Selecting content based on user actions and preferences associates with a same time period in a previous year

• US 9,785,968 B1
• Filed: 07/01/2011
• Issued: 10/10/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Leal, Marcus A., Moxley, Emily K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Barry, Lance L
• Application Number:
  US13/175,702
• Time in Patent Office: 2,293 Days
• Field of Search: 705 1449- 1467, 705 1453
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for long-term targeting. In one aspect, a method includes: assigning a user a unique identifier and recognizing the user when the user interacts with a content system; logging user actions and preferences as the user interacts with one or more web based resources over a long time period where the long time period exceeds a life of one session and an expiration of one or more cookies residing on a user device; identifying logged user actions and preferences that are associated with a same time period in a previous year, including identifying immutable and mutable aspects of the logged user actions and preferences that are time-related; adjusting the mutable aspects based on the current date; and providing, to the user, content based on the immutable aspect, the adjusted mutable aspects, and information included in a content request.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying a user including assigning the user a unique identifier and recognizing the user each time the user interacts with a content management system;

logging user actions and preferences as a user interacts with one or more web based resources over a long time period where the long time period exceeds a life of one session and an expiration of one or more cookies residing on a device used by the user to access web based resources, logging including storing the user actions and preferences;

receiving from the user a first request for content, the request received at the content management system; and

targeting content to the user based on the stored user actions and preferences, including;

identifying, in the stored user actions and preferences, logged user actions and preferences that are associated with a same time period in a previous year, including identifying immutable and mutable aspects of the logged user actions and preferences that are related to time;

adjusting the mutable aspects based on the current date; and

providing, to the user, content based on the immutable aspect, the adjusted mutable aspects, and information included in the request for content.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the stored preferences of the user received on a first day have a stronger weight than stored preferences received on a prior second day.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the unique identifier is associated with a user profile.

4. The method of claim 1 where the unique identifier is of a form of a user profile.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising targeting content to the user based on information explicitly associated with the user profile.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the explicit targeting is disabled based on user preferences associated with the user profile.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the immutable aspects and the mutable aspects correspond to characteristics associated with the user.

8. A non-transitory computer program product including instructions stored on a non-transitory tangible medium that when executed by a processor operate to:

identify a user including assigning the user a unique identifier and recognizing the user each time the user interacts with a content management system;

log user actions and preferences as a user interacts with one or more web based resources over a long time period where the long time period exceeds a life of one session and an expiration of one or more cookies residing on a device used by the user to access web based resources, the logging including storing the user actions and preferences;

receive from the user a first request for content, the request received at the content management system; and

target content to the user based on the stored user actions and preferences, including;

identifying, in the stored user actions and preferences, logged user actions and preferences that are associated with a same time period in a previous year, including identifying immutable and mutable aspects of the logged user actions and preferences that are related to time;

adjusting the mutable aspects based on the current date; and

providing, to the user, content based on the immutable aspect, the adjusted mutable aspects, and information included in the request for content.

9. The product of claim 8, wherein the stored preferences of the user received on a first day have a stronger weight than stored preferences received on a prior second day.

10. The product of claim 8, wherein the unique identifier is associated with a user profile.

11. The product of claim 8 where the unique identifier is of a form of a user profile.

12. The product of claim 11, further comprising targeting content to the user based on information explicitly associated with the user profile.

13. The product of claim 12, wherein the explicit targeting is disabled based on user preferences associated with the user profile.

14. The product of claim 8, wherein the mutable aspects and the immutable aspects correspond to characteristics associated with the user.

15. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memory elements including instructions that when executed cause the one or more processors to;

identify a user including assigning the user a unique identifier and recognizing the user each time the user interacts with a content management system;

log user actions and preferences as a user interacts with one or more web based resources over a long time period where the long time period exceeds a life of one session and an expiration of one or more cookies residing on a device used by the user to access web based resources, the logging including storing the user actions and preferences;

receive from the user a first request for content, the request received at the content management system; and

target content to the user based on the stored user actions and preferences, including;

identifying, in the stored user actions and preferences, logged user actions and preferences that are associated with a same time period in a previous year, including identifying immutable and mutable aspects of the logged user actions and preferences that are related to time;

adjusting the mutable aspects based on the current date; and

providing, to the user, content based on the immutable aspect, the adjusted mutable aspects, and information included in the request for content.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the stored preferences of the user received on a first day have a stronger weight than stored preferences received on a prior second day.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the unique identifier is associated with a user profile.

18. The system of claim 15 where the unique identifier is of a form of a user profile.

19. The system of claim 18, further comprising targeting content to the user based on information explicitly associated with the user profile.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the mutable aspects and the immutable aspects correspond to characteristics associated with the user.