JOINING MULTIPLE USER LISTS

• US 20120059809A1
• Filed: 08/30/2011
• Published: 03/08/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Furman, Vadim, Moonka, Rajas, Agarwal, Anurag
• Granted Patent: US 9,047,613 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/705
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A computer-implemented method comprises receiving a request for content from a user, determining two user lists that are associated with the user, each user list including a definition that characterizes members of a respective user list, determining a consumer is a subscriber to the two user lists, determining the consumer has indicated a preference to target members that are included in both user lists, and providing an indication to the consumer for all users that are included in both user lists including providing the definitions associated with both user lists along with the request to the consumer.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a request for content from a user;

determining two user lists that are associated with the user, each user list including a definition that characterizes members of a respective user list;

determining a consumer is a subscriber to the two user lists;

determining the consumer has indicated a preference to target members that are included in both user lists; and

providing an indication to the consumer for all users that are included in both user lists including providing the definitions associated with both user lists along with the request to the consumer.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining three or more user lists that are associated with the user, each user list including a definition that characterizes members of a respective user list;

determining a consumer is a subscriber to the three or more user lists;

determining the consumer has indicated a preference to target members that are included in the three or more user lists; and

providing an indication to the consumer for all users that are included in the three or more user lists including providing the definitions associated with the three or more user lists along with the request to the consumer.

16. The method of claim 1 where the request is a request for an ad to be displayed to the user and where the consumer is an advertiser that is to provide customized content to the user.

17. The method of claim 1 where the user list comprises the definition and one or more members each identified by user-specific data.

18. The method of claim 17 where the user list is stored in a table of user lists and where the user-specific data identifies the user.

19. The method of claim 18 where the user-specific data is a global identifier associated with the user in an advertising serving system.

20. The method of claim 1 where the user lists are used by the consumer for adjusting bids in real time.

21. The method of claim 1 where the user lists are used by the consumer for customizing content to be presented to the user.

2. A computer-implemented method comprising;

providing a user interface including a presentation of one or more user lists to a consumer, each user list including a definition that characterizes members of a respective user list;

receiving an indication of a selection of two lists from the user lists;

receiving an indication of a function for joining the user lists to create a customized list that includes one or more members; and

storing the selection and the function for recall when a user associated with both lists provides a request for content.

3. The method of claim 2 where the presentation includes a list of user lists and meta data describing each definition.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the indication of a function is a Boolean AND function.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein the indication of a function is a Boolean NOT function.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein the indication of a function is a Boolean OR function.

7. The method of claim 2 wherein joining the user lists to create a customized list includes using numerical comparisons and functions using information associated with users who are members of the user lists.

9. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

receiving a request for content from a user;

determining the user is a member of one or more of the two user lists;

determining if the function is satisfied; and

providing an indication of the satisfied function along with the request to the consumer.

10. A computer-implemented method comprising:

presenting user lists to a consumer, each user list including a definition describing members of a respective user list;

receiving a selection of at least two user lists for subscription to by the consumer;

creating a customized list including receiving a definition that is a function that relates the at least two user lists; and

storing the customized list including the definition.

11. The method of claim 10 where the function is an AND function.

12. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

receiving a request for content from a user;

determining the user is a member of one or more of the at least two user lists;

determining if the function is satisfied; and

providing an indication of the satisfied function along with the request to the consumer.

13. The method of claim 10 where the function is a Boolean function.

14. A computer-implemented method comprising:

presenting user lists to a consumer, each user list including a definition describing members of a respective user list;

receiving a selection of at least two user lists for subscription to by the consumer where at least two of the user lists are associated with a different ownership entity;

creating a customized list including receiving a definition that is a function that relates the at least two user lists; and

storing the customized list including the definition such that unrelated user list data can be merged resulting in a more complex user list that specifies a consumer-defined combination of characteristics of members of the customized list.

15. A computer-implemented method comprising:

determining one or more user lists available for subscription, each user list including a definition that describes members of a respective user list;

receiving a selection by a consumer of a subscription to two or more of the user lists;

merging user list data including merging at least two user lists including merging the user list data according to a function defined by the consumer, the function describing a desired combination of the definitions associated with respective merged user lists; and

providing to the consumer an indication of a user request for content when a request for content is received and the function is satisfied.