Identifying message deliverability problems using grouped message characteristics

• US 9,654,438 B2
• Filed: 03/11/2015
• Issued: 05/16/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Feinstein, Jonathan B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rubin, Blake
• Application Number:
  US14/644,470
• Publication Number:
  US 20150188874A1
• Time in Patent Office: 797 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/02 using automatic reactions or user delegation, e.g. automatic replies or chatbot-generated messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/18 Commands or executable codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/23 Reliability checks, e.g. acknowledgments or fault reporting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/234 for tracking messages

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for identifying a message deliverability problem. Responses are received from one or more client devices that include information that identifies whether a respective response is associated with a first group of messages or a second group of messages. A message deliverability problem for at least one of the first group of messages or the second group of messages may be identified based at least in part on the information included in at least a portion of the plurality of responses.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program executable in at least one computing device, wherein, when executed, the program causes the at least one computing device to at least:

embed a first object into a plurality of first messages;

embed a second object into a plurality of second messages;

send the plurality of first messages and the plurality of second messages to a plurality of destination devices;

receive a plurality of responses from at least a portion of the plurality of destination devices, individual ones of the plurality of responses being generated by at least one of the first object or the second object indicating a receipt of a respective message of the plurality of second messages or the plurality of first messages by a respective destination device of the plurality of destination devices, and the plurality of responses including information that identifies whether a respective response of the plurality of responses is associated with the plurality of first messages or the plurality of second messages; and

identify a deliverability problem associated with the plurality of first messages based at least in part on the plurality of responses, the deliverability problem indicating a failure of receipt of at least a portion of the plurality of first messages by at least a portion of the plurality of destination devices.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first object and the second object are configured to be visible when respective messages of the plurality of first messages and the plurality of second messages are viewed by respective destination devices of the plurality of destination devices.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first object and the second object are configured to be hidden from view when respective messages of the plurality of first messages and the plurality of second messages are viewed by respective destination devices of the plurality of destination devices.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first object is a first image, the second object is a second image, and the plurality of responses comprise a respective image request for at least one of the first image or the second image.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first object is a first hyperlink, the second object is a second hyperlink, and the plurality of responses comprise a respective request for content associated with at least one of the first hyperlink or the second hyperlink.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the plurality of first messages are associated with a first source Internet Protocol (IP) address and the plurality of second messages are associated with a second source IP address, and wherein the information identifies whether the respective response is associated with the first source IP address or the second source IP address.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein, when executed, the program further causes the at least one computing device to at least calculate a difference between a number of the plurality of first messages sent and a number of the plurality of responses associated with the plurality of first messages that are received, wherein the deliverability problem is identified in response to the difference failing to meet or exceed a predefined threshold.

8. A system, comprising:

at least one computing device; and

a deliverability analysis application executable in the at least one computing device, wherein, when executed, the deliverability analysis application causes the at least one computing device to at least;

receive a plurality of responses from a plurality of client devices including information that identifies whether a respective response is associated with a first group of messages or a second group of messages; and

identify a message deliverability problem associated with at least one of the first group of messages or the second group of messages based at least in part on the information included in at least a portion of the plurality of responses, the message deliverability problem indicating a failure of receipt of at least a portion of at least one of the first group of messages or the second group of messages by at least a portion of the plurality of client devices.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein, when executed, the deliverability analysis application further causes the at least one computing device to at least send the first group of messages and the second group of messages to the plurality of client devices.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein, when executed, the deliverability analysis application further causes the at least one computing device to at least:

embed a first object into individual ones of the first group of messages; and

embed a second object into individual ones of the second group of messages, the second object being different from the first object,

wherein a first portion of the plurality of responses are generated by the first object and a second portion of the plurality of responses are generated by the second object.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein, when executed, the deliverability analysis application further causes the at least one computing device to at least analyze the plurality of responses to identify the deliverability problem in response to receiving a threshold number of responses.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein, when executed, the deliverability analysis application further causes the at least one computing device to at least periodically analyze the plurality of responses to identify the message deliverability problem after a lapse of a predetermined threshold amount of time.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein individual ones of the plurality of responses include an image request, and, when executed, the deliverability analysis application further causes the at least one computing device to at least:

store the information included in the individual ones of the plurality of responses in a log; and

forward the image request to another device capable of satisfying the image request.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein, when executed, the deliverability analysis application further causes the at least one computing device to at least determine a difference between a number of the first group of messages sent and a number of the plurality of responses associated with the first group of messages received, the message deliverability problem being identified for the first group of messages in response to the difference failing to meet or exceed a predefined threshold.

15. The system of claim 8, wherein identifying the message deliverability problem further comprises comparing the information included in the plurality of responses associated with the first group of messages with the information included with the plurality of responses associated with the second group of messages.

16. A method, comprising:

modifying, by at least one computing device, individual messages of a plurality of messages to include an object;

sending, by the at least one computing device, the plurality of messages to a plurality of client devices;

receiving, by the at least one computing device, a plurality of responses associated with at least a portion of the plurality of messages, the plurality of responses being associated with the object; and

identifying, by the at least one computing device, a message deliverability problem associated with the plurality of messages based at least in part on the plurality of responses, the message deliverability problem indicating a failure of receipt of at least a portion of the plurality of messages by at least a portion of the plurality of client devices.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the message deliverability problem is identified based at least in part on a comparison of a quantity of the plurality of responses received with an historical number of responses received from a plurality of other messages, the plurality of other messages and the plurality of messages comprising substantially similar subject matter.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the plurality of responses are received in response to the at least a portion of the plurality of messages being marked as read by a respective client device of the plurality of client devices.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the object is configured to generate a respective response of the plurality of responses.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising analyzing, by the at least one computing device, the plurality of responses to identify the deliverability problem in response to receiving a threshold number of responses.