device.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein providing the indication of whether the client application was installed on the mobile device comprises:

providing the indication of whether the client application was installed on the mobile device including a date and time when the client application was installed on the mobile device.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the identification of the user comprises a hash value generated by applying a hash function to the user identification information.

15. The method of claim 4, wherein the indication of whether the client application was installed on the mobile device includes one or more of a group consisting of:

a client identifier associated with the client application;

an identifier of the mobile device, a type of the mobile device, a date and time when the client application was installed, and any combination thereof.

16. The method of claim 4, wherein the online system is a social networking system.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having executable computer program instructions embodied thereon, the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

receive, from and online system, data comprising a client application for execution by an operating system of a mobile device and one or more instructions form the online system that, when executed the processor, writes data to a shared memory location included in the mobile device indicating the client application was installed on the mobile device;

execute the data comprising the client application to install the client application on the mobile device;

responsive to installing the client application on the mobile device, execute the one or more instructions received from the online system;

store, in the shared memory location on the mobile device, an indication the client application was installed on the mobile device;

retrieve from the shared memory location the stored indication that the client application was installed on the mobile device and a user identification associated with a user of the online system and used by the online system to maintain data associated with the user, the stored indication and the user identification retrieved by an online system application operating on the mobile device; and

send, from the online system application to the online system, the stored indication that the client application was installed on the mobile device and the user identification.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the indication the client application was installed includes one or more of a group consisting of:

a client identifier associated with the client application;

an identifier of the mobile device, a type of the mobile device, a date and time when the client application was installed, and any combination thereof.